|
|
Post by HOMETIME on May 2, 2021 11:33:15 GMT
I hope the mods will be patient: I wasn't entirely sure where to place this one. Please feel free to move it. I was reading an old Record Mirror from October 1980 and came across this titbit on the charts page. The idea that ABBA records would be arbitrarily "demoted" on the Swedish charts to "make way" for other acts seems a tad unlikely? Has anyone else ever heard this before? Is Andrew Williamson of Bacton a site member, by any chance? You'll see the next paragraph makes reference to two ABBA entries on a Japanese listeners' poll. ![]()  |
|
|
|
Post by foreverfan on May 2, 2021 13:53:17 GMT
There's an unsubstantiated claim that this happened to TACOM here in the UK , and at least 2 weeks were not added to the total. ( apparently they are known and I was told but cant remember ) TACOM fell to number 19 on its 10th and final week in the top 50, ( chart run.. 10, 2 1, 1,1,2,3,8.15.19...some facts show that its 7th week was at 2, there's another section on this ) its unlikely that it fell 31 plus places the following week, but was removed from the chart due to  we shall never know.... |
|
|
|
Post by gazman on May 2, 2021 16:48:24 GMT
I think that was a myth. Admittedly, 'Dancing Queen' had 14 weeks at number 1 on the Swedish chart, but 'Summer Night City', their next, only had 2 weeks and after that, they never had a singles chart topper....
For albums, the later ones tended to sell too quickly to attain that kind of run, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by onlyabba4meagain on May 2, 2021 20:38:43 GMT
1). Andrew Williamson is an ABBA Fan, who used to read 'Record Mirror'. He sent the ABBA claim to
'Record Mirror's Chart Expert, Alan Jones. (Who is/was also an ABBA Fan). Alan just published what
Andrew claimed, with no checking at all. Andrew had simply repeated nonsense, that he'd heard.
2). ABBA only had 3 No.1 Singles in Sweden.
A). 'Ring Ring ('Bara Du Slog En Signal)' -- (Swedish Language 'Ring Ring') -- 6 Weeks at No.1.
The Swedish Singles Chart was also an Albums Chart, at that time. (Singles + Albums - Mixed together)
The English 'Ring Ring' was a No.2 Hit. The 'Ring Ring' Album was also a No.2 Hit
B). 'Dancing Queen' -- 14 Weeks in 1976.
C). 'Summer Night City' - 2 Weeks in 1978.
3). ABBA were getting a lot of Media hostility, in Sweden. Due to making so much cash. As a result, they
did not expect to get much Air Play, in Sweden. So, they decided not to bother, releasing several of their
Singles there. (It explains why they 'only' had 3 No.1 Singles in, their own Country. They did have 9 No.1
Albums, in Sweden. The same as in the UK).
These ABBA Singles were not released in Sweden:
'Honey Honey'
'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
'SOS' -- (Because Agnetha had a No.4 Hit with her Solo version)
'Mamma Mia'
'Money, Money, Money'
'Knowing Me, Knowing You'
'Take A Chance On Me'
'Voulez-Vous'
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' -- (This reached No.16 - as an Import).
'Lay All Your Love On Me'
4). 'Waterloo' was Sweden's 1st ever Eurovision Song Contest Winner.
The English version - which ABBA Won with - was not a No.1 Hit in Sweden. Nor was it a No.2
Hit there. In both cases, it was because of ABBA.
The 'Waterloo' Album was No.1 for 12 Weeks. It stopped both the Swedish and English versions,
of the Single, from getting to No.1.
The Swedish Language version Peaked at No.2,
The English Language version Peaked at No.3.
|
|
|
|
Post by HOMETIME on May 3, 2021 18:49:05 GMT
I knew I could rely on Colin's expertise in this matter. Thanks  Alan Jones's status as a fan makes sense, given the number of mentions ABBA get in his pieces. I think he might also be the one who reported that, following its critical success in the States, Epic were considering releasing The Visitors as the Double A-side of their next, as yet unannounced, single. In reality, that would have been The Day Before You Came. While I'm sure that decision might have complicated the track-list of The Singles album, it could have revived the fortunes of a sublime studio album. As a twin-headed single, it would - in my personal opinion - have been a stellar pairing. Imagine the kind of video the new team could have created! |
|
|
|
Post by Alan on May 3, 2021 20:11:31 GMT
I think he might also be the one who reported that, following its critical success in the States, Epic were considering releasing The Visitors as the Double A-side of their next, as yet unannounced, single. In reality, that would have been The Day Before You Came. *scratches head* The Visitors had already been a b-side of a single that failed to make the top 20. Would ABBA’s singles-buyers be expected to suddenly forget this? Whatever its critical success, The Visitors only reached number 63 in the US. Besides, what would they have done with international b-side, Cassandra? And with no video, how would CBS-Epic have expected it to do that well? It would have effectively ended up as a double b-side, and we’d be cursing the company for not allowing us to hear Cassandra. Had Head Over Heels done well, the only contender for third single would have been When All Is Said and Done. It did at least have a video, though might have left some wondering how Frida’s perm had grown back so quickly… |
|
|
|
Post by HOMETIME on May 3, 2021 20:32:16 GMT
Yes to all of that.
BUT... Head Over Heels failed because of its A-side. Only those who had bought the single would be familiar with its B-side - and that number was significantly fewer than would ordinarily hear an ABBA B-side. Plus, given the significant stylistic differences between the two tracks, The Visitors would be pitched at a different audience. Of course, Epic's commitment (and that of Polar) would have been crucial. Merely bunging it out unaltered on the opposite side of a single would have been meaningless. It would have needed some PR attention, highlighting its left-field charms. Remixes for 7" and 12" would have been very attractive for fans, radio presenters and club DJs. Naturally, a video would have made a huge difference. Which would beg the question, why go to all that effort for a double-A side? Why not release it as a standalone single and maximise its impact for the parent album? A B-side could have been drawn from the Dick Cavett sessions. Given the miniscule personal promotion that the group afforded the album, it's likely that Epic and/or Stig saw it as a non-runner. If it was actually considered at all.
Cassandra could have replaced You Owe Me One on the flipside of Under Attack, leaving an additional piece of froth for Disc 4 of the 1994 box set. Or Cassandra could have been a bonus track on the 12" of one of the two final singles. See how easily I can go down hypothetical rabbit holes and fantasies? I need to get out more!
And this still doesn't address the travesty of When All Is Said And Done being allowed to cool its heels on the bench, when it should have been a single.
|
|
|
|
Post by onlyabba4meagain on May 4, 2021 3:06:37 GMT
I misremembered what Epic Records planned for 'The Visitors' Track.
I thought that when 'Head Over Heels' only reached No.25, (UK), Epic were going to tell UK (and Irish),
DJ's, that 'The Visitors' was now the 'A' Side.
This was me remembering wrongly. Alan Jones said something else, instead.
I found the 1982 'Record Mirror', On-Line last Week. The Issue where this was said. Except that Alan Jones
did not say that. He said, that when 'Head Over Heel's did poorly, Epic Records had planned to use its 'B'
Side - 'The Visitors' - to create a Double 'A' Side, with ABBA's next Single. They thought that it was wasted
on the 'B' Side, of 'Head Over Heels'.
Alan admitted that when he heard 'The Visitors' on that Album, he didn't like it, at all. However, he now loved
it, and saw it as ABBA showing everyone, how adventurous they could be. He said that he 'hoped' that Epic
would do this. He disliked 'Head Over Heels'. He called it: 'Exceedingly mediocre'. (I guess that, if it had been
up to him, 'When All Is Said And Done' would have followed up 'One Of Us', as he did not like 'The Visitors', at
first. I recall DJ Paul Gambaccini, playing 'When All Is Said And Done', on his BBC Radio One USA Top 40 Show.
He said that it was a very good Single - but too short. I thought that it ended too soon, also).
However, in the end, Epic gave up on the idea. They just let 'Head Over Heels' fall off the UK Singles Chart. It
was probably given up on, when ABBA took until October, to release their next Single - 'The Day Before You Came'.
Also, that October Single, already had a brand New Song, as its 'B' Side - 'Cassandra'.
I have talked on the 'Phone, to both Alan and Paul. Several Decades ago. I recall that Alan's least favourite ABBA
Single, was 'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do'. He hated it. He was not surprised, when it got no higher than No.38, in
the UK.
|
|
