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Post by welshboy on Aug 13, 2022 9:56:54 GMT
Playing The The Heat Is On In the Summer of 2022 its hot right now and what a song for this time of year. Back in 1983 it only got top 40 in the charts. Its a great summer song its a shame it did not do so well I think it did better in Europe a missed hit for Epic Records in the UK.
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Post by foreverfan on Aug 13, 2022 15:21:08 GMT
It should’ve been a bigger hit and we would all have loved it to be top 10, things may have turned out different for subsequent singles if it had been,
However from distant memory and someone else may be able to confirm, there were distribution issues at the time from Epic and it’s chart performance stagnated, 84, 47, 35, 37, 36, 43, 53.....it could’ve been a lot higher, realistically top 20. The same goes for the album, I always found it spooky that both girls first solo albums made 18 in the UK album charts....
It wasn’t a bad video either and ’the track is still played today. Not bad for a comparative flop !
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Post by Alan on Aug 13, 2022 15:38:36 GMT
I don’t think it was ever destined to be a big hit. ABBA’s chart placings in 1982 confirmed that they were yesterday’s news (or indeed, the last decade’s news). The media had turned itself off to ABBA and any direct association with them was toxic. You can’t get much lower than Elaine Paige and Barbara Dixon having a number one with a B&B composed song. Had it been by ABBA, it would probably have sank without trace, the media refusing to promote it.
Agnetha did OK in 1983 despite the ABBA association. Not aware of any distribution problems. For some unknown reason my family always bought records from WHSmith, and the single was freely available there. I did have to order the follow-up single from them though. Somehow we remained oblivious to the HMV Shop not far away.
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Post by Henry on Aug 14, 2022 16:04:21 GMT
It was a massive hit in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. Top 10 in France and top 20 in germany.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 14, 2022 17:37:18 GMT
It was No.1 in Sweden, I think? I've never cared for it myself. It starts off OK but goes nowhere. Nice performance by Agnetha but the pace is too laid back I think. I remember picking up the 12" single when I was on holiday in Spain. The cover is gorgeous but OMG that song doesn't lend itself to being extended... zzzzzz
It's one of my least favourite tracks on my favourite Agnetha album.
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Post by Michal on Aug 14, 2022 19:40:10 GMT
Agnetha's version is definitely better than the original. The thread actually made me play the Wrap Your Arms Around Me album today after a very very long time and I really enjoyed it. Otherwise I prefer Agnetha's Swedish albums but I realized that there are some very good songs on this one.
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Post by welshboy on Aug 16, 2022 10:08:25 GMT
Looking at the history of Top Of Pops at the later years they did have new songs previewed on the show. So why not have Agnetha or Frida's new song played when they came on to do the plugs? They always sang to play back so it could have been easy to do.
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Post by lamont on Aug 16, 2022 11:05:12 GMT
Looking at the history of Top Of Pops at the later years they did have new songs previewed on the show. So why not have Agnetha or Frida's new song played when they came on to do the plugs? They always sang to play back so it could have been easy to do. I’m sure the BBC had a rule that the song already had to be at least a top 40 hit with a high percentage of a sales increase for it even to be considered to be on the show. Perhaps Agnetha was scheduled to appear and the song’s lacklustre sales scuppered this. The BBC later relaxed this issue, so they could have top acts premiering their song the week before it was released. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 17, 2022 9:55:33 GMT
The TOTP appearances by Agnetha and Frida were strangely low-key. Even so, I'm sure they were hard to arrange and I'm sure Epic's pluggers felt they were worth it. I remember that Jonathan King show. We had a similar show (a much better show, actually) here in Ireland called MT USA - it's still remembered as an iconic show, breaking some American acts in Ireland and introducing us to the videos other shows didn't have time for/interest in. IKTSGO was a bit of a staple on the show during those weeks when it was at its peak in the American charts in '83. But that was it: no Agnetha clips, no more Frida clips. Nothing ABBA-related until One Night In Bangkok. I have a feeling that both shows are partly responsible for the more American feel to the UK and Irish charts from late 1983 onwards.
I remember Agnetha's The Heat Is On TV special being broadcast and thinking it would elevate the album's fortunes - but it did nothing. Most strange. WYAAM was right in the same pop lane as Sheena Easton and Bucks Fizz who were both doing well in the US and the UK respectively in 1983. Agnetha was at her most beautiful and accessible. Things should have gone better for her. Personally, I think The Heat Is On might have been the wrong lead single. Can't Shake Loose, Shame, WYAAM (edit) and Man would - in my opinion - have been better ambassadors for the album. Even though it's very Manilow and sugary, I think To Love could have been a good American single (think Sheena Easton's Almost Over You or Air Supply's hits of the era). I can understand the instinct not to choose the Russ Ballard song first, given that Frida had had her hit with his IKTSGO first. The comparisons would have been tedious. Ultimately, the UK (media and listening public) had cooled on ABBA by now. The women were always going to face an uphill battle with their solo ventures.
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