S.O.S. - Abba

The Swedish supergroup Abba is back on this blog, with a Japanese single no less. This is an interesting one, because it couples 'S.O.S' with 'I do, I do, I do, I do', two songs that were released as individual singles in other territories.

The attractive thing about Japanese singles is the impeccable quality and, more often than not, unique sleeves. This particular sleeve features a group photo that I've never seen on any other Abba single release. And so, a very nice rarity.

My collection: 7" single no. 7418
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 November 2024
Tracks: 'S.O.S.' / 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do'

Fernando - Abba

Like I wrote recently, the French do things differently, and that applies to this release of Abba's 'Fernando' as well. The Dutch and German versions of the single had 'Tropical Loveland' on the B-side, some other territories went for 'Hey hey Helen', but the French went for 'Dance (while the music still goes on)'. It is actually a better song than the other two in my opinion, so kudos to the French for this release.

In France, 'Fernando' reached number 2 in the singles chart, which was in line with most other countries, where it ended up either peaking at number 2 or topping the chart. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7376
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 5 October 2024
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Dance (while the music still goes on)'

Knowing me knowing you / The winner takes it all - Abba

It's no surprise that the Old Gold series would end up releasing an Abba single. And this one presents two excellent songs: 'Knowing me knowing you' from 1976 and 'The winner takes it all' from 1980. This single was released in 1989, before Abba would find a cultural reappraisal as a result of the compilation album Abba Gold. 

Having bought quite a few Abba singles recently this almost seems like overload, but it's a rather unique release and still a worthy addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7372
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 5 October 2024
Tracks: 'Knowing me knowing you' / 'The winner takes it all'

I have a dream - Abba

The French have a way of doing things differently, and in the record business, that's no exception. Various Abba singles were released with different sleeves, and sometimes even with different content.

This release of 'I have a dream' is a good example. While other singles have a live version of 'Take a chance on me' on the B-side, this French edition comes with the studio version from 1977. I actually didn't know this when I bought this single, but it's a nice deviation. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7355
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 5 October 2024
Tracks: 'I have a dream' / 'Take a chance on me'

Under attack - Abba

In 1982 Abba released their 'last' single, 'Under attack'. In the UK the single was also released as a picture disc - and a very pretty one, I have to add. The photograph was also used on the compilation The Singles - The First Ten Years, on which this song was presented for the very first time.

Flash forward 42 years and the band is about the release The Singles - The First Fifty Years. You would almost expect them to deliver more material during the next fifty years, but that seems highly unlikely. Meanwhile, it's items like this that will keep fans happy for a long time.

My collection: 7" single no. 7341
Found: Discogs.com, received 24 September 2024
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one'

One of us - Abba

After the recent influx of Abba picture discs in my collection, I suddenly realized that the band also released a few picture discs back in the day. I knew of at least one: 'One of us', a picture disc released in the UK which I spotted at record fairs quite a few times. Buying them seemed like a bridge too far, but now that I'm the owner of the majority of their picture disc releases, it didn't seem so weird anymore.

And so I went online and found a seller who had this, and another picture disc on offer - and for a reasonable price, too. This disc shows the men on the A-side and the women on the B-side. Seems like a bit of sexual discrimination was going on there...

My collection: 7" single no. 7340
Found: Discogs.com, received 24 September 2024
Tracks: 'One of us' / 'Should I laugh or cry'

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'

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'

Super trouper - Abba

I've always viewed 'Super trouper' as an Abba-by-numbers track. Sure, the melody is there and the vocals are spot on, but the lyrics seem a bit uninspired. Being the big pop stars they were at that time, it seemed a bit too 'easy' to get inspired by a super trouper - the kind of spotlight used during live performances - and telling the story of a singer who waits for her lover to appear.

But still, the audiences loved it. The single was actually Abba's last number 1 hit in the UK. It also topped the charts in a handful of European countries. 

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. 7318
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 September 2024
Tracks: 'Super trouper' / 'The piper'

The winner takes it all - Abba

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson started writing 'The winner takes it all' in the summer of 1979 in a cottage on the island of Viggsö. The demo had an original title of 'The story of my life' and the first arrangement for the song was uptempo with a constant beat. However, they felt their first effort "much too stiff and metrical", so they left the song for a few days while they worked on other songs. 

Four days later they returned to the song, and Andersson came up with the idea of using a French chanson-style arrangement with a descending piano line and a looser structure. Ulvaeus then recorded a demo using nonsense French words for lyrics, and took the recording home to write the lyrics. According to Ulvaeus, he drank whiskey while he was writing, and it was the quickest lyric he ever wrote. He said, "I was drunk, and the whole lyric came to me in a rush of emotion in one hour." Ulvaeus said that when he gave the lyrics to Fältskog to read, "a tear or two welled up in her eyes. Because the words really affected her." Ulvaeus denies the song is about his and Fältskog's divorce, saying the basis of the song "is the experience of a divorce, but it's fiction. 'Cause one thing I can say is that there wasn't a winner or a loser in our case. A lot of people think it's straight out of reality, but it's not". However, Ulvaeus admitted that the heartache of their breakup inspired the song, but noted that the words in the song should not be taken literally. These days, 'The winner takes it all' is recognized as one of Abba's strongest tracks. 

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. 7312
Found: Abba Fanclub, received 3 September 2024
Tracks: 'The winner takes it all' / 'Elaine'

Voulez-vous (extended dance remix) - Abba

The extended dance remix of 'Voulez-vous' on this 7" single was originally released on a promotional 12" single in the USA only. In 2001, the track resurfaced on the 2001 compilation album The Definitive Collection. And then, of course, Abba being Abba, the track was re-released several times. In 2005 it was included in the 'blue' box set The Complete Studio Recordings and in 2012 it was released on a blue sparkling 12" single for Record Store Day.

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Voulez-Vous in 2019. It is actually the first release of this remix on a 7" single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7315
Found: Abba Fanclub, received 3 September 2024
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous (extended dance remix)' / 'If it wasn't for the nights'

Voulez-Vous - Abba

Although 'Voulez-Vous' was definitely the most recognized song of the two, this single was originally conceived as a double A-side, as is reflected in the artwork. But the appeal of the disco-infused song with the French title was simply much bigger. 

A songwriting trip to the Bahamas saw the birth of this melody, and the proximity to Miami made it convenient to record the backing track at Criteria Studios with members of the disco group Foxy. 'Voulez-Vous' is the only ABBA song (other than live recordings) to be recorded outside of Sweden. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Voulez-Vous in 2019. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7314
Found: Abba Fanclub, received 3 September 2024
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous' / 'Angeleyes'

I have a dream - Abba

Perfect for that end-of-year melancholy feeling, 'I have a dream' was released a few weeks before Christmas 1979. The song was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus circa March 1979 and was taken from the album Voulez-Vous. Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang the lead vocals. The recording includes a final chorus by 28 children from Stockholm International School. The track is also notable for the extensive use of an electric sitar, an unusual instrument in Abba's recordings. 

The B-side featured a live recording of 'Take a chance on me', recorded at Wembley in London. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Voulez-Vous in 2019. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7320
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 September 2024
Tracks: 'I have a dream' / 'Take a chance on me [live]'

Does your mother know - Abba

Some were surprised when the song 'Does your mother know' featured lead vocals by Björn Ulvaeus, after so many singles with female lead vocals. The subject matter was quite different too: the song was roughly about cross-generational flirting in big city night clubs. The inspiration for the lyrics came from a newspaper article, whilst the title was a phrase Ulvaeus had seen in a book or magazine. The demo featured his guide vocal and it was decided to keep this during the recording process.

While a top 10 hit in several countries, 'Does your mother know' only topped the charts in Belgium. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Voulez-Vous in 2019. Although this single features one of the best photographs of the group, the quality of this picture disc leaves a bit to be desired, unfortunately: the faces look almost unrecognizable.

My collection: 7" single no. 7313
Found: Abba Fanclub, received 3 September 2024
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire'

Chiquitita - Abba

One of the songs recorded by Abba during sessions for their album Voulez-Vous was the syrupy ballad 'Chiquitita'. It's one of those songs you either love or hate, and for me, it's always tended towards the latter. However, the last few seconds of the song are great, which is kindof a weird twist.

'Chiquitita' was a charttopper in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, South Africa and Rhodesia. It was a top 5 hit in ABBA's native Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, West Germany and Norway. These sales makes it the most successful single from the album Voulez-Vous in terms of global charts and one of the more famous charity songs ever. To this day, 50% of the proceeds from the song go to UNICEF in recognition of the 'International Year of the Child' in 1979. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of a series accompanying the re-release of the album Voulez-Vous in 2019. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7321
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 September 2024
Tracks: 'Chiquitita' / 'Lovelight'

Honey Honey - Abba

'Honey Honey' was released as the second single from Abba's second studio album, Waterloo, after the success of the title track at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. Although some people believe that the group was instantly successful all over the world, this single was actually not the huge success that 'Waterloo' was. It reached the top 10 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but in other countries it fared less well. Some assumed that the Swedish group would be a one hit wonder.

This edition is a picture disc released as part of this year's 50th anniversary celebrations, along with the album Waterloo. It's the last of three picture disc 7" singles.

My collection: 7" single no. 7305
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Honey Honey' / 'King Kong song'

Waterloo - Abba

While Abba performed 'Waterloo' in English at the Eurovision Song Contest, it was originally performed in Swedish at the national final for Eurovision. This Swedish version was also released as a single in Sweden, where it was very popular. 

Meanwhile, 'Honey honey' was the last official recording by the group in their own Swedish language, and was released as the B-side of the 'Waterloo' single. 

This edition is a picture disc released as part of this year's 50th anniversary celebrations, along with the album Waterloo. It's the second of three picture disc 7" singles, but the only one featuring a colour picture.

My collection: 7" single no. 7306
Found: Sounds, Delft, 31 August 2024
Tracks: 'Waterloo (Swedish version)' / 'Honey Honey (Swedish version)'