ABBA's brand of super-peppy pop is impossible to forget ... as are their totally outrageous costumes. But those sequins, satin and bell bottoms were designed not so much for style as they were for a tax break.
Singer Björn Ulvaeus unmasked the plans in the newly-published "According to ABBA: The Official Photo Book," reported The Guardian Sunday. As it turned out, Swedish laws allowed band outfits to be deducted against taxes if the costumes were so bizarre that they couldn't be considered street clothes.
Success on both counts.
"In my honest opinion, we looked like nuts in those years," said Ulvaeus. "Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were."
The topic came up on TODAY's Trending segment Tuesday, and Al Roker quipped about the Swedish regulation, "They re-named that 'The Johnny Weir Law.'"