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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 19:55:45 GMT
Dancing Queen / That’s Me
S EPC 4499, 6 August 1976
Unlike Waterloo and Fernando, Dancing Queen kept its catalogue number throughout its various incarnations. As the changeover to orange happened during the chart run of this single, there is a push-out version in both colours.  
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 17:12:37 GMT
Fernando / Hey Hey Helen
S EPC 4036, 12 March 1976 / S EPC 5962 (1978 reissue)1978 reissue is another in the CBS Number Ones series, the same as Waterloo (the new catalogue number following on from Waterloo’s 5961 without a gap). Note the writing on the promo - presumably a note to radio stations!  A full list of the CBS Number Ones series can be found here: www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=2948
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 17:05:44 GMT
Mamma Mia / Tropical Loveland
S EPC 3790, 14 November 1975Includes promo and push-out. This is the first promo to be solid rather than push-out. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:58:37 GMT
SOS / Man In The Middle
S EPC 3576, 19 September 1975The second of two singles where no promo was ever issued. The yellow commercial push-out is therefore the only one of its type for this title. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:51:31 GMT
I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do / Rock Me
S EPC 3229, 4 April 1975This is a curious one, which I only found out yesterday. Firstly, it’s one of only two singles with no promo issue. Secondly, a mistake was made on both a set of yellows and a set of oranges. Stig Anderson is missing a credit on one set. Only one orange issue credits Stig, even though these are later issues and they had time to check their facts and get it right.  
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:39:13 GMT
So Long / I’ve Been Waiting For You
S EPC 2848, 22 November 1974Includes promo and commercial push-out 
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:31:57 GMT
Ring Ring (remix) / Rock ‘n’ Roll Band, 1974 release
S EPC 2452, 21 June 1974Includes promo and commercial push-out 
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:16:18 GMT
Waterloo / Watch Out
S EPC 2240, 5 April 1974 / S EPC 5961 (1978 reissue)
Two photos. Includes promo and commercial push-out version. The second lot of yellow issues ARE different from the first - the ABBA name is thinner. The orange Waterloo with the ABBA logo was part of a CBS number ones series in 1978, hence the sleeve. 1986 reissue not included.  
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:08:05 GMT
Ring Ring / Rock ‘n’ Roll Band, original 1973 release
S EPC 1793, 12 October 1973 Includes the commercial release push-out centre version 
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 16:00:32 GMT
Someone I know who also collects all the Epic variants (he got me into it) has sent me photos of his collection, each title with all the variants in one or two photos. Promos and push-out versions are included, which I generally don’t collect.
He’s given me permission to post the photos, so rather than go back and edit all my posts so far, I’ll post these photos separately in new posts. Irish pressings are excluded, as the photos date from before he started collecting them, but nearly all other variants are included.
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 12:42:34 GMT
In Chartwatch though I recall that Abba were the very first number one on the video chart, I think it was the Music Show Vol 2. That takes me back! My brother got Music Show Vol 1 and Vol 2 (separate) in 1983. We didn’t have a VHS but Video 2000, which my brother hoped would win the battle against VHS as it was, in many ways, a superior system. Alas, that didn’t happen. Anyway, he joined a V2000 rental shop that had both volumes. He rented them out a couple of times but as he was the only person to do so, they agreed to sell the tapes to him. He paid a ridiculous amount though, about £30 each I think. And there were only seven videos on each tape! I remember Vol 1 used Intermezzo No. 1 as intro music, with Vol 2 starting with the intro of If It Wasn’t For The Nights, but then also going into Intermezzo No. 1. The ABBA Gold VHS was amazing in comparison, a whole 19 videos on the one tape! |
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 11:08:25 GMT
Just tried it and it's pretty crap. Oh well. Thanks for the update, saves me trying it! I would be surprised if it got them right on this album anyway. 1983 was the first year of commercially available CDs wasn’t it? I doubt CBS would have forked out to put Thank You For The Music onto that format though. I did read once that they did release some ABBA albums on CD in the UK during the 1980s, but that they were merely Polar imports (which they probably added an Epic sticker to). If so I’ve never seen one on any site. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 24, 2023 7:40:13 GMT
Yes, it’s a hard album to recreate, lamont, due to the way the songs cross-faded into each other. I did create the album running order (with artwork) in my iTunes and therefore it’s on my phone, but the gaps between tracks are there so it’s not the same. I haven’t heard the album in over 30 years but I remember the cross-fades. The applause of The Way Old Friends Do running into the start of Thank You For The Music was especially memorable. I keep checking YouTube to see if someone has put them on there, but no luck yet. I’ve still got my original album though, and I have got a vinyl turntable with USB to allow conversion to mp3, but haven’t used it for years. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 21:41:14 GMT
125K is not bad for an album that had absolutely nothing new to offer. OK, so it had a b-side and a Spanish version, but that wouldn’t have been enough to sell it. Three tracks appeared on the previous year’s The Singles, and three other tracks had been on the two Greatest Hits albums.
And 70K for The Singles isn’t bad, considering 16 tracks had appeared on the previous two Greatest Hits albums (which were both still readily available).
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 20:34:20 GMT
Thank You For The Music / Our Last SummerFinal new ABBA single release on Epic, though the 26-single blue vinyl anniversary box would follow in 1984 along with a reissue of Waterloo in 1986. Thank You For The Music ditches the EPC of the catalogue number, but is still part of the same “A” series started with Lay All Your Love On Me UK pressing  Irish pressing, image from Discogs. Again no ABBA logo  UK picture disc. A novelty as it is shaped, but unfortunately the clear parts of the design usually went brown, with a tea-stain circle. Image from Discogs. I do own this but it lives with my 12” singles and albums, so wasn’t photographed for this topic  A sleeve variation on this single. The most common variant is the lavish poster sleeve (left). A standard sleeve (right) was produced but is less common (probably due to the single not selling that well). The standard sleeve has a different colour border and different font for the catalogue number  The back cover also differs. Poster sleeve (left) depicts the four individual photos. The standard sleeve (right) shows the album cover 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 20:27:13 GMT
Under Attack / You Owe Me OneUK pressing  Injection-moulded  Irish pressing, image from Discogs. Once again, no ABBA logo  UK picture disc. The design wisely ditches the standard artwork in favour of the album artwork and font. Second of three ABBA singles to get the picture disc treatment. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 20:20:55 GMT
The Day Before You Came / CassandraUK pressing  Light blue injection-moulded  Darker blue injection-moulded with completely different text placings. This is the second of two singles (the other being One of Us) to get two injection-moulded variants  Irish pressing, image from Discogs. Unusual placing of ABBA logo 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 19:09:22 GMT
Head Over Heels / The VisitorsThis is a significant release. It is the only Epic ABBA single not to get a UK commercial issue on the standard UK paper label of the time. The nearest it got was the promo and the Irish pressing (which used UK labels anyway). It’s therefore one of only three Irish single pressings I own (the others being the equally significant Knowing Me Knowing You and I Have A Dream) and one of only two promos (the other being Angeleyes / Voulez-Vous). A possible reason for this is that the injection-moulded and Dutch pressings may have been ordered first, with the remainder being covered by the UK pressing plants. As the single didn’t sell that well (missing not only the top 5, but even the top 20), UK pressings weren’t needed. Promo  Injection-moulded  Dutch pressing. Again, the sleeve was a side-opener as opposed to the usual top. This is the final ABBA Dutch single pressing, but the 1983 Thank You For The Music album would have one  Irish pressing, the only commercial issue on the standard UK paper label 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 18:58:08 GMT
Greatest Original Hits - 4 Track EP: Super Trouper / Lay All Your Love On Me / The Winner Takes It All / One of UsThis is a lesser-known release. Presumably not eligible to chart at the time as it didn’t. A 1982 release collecting together ABBA’s last four single A-sides using the One of Us artwork, with all four heads on the front. Internally classed as a single as it uses the “A” catalogue numbering system. The (P) line credits the compilation to CBS Records rather than the usual Polar Music International. Part of a series of EPs issued around this time for CBS acts. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 18:42:08 GMT
One of Us / Should I Laugh Or CryUK pressing. First 7” of the “A” catalogue numbering system  Light blue injection-moulded  Darker blue injection-moulded with very different text placing. One of Us was the first of two singles to get two different injection-moulded variants.  Irish pressing, image from 45cat  UK picture disc. Previously the Voulez-Vous album got this treatment but this is the first of three singles to do so. The unique UK picture sleeve had Agnetha and Frida on the front and the boys on the back. For some reason the picture disc reverses this. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 13:54:43 GMT
This was the first album we got when we were up-to-date with ABBA’s releases. From the end of 1977 and throughout 1978 into 1979, my brother bought all five existing UK albums (including Greatest Hits - in the order Arrival, The Album, Greatest Hits, ABBA, Waterloo). Voulez-Vous was therefore eagerly awaited.
I remember not being particularly enamoured by the title. What a silly name, I thought, and what did it mean? Some of the songs were already familiar as they’d been performed on ABBA In Switzerland, which my brother had taped onto audio cassette. If It Wasn’t For The Nights had been on Mike Yarwood but I’d forgotten that.
There was a sense that this album was something quite new and different. The intro of As Good As New sounded fresh. Even today, it still does. I wasn’t over-fussed with the title track and I don’t think I Have A Dream or Does Your Mother Know were ever favourites, but most of it I really liked (plus Summer Night City and Lovelight, not on the album but by then very familar with from the singles).
There is some sadness here though. With Björn and Agnetha now separated, the pretence that ABBA was two happy couples was over. I was very aware of that even at the young age I was. Plus it was the last album of the classic years, with their sound and look altering for the 80s. And Agnetha went and had her hair cut, which to me was sacrilege. If Agnetha still had That Hair then all was still well. Once she didn’t, things would become more unsettled. Which they did.
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 12:28:17 GMT
Lay All Your Love On Me / On and On and OnA second UK 12” single, but this time not on 7”. As a few other countries only issued this on 12”, it’s almost certain that the restriction came from Polar as part of licence veto rights. Lay All Your Love On Me also sees the debut of Epic’s new “A” catalogue numbering system. The original Ring Ring was S EPC 1793, and by the time of Super Trouper it was reaching the end, at S EPC 9089. The new “A” system would stay for ABBA’s remaining singles, though the reissue of Waterloo in 1986 had yet another new format. LAYLOM adds a “13” into the number, which I can only assume is to indicate it’s a 12”. The new format ditches the “S” (for “single”) of the old but retains the EPC until Thank You For The Music, which did away with that as well. Two UK pressings with different text placings. Images from Discogs. I own both variants but didn’t get out my 12” singles for photographing.  
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 12:12:56 GMT
Super Trouper / The PiperFinal ABBA single using the old Epic catalogue numbering system that had been in place since before the original Ring Ring in 1973 UK pressing  Injection-mounded. Looks grey in the photo but actually light blue, so very different from the darker blue of The Winner Takes It All  Dutch pressing. Unlike I Have A Dream, this is very common. Once again the label is bigger than a standard 7” label and as the Epic logo and text are relatively small, there’s a lot of space. The sleeves also differ. Different paper texture and side-openers, whereas other variants are top-openers. The Super Trouper album was also available with a Dutch pressing. The Dutch album labels differ from the singles, but still very attractive  Irish pressing, image from Discogs. As with all Irish pressings, the labels themselves are made in England 
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Post by Alan on Apr 23, 2023 12:02:07 GMT
The Winner Takes It All / ElaineUK pressing  The first blue-era injection-moulded issue, this time confirming it’s made in France.  Irish pressing, with a UK label. Image from Discogs  UK 12” pressing. The first UK 12” issue for ABBA. The novelty is in the gatefold pop-up sleeve as the record itself only offers the standard versions of both tracks. Image from Discogs (I do own this but only photographed my 7” singles for this topic) 
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 15:42:39 GMT
I Have A Dream / Take A Chance On Me (Recorded live at Wembley Arena)Two UK pressings with different text placings   Push-out middle variant (primarily for use in jukeboxes but commercially available). Almost all titles were issued with this but generally I don’t collect them, so this one acts as an example. Slightly awkward with the Epic script logo as it cuts though it.  Now we get to a real rarity. The first blue-era Dutch pressing for the UK market. Holland had a different colour label. On singles these were bigger than standard 7” labels but the Epic logo was smaller. Text in silver. This image is from Discogs as it’s extremely rare. I’ve never seen one for sale but I know someone that’s got it.  And another Irish significant issue. Gimme Gimme Gimme was the last UK single to use the old orange label, but presumably remaining stocks were sent to Ireland to be used up. This is therefore the final single to be issued anywhere on orange. Similarly, Greatest Hits Vol 2 was issued on orange in Ireland, but not the UK. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 15:20:18 GMT
Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) / The King Has Lost His CrownAs with Dancing Queen earlier on, the release of this single coincided with a change in Epic’s label design, and this time a completely new Epic logo. This is therefore the last single issued on the outgoing orange label. Or is it? First pressing  Injection-moulded, again with the Epic logo in the correct place.  Irish pressing, image from Discogs  The debut of the new label and script logo. The printing is still in the style of the orange-era, with the ABBA logo awkwardly covering up some of the tail of the Epic one.  Second blue pressing, this time with the blue-era print style (ABBA logo moved to the bottom and some text now on the left) 
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 14:58:33 GMT
Angeleyes / Voulez-VousPromo. Generally I don’t collect these, but this one is significant as it has an ABBA logo in the centre. Epic album pressings often have the ABBA logo placed here but on singles it isn’t possible because of the need for a push-out centre variant for use in jukeboxes. If the ABBA name was here, it would be pushed out. This is therefore the only UK Epic single pressing with a centre logo.  Commercial pressing  Blue sleeve variant. Generally this topic isn’t to discuss sleeve designs but this one is significant. It’s the first UK single with a picture cover. It uses the international Chiquitita cover shot, and two variants were issued.  Grey sleeve variant. Different pressing of single with different text placings  Injection-moulded, the first of this type to have the Epic logo in the correct position  Irish pressing. This image from 45cat as it’s better than the Discogs one. Again, no ABBA logo and this time no reversed B either. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 14:42:03 GMT
Does Your Mother / Kisses of FireUK pressing  Irish pressing (image from Discogs as I don’t have this) 
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 11:24:10 GMT
I’m assuming the same time as the main paper label pressings, gary, but not sure. Certainly must have been 1979 as that was the last year of the orange label. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 22, 2023 9:48:53 GMT
gary, there’s an original Ring Ring on Discogs now for £300. Overpriced though. It’s the promo version which is actually more common than the commercial variant. The more realistic price is about £100 but sellers these days will try their luck. I’ve yet to see the Chiquitita injection-moulded selling anywhere. My avatar is the same image of the commercially-issued Ring Ring that I posted at the start of this topic, and from Discogs. I’d like either variant of this release but I’m not paying silly money for a 50-year-old piece of plastic. It’s more the significance of it being the first use on record, anywhere in the world, of the ABBA name.
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