Luxe Life Blog

Music mogul Jerry Greenberg launches ABBA tribute band Abbacadabra

Posted June 11, 2009 • 3:00 p.m.

Music executive Jerry Greenberg with Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant.

For more than 40 years, record producer Jerry Greenberg has discovered and worked with some of the biggest names in the music business. I knew him back in 1974 when he became the youngest president of a major label at Atlantic Records. Jerry worked with everybody from The Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson and signed Foreigner and Genesis.

It was impossible for Jerry to retire at the end of an extraordinary career, so he opened the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood and here for his friends to drop by and even jam there if they wanted. His club here was opposite the Hard Rock Hotel. But if you know Jerry like I do, you realize that he just can’t sit still, and all those years, he kept wondering if there could ever be another group like ABBA, who he signed 35 years ago.

Now Jerry has discovered Abbacadabra for Las Vegas. Jerry’s new group opens this weekend at the Las Vegas Hilton with 20 hits. It’s part of his plan to launch a series of tribute bands.

Jerry told me: “I’m only going to do bands we’ll never see again or are on their last outings. I’m working on a Led Zepagain residency in Vegas, and I have an AC/DC tribute band in the works. With the economy the way it is, people don’t want to shell out $2,500 for a scalper’s ticket to see a huge big name band close up. So I solve it with a $40 ticket, and everybody including the fans and the casinos benefit. Close your eyes, and you can’t tell the difference when you listen to them. It’s a trend that’s getting bigger and bigger because it’s all about re-creating the experience. … I know some people aren’t happy with tribute bands, but I defend it. In fact, we’re working now with three TV producers getting a reality show up and running.”

I asked Jerry to tell me about Abbacadabra and whether industry folks are upset he’s duplicating groups rather than creating new ones. He told me: “I happened to be in Reno, and somebody told me about them. They knew that I had signed ABBA in 1974. I was the guy that signed them and brought them to America and worked with and toured with them. So I went over to see them, and, Robin, I couldn’t believe it! It was a fantastic show. They look like them with all the same outfits as ABBA. They play like ABBA. It was phenomenal, and everybody was singing and up on their feet dancing. The vocals and music are perfect. I must have been to a dozen ABBA concerts in my life, and now I’ve heard these guys play eight times, and I couldn’t tell the difference. … I am now managing the band.

ABBA cover band Abbacadabra.

“We are never going to see ABBA together again. There are a bunch of ABBA tribute bands out there. There is Bjorn Again, which the ABBA people endorse. … I know that this one is the greatest. We may be able to see them permanently in Vegas soon. They are so fantastic. Who is better than a guy that was onstage with them and signed them than me to make that testimonial?

“I am also involved with Led Zepagain, the Led Zeppelin tribute band. Jimmy Page saw them and endorsed them. Jason Bonham saw them and endorsed them. … We will never see Led Zeppelin again, never ever, ever. Robert (Plant) isn’t into it. … You are talking to a guy who was involved with them and actually went onstage to play drums with Led Zeppelin in Madison Square Garden. So when I tell you that my band Led Zepagain is the closest thing you will ever see to it, believe me it is.”

Here is Led Zepagain performing with Jason Bonham on the Sunset Strip:

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Led Zepagain and Jason Bonham - from YouTube.com

“The trend with tribute bands is getting bigger and bigger. I got this band called Bonfire, which is early AC/DC, who are just wrapping up a tour, so you probably won’t see them for another four to five years. There is a band called Sticky Fingers, which is the Stones. I’ve even got a tremendously talented singer with all the style and sophisticated romance of Nat King Cole.”

The King of Pop Michael Jackson with music executive Jerry Greenberg.

Jerry told me that he hopes to tell Vegas DeLuxe soon about the tribute band reality show. He said: “Could you just imagine American Idol meets the tribute bands? I am going to take it to a whole other level. Led Zepagain and Abbacadabra will take Vegas by storm. Without question, they will be live in Vegas. Besides The Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, how would you like to get off the plane and say, ‘Hey, I am going to go enjoy a Led Zeppelin experience or an ABBA experience.’ I know I am on the right track.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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