ABBA`s ubiquitous single initially topped the charts in November 1975 in Australia where it stayed at the No.1 position for 10 weeks. At the time, it
ABBA`s ubiquitous single initially topped the charts in November 1975 in Australia where it stayed at the No.1 position for 10 weeks. At the time, it was rumoured that every third citizen of the country owned an ABBA record. It was almost entirely due to this overwhelming success that the single was subsequently, but reluctantly, released in the UK and other territories. On 21 July 2008, some 33 years later, "Mamma Mia" re-entered the Australian Charts at #48.
While never released as a single in their native Sweden, "Mamma Mia" was the act`s first song to make a breakthrough in Australia, thus sparking off their surge in popularity there and elsewhere. It took the single nearly two months after it was released to top the UK charts. Interestingly, Queen`s "Bohemian Rhapsody" (the No.1 single that preceded "Mamma Mia" on the charts) also contained the words `Mamma Mia` in the lyrics.
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Dancing Queen" is the biggest hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, and as such is considered by many to be their signature song. It was writ
Dancing Queen" is the biggest hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, and as such is considered by many to be their signature song. It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, recorded in 1975 for the group`s album Arrival, and released as a single the following year with "That`s Me" as the B-side.
It reached the No.1 position on the popular music charts in approximately 13 countries.
"Dancing Queen" features the shared lead vocal performance by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Its opening keyboard glissando and hummed vocals are one of the most identifiable sections in pop music history.
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"SOS" was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. The title itself was coined by Stig, though the lyrics he provided were re-wri
"SOS" was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. The title itself was coined by Stig, though the lyrics he provided were re-written by Ulvaeus. "SOS" was among the first three songs recorded for the group`s upcoming 1975 album, ABBA.
Despite the song`s catchiness, it was passed over as the lead single from the album; the track "So Long" was chosen instead. "So Long" was chosen primarily because it had the same uptempo beat as their 1974 hit single, "Waterloo."
The descending chords and ominous synthesizer melody line of the introduction set the tone for Fältskog’s vocals, sounding almost as if she were breaking down in tears.
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The combination of hit songwriting team (Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson) and the two strikingly beautiful Swedish women (Agnetha Fal
The combination of hit songwriting team (Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson) and the two strikingly beautiful Swedish women (Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad) attired in glam-rock fashions has left an undeniable mark on the international pop rock scene from 1974-1982 whose influence cannot be denied.
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Waterloo is the place where Napoleon Bonaparte met his defeat at an epic battle in 1815. This song uses the battle as a metaphor for a woman who gives
Waterloo is the place where Napoleon Bonaparte met his defeat at an epic battle in 1815. This song uses the battle as a metaphor for a woman who gives in and falls in love with a man - he`s her "Waterloo."
Originally recorded in Swedish, it was ABBA`s Swedish version that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, giving the band a huge career boost.
This was one of many ABBA hits used in the 1994 movie Muriel`s Wedding.
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ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote this after separating from wife and fellow band member, Agnetha. It`s about a divorce where one person doesn`t want to
ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote this after separating from wife and fellow band member, Agnetha. It`s about a divorce where one person doesn`t want to separate and clings desperately to the marriage. Bjorn has said that while he usually didn`t use drugs or alcohol while writing, he had a bottle of brandy next to him while writing the lyrics for this song. It was very personal to him.
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The two songs that were chosen as singles from Waterloo are “Honey Honey” and the big burst of energy that is the title track. Their instincts to
The two songs that were chosen as singles from Waterloo are “Honey Honey” and the big burst of energy that is the title track. Their instincts to really rock it out on “Waterloo” paid off for the quartet fairly handsomely, since it was the entry that helped them to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Europe and was the breakthrough in England that they had been looking for. On “Honey Honey,” Agnetha and Frida purr their way through the song in full-on sex kitten mode and show just how far they’ve come since their lackluster debut single, “People Need Love.” If you want to hear the earliest example of ABBA getting it right, then Waterloo is the perfect place for you to start.
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The man they chose to help them out with the production of the promo clips was a young director named Lasse Hallström. His first clips, for ’Waterl
The man they chose to help them out with the production of the promo clips was a young director named Lasse Hallström. His first clips, for ’Waterloo’ and ’Ring Ring’, were made in 1974. They were both quite simple affairs, featuring straightforward performances of the two songs. But a year later Hallström was commissioned to make clips for four songs on ABBA’s third album, simply entitled ABBA. In those films – ’Mamma Mia’, ’SOS’, ’Bang-A-Boomerang’ and ’I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ – Hallström was a bit more ambitious, introducing many of the visual characteristics that would come to define ABBA’s video image. For example, he found that the four members of the band could easily be regrouped into different combinations of pairs, to great, poignant effect.
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