Was Abba really "successful" in the USA in the 70s?

This has probably already been discussed here, but a friend just told me some figures of sales..

By 1983, according to Billboard, Abba sold 7 million albums and 8 million singles in the USA.

Some say Abba never "made it" in the USA, but, 7 million albums is a lot more than a lot of other groups.

Is Billboard an accurate source for this kind of statistic?

 

They did well enough in the States, but nothing like they did here in the UK. Or Australia, for that matter. I'd say Abba were popular in the States, but far from being a top act.

 

I'd say from late '75 to at least '79 they were on AM radio here, in Oregon, as much as anybody.

 

Yep. ABBA didn’t really become consistent top 10 charters in the U.S. until "Dancing Queen," but they were played on top 40 stations regularly in the two years prior to that: "Waterloo," "Honey Honey," "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do," "SOS," "Fernando," "Mamma Mia," etc.

 

US Hot 100 for ABBA singles

Code:

Date    Pk Wks Title
06/27/81 90 06 On And On And On
09/01/79 80 03 Voulez-Vous
09/22/79 64 05 Angeleyes
04/17/82 63 08 The Visitors
10/22/77 56 07 Money, Money, Money
04/04/81 45 11 Super Trouper
05/22/76 32 09 Mamma Mia
11/10/79 29 12 Chiquitita
09/14/74 27 10 Honey, Honey
01/09/82 27 14 When All Is Said And Done
05/19/79 19 14 Does Your Mother Know
02/14/76 15 15 I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
08/09/75 15 17 SOS
05/14/77 14 15 Knowing Me, Knowing You
09/04/76 13 16 Fernando
12/24/77 12 16 The Name Of The Game
11/22/80 08 26 The Winner Takes It All
06/01/74 06 17 Waterloo
04/22/78 03 18 Take A Chance On Me
12/11/76 01 22 Dancing Queen

 

I dont think the Hot 100 meant a whole lot back then. But then I was surprised when I saw the number of albums sold. So maybe I'm wrong.

From what I remember, the big deal in the USA at the time, was FM AOR. The bands on there, were the big time touring arena selling out acts. The top 40 seemed to me, to be filled with pop and one-hit wonders.

I may be remembering this all wrong, altho, it could also be that different markets in the USA played different stuff. I knew who Abba were back then, after Dancing Queen, who didnt... but I dont think I heard them on the radio at all. I didnt listen to AM pop stations... they broadcast in mono where I lived, and it sounded like butt on a stick in comparison.

I never heard When All Is Said and Done, on the radio, at the shopping mall, at a friends house.... Ever. Not until I bought the Visitors album a few years ago. Again, this might be me dis-remembering, or could have just been my area... but by 1981 or so, Abba was yesterdays news and we didnt hear a thing about them for many, many years.

Those sales figures really surprised me. Somebody was buying those albums... not anybody I knew, or at least not anybody who would admit to it ;-)

 

I knew who ABBA was back in 1974 when "Waterloo" was a hit. It seemed to me that every six months or a year, they'd release another catchy single that was played often on radio.

I'd have to say that the ones I never heard on radio were:

The Winner Takes It All
When All Is Said And Done
The Visitors

Everything else I heard on US radio (Philadelphia).

And it's true, once the 80s came around, all ABBA was dropped like a hot potato.

Harry

 

I think judging from stats that ABBA did alright in the US, but it was comparative to other countries where they were the biggest act since The Beatles where America looks so disappointing in comparison.

Watch ABBA The Movie to get a glimpse on their fame in Australia in 1977.... they were massive. They were popular here too of course but it just wasn't anywhere near the same level of pandemonium.

 

I DO recall hearing Fernando and Dancing Queen incessantly on AM radio.

I do NOT recall a level of ABBAmania wherein they played Dodger Stadium, had any backlash LP bonfires in their name, had replica wig and polyester gown sets for sale, nor having to be able to recite those FabFore on a first name basis....

 

yup. exactly, and thats really the question: why were they so incredibly popular in Europe and Australia, but didnt have anywhere near the impact here? Its not like they were unknown or outcast - 7 million albums is a big number, indicates that they did have a good footprint.

It could be several factors at work against them... back then the USA was a huge amalgam of different fragmented markets. What was on the radio in Seattle and selling well, was not necessarily on the radio in Chicago. I grew up in the south, and we listened to FM AOR because our AM pop stations broadcast in mono and sounded terrible in comparison. Abba got ZERO airplay on our FM stations. I was only aware of a very few of their songs, and I thought they were a disco band.

Also to note is that on Abbas only USA tour, 1979, there was not a single date in the south. Its like they knew they were not selling down here and didnt bother.

So maybe in order to have made a larger impact in america, they might have been required to spend more time here, more face contact, more tours, more TV appearances (that seems to have been their primary mode of promotion, TV..) and they didnt want to do it.

But I wonder if thats really the whole story. Other bands succeeded beyond their wildest dreams here and they did not necessarily slog in endless concert tours. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac... they didnt endlessly tour and werent on TV every five minutes.

There are probably multiple answers to the question, why didnt abba succeed in the US, like they succeeded elsewhere....

 

I think the nature of ABBA's music and its overall image need to be factored into the equation. Looking back at them, it's not hard to see the charm in their outre outfits or candy-sweet choruses, a byproduct of that Eurovision ethos they had sprung from. If anything, the comic nature of their look and presentation, intended or not, comes through now in a way that only adds to how much many of us enjoy ABBA.

But in the 1970s, and early 1980s, the U. S. market tended toward different, often-tougher images and sounds. ABBA looked kind of silly when you saw them on TV, with the four of them all singing straight at the camera with big smiles and bright frilly outfits. Even the guys looked like they had gotten into Peter Allen's wardrobe, and the girls played up their catty sex appeal more than American female singers usually did. Successful U. S. acts, even the non-rockers, tended to go for a more serious pose.

That ABBA has not only endured but become quite revered in the U. S. over time has to do with the fact their music needed extra time to filter through the different expectations Americans had for their pop acts.

 

Growing up in the 1970s, basically, Abba was "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me". Two big hits, but overall they were a minor part of the USA music landscape of the late 1970s.

As teenagers, we heard about how massive they were in Europe and other parts of the world, but we laughed about that, their sound and their look seemed goofy and cornball, something for little kids, like the Osmonds or something.

 

That certainly might be a culprit.

 

Their lack of touring has to be a factor in this; altho, it cannot be the only factor.

Their single tour was at the relative height of their US popularity, and it was about a 15 date run of smallish arenas and large halls - they didnt sell out all that often.

I'm not sure that even repeated touring would have broken it open for them. I have often suspected the image problem as well.

In 76-77, I was a dedicated punk rocker and Abba to me was "a disco band". The kiss of death.

Regardless of a handful of irresistible ear bugs on the AM pop radio, they never crossed over into the more important FM arena.. where the big bands ruled. At least not where I lived.

Somehow Abba had to have been seen by a part of the public here, as a soft fluff disposable candy band.. not a serious bunch of musicians. People took Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac as serious musicians. I wonder how many people were like me, and thought Abba was just a disco band.

I dont know.

 

This is a pretty useless unsourced comment, but someone else might have time to chase it down...

I read an interview recently (although possibly not a recent interview), I think with Benny and Bjorn, saying that they didn't think trying to break the USA was worth the effort. There was a line in there about how in the UK, they could appear on Top of the Pops and reach the entire country, but in the USA they'd have to perform for a half dozen networks just to reach a fairly small area. I think they also said that because of their superstar status in the UK and Australia, they didn't really have the hunger to break their backs trying to crack the USA.

Funny thing is, with the attention they gave to their videos, had MTV existed five years earlier it's tempting to imagine they would have broken the USA via that route, Second British Invasion style.

 

I thought they were more popular than they actually were, based on chart positions. They were on the local radio station all the time, as was Barry Manilow, who was also not as popular chart wise as I thought. Abba was probably more popular in the US in the 90's with the whole Dancing Queen revival than they were in the 70's.

 

"Popular" is an evasive term, in this scenario.

they sold 7 million albums and 8 million singles by 1983.

That has to be the definition of some form of popular.

I was always under the impression they were NOT that popular, because where I grew up, we almost never heard them on the radio, and nobody I knew, bought their albums.

I can honestly say I never heard of, or even saw, The Visitors album, until a few years ago. By 1981 or so, where I lived, for whatever reasons are applicable (and there may be many)... Abba was totally over, and off the area's radar.

However, its pretty obvious, other areas were playing them, and somebody was buying up a crapload of vinyl back then.

 

All four band members claimed multiple times, to loathe touring. Agnetha in particular had major issues around all that.

 

I question those numbers the RIAA doesn't show those certifications.

By 80-81 they had sold about 4 million albums in the US, which will still be larger than their combined European sales.

Even present day they only have certification for 2 gold singles.

 

OK.

this is interesting.

I asked if those Billboard numbers were trustworthy, I honestly do not know.

Can you please give me the website where you saw those numbers?

 

They weren't "the biggest" like they were in some other parts of the world, but they were pretty darn popular. The singles were all over the radio.

 

here you go:
https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/...e&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH#

 

all I get is "database error"

I tried to join or register today but I keep getting an error... thanks, I'll try later

 

Just go to riaa.com, find the 'Gold and Platinum' heading and search from there.

 

Are you saying that after 7 years of huge success in Europe Abba had only sold less than 4 million albums?