ABBA single by single thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Haristar, Apr 7, 2018.

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  1. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    [​IMG]
     
  2. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    It's very '80s, isn't it? Not a bad song, but not as insanely catchy as their classic tunes, either. The video is quite conventional and a bit dull, but they look good in it at least (for 1982). This one also reminds me of the material written and produced for Chess. It definitely has something of that sound and mood.
     
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  3. motownboy

    motownboy Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington State
    Benny and Bjorn did not like the lyrics in the verses of the ABBA version of "Just Like That." That is why they weren't included in the snippet that is part of the "ABBA - Undeleted" on the "Thank You For The Music" box set. The Gemini version has different lyrics and melody for the verses, but the same melody and almost the same lyrics in the chorus. I am hoping that the fully finished version of JLT does make it onto a future ABBA retrospective release. There are also four extended dance mixes of classic ABBA songs done in 1981 by Michael B.. Tretow that have yet to be released.
     
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  4. I'm still hoping we'll eventually get an official release that compiles all of the 1982 recordings, those four Michael B. Tretow remixes and both circulating complete versions of Just Like That, plus any other songs from around the same period - Nationalsång, I Am A Musician, When The Waves Roll Out To The Sea and Every Good Man would make great additions to such a collection... If they called the resulting set Opus 10, it would be sure to shift at least a few units outside the more dedicated fanbase, especially if it was promoted as a "new" or lost ABBA album (even though I know this was never actually the group's intention)!
     
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  5. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    To paraphrase T.S. Eliot: This is the way ABBA ends -- not with a bang, but a whimper.

    "Under Attack" was not released from The Singles in the U.S. Evidently, Atlantic never considered it as a single, putting it in the company of international hits "So Long" and "I Have a Dream" during their tenure on the label. Atlantic also left the non-LP B-side in the can; "You Owe Me One" didn't show up in the States until the Thank You for the Music box set.

    In listening to "Under Attack" today, the first adjective that came to mind was one I had never associated with ABBA before: generic. The song just sits there; it's kinda blah. It could have been by almost any female act. The chord change in the chorus reminded me of another song, and after some thought, I came up with a slowed-down "Making Our Dreams Come True" by Cyndi Grecco, another kinda blah song that happened to serve as the theme from the TV series Laverne and Shirley.

    Instead, as what would turn out to be ABBA's last new single, Atlantic chose to issue "One of Us," which in the U.S. was merely an album cut on The Visitors and not previously on a 45. The label reused "The Day Before You Came," previously the flip of "When All Is Said and Done," on the B-side. (This leads me to believe that Atlantic never had a master of "You Owe Me One" and/or never asked for one.)

    "One of Us" is a decent song, certainly better than "Under Attack" and not a bad choice as the final ABBA single in the U.S. The more I listen to it, the more affecting it becomes. I can hear echoes of its synth line in several later hits, including "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion and "I'll Remember" by Madonna.

    Cash Box reviewed "One of Us" in its February 5, 1983 issue, spotlighting it with the heading "Out of the Box" and writing, "Finely crafted pop fare has always been the stock-in-trade of Swedish supergroup ABBA, and this tale of love gone wrong is no exception. A strong but subtle orchestration provides the backdrop for Agnetha Faltskog's vocals, with a cadre of mandolins adding a romantic flourish." The same week, Billboard reviewed it in its Top Single Picks -- but not under Pop, but Adult Contemporary. The review read, "This release comes from the double LP that celebrates Abba's 10 years of worldwide success, yet the group performs with the same freshness and elegance that characterized its earliest hits. The four-part harmonies are as attractive as ever in this wistful, mid-tempo love song."

    Atlantic likely chose to have it reviewed in the AC section rather than Pop for one of two reasons: Maybe the label thought it was too "soft" for the current state of CHR (i.e., Top 40) and decided to push it to AC radio first and foremost. More likely, though, Frida's solo hit "I Know There's Something Going On" -- which never charted Adult Contemporary -- was finally breaking big on pop radio; perhaps Atlantic thought that also pushing "One of Us" to those stations would curtail the Frida hit in its tracks, now that it was getting traction. (It would peak at #13 the weeks of March 26, April 2, and April 9, 1983, in its 21st, 22nd, and 23rd weeks in the Hot 100.)

    Whatever the situation, "One of Us" did get some light-rock airplay and peaked at #33 on the Billboard AC chart. That, plus some minor resulting sales, allowed the song to get to #107 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. The song didn't chart at all in Cash Box.

    The actual Atlantic 45 appears to be uncommon and fairly expensive -- it doesn't come up for sale all that often, thus a copy with its picture sleeve sold for the equivalent of $60 US earlier this year. Its sleeve is eye-catching, even though it basically promotes The Singles:

    http://images.45cat.com/abba-one-of-us-atlantic.jpg

    Its catalog number is Atlantic 7-89881. Copies were pressed at both Specialty (SP) and Allied (AR). Because of this record's general rarity, the sleeve is probably a 4 on a scale of 1-10. Promo copies are mono/stereo with the album version of "One of Us" on both sides; they probably came only from SP. Based on the review dates in the trade magazines, the 45 was likely released very late in January 1983.

    Atlantic never released another ABBA single. Over the next several days I plan to tie up some loose ends that didn't really fit in the chronology; if anyone has any further questions about ABBA's U.S. singles, I'll try to answer them.
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2018
  6. John Adam

    John Adam An Introvert In Paradise

    Location:
    Hawaii
    Top 20 Favorite International "Singles" from ABBA

    1) The Winner Takes It All
    2) SOS
    3) Knowing Me, Knowing You
    4) The Day Before You Came
    5) Fernando
    6) Take A Chance On Me
    7) Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
    8) Waterloo
    9) When All Is Said And Done
    10) One Of Us
    11) Dancing Queen
    12) Thank You For The Music
    13) Does Your Mother Know
    14) The Name Of The Game
    15) Ring Ring
    16) Lay All Your Love on Me
    17) The Visitors
    18) Honey Honey
    19) Angle Eyes
    20) Another Town Another Train



    My "ABBA Gold" Playlist.
    Feel bad about leaving out Mamma Mia, Super Trouper, People Need Love, Chiquitita and I Do 5x.
     
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  7. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Ughhh please don't, this thread is a B****** free zone:D
     
  8. David G.

    David G. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I get sick for a few days and the discussion has moved ahead at lightning speed...

    My favorite album by ABBA is The Visitors, but my top four favorite ABBA songs of all time all post-date that album: "The Day Before You Came," "Under Attack," "You Owe Me One," and "I Am the City." This might be because I never knew of the existence of any of these songs until they started turning up on CD in the 1990s. I never knew of the single releases of any of these at the time. I was really amazed when I picked up More ABBA Gold and discovered some songs I'd never heard before.

    "Under Attack" is actually my very favorite ABBA song. "I Am the City" comes in as my second-favorite song. In retrospect, it's probably good that I never heard any of these final ABBA singles in 1982-1983, because I would have been terribly disappointed that no album ever followed. I was already disappointed that there was no follow-up to The Visitors, but I would have been devastated if I'd known how great it might have been.
     
  9. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    There are a couple of pop artists who seem to have been born with beards, Barry and Benny are the two that spring to mind.
    I am talking about perfectly fab pop stars who suddenly decide that growing a beard will make them seem more serious, grown up and credible. Jarvis Cocker from Pulp is a great example but you could apply it to any of them.
    Of course I now fully expect this thread/post to be bombarded by B*****s bores....
     
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  10. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Interesting that prefer Under Attack over the more obvious choices like SOS and Knowing Me Knowing You...
     
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  11. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Well, except they didn’t realize yet that they weren’t going to record any longer. Kind of puts that theory into question, but it sure sounds good!
     
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  12. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Well, at least someone else like Under Attack a lot. Seems most enjoy a couple of the other later songs much more. Perhaps I was just resistant to the change in music direction, where Under Attack is classic ABBA.
     
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  13. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    You Owe Me One...never heard that before. Thank you for posting! Well....all I can say is it’s another song that makes me glad they walked away when they did. Another bland song any number of other acts could have done. It’s just amazing they went from very strong material on The Visitors, and never had a single bad album prior imo, to five or so songs that aside from Under Attack (which most here don’t seem to like that much) are to me very uninspiring other than perhaps the narrative sung about in The Day Before You Came. I they were very tired! But they sure left us with an amazing library as far as their official albums....not a single dud imo. Some were better than others, but all were interesting. My second favorite all time band.
     
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  14. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    A real shame this has not come out. I think that is up to the standards of their best album tracks, if not some of their bigger hits. There was an amazing remix version someone did of this about a year ago which pushed it up, for me, as a song as good as anything they have ever done. Don’t know if any of you heard it but it was beautiful.
     
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  15. gja586

    gja586 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gogledd Cymru
    FWIW, my Top5 ABBA songs / singles are (in no particular order):

    SOS
    Summer Night City
    Does Your Mother Know
    The Visitors
    The Day Before You Came

    A huge thank you to everyone who's contributed to this enjoyable and illuminating thread. I grew up with Abba and have always been fond of them, but this thread has greatly enhanced my understanding and appreciation of their music. :agree:
     
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  16. sathvyre

    sathvyre formerly known as ABBAmaniac

    Location:
    Europe
    Can we keep this thread BEATLES-free please ??? It's about ABBA...and nothing else !!!
     
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  17. David G.

    David G. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    My working hypothesis on this is that it's a Chess thing. Chess is my favorite musical -- I like it even more than I like ABBA's music, to be honest -- and I think the late ABBA material sounds very similar to the style of music in Chess.

    I know, I spend way too much time thinking about these sorts of things...
     
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  18. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    I've never heard the Chess material. Presumably it sold well due to the Abba link?
     
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  19. bjr

    bjr Senior Member

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
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  20. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I remember hearing that quite a bit, but it's been awhile.
     
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  21. Gill-man

    Gill-man Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Under Attack is near the top for ABBA songs for me too!
     
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  22. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    My ABBA "One Of Us" promo single:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Found it in the usual throwaway pile, which meant that our station probably didn't play it. I don't ever recall hearing it on the radio.
     
  23. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    This has been discussed many times.... no one knows what they were really thinking, and how could we?

    I suspect at least one of them agreed to a "break just for a little while" but may have wanted out completely. I have no facts to base this upon, just a hunch. I'd like to sit down with this person and get the truth, but after so long and especially now that all that ugly water is finally under the bridge... I bet nobody will EVER say. We'll never know now.
     
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  24. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA

    I see a ton of similarities in the end of both bands. I think, not sure, but I think thats what this photo was possibly suggesting.

    Maybe I'm wrong.
     
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  25. Paul Rymer

    Paul Rymer Forum Resident

    Just Like That and a full 1977 live show including I Am An A and Get On The Carousel are the top of my ABBA wish list and I'm sure many other fans too.
     
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