Everyone has their personal heroes. And for me, it’s all about @Pop_Activism.
For those not yet familiar with their work, the account has made it their personal mission to bring the pop we love into the modern era by making the music available on digital platforms worldwide, no matter how obscure. And through their valiant efforts in communicating with record labels, artists and management, Pop Activism has managed to give dozens and dozens of beloved records collecting dust in our closet a chance to finally see the current light of streaming day. Here’s everything they’ve made available thus far.
And with their latest victory, they’re sending pop nerds upside down – bouncing off the ceiling, in fact.
“??POP ACTIVISM ALERT!!??We’ve finally finished our quest to get all the A*Teens albums made available worldwide! The A*Teens Greatest Hits is now available worldwide (and with the proper cover!). Thanks to Universal Sweden for arranging this!,” the account triumphantly declared on Thursday (September 10).
This is a massive victory for fans all ’round of the world of the “That’s the Way My Heart Goes” chanteuse herself Marie Serneholt, Amit Sebastian Paul, Dhani Lennevald (who is now dating, Alice Chater, pop couple alert!) and Sara Thee Lumholdt, also (briefly) known as “Glamour Bitch” Sara Love.
Together, they are the A*TEENS – and before fear of legal action, the ABBA-Teens. (And yes, at the age of 10, I absolutely thought they were the originators of all of those ABBA songs.)
The Swedish pop troupe originally kicked off as a teenage ABBA tribute act, enjoying solid success internationally with covers of classics like “Mamma Mia,” “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” and “Dancing Queen” before eventually crossing over into Max Martin-ish pop originals, including their biggest U.S. hit, “Upside Down” in 2000, as well as “Sugar Rush,” “A Perfect Match” and “Floorfiller,” plus teenybopper-fied covers of cuts like Alice Cooper‘s “School’s Out” and Nick Kamen‘s “I Promised Myself,” which served as the group’s final single and one of the three new songs recorded for their Greatest Hits, released in 2004.
They toured with Britney and Aaron Carter at the height of bubblegum Swede-pop millennium-era fever, had songs on The Princess Diaries and Lilo & Stitch soundtracks, banged out four studio albums, and tied it all together with a Greatest Hits collection in 2004 before abruptly parting ways and embarking on solo careers of varying degrees of success. (But seriously, pull the reigns and get into Marie’s incredible Enjoy the Ride – and don’t sleep on Sara Love, either. Expensive, fancy, sassy and fly!)
So now, get into the Teen Spirit and please enjoy the (not so) New Arrival of A*TEENS overload, available now on your favorite streaming service, like Spotify and Apple Music.