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ABBA Chart commentary
See below for the september updates !
by Tim Rice, Jo Rice and Paul Gambaccini. Taken from: “The Guinness Book Of Number One Hits” (1987) Also listed are ABBA in terms of most successfull, biggest etc etc which will come next week with the second round of chart commentary.
We start with chart commentary, ABBA’s first number 1 in the UK; “Waterloo” – “Knowing Me, Knowing You”…
WATERLOO – ABBA
4 May 1974, for two weeks
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Benny Andersson (born in Stockholm on 16 December 1946) began his musical career with a group called the Hep Stars, who were for some years very popular in Sweden. Bjorn Ulvaeus (born in Gothenberg on 25 April 1945) was with an outfit called The Hootenanny Singers but in the late 60s the two combined to form the duo Bjorn & Benny. It was hardly obvious foundation for the most popular group in the world since the break-up of The Beatles. By the early 70s they had achieved considerable popularity in Scandinavia at which time they bought their girlfriends into the group. They were Agnetha Faltskog (born in Jonkoping on 5 April 1950) and Annifrid Lyngstad (born in Norway on 15 November 1945) and by the original ploy of taking the initial letters of the quartets first names, teh anme Abba was born. Up to this moment the only thing that could be said about the new group was the startling lack of originality displayed by all concerned throughout their musical careers. the music that ABBA produced was therefore all the more unexpected.
Waterloo was Sweden’s Eurovision entry for 1974. It won easily and became probably the biggest international hit in the history of the contest. It created a new stereotype of Eurovision song, which continued into 1981 with Bucks Fizz, another two men-two girl group.
MAMMA MIA – ABBA
31 January 1976, for two weeks
The record that changed ABBA from just another European group into the Super-swedes whose sales exceeded those of Volvo was Mamam Mia. Not that Mamma Mia was itself a worldwide smash, but by giving ABBA their second number one in Britain, almost two years after the first, it established a base of international popularity on which they built their incredible sales of the ’70s and early ’80s.
Between Waterloo and Mamma Mia had been some flops and three hits. Two of these hits did not even make the Top 30, but SOS the release before Mamma Mia, climbed up to number 6 to return ABBA to the top 10 after 18 months absence. When Mamma Mia hit the top ABBA became teh first act to have a number one hit after their Eurovision number one, a feat that has since been equalled by Brotherhood of man, Cliff Richard and Bucks Fizz but never by a foreign act. ABBA have changed the popular music of recent years by making showing record execs that European groups can sell, whether or not they are ABBA imitators. Acts like Europe, a-ha and Kraftwerk owe a lot of their international success to the success of ABBA, which really began with Mamma Mia, the 383rd record and 400th different song to reach number one.
FERNANDO – ABBA
8 May 1976, for four weeks
ABBA’s third number 1, their second in succession, was Fernando. It knocked Brotherhood of Man off the top, but they retaliated by modelling their style ever closer on ABBA, and even coming up with two more chart-toppers; Angelo and Figaro whose titles bore a more than coincidental similarity to Fernando.
Fernando was a gentle anti-war song, featuring the only mistake in English in Bjorn Ulvaeus’ lyrics, when he wrote “Since many years I haven’t seen a rifle in your hand”. It may seem churish to point out the mistakes in English, but it is worth mentioning only because it is unique. How many English writers could write nine number 1 hits in a foreign language with virtually no error? Albert Hammond (writer of I Need Tou) speaks fluent Spanish, but even he prefers to write about the rain in Southern California than the rain in Spain. ABBA have also had hits with song titles in Italian; Mamma Mia, and Freanch; Voulez-Vous, but the nearest they have got to their native Swedish was their ode to Stockholm; Summer Night City.
ABBA – DANCING QUEEN
4 September 1976, for six weeks
ABBA completed their first hat-trick of number ones in Britain with Dancing Queen, which also became their only American number one. ABBA had been quoted as saying that they would never tour America until they had a number one there, so the success of Dancing Queen gave them the excuse to sample the delights of motels and fast food in the United States.
The follow-up to Dancing Queen was their only single in three years not to make the top. It was called Money, Money, Money and reached number 3. It confirmed the jinx on ‘money’ records. The Bay City Rollers followed up two number one singles with Money Honey which also reached number 3. Elvis’ first flop after five consecutive number ones in 1961 and 1962 was One Broken Heart For Sale, and only The Beatles with Can’t Buy Me Love have managed to sing about money without a drop in popularity.
ABBA – KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU
2nd April, for five weeks
Despite the small hiccup in ABBA’s stream of chart successes when Money, Money, Money reached only number 3, the boys and girls from snowy Sweden showed their ability to bounce back when their next single; Knowing Me, Knowing You, hot the top on 2nd April 1977, in its sixth week on the chart. It then stayed there for five weeks and became the first number one in ABBA’s second hat-trick of number chart-toppers. That second threesome took 46 weeks to complete, the third slowest trio after The Beatles Lady Madonna/Hey Jude/Get Back run which covered 56 weeks, and Police, who took 52 weeks in 1979 and 1980 over the hat-trick. The Beatles took 46 weeks over their Help/Day Tripper/Paperback Writer hat-trick aswell. John Lennon completed his posthumos threesome in seven weeks.
MORE FOR SEPTEMBER :
Remember the book is from 1984 so some statistics may be out of date or opinions changed.
(Ed = Edited by AbbaFeatures)
ABBA – THE NAME OF THE GAME
5th November, for four weeks
It was perhaps fitting that one of the biggest chart names of all time should be at number one on 14th November 1977, the 25th birthday of the singles chart in Britain. ABBA’s sixth number one hit brought them level with Slade in the all time rankings, behind only Elvis and The Beatles (17 each), Cliff Richard (then 9 number one singles) and the Rolling Stones (8). ABBA have now over taken the Rolling Stones but look very unlikely to pas Cliff for the Bronze position (Ed :: Westlife and Madonna now rank higher) and another ABBA single, let alone another chart-topper, seems unlikely. (Ed :: Remember the book is from 1984)
ABBA’s achievments in opening the doors of the British cahrts to the sound of Europe should not be underestimated. Before the Swedish quartet burst on to the scene, hits by European acts in Britain were very rare indeed. None had topped the charts.
Another ABBA chart achievment is less well known. Apart from their 19 Top 10 hits (peaking at every position between 1 and 7) ABBA never reached the top 20 with their other six entries. The best of the rest was “Head Over Heels” which stopped at number 25. No other act has such a sharpley divided success rating.
ABBA – TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
18th February 1978, for three weeks
ABBA completed a hat-trick of increasing uncertainty on 18th February 1978. The first record of the hat-trick had the positive title, “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and stayed at the top for five weeks. The second record had the less certain but still unworried title, “The Name Of The Game”, and stayed on top for four weeks. The third record was much less optimistic, pleading “Take A Chance On Me, which the British public did, for three weeks. Logically, ABBA should have recorded “Maybe Baby” and “God Only Knows” as their next two singles, which would have held the top spot for two and one weeks respectivley, but they didn’t. They recorded “Summer Night City” which became the first of six consecutive singles to hit the top 5 without reaching the very top. It was therefore quite a suprise to chart-watchers, if not to Epic records executives when at the end of 1980 two singles from the “Super Trouper” album hit number one, to put ABBA back on top after two and a half years.
ABBA – THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
9 August 1980, for two weeks
ABBA’s return to teh top after a 21/2 year absence was a suprise to chart form-watchers who felt that they would fade slowly into the sunset after a long, hugely succesful but no longer chart-topping career. The first of two singles taken from ABBA’s “Super Trouper” album changed all that by leap-frogging to the top in only it’s second week in the chart. The group had come a long way since those far off days of Hep Stars, Hootenanny singers and the Anni-Frid Four.
By the time the group recorded “Super Trouper” Agnetha and Bjorn had seperated. Yet the quartet seemed to be able to handle the complications of such breakdowns with the skill with which they made records – famalies had broken up but the hits kept coming. “The Winner Takes It All” was ABBA’s eighth number one.
ABBA – SUPER TROUPER
29th November 1980, for three weeks
The second single from the “Super Trouper” album was the title track. It gave ABBA their ninth number one. It took a week longer than the last single to climb to number one, but was only knocked of the top by the tradgedy of John Lennon’s death. It was perhaps a fitting reminder to the biggest group in the world since the break-up of The Beatles that the fab four still stood taller than any group in popular music history.
The final ABBA album, “The Visitors”, was released in 1981. It failed to yield a number one single. By the end of 1982 the group had disbanded in all aspects except a final press announcement. that year Frida Lyngstad was the first ABBA member to have a solo hit. Agnetha Faltskog followed in 1983 with three small hits. Bjorn and Benny co-wrote the musical “Chess” with Tim Rice, which yielded not only their tenth chart-topper as writers but also a single that sold more copies (worldwide) than any ABBA single, Murray Head’s “One Night In Bangkok”.
ABBA have still not officialy disbanded, but it seems very unlikely that the four super Swedes will get back together in the recording studio. Their songs will no doubt return to the charts though.. Already there are cover versions of their “Waterloo” (by Dr. and the Medics) and “The Day Before You Came” (by Blancmange). The ABBA song book is likely to prove a rich source of hits for many years to come.