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Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 01:46 PM

Thank you to everyone who voted, almost 30 in total which happily gives 30 spots for Abba songs..


So, the tracks that just missed the top 30: I Am Just A Girl, I’m A Marionette, The Visitors, and I Am The City. For the rest, where there’s a tie, I’m breaking it with number of voters, and if that doesn’t work, the one with the highest UK chart position - it doesn’t affect many!

30. When I Kissed The Teacher (2 points, 1 voter)





An album track from 1976’s Arrival, it was one of my many fave tracks on an album I played absolutely to death. As punk rock exploded onto the UK scene (well, actually, in sales terms, it’s impact was more of a sparkler than a banger) it was Abba who dominated the pop music world. It’s still pretty catchy, though not up there with their most well-known.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 01:50 PM

29. Summer Night City (2 points, 1 voter)





The “forgotten” single from their heyday, Summer Night City slipped out in the gap between albums and featured on neither The Album nor Voulez Vous, which is a shame as this 1978 stand-alone single was terrific, but it was generally their least successful single of the years when they could do no wrong. The band were not enthusiastic about it, seemingly borne out by it’s chart performances, but it’s one that has grown with time for me. It was quite dark, a driving dance homage to Stockholm, and I’m still not convinced they are singing “WALKING in the moonlight, love-making in a park”. It may be just me! I last heard it as it should be heard, loud in a club, in 2014 and it still has a menacing urgency that deserves re-assessment.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 02:05 PM

28. Lovelight (3 points, 2 voters)








One of the tracks of 1979‘s Voulez-Vous, their first album not to deliver a UK chart-topper since they won Eurovision, but still chock full of great tracks, including Lovelight. I always liked it a lot, but was never passionate about it, it almost sounds like it’s one that got held-over from a previous album rather than one of the increasingly ambitious, dance-oriented sound-productions of Voulez-Vous. Good enough for number 28, though...

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 02:17 PM

27. Angel Eyes (3 points, 2 voters, UK chart position 3)







A double A side for the 3rd single off Voulez-Vous, making this the 4th track to be lifted (if Voulez-Vous is considered the superior side, which it is). Angel Eyes is infuriatingly catchy, but the lack of an official video or promotion for it shows it was more (I guess) a marketing exercise to boost sales of the single. To be honest, radio frequently chose to play Angel Eyes instead of Voulez-Vous as it was very radio-friendly and popular, though my deep love was for the other side. These days, that little riff going on in the background is a stand-out moment, and the melody of course.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 02:32 PM

26. I Have A Dream (3 points, 2 voters, UK Chart peak 2)







The 5th track off Voulez-Vous was more of a Christmas singalong bonus (following on from Gimme Gimme Gimme and Greatest Hits 2) and was only kept off the top by the mighty Another Brick In The Wall. Both had a kiddie choir helping out on backing vocals, and both appealed to kids and parents in big numbers. It’s a memorable tune, a positive message, and I feel I should love it more than I do. Maybe it’s the kids, maybe I just overdosed on it by the time it became a hit (I’d been playing it for 9 months already) but it’s not yet had a comeback in my affections to the same scale.

Posted by: *Tim 25th January 2015, 02:33 PM

Oh no

Posted by: Uptown Froot 25th January 2015, 02:46 PM

'I Have a Dream' just makes me think of Westlife unfortunately.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 02:50 PM

QUOTE(Uptown Froot @ Jan 25 2015, 02:46 PM)

Posted by: Ultraviolence1989 25th January 2015, 06:53 PM

I have a dream is beautiful so I wish it was higher
This rate has got me so obsessed on abba and especially Mamma mia again

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 07:08 PM

25. When All Is Said And Done (4 points, 1 voter)




Album track from 1981’s The Visitors (in the UK) and a top 40 single in the USA, I very much believed at the time, and still do, that this should have been the follow-up to One Of Us rather than the inferior (if jolly) Head Over Heels. So do the lovely Buzzjack voters who didn’t vote for Head Over Heels at all, while this fab mature defiant statement of love for older people is classy enough to feature in the movie Mamma Mia, and even Pierce Brosnan hasn’t managed to ruin it’s charms. I often wanted to slap Epic Records for their choice of singles in the UK, usually preferring to go twee and safe when they should have gone sophisticated. Slap!

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 07:09 PM

QUOTE(Ultraviolence1989 @ Jan 25 2015, 06:53 PM)

I have a dream is beautiful so I wish it was higher
This rate has got me so obsessed on abba and especially Mamma mia again

Posted by: Ultraviolence1989 25th January 2015, 07:17 PM

When all is said and done is very nice, I would rank it around there also

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 07:34 PM

24. The Name Of The Game (4 points, 1 voter)





I’m aghast at the low placing for this UK number one single! That said, world-wide it wasn’t as big as the previous few Abba singles. This lead single for The Album was rhythmically hypnotic, and was another of their great heart-break love songs, but they were by now willing to embrace subtlety of verse mixed with power of chorus. The groove was so great that the Fugees sampled it for their big hit in 1997, Rumble In The Jungle. I fondly recall getting slagged off by the boys in our college house (like an American frat, boys had their own first year house) as they were all intent on building a paper-machier pyramid for a Rag Parade float, while I was sat watching saturday morning kids TV (Swap Shop) waiting for them to debut the promised video. Sorry, Abba come before paper machier pyramids (they just DO!), and we didn’t have videorecorders or youtube then...

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 07:55 PM

23. Money Money Money (5 points, 3 voters)








The one that came in between 3 hat-tricks of UK chart-toppers, hitting 3 in the charts, and peaking over the christmas 1976 period along with the parent-album Arrival. An ode to a woman struggling financially, and the desire for a man with a bit of cash to help things along? Possibly not PC these days, that, but it’s sort of an anthem for the poor, I like to think. Of course, it made Abba loadsamoney money money, and the tinkly-piano-driven hook gave it a 1920’s flavour, as showcased in the second of the 2 videos for this one. I preferred the original “Frida’s-hat-dashing-about” video though so that’s the one i’m going for. It’s great, of course, but like me Buzz Jack seems to also like it (3 voters) but not love it to bits when forced to choose.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 08:08 PM

22. Honey Honey (7 points, 1 voter)







The follow-up Top 10 UK hit to Waterloo in the UK - for Sweet Dreams! Such an obvious choice for the second single, Epic instead opted for Ring Ring (possibly for it’s similar Eurovision connections, and showing a lack of faith in the actual recorded product) which didn’t do nearly as well as Honey Honey. It’s sweet, of course, effortless-sounding, and a no-nonsense bubblegum harmony pop song. I didn’t get to hear the Abba version for another year or so after Sweet Dreams’ more soulful version had been and gone. I also like ex-Pickettywich Polly Brown’s vocals, and the male-female duet with Tony Jackson worked well, but of course Abba’s is the world-wide hit definitive version. Another slap for Epic UK!

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th January 2015, 08:27 PM

21. Our Last Summer (8 points, 2 voters)







Super Trouper album track, a wistful, nostalgic ballad for past love (in Paris), and never a single, it has taken on a popular lease of life following it’s inclusion in the Mamma Mia musical - it certainly wasn’t well-known at the time, beyond Abba fans, and never struck me as a stand-out track, though as ever it’s Abba - of course I like it (as my belated personal chart position of 10 last week shows). It’s all about the chorus and I really should be commenting more on the individual vocal performances when it’s prominent - in this case Frida does a great job. Apparently Benny & Bjorn nicked a bit of it for their musical Chess. Can’t say as I noticed!




next batch monday night as i'm off to watch The Voice on iplayer now...

Posted by: AntoineTTe 26th January 2015, 12:22 PM

I Have a Dream should not be among those songs.

Posted by: Iz~ 26th January 2015, 05:21 PM

Our Last Summer does everything right for me, it's wistful, it's very beautiful, and out of all the songs in the film version of Mamma Mia, it's the one I think works the best - that's certainly where I first noticed it and the reason why it shot into my ABBA faves so hard.

Honeyx2, Moneyx3 and The Name Of The Game are all pretty flawless too, already. Honey Honey I think was one of the first ones that I really began to pick out from the rest (personally was confused for ages about it not being on Gold but rather on More Gold) so that's quite special for me.

Posted by: popchartfreak 26th January 2015, 06:17 PM

20. Under Attack (9 points, 3 voters)








Well, here’s a surprise then! The last new Abba single to be released ever, a minor synthed-sounding pleasant pop 1982/3 hit, but a sad way to bow out of a classic career - not that it’s bad, it’s just very low-key wistfully sweet. It has a terrific melody borrowed from their own fab Just Like That, and also the moment I heard it I had this 60’s song going over and over in my head with the hooky “won’t somebody see and save a heart, come and rescue me now cos I’m falling apart” bit: Obscure trivia, it’s pretty much the same melody and tempo as a segment of Glen Campbell’s cover of Bobby Goldsboro’s The Straight Life. Not a lot of people, as Michael Caine might say, know that. I assume a lot of people have seen the stage version of Mamma Mia, as it’s not in the movie, and it’s the only thing I can think of for it to do this well. I do love that melody though....

Posted by: popchartfreak 26th January 2015, 06:33 PM

19. Fernando (9 points, 4 voters)









So, we’re off to Fernando’s surprisingly early - not the dating game paradise that is (usually) Tenerife, no, it’s that old pop song cliched subject matter of revolutionaries looking back on fighting for a good cause. It’s not clear where, but Bjorn says it’s the Mexican-Texas conflict. Given the subject matter (and I think it’s fair to say Abba could make any topic work for them!) it’s stunning that this spanish-flavoured gentle singalong ballad sold 10 million worldwide, and became the longest-running (and one of the biggest-selling) singles at number one in Australia (14, weeks, along with The Beatles Hey Jude - now that’s what I call good company!). In the UK it looked like it was going to peak at 2 behind (ironically) Eurovision winners Brotherhood Of Man - 3 weeks it held them off the top spot before they finally gave in, and quite rightly too, Abba’s class and the campfire video won out in the end. It certainly won me over - I was into black & white photography in 6th form Art at the time, and developed my own negatives - including, of course, sitting in front of Top Of The Pops waiting for the video so I could take snaps of the best moments in the video to savour more than just a passing memory of a great video promo. As I said before, we had no video recorders, HD or DVD or Blu-Ray in those days, once it was gone it was gone forever (so we thought). Ooh that makes me sound SO obsessive! If the obsessive shoe fits.....? 4 voters show it’s well-loved here too, but it didn’t quite get into the top slots of the top 5’s. Did you know...? It was originally recorded on a 1975 solo album by Frida, then revised and improved by Abba for a stand-alone single after the surprise Number One success of Mamma Mia.

Posted by: popchartfreak 26th January 2015, 06:47 PM

18. That’s Me (10 points, 1 voter)








OK, shock number one - I was hoping the skewed points system would throw up some surprises, and this is the highest-positioned track that featured in only one voters top 5 - top of the list of course. I actually think it’s one of Abba’s best tracks, I love the strings and the thrusting harmonies and uptempo delight of the whole record, it’s almost classical synth a la pop. What’s more surprising is they chucked it away on the B side of Dancing Queen (I say “chucked”, actually the bonus B side tracks were often worth buying the single for if they weren’t on an album - though this one cropped up later on Arrival). Good enough to make a promo video for, I do wonder if this was lined up for the A side and they then came up with Dancing Queen which was a game changer, and relegation was the name of the game. I played this a lot in 1976/7 and have never ever been bored with it, so I’m very happy to see it at 18!

Posted by: popchartfreak 26th January 2015, 07:02 PM

17. Super Trouper (12 points, 3 voters)









Second number one from the album of the same name, and sadly Abba’s 9th and final UK chart-topper in the tail end of 1980. I was mad on this, I absolutely loved the video, it was one of the first pop videos I ever recorded (on an enormously expensive tape format pre-VHS and Betamax, £20 for two hours - that would be about, ooh, £60 or more in today’s money). I played it a lot, loved the album, loved the single, and the only thing that stopped it having a longer chart-topping run in my charts was the shocking murder of John Lennon, a hero, a legend, and The Beatles were the only band I loved as much as (or more than) Abba. It doesn’t seem to shine quite as brightly as some of their other songs, possibly because it’s so pretty, despite it’s somewhat sad lyrics. A Super Trouper is, of course, the spotlight that shines on stage, and Bjorn manages to bung Glasgow into a song lyric and make it sound perfectly unforced - what’s not to love! P.S. I still love that video, and Frida never sounded sweeter, with that honey-smooth vocal.

Posted by: *Tim 26th January 2015, 07:07 PM

Super Trouper

Posted by: popchartfreak 26th January 2015, 07:21 PM

16. Thank You For The Music (17 points, 2 voters)









Pretty much an old-fashioned Music Hall singalong, this album track off The Album became one of Abba’s most popular songs despite never being a single until Abba had officially called it a day in 1983, at which point it still became a minor hit, despite being on more than one album at that point. As a song, it sounds effortless and timeless, as if they’d stolen it from somebody else’s classic songbook. Oddly enough, again, it wasn’t my favourite track on The Album, but I was mystified why the UK didn’t follow the example of most of Europe and release it as the summer follow-up 3rd album single double A side with Eagle (which WAS my fave track on the album), as to me it was a no-brainer huge hit and would have sold more albums. I was very annoyed with Epic UK. Have I mentioned how much they annoyed me before in their singles choices? Thought so....





next batch tomorrow night as I'm off to try win a pub quiz shortly - we lost £30 on a tie-break last time! Still, it's the taking part that matters. I'm still fondly reminded of the time I failed to name the single by a female vocalist which has sold the most in the UK.

Britney Spears, ..Baby One More Time, I reasoned. Having forgotten it wasn't her at all. I'm sure you all know who it is and can shout it out in unison...

Posted by: popchartfreak 27th January 2015, 06:28 PM

15. Eagle (27 points, 3 voters)








Talking of Eagle, here it is, and the points from here on are pretty substantial. I ADORE this track, the soaring guitars and synthesisers, the psychedelic video taken from Abba: The Movie, the spine-tingling melody and oh my goodness that killer chorus sung brilliantly by the girls. I love every single perfect second of it. I shared a college room with two mates when I bought the album, and I forced them to listen to it as often I could get away with - and in return I got exposed to Rumours, and Judas Priest. Rumours, classic. Judas Priest, though (loud noisy metal) was a price worth paying to hear Eagle. I began to realise my love of Abba might possibly be a little on the girlie side when I tried to persuade all of my new friends to go and see the new film at the pictures - I mean, how could they not want to, it was Abba, and my friends at school loved them too?! Turns out I could convince none of the lads, and I blushed to go the cinema, just me and about 5 girls, wishing I’d never mentioned it and just quietly slipped down on my own on an evening! I’m over that now, happily, who cares, I was right and they were wrong to not respect the genius of the loveable Swedes. Pah!

Posted by: popchartfreak 27th January 2015, 06:48 PM

14. Chiquitita (27 points, 5 voters)








I recall when this first came out the Abba backlash started, as all and sundry started whining about it being Fernando Part 2 and joyously assuming they’d lost it. People do like to knock the successful. It is, of course, NOTHING like Fernando, except inasmuch as they are both Spanish-language names, and a ballad. Might as well moan about every rock band sounding the same for using the same instruments - and on this the instruments and melody are delicious. Gentle, touching, building, then a crescendo of a chorus, and of course that grand finale circus-tastic instrumental piano climax to the end of the grooves. What’s not to love! It was the biggest track off Voulez-Vous worldwide which is great news for UNICEF: not only did Abba perform at the concert for UNICEF along with other big names, but Chiquitita went on the official album, and Abba donated half the proceeds to the UNICEF The Year Of The Child cause, and it still makes money for them with every sale. My own theory for this stalling at on the UK charts at 2 (behind Blondie) is the lack of a video on Top Of The Pops - the one above is not one I recall seeing at the time, though Record Mirror’s charts did show Chiquitita had sold over half a million anyway. Plus, Abba rush-released it on completion after they’d already lined-up the fantastic If It Wasn’t For The Nights as lead single. Bizarrely, they never did release that one in the UK. Plus ca change...

Posted by: popchartfreak 27th January 2015, 07:11 PM

13. SOS (27 points, 6 voters)







This is the song that started to change people’s preconceptions about Abba - up to this point they’d been viewed as a relatively successful Europop act, with minor hits following up a monster worldwide hit - in itself pretty unusual for a Eurovision Song Contest winner. SOS, though, was so classy, a first-rate actual SONG beautifully produced, and with Agnetha’s heartbreaking vocal performance it forced people to look at them differently, and it became their second big hit, very deservedly. I’m ashamed to say I really liked it, but it didn’t make my top 10 at the time (though it topped years later) mostly, I think, because the only performance Top Of The Pops had was a Seaside Special live vocal spot which wasn’t that special, actually, Agnetha was fine, but the overall sound was tinny, trashy and not up to the immaculate original - though it was in a tent. Maybe that’s where they got the idea for the end of Chiquitita! Anyway, had they shown the video instead I’m sure it would have hit the spot. It certainly hit the spot with the Sex Pistols - they nicked the melody - and rock stars started to reference them more and more after this point once they got over the laughter of the music journalists snooty opinions. Yes, it’s true, Abba weren’t the world-wide admired pop stars of today, they were largely looked down on for being a) pop b) european c) eurovision. Three unforgiveable sins for the price of one! Pop music just wasn’t SERIOUS music maaaaaaan. Hah, who’s laughing now journo boys!

Posted by: *Tim 27th January 2015, 07:16 PM

SOS

Utterly flawless and the musical really brought this to life for me

Posted by: popchartfreak 27th January 2015, 07:27 PM

12. Mamma Mia (27 points, 7 voters)







Well, here’s a shock, Mamma Mia not in the top 10! Their second number one had to climb slowly up the charts to get to top the UK lists in early 1976, and to say I was OVERJOYED is an understatement. I’d stayed a fan, and here they were back on top with their best record yet, just getting and better. That piano-riff, that hook, the girls singing in unison! If this was pop, it was pop shifting up a gear and then some. The video had a major impact on it’s success - after years of dodgy Top Of The Pops orchestra arrangements ruining every pop song they touched, we suddenly had an alternative: A pop promo! Total control, the group could show themselves as they wanted to be, in white, with great camera angles, looking gorgeous, and Top Of The Pops could do nothing to harm them any more with useless copies. It changed everything. Of course THAT other record got there first - you know the other one with a Mamma Mia hook from Queen - in terms of establishing the impact of videos on the music world, but only by a matter of weeks, and Abba made it their own little artform for some years until others got into the video groove too (The Beatles did it first, of course, but they just didn’t get the same degree of exposure in the 60’s). Anyway, title track of a Musical, a movie, it recharted, and became popular all over again - so maybe over-exposure lost it some points. Bo Rap topped my charts, but Mamma Mia was the one that ran for 8 weeks on top in my charts during the snowy Lincolnshire January/February of 1976. yay!

Posted by: popchartfreak 27th January 2015, 07:41 PM

11. Take A Chance On Me (27 points, 8 voters)







Huge in the USA (hitting 3), second-only to Dancing Queen, this chugging-like-a-train uptempo slice of pop, had a catchy toon and a great joyous video, no angst in evidence here at all, just pure fun. The last chart-topper of Abba’s second hat-trick number one’s in the UK, it was just a great track during a period when they were starting to get copied by chart-topping acts - but not nearly as good, of course, witness the weak Figaro which in my humble opinion (“IMHO”) is like a limerick to a Shakespearean sonnet. Sorry Brotherhood Of Man fans, I’m biased! I always bizarrely associate this with my first year at college when the lads in our House went off looking for a fellow-student who’d wandered away from the girls dorms in a state of depression. Happily we found her, she recovered, and I got back in time for Top Of The Pops and the Abba video. Result!




top 10 tomorrow, includes my least-fave track on the list, and my most-fave...

Posted by: AntoineTTe 27th January 2015, 07:46 PM

Eugh.....Chiquitita is fooking amazing.

Posted by: Suedehead2 28th January 2015, 12:09 AM

QUOTE(AntoineTTe @ Jan 27 2015, 07:46 PM)

Posted by: AntoineTTe 28th January 2015, 07:43 AM

The piano through out the whole song is great.

Posted by: J▼hnkm 28th January 2015, 08:51 AM

The outro really is incredible in Chiquitita. WHAT a run of songs the last 5 are, all 10/10 (bar Mamma Mia but that's mostly due to overplay, objectively it is too).

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 02:04 PM

10. Knowing Me Knowing You (28 points, 4 voters)









Abba’s 5th UK number one, and the last track off Arrival to be a single, this is my favourite Abba single, most probably, and had a 10-week run on top of my charts in the late winter and early spring of 1977. It didn’t get as many voters as some lower-placed tracks, but those that love it seem to LOVE it. I think it would have been even higher if not for Alan Partridge somewhat knocking a bit of the shine off it. So what’s so great about it? The video in the snow, for a start, if ever a video set off a heartbreaking lyric, this one worked the charm. The lyrics, also, seemed to be the first sign that everything was not all love and lightness in the Abba camp, and gave them a new maturity and pathos. The song itself has a glorious melody, and the competing harmonies are both alternately subtle and soaring, while the girls vocals are immaculate, and that guitar backdrop is still amazing. There was a long 6 month wait for another single after this one, though any other album singles would probably have not topped the chart, so it effectively started another hat-trick of UK chart-toppers for them ahead of the new album, so I shouldn’t whinge too much about Tiger (my choice at that time) not being a single.

Posted by: AntoineTTe 28th January 2015, 02:11 PM

Great song.

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 02:41 PM

9. Does Your Mother Know (29 points, 5 voters)









Well, this was a surprise to me - my least favourite Abba single ahead of my favourite! I mean I loved it, but I loved the B side much more: Kisses Of Fire is an unknown exciting Abba gem, and this happy, clappy, rocky singalong with Bjorn on lead and the girls a bit twee on the background vocals just didn’t grab me in the same way. It’s not that I mind Bjorn singing lead, and the whimsical lyric leaned more that way anyway, and a bit of rocking from Abba was a nice change, but you know, Frida and Agnetha singers of quality? That said, it IS good fun, and was a highlight of the Mamma Mia movie, so I’m obviously in the minority here! It still hit my number though, as a double A side with Kisses Of Fire (for my chart purposes, I changed my own chart rules and allowed a B side and Voulez-Vous album track as a one-off in 1979... just because!)

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 02:48 PM

8. Waterloo (30 points, 3 voters)









The one that started it all off. Loved by 3 voters, giving the full marks, and not listed by anyone else. Although overshadowed by the sheer quality of what came after, I think it’s fair it’s in the top 10: it’s the song that gave a Eurovision act world-success, it featured in the best Euro Song Contest of the 20th century (Four tracks became UK hit singles), and Abba bounded from nowhere to fame in one evening, dressed in THOSE glamtastic clothes just as glam was on the way out. It was the song though, it just WAS the best Eurovision song by far, it had better construction, better chorus, and they sang it in English which was by far the language of pop - but no-one much had done that outside of The UK and Ireland until Abba had the brainstorm. On Eurovision night I was babysitting for an RAF family at Innsworth in Gloucester, and Abba blew me away. I also loved Mouth & MacNeal, but it was no contest really, Abba just had to win - they had just taken the bar, and raised it so high no-one had a chance of matching it for decades! Win, they did, and even the USA (where Eurovision means nothing) bought it, and bought Abba. Popular opinion always said Abba never made it in the USA - a number one, 8 years and 14 Top 40 hits, and hit albums. Any current UK act would kill for that level of “not-making-it” these days! Granted they weren’t AS big as elsewhere but hey-ho. Waterloo, for me, these days has suffered from over-familiarity, as it gets trotted out every May, but the singalong at the end of movie Mamma Mia is great fun and anyone who’s not heard it for over 40 years continuously might find it quite fresh!

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 03:20 PM

7. One Of Us (30 points, 8 voters)









Another surprise, this one being pretty well-liked enough to gather points to land at 7 in the list! It’s a lovely track, and another great breaking-up track, presumably not Bjorn and Agnetha by now, more Benny and Frida, though Agnetha gets the lead vocal. It’s quite a sad video, and song, and very much signalled the overall mood of Abba’s final album The Visitors, which was more-low-key and less anthemic in it’s choruses, they were more integrated into the overall flow of the song. I loved it, of course, and almost got the picture-disc for the same price as a normal vinyl single (I said no when I was asked by the shop assistant (put on the spot), who was grateful I’d returned 5 brand new singles she’d accidentally included in a large batch of 70’s classics going cheap that I’d bought). Around the same time I bought the album, which had annoyingly warped a little by the time I got it home - I wouldn’t say it was frozen and bitter out, and snow-covered on the hilly Mansfield Streets, but it was so cold that brass monkeys would be singing falsetto. First day of release though, I had to go and get it, and for the first time, I was mildly disappointed with a new Abba album, and it’s reduced number of tracks, and it’s melancholy mood, overall. It’s improved with age, though, so good to see this one do so well. The B side was the main reason to buy the single if you had the album - Should I Laugh Or Cry really should have been on the album, it’s gorgeous and yearning and would have fit the mood perfectly.

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 03:51 PM

6. The Day Before You Came (34 points, 8 voters)









I’m very happy to see this least-successful late-career Abba single so high. When it came out, the general reaction was “eh?”, as Abba’s low-key recordings reached the peak of low-key-ness on their final ever recording, and pretty much confirming to the band that diminishing returns meant it was time to call it a day. Lyrically, the influence of Chess was clearly there (as they worked on the project with Tim Rice) and it was largely thought to be “dull”, but I thought it was a beautiful love song, and a song of hope and optimism. The monotonous rhythm, and forlorn vocal from Agnetha, and lack of a big chorus, all suited the subject matter to me - which was to capture the mood of ticking-over in life, nothing happening much, just routine, and not realising that until meeting The One. Too subtle for radio’s liking, and only a greatest hits goodbye package to promote, it sort of came and went very quickly in the charts. To rub it in further, synth-band Blancmange covered it 2 years later and got a higher chart position than Abba - which sort of says people liked the song when they got a chance to hear it. There are alternative versions (presumably still in the vaults) with Agnetha giving it more vocal oomph, which would be interesting to hear, but I regret they gave up at this point, I think they had at least one more album in them, though it would have been very much in this vein judging by the 6 tracks recorded by early 1982. Pity!

Posted by: PaulM1983 28th January 2015, 08:19 PM

Oh I missed this rate. Interesting to see the results though. Some songs are much lower than I expected actually.

Summer Night City is fantastic and I'm convinced they don't sing "walking...". Always have been.

Angel Eyes is another favourite. Gorgeous melody!

My absolute favourite is still to come though. I'm here for a Lay All Your Love On Me surprise victory!

Posted by: J▼hnkm 28th January 2015, 08:38 PM

Isn't it just accepted they say fucking? I mean I've never heard it as anything else. They don't really share the same issues with swearing in Sweden as we do in the UK.

Posted by: Ultraviolence1989 28th January 2015, 09:46 PM

So many amazing tracks :
Money Money Money is amazing and I am shocked it is that low Same with Super Trouper
Our Last Summer, Chiqiquita and The Name Of The Game are very very good
I adore Honey Honey, especially Amanda's version and does your mother know is amazing
Thank you for the music is nice but one of my least favourite Abba tracks
SOS so low Definitely one of their best and an absolute gem, same with mamma mia
WATERLOO My absolutely favourite Abba song ever and such an amazing classic

Posted by: Suedehead2 28th January 2015, 10:31 PM

QUOTE(popchartfreak @ Jan 28 2015, 03:51 PM)

Posted by: popchartfreak 28th January 2015, 10:47 PM

QUOTE(Suedehead2 @ Jan 28 2015, 10:31 PM)

I was quite a fan of Blancmange in the early- to mid-eighties. I loved the quirkiness of Living On The Ceiling and the wonderful atmospheric Waves. Therefore, I was rather intrigued when they did a cover of an Abba song. Once I heard it, I thought it was a work of brilliance and it remains one of my favourite cover versions

I hope you don't mind if I use your thread to post a reminder. Perhaps there are even members who don't know this version

Posted by: Suedehead2 28th January 2015, 10:48 PM

QUOTE(popchartfreak @ Jan 28 2015, 10:47 PM)

Not at all, I loved Blancmange too, and I'm annoyed I missed them the other month at Southampton's The Brook. Doh!

Posted by: fiesta 29th January 2015, 12:35 PM

Oh I forgot all about One Of Us! Beautiful song

Blancmange are great especially Don't Tell Me

Posted by: J▼hnkm 29th January 2015, 03:56 PM

I've never really enjoyed the Blancmange cover, but then the original is one of my very favourite songs of all time so it probably can't really compete anyway.

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 06:49 PM

5. Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) (38 points, 8 voters)









It’s the 1979 track that followed Abba’s disco period album Voulez-Vous at 5, keeping up with the dance groove with a centrepiece keyboard instrumental hook borrowed rather heavily by Madonna (Hung Up). Even bearing that in mind, I’m surprised to see this so high in the rating. It’s a terrific dance groove, but not the strongest Abba chorus for me - it’s great, but there are greater - and it wasn’t even on an album proper, more of a bonus Greatest Hits track shortly after. Like every Abba single after Mamma Mia, of course it made my number one, and even inspired a sitcom with the same title (sort of), and maybe the racy lyrics sung by Agnetha suited movie/musical Mamma Mia quite well, and that’s the reason it’s so popular. Answers on a virtual postcard!

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 07:10 PM

4. Dancing Queen (45 points, 6 voters)









Shock! One of the greatest pop singles of all-time (as voted for even by rock-loving Rolling Stone magazine!), a song guaranteed to get any massive crowd at any event singing along in unison (I’ve seen it time and again!), and only 6 voters on Buzz Jack! I guess, again, it’s due to over-exposure, which is a major shame, because it’s sheer genius, from that opening piano frill and straight into those glorious harmonies from Agnetha and Frida, that half-shuffle rhythm, them wondrous strings, and most of all the soaring melody which has spine-tingling “oh it’s great to be alive” vibes all over it. This was the moment when Abba conquered the world, even the mighty USA, chart-topping wherever it went, and with justification. By this time Abba had already had 3 number ones in my charts, and I was already a huge fan, but this sent me into ecstasy overdrive from the moment I heard it, I couldn’t stop expressing my love to anyone who stood still long enough next to me (well, almost!), 10 weeks on top of my chart, not to mention another 8 second-time around in 1992 when it hit all over again, and another one during the Mamma Mia musical mania, 19 weeks on top in all, and still a record. My most abiding memory is watching that fab disco video (and it’s not even a disco record by any stretch), and - dare I say it? yes I dare! - the moment when Agnetha and Frida point at the audience, “See That Girl”, I copied in my bedroom shuffling along and singing along at the top of my voice. The amazing thing is, it’s pretty climactic to start with no verse or intro, it’s pure chorus, the melody never lets up, and yes it gets even bigger for the grand finale. My abiding memory is of watching them on Top Of The Pops in the Lake District hotel TV lounge while on a fantastic 6th form geography field trip for a week, with Mr Ross and Mr Pickering our teachers. Loved it. Loved Abba. Phew, and relax....

Posted by: مدهش* 29th January 2015, 07:16 PM

This is all going very well so far on the whole, generally the better ones have been towards the top.

Lay All Your Love On Me is my favourite by a mile so I'm really hoping that wins.

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 07:30 PM

3. Voulez-Vous (47 points, 9 voters)







Love that guitar at the start, love the moody side of disco uptempo’s pace, the horns, the girls on fire and in harmony, the space they give for the “ah-hah’s”, the tune and the lyrics that sum up what it means to go clubbing, the excitement, the freedom, losing yourself in the rhythms and emotion. I don’t even mind that it just beat out Dancing Queen by 2 points here, and by 3 voters, because it too is sheer genius. Disco can be class, here is the proof m’lud, I rest my case! What’s bizarre is that they (by which I mean Epic UK) put it out as a double-A with Angel Eyes, and that it was the 3rd track off the great album of the same name. It’s the jewel in the crown of crown shining with quite a few precious stones, and a couple of less precious gems. I’ve known lots of folk who adore Angel Eyes more, but I’m not one of them, this is a track I’ve never tired of, it still sounds fresh, and it still gets me going played loud. For the record, this is the only studio recording Abba made outside of Sweden, in Miami with disco group Foxy, in the same studios used by The Bee Gees during their classic disco hey-day, and for me both they and Abba had the class, the melody and the groove a-plenty. Brilliant record.

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 07:32 PM

QUOTE(مدهش* @ Jan 29 2015, 07:16 PM)

Posted by: مدهش* 29th January 2015, 07:40 PM

Either way, just realised that the top two are my favourite two so a rather great outcome.

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 07:54 PM

2. Lay All Your Love On Me (86 points, 14 voters)








Buzz Jacks favourite Abba dance track, and way ahead of the pack, bar one, this Super Trouper album track finally came out a bit belatedly in 1981 in 12-inch form only, which was a commercially bizarre move (as always) from Epic. Having had 2 number singles in 1980, and oodles of fantastic potential singles to release, (such as perennial Russian New Years fave Happy New Year, or the singalong The Way Old Friends Do, or the ballad Our Last Summer, or this one....) they released nothing for months then sabotaged the chances of Lay All Your Love On Me becoming a bigger hit by not releasing it on 7-inch. I didn’t buy it, what was the point, no bonus B sides, no extended mixes, and it was very expensive. OK it became the biggest-selling 12-inch ever for a while but it deserved better than UK number 7 peak. There wasn’t even a video to go with it! Grumbling aside, it too is genius dance, but in a subtler, more synthy insistent way, the melody less climactic and more of an emotional grab in the gut, a spine-tingling mellow sort of dance euphoria, the bpm’s way up, the melody spacious, and the chorus deliberately choral and distorted to give that cavernous feel. A recording ahead of it’s time, and I am still indignant it wasn’t given a fair crack of the chart-topping whip! Pah! Still, at least Erasure took it where it belonged, yay! 14 of you loved it dearly, and so do I, and as the votes came in it kept chopping and changing between two tracks as to who was gonna come out on top, this one, or......?

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th January 2015, 08:20 PM

1. The Winner Takes It All (91 points, 18 voters)








The winner, indeed, takes it all, as this got more points and more voters than any other Abba song. Abba collectively reckon this to be their best song, and it is pretty perfect in every single way. When it came out, I was in the throws of leaving College, courses done, 3 happy years gone by, and most certainly wishing I could stay a student. Instead I was about to head into 4 gruelling years of unemployment, crappy jobs and depression misery, starting almost immediately with mum going into hospital as this topped the charts. So, for me, it also represented the theme of the song: loss (of a happy life).

After the disco days of Voulez-Vous no-one was expecting the lead track off the next album to be a blisteringly-heart-breaking song of lost-love. The lyrics were now indisputedly as good as any by English-speaking lyricists, the melody was sophisticated and supported the lyrics brilliantly throughout the song, the verse and chorus blend together as if they belong, with barely a join in evidence, and it ebbs and flows telling the story. By now, Abba’s unhappy divorces were known, and it added poignancy to the songs, in the much the same way as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was a story of breaking-up. That Bjorn wrote the lyrics for his ex to sing was pathos-added, and Agnetha sang like she meant every word, both of them seeing it as a creative peak. Both deny there were any winners in their divorce, so it’s fiction in that sense, but I always saw it as a sort of ironic title anyway. A worthy winner? I think so. Even Meryl Streep’s emotional go at it in the film was half-decent, though I can’t see anyone having the connection to the song enough to ever rival Agnetha’s version. Watch the video, feel moved, and adore...

Posted by: Regina 29th January 2015, 09:52 PM

Dominic Cooper slays on his version of LAYLOM

Posted by: *Tim 29th January 2015, 10:01 PM

2 of my favourite ABBA songs. Both really came to life in the musical and movie for me! Absolutely outstanding tracks

Posted by: ░░░░ 29th January 2015, 10:58 PM

QUOTE(Regina @ Jan 29 2015, 09:52 PM)

Dominic Cooper slays on his version of LAYLOM

Posted by: J▼hnkm 29th January 2015, 11:04 PM

Amazing top 2, not really surprising, but fully deserved. The outro of LAYLOM is the stuff (synth) dreams are made of.

Posted by: Iz~ 29th January 2015, 11:04 PM

Two fantastic tracks at the top, in fact all of the top 10, aside from Dancing Queen, that one is just a bit TOO overplayed for me and I'd only give it about an 8/10 these days, I would call 10/10 pop tracks, without being one of those people who normally does hyperbole.

Especially pleased with Does Your Mother Know, One Of Us and The Day Before You Came in the top 10, thought they might be a bit lower, but these top 10 positions are greatly deserved. In fact this is one of the best general taste rankings of ABBA singles I've seen. Thanks for doing this, John!

Posted by: popchartfreak 30th January 2015, 07:32 AM

QUOTE(Iz~ @ Jan 29 2015, 11:04 PM)

Posted by: spthoons 4th April 2015, 01:50 PM

Interesting list! Can take or leave The Winner Takes It All being #1 but pleased Lay All Your Love On Me made it to at least #2. Cracker of a song.

Also love The Day Before You Came so pleased to see that so high! If that was the direction ABBA were planning to venture into on the next album, I can only be gutted that they wouldn't see it through for a bit longer.