#35 - ABBA - People Need Love

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/People_Need_Love_Merry_Go_Round.jpg

 

And so we arrive at the VERY beginning. 2 years before Waterloo, before they were even CALLED ABBA. The 2nd highest song from the album, People Need Love is a fairly typical slice of early 70's pop and as with much of their earliest work features back and forth vocals from the guys and the girls. In this case though it was actually the girls featuring on Bjorn & Benny (already an established duo)'s latest single but demand was such that they decided to make it official, and of course the rest is history. I'm particularly fond of the yodelling featured in the outro *.*

 

#34 - ABBA - I Am The City

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/More_ABBA_Gold_cover.png

 

From the very start to the VERY END. This was one of the 5 released tracks from the sessions of ABBA's 9th studio album. It was eventually given a release on More Gold in 1993 and I am SO glad they did. It's very much the sound of ABBA re-engaging their pop roots after the slightly darker route taken in the previous years and also of them finally catching up with the new synth heavy, darker tone of music in the early 80's However, it was never to be and the song ended up gathering dust for over a decade which is a real shame for something so vibrant and full of life. Unlike Head Over Heels 18 months previous this doesn't feel like a group putting on the mask of fun ABBA, it feels like a group who have come full circle. Of course, for various reasons they split up shortly after recording these tracks but it does seem like things ended rather more decently than they might have done.

 

#33 - ABBA - Does Your Mother Know?

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e3/Doesyourmotherknow.jpg

 

2nd single off Voulez-Vous, Does Your Mother Know? finds Bjorn take lead and is one of the few bigger ABBA hits on which the guys have a major part. I long thought 'wouldn't this song be better sung by a woman' (with obvious gender references changed thank you very much Dannii Minogue). Then, along comes 2008's Mamma Mia and not only is it sung by a woman, but sung by one of the greatest women to EVER LIVE. I won't lie, previous to the film Ms. Baranski was only really known to me as the fabulous Betty May Who in The Grinch, but this really is what sparked it all *.*

 

YOU'RE SO HAWWWT, TEASIN' ME

 

I imagined DYMK would be higher, if only for that very reason. :lol: It is really one of the best parts of the film, if only because I think the song fits very well into the musical style anyway. Either that or I just found it hilarious.

 

The song itself is definitely in my top 20, probably in my top 10, it's really quite nice to see the boys leading a hit for a change and I imagine it was quite the dancefloor classic of its day. At least, I hope so.

Does Your Mother Know is one of my all time favourite Abba tracks. :wub: I've loved it ever since I first started to like Abba after the Abbamania concert on ITV in the late 90's. (B*Witched do a pretty damned good job of DYMK)

Haha, this isn't going all too well then. A lot of favourites seem to have dropped early.

#32 - ABBA - On & On & On

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/ABBA_-_On_And_On_And_On_(Australia).jpg

 

And once again we find ourselves in 1980, with a single that only got released in a handful of places including America where it reached a lowly #90 (they really did know how to pick their US singles didn't they). But anyway the song itself has a VERY punchy chorus which you could probably make up without having ever heard it, but then it's so simple that it works brilliantly. There's even an extra verse version, with a line about HUMPTY DUMPTY of all things:

 

"Standing up is scary if you think you're gonna fall

Like a Humpty-Dumpty 'fraid of falling off your wall

I say if you ever wanna know what's going on

Gotta keep on rocking baby, 'till the night is gone..."

 

 

#31 - ABBA - One Man, One Woman

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Abba-the-album-front.jpg

 

As one would imagine from a song with that title, it's a love song about a man and a woman. A man and a woman who are, essentially, soulmates. It's also every bit as beautiful as the majority of ABBA ballads, with a Frida lead vocal before she went all robotic. It's also got a typically ABBA, and therefore rather brilliant, piano backing. It was originally slated to be performed on the '77 tour but for some reason was cut, which is a bit of a shame as I imagine it would have been quite lovely.

 

#40 - ABBA - Waterloo

#39 - ABBA - S.O.S.

#38 - Frida - To Turn The Stone

#37 - Agnetha Faltskog - I Stand Alone

#36 - ABBA - Lovers (Live A Little Longer)

#35 - ABBA - People Need Love

#34 - ABBA - I Am The City

#33 - ABBA - Does Your Mother Know?

#32 - ABBA - On & On & On

#31 - ABBA - One Man, One Woman

 

 

 

Now onto the TOP 30 *.*

#30 - ABBA - Intermezzo, #1

 

http://s.cdon.com/media-dynamic/images/product/002/018/2018778.jpg

 

I'm sure this being so high will probably be a bit of a surprise, but it's always been a firm favourite of mine and in my eyes really sums up how brilliant ABBA were at crafting melodies, it's a near 4 minute instrumental which is never boring and zips along with about 20 tempo changes and yet flows perfectly. It was originally the b-side to the Mamma Mia single as well, so they obviously had quite a bit of faith in it themselves. The reason this is so much higher than their other vocalless track, Arrival, is purely because of how FUN it is.

 

#29 - ABBA - Soldiers

 

http://img12.nnm.ru/b/c/6/3/c/7f68ce119095a91d833c48a2b0c.jpg

 

As one might expect from a song titled Soldiers there is a strong percussion throughout, reminscent of both marching bands and their drums and indeed the actual marching of the soldiers themselves. Indeed, as with much of The Visitors the melodies are as tight as ever, but just that little bit darker than before. On the surface Soldiers seems to be a rather happy song, but it has a rather menacing tone to it if you listen more carefully, I've always thought it was about the break up of the Agnetha/Bjorn marriage but if peter30 is reading this he no doubt knows that to be totally false and will inform me of the TRUE meaning.

 

#28 - ABBA - Just Like That

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/Jetred5/abbajlt.jpg

 

I haven't specified which version this is because really, I like them all pretty much equally. If my life was on the line I'd probably plump for the 'na na na' version though. Just Like That has never been released in full, indeed we only got a snippet on the ABBA Undeleted Medley on More Gold. However much as B+B have tried, things have leaked and all 3 versions of this have done so.

 

#27 - Agnetha Faltskog - I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/I_Wasn't_the_One.jpg

 

Agnetha's final single for over a decade was this, the 3rd single from I Stand Alone. In keeping with her change of sounds for this album the song has a much more US sounding adult contemporary feel to it, it was actually a modest success in the US reaching #93 on the Hot 100 and #19 on the Hot AC Chart. It's a duet with Peter Cetera, who produced the album, I'm not a big fan of his voice but the two sound good together and as far as 80's melodramatic AC goes, you can do far worse.

 

#26 - ABBA - Ring Ring

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Ring_Ring_(Swedish).jpg

 

ABBA's first foray into MF in 1973 saw them come third with this little number. Who knows, had they won it may well have won Eurovision too, but I doubt it would have been the forging of the huge career that waited for them. However, I do prefer it to Waterloo as it's 14 places higher in this list. It comes in French, German and Swedish versions in addition to English and all are good fun, but the Swedish original is easily the best of the foreign versions. Much as I enjoy the darker, more complex, later ABBA stuff this joyous slice of pop is pretty undeniable.

 

This is the final appearance by a track from Ring Ring.

 

#25 - ABBA - I've Been Waiting For You

 

http://s.cdon.com/media-dynamic/images/product/002/018/2018778.jpg

 

So just as Ring Ring says goodbye to the countdown, so to does ABBA with this brilliant non single. It's an Agnetha lead vocal and one of her very best. It also features a rather brilliant NA NA NA NA NA outro, which shouldn't really work, especially not at the best part of a minute, yet ends up being one of the best things about the song!

 

#28 - ABBA - Just Like That

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/Jetred5/abbajlt.jpg

 

I haven't specified which version this is because really, I like them all pretty much equally. If my life was on the line I'd probably plump for the 'na na na' version though. Just Like That has never been released in full, indeed we only got a snippet on the ABBA Undeleted Medley on More Gold. However much as B+B have tried, things have leaked and all 3 versions of this have done so.

 

 

 

Yes, this is a great track, should have been a single, I bought the Gemini album but even a snippet of Abba is better, and even if its annoyingly not listed as a separate track so you have to fast forward to get to it!

 

thanks!:)

 

YAY A COMMENT

 

TACK

 

*.*

#24 - Benny Andersson Band - Story Of A Heart/Sommaren Du Fick

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Storyofaheart.jpg

 

In the summer of 2009 this so-ABBA-it-might-as-well-be track hit and it was an INSTANT CLASSIC. It really does feel as though it was written with A+F in mind, not that Helen Sjöholm doesn't do a marvellous job on it as is. This placing is combined from both the English and Swedish versions, which are both great in their own ways, perhaps the Swedish is a TAD better, but not by much.

 

#23 - ABBA - Hole In Your Soul

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Abba-the-album-front.jpg

 

So now we proceed over 3 decades back in time to The Album once more, Hole In Your Soul is one of ABBA's most rocky efforts, although that really is only in comparison to what went before. It features a powerhouse vocal from Agnetha with some rather amazing screaming towards the end. It's VERY 70's but it's also VERY fun.