Under attack - Abba

Although war crept in to some Abba tracks from time to time (most notably 'Waterloo' and 'Fernando'), the feeling of paranoia and fear was never more obvious than on 'Under attack', a real Cold War song. It was released as Abba's last single - or so we thought. After 'Under attack' there were endless re-releases of singles until the band surprised us in 2021 with 'I still have faith in you'. 

'Under attack' was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles ('Head over heels' and 'The day before you came') had failed to reach number 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, and a Top 20 single in a couple of other European charts, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at number 26 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 7311
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one'

The day before you came - Abba

After a short break, Abba returned to the studio in the spring of 1982. The first results were deemed disappointing: the tracks 'Just like that' was never released (a snippet appeared on the box set Thank you for the music in 1994), 'I am the city' only made it out in 1993 on More Abba Gold and 'You owe me one' would become a B-side later in 1982. Concluding that a new full length album was not a realistic prospect for 1982, Polar Music decided instead to release a double-album compilation of ABBA’s most successful singles in autumn 1982, in which would be included some new recordings which could also be released as singles.

The group went back in the studio in August and recorded 'Cassandra' and 'Under attack'. Under the working title ‘Den lidande fågeln’ (‘The Suffering Bird’) they also started on what would become 'The day before you came'. The song was based on "a single melodic fragment that lent itself to being repeated in a series of ascending and descending phrases over several key changes", according to Benny. 

Björn wrote the lyrics at and following the session. His first task was to decide on a theme, and here he was inspired by the characteristics of the melody he and Benny had written: "The tune is narrative in itself, and relentless. That almost monotonous quality made me think of this girl who was living in a sort of gloominess and is now back in that same sense of gloom." His idea for a theme therefore was "a woman recounting all the dull, ordinary things she “guessed she must have done” the day before she had a highly charged encounter with a man" and began a relationship that would end unhappily: "He has left her, and her life has returned to how it ‘must have been’ before she met him.”

Many years after the song was recorded, Michael Tretow recalled Agnetha performing the lead vocals with dimmed lights and said that the mood had become sad and everybody in the studio knew that 'this was the end'. Although 'Under attack' would be released after 'The day before you came', this song certainly sounds like Abba's last great moment, and it remains one of my absolute favourite songs of the band. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7310
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'The day before you came' / 'Cassandra'

Head over heels - Abba

'Head over heels' was released in March 1982 as the second single from the album The Visitors.  Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals, singing about her "very good friend", played in the music video by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, an overactive high-society woman who rushes through the shops, with her hapless and exhausted husband (played by Ulvaeus) following behind and being forced to carry the shopping bags. 

The single reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40, while it stalled at number 25 in the UK singles chart. No further singles were released from the album - in Europe at least, because the B-side 'The Visitors' was released as a single in the USA in April 1982, with 'Head over heels' added on the other side.

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7309
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Head over heels' / 'The visitors'

One of us - Abba

At the start of the 1980s, Abba was slowly falling apart. After the divorce of Björn and Agnetha (which some felt was documented in 'The winner takes it all'), Benny and Frida followed suit and the album The Visitors, released in 1981, was definitely a more sombre affair when compared to previous albums.

The lead single was 'One of us', one of a number of tracks that explored the darker territory of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson's songwriting, as the two men's divorces were beginning to influence their musical output. The message of the song is about a woman trying to revive a relationship she had ended. The single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the Dutch Top 40. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album The Visitors in 2023.

My collection: 7" single no. 7308
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'One of us' / 'Should I laugh or cry'

Oude wonden - Annie

Having released one album and six singles on the WEA/Arti label, Dutch singer Annie found herself without a recording contract. No wonder: all of her releases failed to chart, as her repertoire was probably just too depressing for most.

But she persevered. 'Oude wonden' ('Old wounds') was released in 1985 on the small 'Audio records' label. The material she sang was as depressing as ever: 'Old wound never heal' she sings on the A-side, and the B-side, 'Waarom ging je heen' ('Why did you leave') is an ode to someone who committed suicide. It was another remarkable addition to an already remarkable repertoire. Unsurprisingly, this single, too, wasn't a hit.

My collection: 7" single no. 7229
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 June 2024
Tracks: 'Oude wonden' / 'Waarom ging je heen'

Wild hearted woman - All About Eve

My recent post about All About Eve's 'Wild hearted woman' was one part of the story. There's another part to it, of course, because back in 1988 the band released many different formats and configurations of their singles.

Take for instance this limited edition version of the same 12" single. It comes in a box, which includes the 12" single in a completely different sleeve plus an enamel badge. That's all. No posters or postcards, just a badge. However, the 12" features an extra track compared to the 'regular' 12" single. The fourth track is a 'reprise' of 'What kind of fool' - a song that would get a single release some months later after the chart success of 'Martha's harbour'. 

It's a nice package, which I managed to buy at a record fair some time after its release.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, 1990
Tracks: 'Wild hearted woman [extended]', 'What kind of fool (Reprise)' / 'Appletree man', 'Like Emily'

Lay all your love on me - Abba

'Lay all your love on me' was not intended to be a single but after a remixed version gained popularity in nightclubs, the song was released as Abba's final single from the album Super Trouper - but only as a 12" single.  At the time, it was the highest selling 12-inch record in UK chart history, where it peaked at No. 7. 

The song is known for a descending vocal sound at the end of the verse immediately preceding the refrain. This was achieved by sending the vocal into a harmoniser device, which was set up to produce a slightly lower-pitched version of the vocal. In turn its output was fed back to its input, thereby continually lowering the pitch of the vocal. Andersson and Ulvaeus felt that the chorus of the song sounded like a hymn, so parts of the vocals in the choruses were run through a vocoder, to recreate the sound of a church congregation singing, slightly out of tune.

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Super Trouper in 2020. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7319
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 September 2024
Tracks: 'Lay all your love on me' / 'On and on and on'