ABBA single by single thread

Atlantic passed over this one again in the States, but luckily I picked up one of these from a music shop (mail order) that advertised in "Goldmine," in the years before the Internet. I was familiar with the A-side, which then was my favorite of the two new tracks. But what was more of a bonus to me was the quirky B-side, You Owe Me One. I've read Under Attack was partially constructed with pieces of other songs they had not released. It's a totally fine single, it sounds like ABBA moving into the 1980's. I especially like the instrumental bridge that goes into the last chorus. The last minute of the video is hard to watch, goodbye to ABBA. I'm glad they made a few TV appearances like in post #1764 to support the new songs. These are easier to watch, rather joyful than sad.

I wish there would of been one last studio set that included some of these newer songs and maybe finished other outtakes. It would of been a mish-mash, probably not very cohesive, and I assume that's why this was never done. It wouldn't of been good enough to leave the hands of Benny and Bjorn. But perhaps they thought this really wasn't the end of ABBA, just a hiatus. But in their hearts I think they all knew that ABBA as they knew it, was over. :-(

 

I don't think he had a beard in the Hep Stars or the late 1960's. But after that I never saw a photo without the beard. Why does it terrify you Haristar, does it look more like you! ha ha

 

I'd just never seen him without a beard before.

 

ABBA Singles That Weren't: Under Attack (Single Version) (1982)
Intended Release: December 1982

The very last ABBA song to be recorded may have been 'The Day Before You Came' but their final recording session involved the remixing of 'Under Attack' for single release. After two consecutive 'unsuccessful' singles releases in 1982, there were concerns that the mix released on The Singles - The First Ten Years would meet with the same fate.

The session took place on November 13, 1982 and, by the end of the day, Bjorn, Benny and Michael B. Tretow had not only remixed 'Under Attack' but had also mixed its B-side 'You Owe Me One'. While the latter mix was released, the single version of 'Under Attack' was ultimately never issued.

So what did it sound like? In ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions, Carl Magnus Palm indicates that the song's intro was doubled in length, the lead vocals were more processed, the piano was removed from the choruses, there were more acoustic guitars and the track had a hard ending, which was similar to (but with less echo than) the cold ending heard on Abba's final TV performances.

It's unclear why the mix was never released - presumably Bjorn and Benny got cold feet about it.

 

Yep. The verse combines parts of the unreleased 'Under My Sun' and 'Just Like That'.

 

We haven't covered Thank You for the Music properly yet but here is my complete rankings of the official ABBA singles:

1. SOS - 10/10
2. Take a Chance on Me - 10/10
3. Knowing Me, Knowing You - 10/10
4. The Winner Takes It All - 10/10
5. Mamma Mia - 9/10
6. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - 9/10
7. Dancing Queen - 9/10
8. Waterloo - 9/10
9. Does Your Mother Know - 9/1o
10. One of Us - 9/10
11. Fernando - 9/10
12. Super Trouper - 9/10
13. The Name of the Game - 9/10
14. Money, Money, Money - 8/10
15. Thank You for the Music - 8/10
16. Head over Heels - 8/10
17. The Day Before You Came - 8/10
18. Lay All Your Love on Me - 8/10
19. The Visitors - 8/10
20. Angeleyes - 8/10
21. Voulez-Vous - 8/10
22. When All Is Said and Done - 8/10
23. Chiquitita - 8/10
24. Honey, Honey - 8/10
25. Summer Night City - 7/10
26. Ring Ring - 7/10
27. Under Attack - 7/10
28. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - 7/10
29. On and On and On - 7/10
30. Eagle - 7/10
31. I Have a Dream - 7/10
32. So Long - 7/10
33. Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough) - 6/10
34. He Is Your Brother - 5/10
35. People Need Love - 5/10

 

I like! That took some work and thought. Thank you for staying with this thread. It was fun, and I hope it can continue (subtle hint) if it's good for you!

 

JUST LIKE THAT (It has been back on You-Tube more recently. Listen before Universal mutes the sound, again.)

Just Like That (sax vers.) (Andersson-Ulvaeus first appeared in 1994 on THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC BOX SET
Just Like That (Full-sax vers.) (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Anna- unreleased
Just Like That (LA-LA versions) (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Anna- Unreleased.. all versions Recorded May 1982
Lead & Backing Vocals-,Agnetha Faltskog,Backing Vocals-Frida Lyngstad
Backing Vocals-Bjorn Ulvaeus
Keyboards-Benny Andersson
Lead Guitar-Lasse Wallender
Bass Guitar-Rutger Gunnarsson
Drums-Per Lindvall
Sax on some mixes-Raphael Ravenscroft

The holy grail of unreleased ABBA songs, since this song is perhaps the best completed ABBA song not to see a full uncut release . There were at least two versions of JLT. One version-the "La La" version of "Just Like That' is similiar to the later "Day Before You Came" -it features Agnetha's singing about yet another neglected woman, this version has a busy but laidback synthesizer arrangment. Another version is the peppier mix found in an abridged version on ABBA's boxset. This version features Raphael Ravenscroft on sax-and sounds more like hit single material, but B&B were unable a produce a mix that they were comfortable with .And so all the versions remained in the vault in 1982.

B&B would only allow a small snippet of "JLT" to be released on the 1994 box set.. The main reason given that ABBA's version of "JLT" has not been fully released is that B&B regard their 1985 production of a version of JLT by Gemini to be definitive (SEE GEMINI section.). Ironically, the Gemini version is out of print, anyway! The melody was borrowed again for use on a song in the 2002 Swedish language version of Chess.

From: ABBA THE ALBUMS a complete ABBA discography and review guide of ABBA!

 

I´m a bit behind, but here are my musings:

"HEAD OVER HEELS" has a lovely intro, but it sounds very pristine and cold. The arrangement of the songs is too stiff and mechanical to ever have a hope of sounding warm and organic. That may have been their intention, but for me it kind of ruins the song. It´s not bad, and I love the video, but it´s a bad choice for a single, IMO. Once again, Benny is overusing his beloved synthesizer, and it´s as far away from the freshness and pure joy of life that ABBA gave us so effortlessly at the start of their career. (Think "BANG A BOOMERANG", which is a bad recording, but a lovely, heartwarming song.) This is one of the few songs I wish they hadn´t released as an A-side. A B-side, sure, but not an official A-side.

"THE VISITORS" is one of my favourite ABBA songs, and as some of you have already mentioned, a remix could have transformed a very strong album track into a bona fide hit. I love the lyrics and the moody arrangement. Frida´s vocal is great. The synthesizers overwhelm here too, but it´s a synth-driven song, and for once it really works. As it was, I understand why it didn´t become a hit, but that doesn´t mean it´s not a good song.

I have commented so many times on "THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME" that I won´t bother to repeat all the words I have written before. I think I´ll just say that it´s an ABBA masterpiece, it´s my No. 1 ABBA song, shared with "S.O.S.". Two quite different songs, but both masterpieces, IMO. The lyrics are very good, and once again the arrangement and Agnetha´s vocal support the message of the lyrics. There are also details in the arrangement that makes it worth listening to. Frida´s vocal, almost operatic contribution is a highlight, as is Benny´s many modest flourishes on the synth. The monotony of the song is there, but it´s there for a reason, and once you discover the synergi of lyrics, vocals and arrangement you can never go back to thinking it boring. I think of it as a minor symphony, and I also there´s a reason we spend so much time discussing this song. It´s interesting and rewarding. A masterpiece.

"CASSANDRA" is almost a rewrite of "PUT ON YOUR WHITE SOMBRERO", but much better, I think. It could stand to lose a minute or so, but I think it´s one of their best B-sides.

"UNDER ATTACK" was a song I strongly disliked when I first heard on the "THE SINGLES" compilation. I especially disliked the vocoder-like treatment of Agnetha´s vocal in parts of the song. And again, in parts of the songs the synthesizers get a bit too shrill. But I do think that time has been kind to this song, and now I have nothing against this moody song. I think it was ABBA responding to the onset of the 1980s, and it has stood the test of time much better than other songs from this era. Still, I wouldn´t say they went out on a high - a minor hit, but more importantly, a less important song. I enjoy it now, but it´s not a song I play that often.

Bjørn and Benny are - of course! - very ashamed of the B-side, "YOU OWE ME ONE", and they even banned it from one of the "THE VISITORS" re-releases. (It was reinstated in the running order later.) I actually enjoy it - it´s silly, but I like the children´s song aspect of it. The vocal arrangement is also rather impressive. It would be too much to call it a classic, but I really like it.

There is a released studio snippet of the vocals for this song, and it´s a very interesting listen. This sounds like one of their simpler songs, but if you ever get a chance to hear this snippet, marvel at the intricate vocals on the chorus. It´s a work of art in itself, and says a lot about what thsi band did with sometimes uninspiring material. (I am not referring to this B-side.)

I have to disagree with some of you and say that I enjoy the music from the death throes of ABBA. They may have lost some of their freshness and pure joy of living from their earlier years, but they still maintained their quality control.

If there´s one thing I would complain about the songs released in the 1980-1983 period, it would be that they got a bit lazy, using the beloved synthesizer too much on most of the tracks. Some of those songs became predictable, something you could never have accused ABBA songs of before 1980. Some of the songs were suited for this instrumentation - synth-pop was in the offing, and songs like "ME AND I", "THE VISTITORS" and others fit these arrangements like a glove. But a GREAT song like "WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE" gets drowned under the weight of the synthesizer, and I like Nils Landgren Funk Unit´s ballad version of the song. I like the intro and first part of ABBA´s version, but the synths get a bit tiring after a while.

NB! I don´t mean that this is the definitive version of the song. But it´s a good alternative. Nils Landgren worked with ABBA a few times, so he was "part of the family".

 

This comes off well as a ballad. Now this is the ABBA song that the Carpenters should have reworked as a ballad in Karen's full lower register. It would of been stunning!

 

Now, that is a good idea. I can just imagine Karen´s honeyed voice caressing this song.

 

A small masterpiece that got lost in the rush of 1982. Just Like That, a flashback of fun ABBA with a large helping of melancholy within.

 

Cant pick out a favorite. Although Knowing me Knowing you is good lyric wise. Dancing Queen has a nice melody. I was a teenager when they were hot & as I look back now, the way they layered their voices was great. Great in the recording studio.

 

Thanks for all the music memories Haristar, this has been an amazing thread.

 

Here's a version of 'Under Attack' where you hear Agnetha's voice without the vocoder:



And filip_kbh, I know it's not really a demo...

 

Doing some catch-up here as well...

I admit that "The Day Before You Came" was a bit of a letdown for me when it came out, though I grew to like it then. In retrospect, I began to see the brilliance of the song both lyrically and musically, and in Agnetha's performance. As I have said before, Agnetha seems to sing the song as if she is recounting the experience of a very special and transformative love in her life from a time after that relationship had ended... It was certainly melancholy, but wistful, and in the rear view mirror. To me, that is how she sang it. I love it and the video for it.

"Under Attack" was catchy, but second tier ABBA. It sounds like sometimes the girls are singing different words at the same time in the chorus. See the clip below at 1:09. This makes me think that it was a bit of a struggle to get this song completed. However, I still enjoy it 35 years later.

 

The 'Nanana' version is my favourite one! The saxophone version features the same saxophonist as in Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street'.
The Gemini version is awful.

 

This version sounds a lot more... healthy. Lovely.

 

Like this........a lot!
It's so good to hear the crystal clarity of Agnetha's voice. Thanks for posting!

 

Actually I prefer that version to the single.

 

My 10 favourite...

A-sides:

01 The Winner Takes It All 10000/10
02 Knowing Me, Knowing You 1000/10
03 SOS 100/10
04 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) 20/10
05 The Day Before You Came 10/10
06 Lay All Your Love on Me 10/10
07 When All Is Said and Done 10/10
08 The Name of the Game 10/10
09 Money, Money, Money 10/10
10 Dancing Queen 10/10

B-sides:

01 Kisses of Fire 10/10
02 The King Has Lost His Crown 10/10
03 Lovelight 9/10
04 Cassandra 9/10
05 The Piper 9/10
06 Elaine 8/10
07 I'm a Marionette 8/10
08 I've Been Waiting For You 8/10
09 Happy Hawaii 7/10
10 You Owe Me One 7/10

 

The Day Before You Came is... not bad. As others have suggested, it's rather morose and goes on a bit too long.
Having said that, I prefer the original to Steven Wilson's cover which I think really drags it out.
Cassandra, on the other hand, is a great song, though I have yet to figure out who Cassandra is.

 

"I Am The City" 1982.

Another one that wasn't heard until 1993. ABBA of the 1980's, I really like this song, but the lack of clarity in the girl's voices is a minus. But it goes with the song and the times. This would of made a great addition to the album that never was.



I've always enjoyed this imaginative video that also goes well with the song itself. I'm surprised it's still here after all these years [the video.]

 

Cassandra - Wikipedia