ABBA

[Eric Generic]

^ Yeah, I'd not heard about until recently, but that's the story.

ABBA's chart history is apparently unique in that their singles all either went top 10 or missed the top 20 completely. No one else with any kind of success has seen such a polarised (see what I did there?) sequence.

I love trivia like that.

[dennis]

As do I, thanks guys.

[Aime]

My Love, My Life is so underrated, I swear I've never met anyone who likes as much as I do. It's heartbreaking.

[sometimesxtc]

My Love, My Life is so underrated, I swear I've never met anyone who likes as much as I do. It's heartbreaking.

I really, really do. My Love, My Life, That's Me and I've Been Waiting For You are three of my favourites and overlooked moments of sheer Abba-splendour.

[tylerc904]

I've Been Waiting For You is one of my absolute favorites.

Lovers (Live a Little Longer), Kisses Of Fire, Should I Laugh or Cry, The Day Before You Came, Happy Hawaii, Me and I, The Piper = all brilliant album tracks.

[hudweiser]

I've Been Waiting for You, That's Me, Move On (and the Spanish version Al Andar), As Good As New, Our Last Summer, Soldiers all rank as favourite album tracks.

[tylerc904]

I forgot Soldiers!

[Eric Generic]

I've just gone and ordered all Agentha's solo CDs from the 80s. Until now I've made do with the compilation That's Me.

[Baby Clyde]

'Soldiers' is amazing. One of my all time favourite ABBA songs.

[Alcazarized]

I've just gone and ordered all Agentha's solo CDs from the 80s. Until now I've made do with the compilation That's Me.

They're a mixed bag. Agnetha herself isn't reportedly too fond of Eyes of a Woman or I Stand Alone, but there are some hidden gems on all three. Of the non-singles, I think the following are the highlights: Shame, Once Burned Twice Shy, Man, Stand By My Side, We Move As One, We Should Be Together, I Stand Alone, If You Need Somebody Tonight. P&B is bonkers but also a favourite!

[Eric Generic]

Yeah, I'm not expecting ABBA quality, but I do love that processed 80s sound and they are albums I've always been on the lookout for (but never, ever come across them in used/collectors/charity shops). Roughly a fiver each on amazon is not bad.

[hudweiser]

I loved 'Man', wish it had been an ABBA song.

[nnnumb]

My favourite non-ABBA solo release would have to be Frida's Threnody. I'm not sure if I'm being swayed by the Dorothy Parker connection though. Either way, it's quite lovely.

[letuinmybackdoor]

Does anyone know if ABBA were the kind of act who charted highly when they entered the chart with a single or album? In those day record often climbed but there were some acts who were so popular that a new single would usually chart highly? I just can't imagine 'Dancing Queen' not zooming straight to number one upon release.

[Eric Generic]

Dancing Queen had an odd climb to the top - in at 20, crawled up to 16 (!) and then, whoomp, up to #1.

Generally, they debuted fairly high, either lower reaches of top 10 or mid-teens. They often peaked on the 2nd week (as many acts did in the late 70s and early 80s).

[ManilaSilk]

To make it even more dramatic, Dancing Queen actually entered at #23.

[Eric Generic]

Oops, yeah 23-16-1. Close!

Of course I now want to check all the ABBA stats.

[ManilaSilk]

http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=139

Feel free.

[Eric Generic]

Ha, I was going to recommend that. My online bible.

[Eric Generic]

Looked them all up in my Top 40 Charts book earlier, and was surprised at how not all of their big hits entered strongly; the ones that did were mostly between 1978 and 1981 - which is probaby what I remember the most clearly anyway.

From memory the highest debuts were:

Chiquitita - 8
Winner Take It All - 9
Take A Chance On Me - 10
One Of Us - 11
Super Trouper - 13
Fernando - 14
Lay All Your Love On Me - 17
Knowing Me Knowing You - 18
Does Your Mother Know - 19
Name Of The Game - 20
I Have A Dream - 21
Summer Night City - 21
Angeleyes / Voulez Vous - 23


..and the then others were Dancing Queen (23) and some more in the 30s. Most of those shot up into the top 10 the very next week. The Day Before You Came seems unique in that it peaked at its highest position! In at 32 then moped around between 35 and 38 for a month.

[tylerc904]

I've listened to Ring Ring, the album, for the first time in entirety yesterday.

Was expecting much, much worse.

Only 3 or 4 "skips" for me!

Waterloo next, though I've heard about half of it already.

[Baby Clyde]

I've just done the same whilst at the gym.

I've had it on before but never properly listened to it.

It could be a lot worse but is still pretty bad. There's some great songs but also some absolute shockers.

Way to much Benny and Bjorn.

'Nina Pretty Ballerina' has got to be amongst the worst things they ever recorded.

[tylerc904]

He Is Your Brother & Rock N Roll Band are both nice. Nina Pretty Ballerina isn't that bad, I can think of 4 tracks worse on the album alone!

Waterloo is much better though. I love My Mama Said, Dance (While the Music Still Goes On) and Watch Out. Hasta Manana has always been a favorite.

[sometimesxtc]

OK, I got the Super Trouper reissue crazy cheap at a Boxing Day sale. The only thing on there of any particular interest is the doco, which was quite nice... though typical in ice-cool Scando "passion". Still, I could listen to them talk about their tunes quite happily for hours on end.

So I thought I had the Arrival one too... which I now realise I don't. Do I want the four that preceded Super Trouper? What's everyone else got? The Visitors is a given, naturally....

[OMGitsashleigh]

My mom & Dad told me they used to dance to ABBA all the time in the clubs when they first moved to Belgium from Africa.

I'm glad they passed on their love of ABBA to me.