Moray band Bad Actress give ABBA hit a hard rock twist
ABBA’s uplifting pop music has been enjoyed by millions over the decades, but a Moray rock band has given one classic song a rock-and-roll makeover.
Hard rockers Bad Actress have reworked 1979 track Does You Mother Know into an explosive rocker complete with guitar heroics.
Currently on a UK tour, the Moray and Highland-based band are set to release the cover on Friday, July 12, with their Facebook page featuring teasers from a music video filmed at Nairn’s bandstand.
Bad Actress had planned to cover an ABBA track for years, lead guitarist Chick McFarlane said, with their final choice having a “great groove” which “lends itself well to hard rock”.
“We’ve talked about releasing an ABBA song for ages but it’s taken us a while to get round to it,” he added.
“It’s a great song by a band that transcends lovers of pretty much all genres and generations.
“Who doesn’t like a bit of ABBA now and again?”
The guitarist added that Bad Actress have already tested their take on Does Your Mother Know in front of live audiences, and “it’s gone down really well”.
“We can’t wait to get it out and hear what people think of it,” he said.
The band currently have shows organised in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham and Carlisle.
Latest single Rockin’ With You, released in March, proved popular on Spotify and other streaming platforms, according to the band.
Rock radio stations around the UK and overseas also picked up the single in the wake of its release.
Does Your Mother Know is the second cover Bad Actress have released, following a version of Chuck Berry’s Run Run Rudolph in Christmas 2021.
However, the band’s focus is well and truly on their own songs.
Chick said: “We’re working on a whole bunch of new original material.
“We have a busy touring schedule for the rest of the year and into next year, but we’ll be scheduling recording time around touring commitments to keep up the momentum of regular new releases.”
It has been the busiest year yet for Bad Actress, with tour dates up and down the country including capacity crowds in Inverness and Nairn and an open air slot in front of 10,000 people at MacMoray Festival in Elgin, which was followed the next day with an arena slot at Bonfest, Kirriemuir.
Other highlights include shows in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Sheffield, Swansea, Cardiff and London.
Details of all shows can be found on the Bad Actress website.
