Moopy's Top 50 ABBA Songs - FULL RESULTS ON PAGE 14

Pingu said:
23. Fernando
Single from Greatest Hits
Released: 1976
Score: 8.36

Another megahit now, and it's one that wasn't even meant to be an ABBA song to begin with. It started life in Swedish as the only original track on Frida's Frida ensam album, but after that became a monster Svensktoppen hit, the group decided it was just too good to be confined to Sweden, and recorded a version of their own with completely different lyrics in English. It was recorded during sessions for Arrival but released before the album was finished as a new track to capitalise on the monster success the group had had around the world by this point, particularly in Australia.

It may be pretty twee, but then mid-70s Europop was pretty twee all around, and it did a good job of showing another side to them after the successes of Mamma Mia and SOS. It's almost managed to become something of a standard, with a timeless quality that can't really be attached to a particular point in history. Also, Cher.

Highest scores: @Sheena (10), @VoR (10), @Penelope (10), @HerSereneHighnessAnniFrid (10), @Hak (10), @Jark (10)
Lowest scores: @Suomi (0), @Christian (6)

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what the fuck.
 
The Name of the Game a better song than fucking Fernando?!
 
also Chiquittita slaps. the instrumental outro is such an all time great ABBA moment.

FUCK YOU ALL.
 
@Suomi has told me he meant to give Fernando a 10 but was hungover and accidentally gave it a 0 instead of a 9. REMARK PLEASE
 
Penelope said:
@Suomi has told me he meant to give Fernando a 10 but was hungover and accidentally gave it a 0 instead of a 9. REMARK PLEASE
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So Hak gets it in the neck for leaving four albums to the last minute and not Suomi? The vote stands, sorry Fernando fans.
 
What the fresh hell @Christian :o

Fernando and Chiquitita aren’t exactly their very best but they’re still 10/10 in relation to any other pop song.

Name of the Game is grand, put me in the box that didn’t fully get it as a youth but have the past 15 odd years. Under Attack and Head Over Heels are both good, but more 7/10 ABBA for me,
 
Devil said:
What the fresh hell @Christian :o

Fernando and Chiquitita aren’t exactly their very best but they’re still 10/10 in relation to any other pop song.

Name of the Game is grand, put me in the box that didn’t fully get it as a youth but have the past 15 odd years. Under Attack and Head Over Heels are both good, but more 7/10 ABBA for me,
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I'm being facetious because of course they're both great pop songs. I've just never really enjoyed them and never have the urge to play them.
 
Let's play a Matt Pop Mix of Abbacadabra's Fernando to sooth our nerves

 
20. Waterloo
Single from Waterloo
Released: 1974
Score: 8.52

It's hard to imagine how different the history of Eurovision, and indeed pop music could have been had ABBA and Stig Anderson made a different choice from the options on the table for their Melodifestivalen 1974 appearance. For a while, they were swinging towards Hasta Mañana for the Eurovision entry, and conventional wisdom at the time certainly backed that up, as it was much more in tune with what did well in the contest at the time. As much as the Waterloo sound is considered "so Eurovision" every time it has popped up in the last five decades, back then it was a real shock to the system, with that kind of high energy kitschy glam rock not having infiltrated the contest until that moment.

Ultimately, they considered why they were embarking on this endeavour in the first place - to try and make a dent on the pop music scene outside of Sweden. They decided they would much rather finish 6th with Waterloo and capture the attention of fans and industry names abroad than win with Hasta Mañana and just be another Eurovision winner. In the end, they didn't have to choose as it won in style and became one of the biggest hits in Eurovision history. Obviously we're here counting down their Top 50 songs, so we know what happened next. It's because of this that it always baffles me when Eurovision "fans" get angry about Waterloo consistently being voted the best Eurovision song of all time. Yes it probably isn't, but there likely wouldn't even be a Eurovision nowadays had ABBA not provided the contest with a banner name and an example of what winning can do for a career. Plus, unlike the po-faced motivation that might put some obscure 90s Croatian ballad at the top of these lists, all the votes in the various polls for Waterloo do clearly come from a genuinely feelgood, affectionate place, so why argue with that?

Highest scores: @Marilyn (10), @Devil (10), @Madison (10), @Suomi (10)
Lowest scores: @BoysForSeles (6)

Here you go, have the new lyric video:
 
19. As Good As New
Album track from Voulez-Vous
Released: 1979
Score: 8.55

I'm trying very hard not to repeat myself over these write-ups, because I could probably write for about half a dozen of these about what a statement of intent they are as album openers. The bubblegum pop of When I Kissed The Teacher on Arrival, the grand scale of Eagle on The Album, the industrial bleakness of The Visitors on the album of the same name, and then we have As Good As New, which does a fantastic job of signposting what's to come on Voulez-Vous.

All of the standard ABBA factors are in here, with Benny's classical music influences turned up to 11, Agnetha playing the role of the desperate lonely woman, and the hook-laden chorus. But in addition to that, here the BPM is cranked up a few notches, the disco guitars and strings make their presence known, and there's drama from start to finish. As Good As New feels like quintessential ABBA, but in particular it's quintessential ABBA in this space and time, when everything was ramped up and they really went all in on making pop that banged as hard as it could bang. Unsurprisingly, there's plenty more to come from this era, but this kick-started it brilliantly.

Highest scores: @Pingu (10), @Ag (10), @Christian (10), @Sheena (10), @Ill Advised (10), @lolly (10), @Madison (10)
Lowest scores: @ZenGiraffe (6), @Penelope (6.5)

 
18. Angeleyes
Single from Voulez-Vous
Released: 1979
Score: 8.61

We've already discussed Angeleyes and its legacy a bit in this thread, but it is a real anomaly in ABBA's back catalogue in the sense that it was a UK top three hit, and yet almost completely forgotten about by the public at large. The power and ubiquity of ABBA Gold probably has a lot to do with it, but also it seems that the song was met with something of a lukewarm response at the time, going to show that sometimes the group's UK record label didn't have a clue what they were doing. In most other territories, Voulez-Vous was the single from the album of the same name, but it was felt that Angeleyes would go down much better with British record buyers, presumably because at the time it sounded more recognisably "ABBA", so it was released as a double-A-side.

Obviously we know how much more fondly remembered the other side of that single has turned out to be (as indeed is the case in this countdown), but that's not to say that Angeleyes is without its merits - far from it. Musically it may sound like the ABBA from a tad before their disco era, but what absolutely lush production, from the strings to the choral backing vocals. And then the lyrics - you wouldn't get lyrics with this level of grim truth to them on Arrival, that's for sure (I know I certainly can relate to them!).

Highest scores: @lolly (11)
Lowest scores: @ZenGiraffe (4)

 
It also gave us one of the only highlights from the largely dreadful Mamma Mia! sequel.

 
Oh well I suppose #18 is pretty good, but I would have put 'Angeleyes' much, much higher.
 
17. Take A Chance On Me
Single from The Album
Released: 1977
Score: 8.7

Next up, we have the first ABBA song I was ever aware of (because of it being the opening segment on the Thank ABBA For The Music Brits medley), and I have to admit it's not one that I've ever been totally crazy about. Yes it's extremely catchy, but it almost seems like a leftover from their earlier years when put next to some of the other tracks on The Album. That said, its hit credentials can't be denied, and it brings us ABBA at their most playful, which is fun to see (even if some aspects of the music video haven't aged all that well - what on earth is Agnetha doing at 1:03 with Bjorn leering at her in the next shot?).

It's one of a select handful of ABBA songs that managed to be a hit absolutely everywhere, and it has stood the test of time. Perhaps some of this is due to all the hooks running through it, including the "take a chance, take a chance" backing vocal motif, which came to Bjorn when he was out jogging one morning and the "t-k-ch" sound of his feet along the wet pavement stuck with him. Also that's not a loop - apparently the boys really did record themselves singing that the whole way through the song, only stopping when they ran out of breath, with the various takes stitched together at the end.

Highest scores: @Lockhart (10), @Devil (10), @BoysForSeles (10), @Tisch (10), @Iguana (10), @Hak (10), @Madison (10), @dmlaw (10), @Jark (10)
Lowest scores: @Suomi (4), @dUb (5)

 
As much as it's not top drawer Abba for me, I'm surprised TACOM didn't finished higher. I'd have guessed lower end top ten.
 
16. Mamma Mia
Single from ABBA
Released: 1975
Score: 8.77

Here's another all-time ABBA classic that may be seen to be a little low in this rundown when you consider how popular it is in the wider world, but also when you notice that it didn't get a single score lower than 7 in this rate - even ZenGiraffe is on board with this one! It may be a victim of being among a lot of people's favourite ABBA songs, but not quite touching that A-list category. It certainly seemed to suffer more than most from the limit on the amount of 10s anybody could reward, with a total of four 9.5 scores, showing that plenty of people love it, but when it comes down to it, not quite enough.

It's easy to see why Mamma Mia has made its way into the upper echelons of ABBA hits. It's one of that rare breed of pop song where every line is a hook, including so many of the instrumental moments. It's also a masterclass in simple, direct pop lyrics, telling a proper story but in a universal way. Another element that sets it apart from the likes of Bang-A-Boomerang or I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do is what a masterful structure it has, with a real sense of urgency building in the music and lyrics in that middle section, reaching an incredibly satisfying climax when the "Yes, I've been broken hearted" chorus comes in one final time. A perfect example of how ABBA may be thought of these days as purveyors of lightweight hen party pop, but you'll rarely come across hen party pop that is as lovingly and painstakingly put together as this.

Highest scores: @Tisch (10), @Madison (10), @dmlaw (10)
Lowest scores: @dUb (7)

 
Pingu said:
17. Take A Chance On Me
Single from The Album
Released: 1977
Score: 8.7

Next up, we have the first ABBA song I was ever aware of (because of it being the opening segment on the Thank ABBA For The Music Brits medley), and I have to admit it's not one that I've ever been totally crazy about. Yes it's extremely catchy, but it almost seems like a leftover from their earlier years when put next to some of the other tracks on The Album. That said, its hit credentials can't be denied, and it brings us ABBA at their most playful, which is fun to see (even if some aspects of the music video haven't aged all that well - what on earth is Agnetha doing at 1:03 with Bjorn leering at her in the next shot?).

It's one of a select handful of ABBA songs that managed to be a hit absolutely everywhere, and it has stood the test of time. Perhaps some of this is due to all the hooks running through it, including the "take a chance, take a chance" backing vocal motif, which came to Bjorn when he was out jogging one morning and the "t-k-ch" sound of his feet along the wet pavement stuck with him. Also that's not a loop - apparently the boys really did record themselves singing that the whole way through the song, only stopping when they ran out of breath, with the various takes stitched together at the end.

Highest scores: @Lockhart (10), @Devil (10), @BoysForSeles (10), @Tisch (10), @Iguana (10), @Hak (10), @Madison (10), @dmlaw (10), @Jark (10)
Lowest scores: @Suomi (4), @dUb (5)

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Surprisingly low.
 
Mamma Mia is way too low. For me it's about as close to the perfect pop song as you can ever get.
 
Five top notch tracks, all deserving of their places. Only Take A Chance I thought might be a bit higher.
 
Mamma Mia is my least favourite of their #1s, and I'd leave it out of my top 30.
 
Mamma Mia is easy to tire of given the sheer overexposure of it as a go-to ABBA soundbed track, but god, it really is utterly fucking fantastic, faultless pop.
 
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