| Cadillac
Madness
or Benny's Road To ABBA? There has been some confusion
about my two recently published books, Cadillac
Madness - den otroliga berättelsen om The Hep Stars ("Cadillac Madness
- The Incredible Story Of The Hep Stars") and Benny's
Road To ABBA. Many people are wondering if they are in fact one or the same
book: the first simply in Swedish and the other one in English. Others have had
the impression that they are two completely different books. Well, the truth lies
somewhere in between. In an attempt to clear up some of the confusion, here follows
a detailed comparison between the two titles - what you get in one, but not in
the other.
CADILLAC MADNESS
THE STORY
The language in this book is
Swedish. It tells the complete story of The Hep Stars and its individual members,
from their childhood days up until the break-up of the group in 1969. There is
also an additional couple of pages that briefly describe what the members and
some of the other main players in the story have been doing since then.
WHAT YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: The details
about Benny's career between 1969 and 1972, when the first ABBA song, People Need
Love, was recorded.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
The book is a colourful and lavishly illustrated volume, aiming to create a "Sixties
teen idol" feel. There are plenty of pictures of the group and its individual
members, magazine covers, bubblegum cards, posters, and so on.
WHAT
YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: More and different pictures of Benny - even
some of the Hep Stars pictures are different in Benny's Road To ABBA.
THE DISCOGRAPHY
The discography gives all
the track listings (just the list of songs, no other details) and shows all the
different sleeve variations on every single and album that The Hep Stars released
- in Sweden and abroad - between 1964 and 1972. The discography ends a few years
after Svenne, Lotta and Benny left the group, when the then-current version of
The Hep Stars finally called it a day.
WHAT
YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: A detailed track-by-track description of each
and every song The Hep Stars recorded and released between 1964 and 1969 (plus a handful of songs recorded during that period but released later), with composer credits, chart positions (in Sweden and elsewhere), background stories
and additional information.
THE BONUS CD
The book comes with a bonus CD, featuring four previously unreleased Hep Stars
recordings made in 1966 and 1967. This CD is not available with Benny's Road To
ABBA. Click here to read more
about the bonus CD.
BENNY'S
ROAD TO ABBA
THE STORY
This
English-language book tells the same basic story as Cadillac Madness. The bulk
of the book is, essentially, the story of The Hep Stars. The main difference is
that the story is extended to cover Benny's activities up until ABBA recorded
their first single, People Need Love.
WHAT
YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: Personal details and background stories that
relate to the other five members of the band: Svenne, Lotta, Lelle, Chrille and
Janne. For instance, the details about the romance between Svenne and Lotta -
which caused such headlines in Sweden in the 1960s - is mentioned in the book,
but it is not described in the same detail as in Cadillac Madness. Nor has the additional
info about the Hep Stars members' activities since 1969 been included
in Benny's Road To ABBA.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Benny's Road To ABBA is less lavishly illustrated than Cadillac Madness, although
with an estimated 150 pictures - plus the single and album sleeves in the
discography - no one is likely to be very disappointed.
WHAT
YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: More and different pictures of Benny, with
and without The Hep Stars. A slightly more colourful design.
THE
DISCOGRAPHY
The discography in Benny's Road To ABBA is focused on the
actual music. It gives all the details about each track: composers, original titles,
who originally had a hit with the song in question, background stories about the
writing and recording of original material, chart positions in Sweden as well
as other countries - and much more. The discography is illustrated with the sleeve
of the actual single, album or CD discussed. Notably, this discography includes
information about the many Hep Stars tracks featuring the line-up with Benny,
that were only released long after the group's split in 1969 - this info is not
available at all in Cadillac Madness. Finally, Benny's Road To ABBA also contains
an overview of the Björn & Benny records issued in Sweden
between 1970 and 1972. Click here
to view excerpts of the discography in Benny's Road To ABBA.
WHAT
YOU DON'T GET IN THIS BOOK: Illustrations and catalogue numbers for each
and every Hep Stars record released all over the world between 1964 and 1971,
including sleeve variations.
BONUS CD
This book has no bonus CD. The four previously unreleased Hep Stars recordings
are only available with the Cadillac Madness book.
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