Abba’s Arrival arrives

First posted 3/27/2008; updated 9/13/2020.

Arrival Abba

Released: October 11, 1976 Peak: 20 US, 110 UK, 4 CN, 18 AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 1.65 UK, 10.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: dance pop

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.) When I Kissed the Teacher Dancing Queen (8/21/76, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, sales: 3 million) My Love, My Life Dum Dum Diddle Knowing Me, Knowing You (2/26/77, 14 US, 7 AC, 1 UK, 5 CN, 9 AU) Money, Money, Money (11/20/76, 56 US, 38 AC, 3 UK, 47 CN, 1 AU, sales: 1 million) That’s Me Why Did It Have to Be Me? Tiger Arrival Total Running Time: 33:09 The Players: Agnetha Fältskog (vocals) Anni-Frid Lyngstad (vocals) Benny Andersson (synthesizer, piano, accordian, chimes, marimba, backing vocals) Björn Ulvaeus (guitar, vocals, backing vocals)

Rating: 4.209 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: “ABBA’s fourth album…shows the quartet at the absolute top of their game.” AMG They had achieved modest success internationally, but with Arrival they achieved global superstardom. WK It was the best-selling album of 1977 in the UK. WK Of course, the most-celebrated song on the album was Dancing Queen, the biggest hit of Abba’s career. However, “the record was filled with brilliant material, including the spirited When I Kissed the Teacher; the dramatic, achingly beautiful Knowing Me, Knowing You (yet a further hit); the pounding Money, Money, Money (still another hit off the album); and the playful That's Me.” AMG Notes: “Fernando” was added to the 1997 CD edition of the album. In 2001, the song “Happy Hawaii” was also added as a bonus track.

Resources and Related Links: Abba’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Bruce Eder WK Wikipedia

Abba “Dancing Queen” hit #1 in UK

Dancing Queen Abba

Writer(s): Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus (see lyrics here) Released: August 16, 1976 First Charted: August 21, 1976 Peak: 11 US, 11 CB, 11 HR, 3 GR, 4 RR, 6 AC, 16 UK, 12 CN, 18 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.06 UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 464.7 video, 1002.10 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This song has mistakenly been rumored to have been written for the wedding of the King and Queen of Sweden. KL Abba did debut the song at a televised tribute to Sweden’s Queen Silvia and King Gustaf XVI, a day before their marriage on June 19, 1976. SF However, since the song’s origins date to August 1975, TB it hardly could have been written with the nuptials in mind. The lyrics deal with a visit to a disco, but the song hones in on the joy of dancing. AMG That has aided the song’s durability since it isn’t just tied to disco, but to the greater world of dance-pop music. AMG The song is “arguably the world’s first Europop disco hit” SF with a rhythm inspired by George McCrae’s 1974 “Rock Your Baby.” BBC Björn Ulvaeus says that when he and Benny Andersson, his co-writer and co-member in Abba, finished mixing the instrumental track, he was so excited he drove all over Stockholm to find someone to listen to the song. He ended up at his sister’s house, playing it over and over. As he says, “We couldn’t believe how good it sounded.” BBC Neither could the rest of the world. The song topped multiple international charts, BBC notably becoming the group’s biggest of their nine #1 songs in the U.K. and part of an 18 consecutive top-ten singles streak. FB In the U.S., the song was the group’s best-selling single LW and only hit to reach the chart pinnacle. Resources: AMG All Music Guide BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 458. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 222. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 137. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 163. Related Links: First posted 9/4/2011; last updated 7/14/2023.