You know I love me some bubblegum, so it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I love me some ABBA as a result.
ABBA rode out of Sweden with the winning entry in the 1974 Eurovision song contest, “Waterloo,” and became worldwide superstars, although never quite as big in the States as elsewhere. They had their share of hits over here—20 in the Hot 100 between 1974 and 1982—but only four made the Top 10; six others stalled out between 20 and 11, and they had but a single Number One. (In the UK, they had nine of ‘em.) But here’s the thing about ABBA: Even their lesser hits tended to be potent earworms. If it got on the radio, it was going to stick in people’s heads for a mighty long time.
Here are five ABBA highlights, by album.
ABBA (1975). Their second album, third if you count the European-only Ring Ring, about which more below. “S.O.S” is as great a radio record as “Waterloo,” and “Mamma Mia” will live forever as the title song from the smash musical, which The Mrs. and I have tickets to see in a couple of weeks. Earworm alert: “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.” This thing is completely ridiculous. It features at least 500 saxophones, and the presence of chimes to punctuate the last choruses says to me that Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were deliberately trying to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. But the joy with which Agnetha Faltskog and Anna-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad infuse their vocals is absolute, and irresistable.
Greatest Hits (1976). It was a bit presumptuous of Atlantic to release a “greatest hits” album in September 1976, given that ABBA had scored but five hit singles in the States by that point, and that’s counting the essential “Fernando,” which first appeared on this album. Atlantic filled it out with several songs from on the group’s 1973 debut, Ring Ring. That album had been credited to “Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha, and Anna-Frid,” before the foursome had settled on the name ABBA, and it remained unreleased in the States until 1995. Earworm alert: “Bang-a-Boomerang.” It has a little bridge at about the 2:25 mark which is, to my ears at least, one of the killer-est hooks in ABBA’s catalog—and given the sheer volume of killer hooks in ABBA’s catalog, that’s sayin’ something.
Arrival (1977). It’s said that when Frida heard the backing track for “Dancing Queen” the first time, she broke down in tears. And why not? “Dancing Queen” is the moment in which ABBA demonstrates its true self for all time. Among other things, it proves (again) just how talented Bjorn and Benny were as producers. The best part of the record is the intro—especially the giant piano glissando that starts it off—but a close second comes near the end, when Agnetha and Frida repeat the lines “you can dance/you can jive/having the time of your life” for the final time. It’s clear in that moment that they are indeed having the time of their lives, riding one of the most potent hit machines the world had ever heard—and so are we, listening. Other key tracks on the album: “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” in which the pain of an impending divorce is as palpable as the delight on “Dancing Queen,” and “Money Money Money,” a change of pace that became ABBA’s first single to miss the U.S. Top 40.
Super Trouper (1980). By this time, the third album after Arrival, Bjorn and Agnetha were already divorced; Benny and Frida would split in 1981. That explains “The Winner Takes it All,” a deeply sad, fatalistic look at the end of a love affair. Message: Love is born to die, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. Earworm alert: “Super Trouper.” Docked points for being from the what-a-bitch-it-is-to-be-a-star sub-genre, but still insanely catchy.
The Visitors (1981). In which the group does more songs inspired by divorce, such as “One of Us” and “When All Is Said and Done,” which revisits the fatalism of “The Winner Takes It All.” The album also includes the strangest ABBA song ever released as a single, “The Visitors,” which starts off like Led Zeppelin’s “In the Evening” before resolving itself into a tale about the fear of being watched by, well, somebody. A private detective snooping into an illicit affair? Aliens? (John at Lost in the 80s says it’s about Russian dissidents under surveillance.) Whatever it’s about, somebody’s world is trembling beneath them, and they’re afraid of falling into the abyss. Which is what happened to ABBA at the end of 1982, when they split.
And they seem to have split without looking back. The foursome sang together privately for a friend’s 50th birthday in 1999, and Frida told a reporter a couple of years ago that she was “longing” for a reunion, but the other members are simply not interested, she says. We live in a reunion-happy era where anything is possible, but not everything is likely. Although The Visitors indicated ABBA was starting to move in a different direction, there’s no sense that they left any unfinished statements. Producing eight years of nearly continuous pop pleasure is achievement enough for anybody.
“Bang-a-Boomerang”/ABBA (this is a dub from an elderly cassette, so it’s not perfect; buy it here; it’s the 30th anniversary edition of the 1976 Greatest Hits album mentioned above)
“I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”/ABBA
“Super Trouper”/ABBA
(buy both of the latter here)
Filed under: Tracks
