Wiki
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Release Date
1 January 2014
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Length
59 tracks
ABBA GOLD 40th Anniversary Edition
In hindsight, ABBA seems to have enjoyed uninterrupted success, but that’s forgetting the 1980s — a decade of oblivion for ABBA. The group’s last two singles in 1982 were flops. From 1982 to 1992 ABBA were almost banished from the airwaves. The group’s albums were listed as out of print and disappeared from the shops.
“We were convinced it was all over,” says Benny Andersson today. “We figured on royalties coming in during 1983, maybe until 1984, but after that? No way.”
“In the 1980s we were off the radar,” says Björn Ulvaeus. “The general attitude was that ABBA was totally uncool. If, like me, you’ve got poor self-confidence, it was hard to not figure ‘That’s it. It’s over.’
The resurrection of ABBA started in 1992. One sign was when U2, on their Zoo TV Tour, included a cover of “Dancing Queen”. Another was when Nirvana played the Reading festival in England that same year and Kurt Cobain personally requested the ABBA cover band Björn Again as their support act.
At this time, scripts were being put together for two Australian movies with ABBA songs central to the plot: Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Muriel’s Wedding.
The peak of the 1992 ABBA revival was when the English synth-pop duo Erasure released their tribute EP, Abba-esque, with their interpretations of four ABBA songs.
When Erasure’s Abba-esque hit the top of the charts, Polygram (today a division of Universal) roused itself from slumber. Polygram withdrew all the old albums and released the ABBA Gold compilation at the end of 1992, with “Dancing Queen” as the first track. It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions in the history of recorded music.
ABBA Gold has currently sold 30 million copies around the world. In the UK last year, ABBA Gold overtook The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper on the all-time best-seller list, making it to Number Two. (Number One is Queen’s Greatest Hits). In Germany, ABBA Gold is the Number Three all-time best-seller.
In April, in connection with the 40th anniversary of ABBA’s victory at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, ABBA Gold is being re-released in a special edition.
Tracklist:
ABBA GOLD
Dancing Queen
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Take A Chance On Me
Mamma Mia
Lay All Your Love On Me
Super Trouper
I Have A Dream
The Winner Takes It All
Money, Money, Money
SOS
Chiquitita
Fernando
Voulez-Vous
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Does Your Mother Know
One of Us
The Name of The Game
Thank You For The Music
Waterloo
MORE ABBA GOLD
Summer Night City
Angeleyes
The Day Before You Came
Eagle
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
So Long
Honey, Honey
The Visitors
Our Last Summer
On And On And On
Ring Ring
I Wonder (Departure)
Lovelight
Head Over Heels
When I Kissed The Teacher
I Am The City
Cassandra
Under Attach
When All Is Said And Done
The Way Old Friends Do
B-SIDES
She’s My Kind Of Girl
I Am Just A Girl
Gonna Sing You My Lovesong
King Kong Song
I’ve Been Waiting For You
Rock Me
Man In The Middle
Intermezzo No.1
That’s Me
Crazy World
Happy Hawaii
I’m A Marionette
Medley: Pick A Bale of cotton/On Top of Old Smokey / Midnight Special
Kisses of Fire
The King Has Lost His Crown
Elaine
The Piper
Andante, Andante
Should I Laugh Or Cry
Soldiers
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