Should have been a single!!

I love ifs buts and maybes..

It’s tough to pick “ Just One “... as so many deserved to be single in their own right.. I guess there’s at least one track from each album that could’ve been.....

If I have to pick that one track it’s going to have be........ Kisses Of Fire.... ( as well), one hellva track, perfect harmonies and a right belter, really should’ve been the A side, and could’ve been VV number one single, instead of a BSide number 4 ...

As said I won’t name the others here , unless the we can..lol... but we did miss out on quite a few, I try to be realistic, otherwise every track would’ve been a single, but seriously there are so many missed opportunities....alas....

Eagle is the one for me. But IIWFTN and KOF are well up there.

I don't understand the raving about If It Wasn't For The Nights. Good album track in my opinion but not a single material. Kisses Of Fire is another story though. What made them decide that Does Your Mother Know should be the A-side is beyond me, though I like the song.

The Visitors and Eagle are obvious single contenders, Hole In Your Soul too. When I Kissed The Teacher always seemed suitable for a single release too.

Again, I'm probably in the minority here in that although I do like IIWFTN a lot I'm not sure it would be a great single choice. It's rather repetitive and shrill.

I loved Lovelight from the start but it's no match for Chiquitita. It's a fantastic B side, but that's it. Same with Kisses of Fire- I absolutely adore it but it's a wonderful B side.

My choice would probably be The Visitors. There are a few other contenders (As Good As New being one of them- what a joyous ride that one is) but The Visitors is pure class from start to finish. I never tire of it. Goosebumps, even after all these years.

 Agreed re WAISAD.

As for should never have been a single, I'm going to nominate Under Attack. True, that might have undermined the title of the album on which it first appeared, but I could live with that. That said, I'm curious to know whether ABBA mo-capped the song (and TKHLHC) during that five-week set-building project. I think the thump of a live band could give the song some much-needed oomph.

For me, I Have A Dream should not have been a single. But I understand it's hard to justify the opinion, when it reached No.2 in the UK... The less controversial choice - Head Over Heels.

Sorry to confuse. What I mean is that if UA had not been a single, it would be the only non-single on The Singles. Not a big deal, really: I could have lived with it being a fun bonus track.

As for I Have A Dream, I'm surprised it took so long to get a mention. I'm fine with it as a single. But I do think they missed a trick by not preparing a snazzy mix of the live version. I think a live EP from the tour would have been a fantastic Christmas release.

Should not have been a single: So Long, Does Your Mother Know, Head Over Heels, The Day Before You Came, Under Attack, Just A Notion, Little Things.

OK, that’s more than one…

It's beautiful. I have a fantasy version of The Visitors album (an iTunes playist, actually) where TDBYC replaces HOH and SILOC replaces TFTPOO. It's a more subdued album but, mah gawd, it's GORGEOUS.

If we were somehow hearing the five officially released 1982 songs together for the first time, I wonder what we might have chosen as the single. (I know that omitting JLT is going to bring me grief!  )

EDIT: I actually like HOH - I think the vocal arrangement is fantastic. I grew to really admire it recently when it was included on an 80s/eclectronic CD compilation. It just jumped out from the Style-Police-approved hits of the era - it sounded so fresh by comparison.

How could I forget!!? Should have been a single: Happy New Year!! If only Bjorn could alter the '89 reference now, Agnetha and Frida could quickly add the new vocals, and it could be a hit every year!! More potential than Little Things! Any suggestions?? "what lies waiting down the line? I just know it will be fine"!!?

That 89 reference is irritating.

I would like ABBA to have had as a single a summer romance song - but not Our Last Summer because, for me, its melody lacks the poignancy and wistfulness I'm looking for. The melody of Happy New Year does have that poignancy and wistfulness for me; and if, in my fantasy, Björn could have rewritten OLS's lyrics to fit HNY's melody I think it would have worked great and, as a bonus, become more of an all-year-round song.

Oh, by the way, regarding songs that shouldn't have been a single, didn't Benny once say - I think quoted in a Mamma Mia!-related book - that he thought The Name Of The Game was perhaps a better recording than it was a song? Hope he's changed his mind!

I think the mix on KOF is what lets it down for me. Agnetha's soft solo is too quiet and the transition to the chorus seems rushed. Once you get to the chorus, it all sounds a bit tinny. The second verse with the breathy joint vocal and the dramatic LO-SING-YOU is the best part of the song. I like the girls' held notes with the male BVs underneath at the end. All in all, I think that both Lovers and KOF could have been more powerful if the mixes had been approached differently.

IIWFTN is another that would have needed pruning for 7". The album version is perfect for an album, but the intro (especially before the second verse) needs pruning and the outro/coda needs to be edited too. It has scope for a wonderful 12" version too. 

I saw this video on YouTube, looking at some of the vocal parts in various songs. The section related to Under Attack shows (IMO) that there was more going on in the vocal arrangement than the single mix seems to provide. The melodies Frida sang in Chiquitita are so great that they could have been the basis for a whole other song. And the BVs in Our Last Summer are sublime!