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Post by gamleman on Oct 23, 2022 9:52:38 GMT
I think at the end of 1978 the disco era started to fade out. I think thats why ABBA who always wanted to be ahead of its time maybe didnt choose it to be a single. When i heard it in a club recently it took me some time to hear that it was ABBA because it sounded more like an ordinare disco song. I remember in those days that i thought it was very repetetive and i also prefere when we can have some soloparts from each of Frida and Agnetha. Also i think it sounds like a much weaker version of Dancing queen. So they decided to release the Disco track VV as a single instead? That doesn't figure. I don't know how you couldn't recognise it as an ABBA song in a club, as it has such distinct ABBA vocals. |
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Post by gary on Oct 23, 2022 9:55:39 GMT
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Post by stepalm2 on Oct 23, 2022 10:23:07 GMT
Well non of the songs from Voulez vous were big hits in USA so I think they were a bit late by releasing a disco album. Also remember that the biggest hits from VV were Chiquitita and I have a dream. Gimme gimme gimme and other disco songs have been bigger today but they werent that big at the time of release.
GGG should have been huge since they had been touring around the world and it hade a video and it was not on any album but only reached nr 3 in england. I think LAYLOM and WAISAD maybe were seen as a bit late disco songs. Though LAYLOM hade a more modern sound. Today I think we embrace the disco much more then people did around 1979 and 1980. Thats why these songs have become much more popular then by the time of the release.
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Post by richard on Oct 23, 2022 12:12:38 GMT
I'm with those who think IIWFTN would have been a big hit had it been a single, edited to fade on the slow 'If it... wasn't... for the nights' to reduce its duration. And drawing a distinction between 'album track' and 'single' doesn't mean much to me, especially for a very pop-y group such as ABBA. When a group is 'hot', provided a song wasn't patently uncommercial, I think they could have tossed a coin to decide whether to go with it! I wonder how IHAD was such a big hit when it seems such a non-favourite with quite a few ABBA fans? To me, now, neither it nor MMM says 'single', yet they reached 2 and 3, respectively, in the UK. It depends on timing and the group's popularity..
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Post by Michel on Oct 23, 2022 13:25:27 GMT
When a group is 'hot', provided a song wasn't patently uncommercial, I think they could have tossed a coin to decide whether to go with it! I agree. At that moment in time ABBA's popularity was such that I feel they could have released almost anything and it would have shot to the top of the charts. Voulez-Vous was a very commercial record in that respect, almost every song could have worked as an A-side. As for ABBA being a bit late by releasing a disco album: apart from Voulez-Vous not being a full on disco album, I don't think they were late. Several hugely succesful disco albums were released in 1979. Donna Summer released Bad Girls, the biggest selling studio album of her career of which she scored hit after hit. I believe at some point Hot Stuff and Bad Girls were even in the US top 10 simultaneously. Then there was also Sister Sledge's We Are Family album. And Chic was number one with their own single Good Times in mid 1979. ABBA's success in the USA was always haphazard but I still find it puzzling that the single Voulez-Vous didn't do better there, especially since they were touring around the time of its release and the song had a backing track made in the USA. If I remember correctly, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was ABBA's second most successful worldwide single of 1979, after Chiquitita. It was a number one or number two in several European countries. |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 24, 2022 20:06:31 GMT
I'm sorry but I cannot take someone serious who writes about "ABBA The Album": "there’s nothing on here that is a banger like the rest of the albums have" And "Ring Ring" on first place?? ABBA didn't even found their musical style at that time with Disillusion being one of the best Songs which - er - is even more Agnetha Fältskog than ABBA. I mean, everyone has his opinion and own taste but if some ABBA newbees decide to "skip" albums like "The Visitors" or "The Album" because of this review, they might miss really really great Songs... |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 24, 2022 20:51:16 GMT
Well non of the songs from Voulez vous were big hits in USA so I think they were a bit late by releasing a disco album. Also remember that the biggest hits from VV were Chiquitita and I have a dream. Gimme gimme gimme and other disco songs have been bigger today but they werent that big at the time of release I'm not sure, if GGG simply didn't get to number 1 in the UK because 2 weeks after its release, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 came out selling very fast. GGG is ABBAs 10th most successful Single in the UK, it was a massive Hit all over Europe being Number 1 in 5 Countries and Top 3 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it went to No 8 and in Jaoan it was one of ABBA's biggest hits! It "only" went to #16 in Sweden, but it was not released there as a Single, it made the charts purely by imported Singles from Norway! Also, in respect to "Singles in the Voulez Vous area" didn't get to Number One, one should take into Account that the financial budget of the teens i 1979 was limited for many! It was a very costly year with 2 charttopping albums, 5 Singles and Concert Tickets to buy! Voulez Vous sold fast and massive as well as Greatest Hits Vol 2, so with a Million record buyers owning the songs on record, not everyone also bought the Single! I remember that for buying the I Have A Dream Single the A side wasn't the biggest factor for all record buyers, it was the fact that it contained an (at the time being) rare live track. I also remember very lively that I often went to the record Shop to "visit" the Lay All Your Love On Me" Maxi Single there but not taking it home as it was much too expensive, nearly costing the value of an album! |
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Post by gamleman on Oct 25, 2022 8:39:04 GMT
I'm with those who think IIWFTN would gave been a big hit had it been a single, edited to fade on the slow 'If it... wasn't... for the nights' to reduce its duration. And drawing a distinction between 'album track' and 'single' doesn't mean much to me, especially for a very pop-y group such as ABBA. When a group is 'hot', provided a song wasn't patently uncommercial, I think they could have tossed a coin to decide whether to go with it! I wonder how IHAD was such a big hit when it seems such a non-favourite with quite a few ABBA fans? To me, now, neither it nor MMM says 'single', yet they reached 2 and 3, respectively, in the UK. It depends on timing and the group's popularity.. I suspect the time of year of IHAD's release had something to do with its success in the UK. It does have a vaguely Christmassy feel and probably provided light relief from the No 1 single of that Christmas, "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd. I doubt that IHAD would have mustered similar success at any other time of the year. MMM wouldn't have been my choice of single in the Autumn of 1976 - it seemed quite a comedown from DQ and I felt that there were other tracks on the Arrival album that were more melodic and that more obviously featured the ABBA sound. However, I now acknowledge that MMM was catchy and topical and had a certain hypnotic charm - probably a very good radio single. It may have reached 'only' No 3 in the UK but hovered around for some time and sold well - it went Gold, I think. |
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Post by bennybjorn on Oct 25, 2022 10:19:14 GMT
I'm with those who think IIWFTN would gave been a big hit had it been a single, edited to fade on the slow 'If it... wasn't... for the nights' to reduce its duration. And drawing a distinction between 'album track' and 'single' doesn't mean much to me, especially for a very pop-y group such as ABBA. When a group is 'hot', provided a song wasn't patently uncommercial, I think they could have tossed a coin to decide whether to go with it! I wonder how IHAD was such a big hit when it seems such a non-favourite with quite a few ABBA fans? To me, now, neither it nor MMM says 'single', yet they reached 2 and 3, respectively, in the UK. It depends on timing and the group's popularity.. I suspect the time of year of IHAD's release had something to do with its success in the UK. It does have a vaguely Christmassy feel and probably provided light relief from the No 1 single of that Christmas, "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd. I doubt that IHAD would have mustered similar success at any other time of the year. MMM wouldn't have been my choice of single in the Autumn of 1976 - it seemed quite a comedown from DQ and I felt that there were other tracks on the Arrival album that were more melodic and that more obviously featured the ABBA sound. However, I now acknowledge that MMM was catchy and topical and had a certain hypnotic charm - probably a very good radio single. It may have reached 'only' No 3 in the UK but hovered around for some time and sold well - it went Gold, I think. Never understood the mass negativity around I Have A Dream. It's a beautifully melodic, melancholic masterpiece! |
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 25, 2022 10:51:40 GMT
I dunno, it's all academic and hypothetical after more than 40 years. Considering it was the fifth A-side from a No.1 album by the time it finally emerged as a single, I think it's fair to say that fans and the general public alike enjoyed it. My personal view is that IHAD would have been every bit as successful (possibly moreso) if it had been the Unicef single in January 1979. The hopeful theme, the prettily easy melody, the children's choir... it all fits very nicely. My affection for IIWFTN hasn't dimmed since its release. Although running time wasn't quite the issue it is these days, I think that the intro and the instrumental section before the second verse could both have been halved for 7" and the fade could have started earlier. My view is entirely subjective and I'm glad to big it up, whether it helps its purely hypothetical case or not!  Without a "What If" machine, none of us will ever know what its chart fortunes might have been. MMM was played on Irish radio last week and, not having heard it for ages, I found myself quite taken by it. It's a song I like without loving, but I have to say that it jumped out of the radio speaker quite well. The vocals all the way through are pretty fantastic. |
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Post by gamleman on Oct 25, 2022 11:46:29 GMT
I dunno, it's all academic and hypothetical after more than 40 years. Considering it was the fifth A-side from a No.1 album by the time it finally emerged as a single, I think it's fair to say that fans and the general public alike enjoyed it. My personal view is that IHAD would have been every bit as successful (possibly moreso) if it had been the Unicef single in January 1979. The hopeful theme, the prettily easy melody, the children's choir... it all fits very nicely. My affection for IIWFTN hasn't dimmed since its release. Although running time wasn't quite the issue it is these days, I think that the intro and the instrumental section before the second verse could both have been halved for 7" and the fade could have started earlier. My view is entirely subjective and I'm glad to big it up, whether it helps its purely hypothetical case or not! Without a "What If" machine, none of us will ever know what its chart fortunes might have been. MMM was played on Irish radio last week and, not having heard it for ages, I found myself quite taken by it. It's a song I like without loving, but I have to say that it jumped out of the radio speaker quite well. The vocals all the way through are pretty fantastic. The other day I went through some old cassettes, sampling them on a radio/cassette player to see what was on them. One was of a BBC Radio 1 interview with ABBA during the Arrival launch and the bit I heard was MMM, their 'new' single. It actually came across very well - there was a certain magic about it, but perhaps part of it was nostalgia on my part for the good old days  That was a novel idea about IHAD but it wasn't even recorded at the time of the UNICEF concert - the song was recorded on 15 March 1979 according to Wikipedia, so it must have been one of the last tracks recorded for the VV album. I bet it would have been included in the "ABBA in Switzerland" show too, had it been ready for then. However, I'm not convinced it would have been a bigger hit than "Chiquitita" as the UNICEF song. At this stage, they needed a very strong song as the follow-up to SNC, which had chart-wise been a disappointment in the UK (by ABBA's standards) and "Chiquitita" did indeed fit the bill (IIWFTN would have too). |
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Post by richard on Oct 25, 2022 13:23:37 GMT
Re-reading my last post, I may have given the impression that I don't go much on IHAD and MMM, but that's not the case - I'm just surprised, now, by how successful they were as singles. But that takes me back to my 'timing and popularity' argument. Like bennybjorn, I regard IHAD, more highly than a number of fans seem to; and, for me, MMM is tuneful, but I find it so in a more musical-theatrical way than pop. And would it have got as high as 3 in the UK at any other time? I doubt it. I think it's that timing thing again.
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Post by welshboy on Oct 25, 2022 14:08:51 GMT
I have always loved MMM. Frida's singing wonderful on this song. I was thinking what two songs Kept it from reaching number 1 ? I can't remember that far back Ha Ha.
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Post by gary on Oct 25, 2022 15:24:54 GMT
I have always loved MMM. Frida's singing wonderful on this song. I was thinking what two songs Kept it from reaching number 1 ? I can't remember that far back Ha Ha. Money, Money, Money spent four weeks at number three in the UK charts, in three separate runs of one week, two weeks and one week respectively. They were kept from getting higher by Showaddywaddy, Queen, Johnny Mathis and David Soul. I didn’t remember that! It’s all on here: www.officialcharts.com/artist/8604/abba/ |
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 25, 2022 15:25:56 GMT
For MMM ...Alas initially it was Showaddywaddy and Under The Moon Of Love, then Johnny Mathis, When a Child is Born and finally David Soul Don’t Give Up On us Baby...v
Snap Gary... lol
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 25, 2022 16:34:03 GMT
The trouble with VV it was full of potential singles, virtually any one of them would have been a top 5 hit, with only TKHLHC and Lovers being the exceptions, and then they aren’t that bad ?
Two of my all time favourites failed to make the grade as a single AGAN and KOF, so the strength of the Album was there to be heard It always surprised me that the album didn’t hang around longer than its 43 weeks in the UK album charts, I guess GH2 killed it off.
As with hindsight, if they had rereleased the album at the time with GGG , it may have hung around a lot longer..
With 40 plus years now gone by, we the dedicated fans can see the worth and perhaps the mistakes made, but alas we can’t change time, I think we could all pull another track from each album to make single. We debate now on Voyage and the various releases, did they make the right choices ? Personally I’m unsure if they did..DSMD being the most obvious and if that had been marketed differently we may have a bigger hit than it was.
So the jury will always be out on what should’ve been , but it’s fun speculating...and one day an obscure track to the public will be a hit on Tik tok or the likes and be a hit
Angeleyes nearly made it, but I’d love to see a non single make it big........
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2022 6:33:05 GMT
I like MMM. I don't think a lot of fans do like it so much and it isn't that popular on Streaming.
Hometime - yes IHAD would have been a good choice as the first single coming off the UNICEF concert. But it also does sound Christmassy. Either way it still wouldn't have been a UK #1 as up against big selling rivals.
IIWFTN certainly should have been edited down as a single.
ForeverFan - yep plenty of single choices from VV. I would have gone for KOF not DYMK and AGAN instead of VV. Chartwise I don't think they would have done better. I also think GH2 killed off sales of VV. It was released just 6 months after VV. ABBA are the only act I can think of that released a Best Of so soon after a studio album. ABBA's Best Of came out 6 to 7 months after the ABBA album in some countries. They also had a German compilation a few months after Super Trouper.
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Post by gamleman on Oct 27, 2022 10:58:37 GMT
I also think GH2 killed off sales of VV. It was released just 6 months after VV. ABBA are the only act I can think of that released a Best Of so soon after a studio album. ABBA's Best Of came out 6 to 7 months after the ABBA album in some countries. They also had a German compilation a few months after Super Trouper. I suppose GH2 coupled with the GGG single may have curtailed the chart-run of the VV album, but I think they would have needed a good single from VV instead of GGG in the Autumn of 1979 to prolong the album's chart life. Similarly, I think the chart performance of The Album in the UK was not as spectacular as it could have been, with no third single from the album, although it did peak again at No 2 in early June around the time when the third single should have been released. I believe that if TYFTM had been released as an A-side at this time, they would probably have had another No 1 single and The Album may have returned to No 1. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2022 14:19:48 GMT
Yep, The Album really could have done with another single and The Visitors, before the album was released. And thinking about it LAYLOM should have been released much sooner and on 7" to help revitalise Super Trouper.
Not releasing singles or the wrong singles can impact on an album's sales.
EDIT: I just looked it up. The week GHV2 entered UK chart at #8 (#1 following week) Voulez Vous plummeted out of Top 40 where it remained out for a few weeks.It didn't return to Top 40 until I Have A Dream peaked at #2. And it stayed in Top 40, coinciding with IHAD doing well in charts.
GHV2 probably dented VV's sales but then IHAD improved them. IHAD was not on GHV2 of course.
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 27, 2022 15:27:22 GMT
Do we really think that Abba themselves and the record companies wish they had done releases differently ? As you would’ve thought they would have learned by Voyage, or was it of no importance now ? I do remember the hype though of getting the Voyage album to Number 1 and being their 10th in The UK, or was it all “ Us”
As we look back, albeit another time and hindsight do we believe there were a few fundamental mistakes.. anybodies fault ?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2022 16:23:47 GMT
I'm pretty sure ABBA wanted as much sales/higher chart positions as possible. (They may not have been as geeky as some of us, myself included on chart positions, chart runs etc 😀)
Once you've scaled the heights of #1 you do take an interest.
Bjorn and Benny have commented on releasing the "wrong" single after Waterloo and disappointment of the 1982 singles (again in the UK). I think it was Bjorn who said they might have continued if The Day Before You Came was #1 or at least a big hit in the UK
I am sure they really wanted Voyage to do well. Their first album in 40 years. I can't imagine they would have been happy if it peaked at #18 or did get to #1 like a lot of Veterans do (Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springfield etc) with 20,000 sales then crash out of the Top 10.
If you didn't have that success then chart positions/sales don't matter as much. Reminder, ABBA were having this Voyage concert so they really would have wanted meedia attention and commercial success on a comeback.
Yes, a few mistakes. Perhaps the biggest was ABBA MONTH in May 1978 in the US only to really do nothing after that. No third single from The Album, Eagle the obvious choice. No SNC and Chiquitita released 10 months or so after the rest of the year...despite that huge UNICEF gig in New York.
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Post by gamleman on Oct 27, 2022 17:34:19 GMT
Yes, I do think the Voyage album getting to No 1 was important to someone, whether it be ABBA or Universal. If not, what were the 30 editions of the album all about? Well yes, money too.
Johnny took the words out of my mouth. Bjorn has admitted that it was a mistake not releasing Honey Honey in the UK as the follow-up to Waterloo and I think it has been said that the potential of I've Been Waiting For You was not recognised. There was also perhaps some regret at having released SNC. But it's hard to know any other regrets. We fans can identify missed opportunities but whether they really bothered ABBA we may never know.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Oct 27, 2022 18:49:50 GMT
What are the chances that ABBA have been in the studio recording more songs none of them have actually said a definite 'NO' with a serious tone in their voice and with the two left over songs from the 'Voyage' sessions rumored to have the titles of 'Hit Me Like A Train' & 'My Story Ends With You' (according to the fans pages on Facebook) still to be released who knows what aces ABBA still have to play.
If they managed to keep the 'Voyage' recording sessions a secret (apart from the announcement in April 2018 that 'I Still Have Faith In You' & 'Don't Shut Me Down' had been recorded) then who's to say that they haven't been recording a 10th album in secret and with 2023 marking the 50th Anniversary of their debut album 'Ring Ring' it would be a great way to celebrate it by releasing a 10th album.
I think they have been recording as they appear to have been rather quite lately so which usually means something is on its way.
I really wish they had finished that album they began recording in 1982 & 1983 that would have been released in 1983 and the intended comeback in 1985 should have happened.
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Post by Alan on Oct 27, 2022 22:04:26 GMT
I really wish they had finished that album they began recording in 1982 & 1983 that would have been released in 1983 and the intended comeback in 1985 should have happened. There was no such album. They started an album in 1982, but abandoned it after just three tracks (You Owe Me One, I Am The City and Just Like That) had been recorded. They then returned to the studio later in the year to record the other three songs specifically for release on singles to promote a greatest hits. You Owe Me One from the earlier sessions only got resurrected as they needed a b-side. ABBA did not record anything in 1983, and there was never an intended comeback in 1985. Had they got back together later on, it’s unlikely I Am The City or Just Like That would have appeared on a new album. Regarding more new tracks now, it’s possible but seems unlikely. The 50th anniversary in 2024 of their Eurovision win may be marked in some way (just as the 25th, 30th and 40th anniversaries were). They can hardly top 2021, so I’m wondering if 2024 may be the time to release those two songs you mention. I wouldn’t put money on it though. |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 28, 2022 3:53:48 GMT
I like MMM. I don't think a lot of fans do like it so much and it isn't that popular on Streaming. Hometime - yes IHAD would have been a good choice as the first single coming off the UNICEF concert. But it also does sound Christmassy. Chiquitita was the obvious choice for the UNICEF concert, because in "the year of the child" a song which has " little Girl, tell me Whats wrong" in the lyrics it simply matched perfectly... This debate of better choices for "bigger hits" is rdiciculous for me. Because after the game is played it's always easy to tell what move would have worked better. Obviously it sometimes was a more personal choice, sometimes the record Company wanted to have another Song as Single. Remember that it was never planed by Polar to give Mamma Mia out as a Single. All 'strategic" moves with releases are fine but still it depends on so much more factors if it becomes a hit and/or gets to number 1. ABBA have a most remarkably string of hitsingles and hitslbums all over the world and sold so many records that although they never will beat The Beatles, they will most likely never being beaten by another group. Although... Our(and the generals publics) sight on the record market is a very "West White Colonizer" one. Because there might be many musicians in India, in Russia, Asia and China who might be the Megasellers in they Region but hardly known in the West. Like Alla Pugatchova, Teresa Teng, who ever. Also, for ABBA it was once said that in Asien countries, Russia and Australia, for one ABBA record sold officially there were 10 illegal pressings sold! Such was their popularity. What I find more remarkable is that ABBA Songs still have the Power to "go viral" ( which I think is another Definition of "hit" nowadays) just by pure coincidence like it has happened to Gimme Gimme Gimme, Chiquitita and Angeleyes most recently. (Although I personally don't get this "speed up version" thing) |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 28, 2022 4:06:23 GMT
I am sure they really wanted Voyage to do well. Their first album in 40 years. That might very well be, and well, they still like to be hailed by the Fans. If you see how they now randomly appear in the ABBA Arena, waving down like the King and queens down to their people. But I don't think that they like pressure being put on them to release more because of the success of Voyage. |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 28, 2022 4:17:33 GMT
I think they have been recording as they appear to have been rather quite lately so which usually means something I don't think so. Benny and Björn released "Pippi at the Circus" doing normal business, while Agnetha abd Frida get back to their normal life... |
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Post by BAAB on Oct 28, 2022 4:24:02 GMT
…it’s unlikely I Am The City or Just Like That would have appeared on a new album. One never knows. Benny said about Ode To Freedom, that he had this song for 30 (!) years "locked in a cupboard" |
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 28, 2022 8:30:59 GMT
This debate of better choices for "bigger hits" is rdiciculous for me. Because after the game is played it's always easy to tell what move would have worked better. Well, of course! All we have here is very, very very subjective opinion, speculation and conjecture. Pre-Voyage, ABBA gave us nothing to discuss. You can only get so much mileage out of hairstyles and costumes, so all we really had to chat about was this makey-uppy stuff. Sometimes an opinion might read as if it's being presented as a fact; some responses seem to reprimand for suggesting that such-and-such occurred before that hairstyle and the catalogue number is wrong anyway... We can knock all of that chatter on the head, but what does that leave us with? Personally, I hope that somebody invents a What If machine very soon to prove that I would have been the perfect A&R for ABBA and vindicate my impeccable singles choices!  |
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Post by gamleman on Oct 28, 2022 8:48:35 GMT
I agree. It's fun to speculate, even about the past, as there is not a great deal to discuss about the future and we regularly tread that ground anyway. Many of the opinions that I give are unchanged from the era in question, so they are not really with hindsight. Anyway, this is what music historians and 'experts' do who often pop up on ABBA TV documentaries. However, I think some of those who didn't live through the times sometimes interpret events how they think they were rather than how they actually were - in particular, I'm thinking of a Channel 5 documentary that picked on Bang-A-Boomerang as a reason for ABBA's dip in popularity between Waterloo and SOS.
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Without a "What If" machine, none of us will ever know what its chart fortunes might have been.
