I The Behrend Beacon
Music Column: Perfect moments in pop
Deconstructing Abba's "Take a Chance
By Sean Mihlo
music columnist
smm4Boo psu edu
I was nine years old when Swedish foursome Ace
of Base released "The Sign," their American debut
that included the smash single of the same name and
the Diane Warren-penned "Don't Turn Around,"
among many others. One night, my mom was flip
ping through the TV Guide (I was sitting next to her
on the couch), and she came across an article about
the group. "Isn't this that band you like, ABBA'?"
she motioned the mini-magazine toward me. I
almost had an aneurysm. "Morn, that's NOT
ABBA," I hissed, defending my favorite pop act,
"that's Ace of Base, duh." (Eventually I'd express
my unconditional love for Ace of Base by perform
ing "The Sign" at a 4th grade talent showcase, but
that's a totally different story). I had an inclination
of the band she was referring to -- I knew they were
from the 70s -- but it wasn't until a decade later that
I realized just how sensational and larger-than-life
ABBA were, and still are today.
Originally, the song's title was "Billy Boy,"
which was ultimately scrapped after group member
and songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus, according to legend,
went jogging one day and heard the sound (of heavy
breathing, apparently) "tkch-tkch-tkch" in his head.
Inspired by his exercise epiphany, he stretched out
the "tkch-tkch-tkch" to form the beginning of the
song title, "Take a Chance," later adding "on Me" to
top-off the ending. With the help of songwriting
partner Benny Andersson and the band's foremost
members, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad,
ABBA recorded "Take a Chance on Me" in the
summer of 1977. It was released on the album The
Game later that same year.
"Take a Chance on Me" begins unlike most songs
-- a cappella. Agnetha and Frida open the gates of
musical heaven by belting out the song's chorus
while Bjorn and Benny monotonously chant the
brilliantly catchy "take-a-chance-take-a-chance
tkch-tkch-chance-chance" line underneath the
There's always today to see There's Always Tomorrow
By Kevin Forte
staff writer
kefl69@psu.edu
There's Always Tomorrow and many more
tomorrows for this rock quartet, out of your
own backyard. Brandon, Chris, Kiel and
Greg, best friends and bandmates from
Mil!creek, Pennsylvania, have been playing
the Erie area and the east coast since the win
ter of 2002.
Set to release their debut full length album,
XOXO -- an album packed with songs about
young love and relationships -- There's
Always Tomorrow has been sticking to their
own brand of music and are eager to share it
with their fans. With influences ranging from
Bon Jovi to NOFX to BlinklB2, There's
Always Tomorrow has created a rock sensa
tion for all music lovers. "We try to do our
own thing, never copying another band or
jumping on a bandwagon to sound like some
one else," says frontman Brandon. "Some
bands try to imitate what appears to be popu
lar, but that's not us," added Chris.
After a few years of traveling locally and
playing random demo songs at their shows,
There's Always Tomorrow is ready to take
rjr
ri
ladies heightened vocals. Nearly twenty seconds
later, a wormy synth-line slithers into the four-per
son vocal, and suddenly the song bursts into full
band arrangement -- streaming synths from above
and below, left and right, soft and subtle guitar
interjections, lite rock drums.
A minute in, the song mellows out a bit; the rep-
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Swedish super group ABBA is still recognized as one of the most-influential pop bands of all-time.
etitious "tkch" disappears, and a breathy, sexually
famished Agnetha sighs, "That's all I ask of you
honey." The ladies then begin pleading to their men:
"We can go dancing/ we can go walking... listen to
some music/ maybe just Agnetha com
mands most of the song's vocal presence, appearing
their act around the country with a new
album. A spring tour in March will take these
young and talented musicians up and down
the East Coast and through some mid-western
states. "It's always nice to play at home in
front of the hometown crowd, but being able
to travel and play our music to a different
audience is so exciting," all the members
agreed.
With establishments like Forward Hall and
The Hangout, Erie's music scene is rapidly
growing, and There's Always Tomorrow
hopes to keep the fun and excitement intact
where they first experienced it. "We grew up
around the music scene listening to bands like
Punchline and Down to Earth Approach, the
bands that came to Erie and made it worth
while to go to concerts," Brandon said. "We
now get to play a show with the bands that
made us want to keep playing music, so oth
ers can experience the same thing we did."
Shows and music in Erie give kids a new
thing to do on a boring Saturday night,
instead of going to the mall and the movies.
"It's something new and something that can
be easily passed on to other kids in the area,"
they said, referring to the shows in Erie.
There's Always Tomorrow has loved being
KJ Margraff Jr./ THE BEHREND BEACON
in the Erie spotlight as winners of the Garage
Band Blowout at Pepsi Amphitheatre; they
hope this new album will be a success. "It's
amazing how you play a show and kids are
singing along to your songs. It makes us want
to give more to those kids and hopefully this
album does that," said Brandon.
After a vanilla frappuccino and few laughs
at the mall, There's Always Tomorrow still
make time to have fun and do what they enjoy
doing -- making music. With their record
complete and the release date and show set
for Saturday, Jan. 21, There's Always
Tomorrow has time to make new plans for
their future. "We aren't sure what is going to
happen. Nothing is set in stone yet, we just
want this album to be a hit with our fans,"
said Brandon. With a release show full of
great bands including Punchline, the
Audition, and Down to Earth Approach, the
performance will be one you won't want to
miss. So buckle up and sit back because
There's Always Tomorrow is ready to hit a
stage near you.
For more information on There's Always
Tomorrow and other great *al bands and
shows check out: www.theresalwaystomor
rowrock.com and www.erieshows.com.
in both of the solo passages. Sexual momentum
continues to build and reaches a climax when, like
a stick of dynamite, Agnetha explodes in sexual
frustration, exclaiming, "When I dream I'm alone
with you, it's magic" over a warm, zigzagging, pul
sating synth-line that bounces around her voice like
a slinky. She sounds angelic, and I can't help but
shiver with goose bumps when I hear her sing.
Like most ABBA tunes, the hook is sugary-satu
rated, relying on the vocals of Agnetha and Frida to
pull the listener in with elementary, often ultra
corny lyrics. But as simple and watered-down as the
lyrics are, they're completely mesmerizing and
Focal
Point
Penn State Erie
Theatre Department
students work on the
set for upcoming play
The Laramie Project.
Performances are
scheduled for March
31, April 1 and Aprils
-
All questions con
cerning the play should
be tefered to the direc
tor, Dr. Christine
Mangone, at
cbml 1 @psu.echi
nrri
on Me"
undeniably recognizable
Yes, I could continue to produce synonyms for
the word "catchy" to further describe the lyrics, but
the song does more than that. Not only does it grab
your attention, it makes you feel. A song simply
becomes a beat with words sung over it when the
listener is unable to make a connection with it.
"Take a Chance on Me" (and many other ABBA
songs, actually) hooks the listener in with lyrics that
all humans can comprehend, with a subject we all
can relate to and successfully arouses our emotions.
We've all had a crush that completely ignored our
advances, no matter how hormonally charged we
were. Whether it was an affectionate note slipped
into a school locker or passed on to a friend of a
friend or an unexpected phone call to the infatuated
with, we've all experienced that stomachache of
denial and devastation, that pending heartache.
The song continues on with the women becoming
a bit more breathless and a lot more aggressive:
"I'm in no hurry/ I know I'm gonna get you" -- over
twangy guitars and synths that sound like spiders
crawling up your spine. And Agnetha lets out one
more, last-ditch, ecstatic yearn to her man: "You say
that I waste my time/ but I can't get you off my
mind/ no I can't let go/ cause I love you 50..." It's a
final plea for affection before the chorus repeats.
And although it seems she may never receive the
attention she so desperately wants, I. the listener,
am fully invested in her search for love, rooting her
on until the last of her voice fades into synthesizer
space.
Avoid a viru
Dear ASCII,
I got a virus warning e-mail from a friend; it says I should delete a
program in c:\winnt. I'm afraid to do that because my system may
break. If the file says to delete is there, should I delete it?
- Infected
Dear Infected,
There are a lot of virus hoaxes out there. This e-mail may be one of
them. Some files in c:\winnt are not needed and may not cause your
computer to break or at least may not break it immediately.
Before deleting anything, you should search online for the name of
the alleged virus. Symantec.com and McAfee.com both are authorita
tive sources on both real and hoax viruses. They will tell you if the
virus is real and what you can do about it.
If you find that it is a virus, you will need to log in as an adminis
trator to delete anything from c:\winnt. It is dangerous to remove
things from there, so Windows does not let normal users do so.
The best solution is to install anti-virus software and keep it updat
ed. Anti-virus software can actively prevent you from ever getting
infected. And if you do get infected, it is better at actually eliminating
all traces of the virus than a manual deletion usually is.
Viruses do not have to be a separate program, so they can't always
be fixed by deleting a file. More sophisticated viruses work like a bio
logical virus: they infect a host program. If the virus has infected
excel.exe, deleting it would remove Excel from your computer. Anti
virus software can open up excel.exe and remove the virus code with
out breaking Excel. It's possible to do that by hand but it would be dif
ficult even for an expert.
Penn State gives you Norton Anti-virus for free. It came on the CD
that was on top of the microwave when you first moved into your
dorm room.
If you don't live on campus, have no idea where the CD ran off to
or have microwaved the CD for fun, do not despair! You can down
load Norton Anti-virus from https://downloads.its.psu.edu.
Anti-virus and anti-adware software are important programs that
every Windows computer needs to have. Norton Anti-virus automati
cally updates and protects your computer from becoming infected.
None of the anti-adware software I have used is that sophisticated yet,
so you need to manually update and run it periodically.
You should update and run it between once a week and once a
month, depending on the sort of web sites you visit. Big name web
sites don't have advertisers that use spyware. You can download some
anti-adware programs from https://downloads.its.psu.edu.
One of the most common ways viruses and adware spread is
through the Internet Explorer web browser. If you switch to Firefox or
Opera, both of which are free, you will be less likely get infected.
In general though, if you have anti-virus software and get a virus
warning, the best thing to do is update the anti-virus software and run
it. Norton and McAfee have people who are paid to find viruses.
Do you have a computer question? Then ask ASCII! Send an e-mail
to ascii@psu.edu with "Ask ASCII" in the subject line, and you may
see it answered in next week's column.
Friday, January 20, 2006
If you change your mind
I'm the first in line
honey I'm still free
take a chance on me
if you need me
let me know
gonna be around
if you got no place to go
when you're feeling down
By Logan Stack
technology columnist
IwsllB@psu edu