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Post by richard on Jun 8, 2019 10:40:45 GMT
In 1977, Debbie Boone had a massive hit in the US with 'You Light Up My Life' - 10 weeks at No.1. The B-Side was Hasta Manana; and since the B-Side earned as much as the A-Side, I wonder if HM was Benny and Bjorn's most financially rewarding single song in the 70s?
Also, I'm guessing that HM was the guys' song that was listened to most by US record-buyers in that era.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 8, 2019 11:08:17 GMT
I'm sure you're right! I imagine their accountants would find lots of interesting stories like this. Instrumental versions of their songs turning up on all kinds of budget releases by regional orchestras and session players would probably yield surprising amounts of royalties. You were almost guaranteed to hear saccharine Mantovani-styled renditions of their hits any time you stepped into a lift or a department store back in the seventies, if memory serves.
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Post by Zeebee on Jun 10, 2019 22:22:50 GMT
I posted Debby Boone's version in another thread quite some time ago. Whereas the lines "Where is the dream we were dreaming/ And all the nights we shared" at the beginning of the second verse are spoken in ABBA's version, Debby Boone sings those lines.
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Post by angela on Jun 11, 2019 4:00:05 GMT
Judy Stone who was a popular singer here in Australia in the 60's also had "Hasta Manana" as a single the only difference was she sang the second verse.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2019 8:27:15 GMT
'You Light Up My Life' sold about 3 Million copies. It was a 10 Week No.1 in the USA, but No European Country
was interested in it. This includes the UK, where it was a No.48 Hit. The only other Country which put it at No.1
was Canada. It reached No.3 in South Africa, No.7 in Australia and No.12 in New Zealand. This means that it
was only a Top 10 Hit in 4 Countries. The vast bulk of its 3 Million Sales were in the USA.
So, we can say that 'Hasta Manana' sold 3 Million, as its 'B' Side. That ABBA Song was not a really big ABBA Hit,
so its ABBA Singles Sales were not huge at all.
Several ABBA Singles outsold 'You Light Up My Life' in the 1970's. 'Dancing Queen' and 'Fernando' - 6 Million each.
'Waterloo' - 5.5 Million. 'S.O.S.' - 4 Million. 'Mamma Mia' - 3.5 Million. 'Money, Money, Money' sold around 3 Million.
The Global Sales figures for 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and 'Take A Chance On Me' are not so certain. However,
'Knowing Me, Knowing You' was the World's 2nd Biggest Hit of 1977 and 'Take A Chance On Me' was 5th for 1978.
Their other 1970's Singles were not so huge. Despite being a Top 10 Hit in many Countries, 'Chiquitita' only got to
No.7 in the Global Top 10. Which is a great mystery to me. It probably sold 3 Million to 4 Million.
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Post by richard on Jun 11, 2019 9:51:30 GMT
I should have confined my question specifically to the US, because as you make clear, it's not worth asking in a worldwide context.
Thanks for the information.
Musically speaking, I think Debbie Boone tried, maybe subconsciously, to imitate something of Agnetha's singing - not very successfully, of course; and I find the arrangement in the choruses, in particular, heavy-handed compared with ABBA'a original.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2019 1:52:44 GMT
The Benny and Bjorn Song that has the most Sales as a cover version is 'I Know Him So Well'.
In 1987 Whitney Houston and her Mother - Cissy Houston - sang it as Track 11 on the 'Whitney' Album.
That Album went on to sell over 20,000,000 copies World-wide. This includes almost 10 Million in the
USA and almost 2,250,000 in the UK.
Note - Some people credit 'Fernando' with 10 Million Global Sales, but that is too many, and a more
realistic Total is 6 Million.
Wikipedia does not include 'Dancing Queen' in its 'World's Best Selling Singles' List. This is because, they
only count its Sales to near the end of 1976 - 3 Million. They ignore all of its Sales after 1976, even though
it was a huge USA and Canadian Hit in 1977, and it was still in the Charts of many Countries at the start of
1977. Wikipedia refuses to accept that it sold more than 3 Million copies. It sold more than double that, by
the end of the 1970's...
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