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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 20:15:07 GMT
Despite ABBA & Queen having different types of Music, they do have a lot in common. A lot of coincidences.
They had their 1st UK Hit Singles within 6 Weeks of each other in 1974. Queen in March, and ABBA in April.
Both Groups had 1 Single that completely flopped in the UK - 'Keep Yourself Alive' - Queen, (1973), and 'So Long', ABBA. (1974).
In early 1976 'Mamma Mia' knocked Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' off the UK No.1 spot. The Queen Single has 'Mama Mia' in its lyrics.
They have the UK's 1st - 'Greatest Hits' (One) - Queen, and 2nd - 'ABBA Gold' - Best Selling Albums.
Neither Group are very good at selling their old Studio Albums. Always it is their Compilations that sell best.
Both Groups had an absolutely awful 1982, in the UK Singles Chart. 3 Singles each that failed to reach the Top 10.
Both Groups took a 'break' at the end of 1982. With ABBA it was permanent. With Queen, they returned as big as they once were, in 1984.
As if their awful 1982 had never happened.
Both Groups have had very big Films that feature their Music.
Both Groups were not popular with 'The Critics', when they were at their Peak, but both are now admired by them.
There were differences too of course:
Queen were bigger than ABBA in the USA. They had Top 10 Albums there, (including a No.1), and ABBA never did.
ABBA had 17 Pan-European No.1 Singles. Queen only had 2 and they were both rather late in their Career - 1984.
They were No.1 with 'Radio Ga Ga' and 'I Want To Break Free'.
ABBA had 6 No.1 Hits in the Worldwide Singles Chart - 'Waterloo', 'SOS', 'Fernando', 'Dancing Queen', 'Money, Money, Money',
and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'. Queen never had a No.1 in the Worldwide Chart. Their best efforts were 5 No.2 Hits.
ABBA have spent a lot longer at No.1 in the UK - 31 No.1 Singles Weeks and 57 No.1 Albums Weeks. Queen have 'only' spent
21 Weeks at No.1 in either UK Chart - 42 No.1 Weeks to ABBA's 88 No.1 Weeks.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2018 8:47:14 GMT
Interesting. The point about 'Mamma Mia' and 'BoRhap' is one of those lovely quirky coincidences that pop music likes to throw up from time to time.
I'd not equate 'Keep Yourself Alive' with 'So Long'. Much as I love it, 'So Long' was a classic total turkey in UK chart terms, in that it followed a major hit ('Waterloo') and a minor hit (the re-released 'Ring Ring') by posting hardly any sales at all. A mega-flop - no two ways about it. 'Keep Yourself Alive', though, was Queen's first-ever single and did a good job of paving the way for their releases to crack the charts in 1974. It certainly got a fair amount of radio play and raised initial awareness of this brand new group. I think it did its job, especially as it wasn't a blatantly commercial record geared solely to achieving chart success.
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Post by foreverfan on Nov 1, 2018 13:17:26 GMT
Regarding So Long, a flop yes, mega flop emmmmm , I read recently it made number 91, so it registered in the top 100, alas only a top 50 was published at the time...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2018 14:23:41 GMT
I suppose I'd class 'So Long' as a (UK) mega-flop not least because, barely 6 months after ABBA had posted a No.1 hit, they barely scraped the Top 100 with it. This must have happened to quite a few other acts - having a really big 'miss' shortly after achieving a big chart-topper. Does anyone know of any specific examples?
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Post by gary on Nov 1, 2018 16:58:29 GMT
^ The oddest one, I always thought, was Brotherhood Of Man having a number one with Angelo, followed by a complete flop (Highwayman), followed by another number one (Figaro).
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Post by foreverfan on Nov 1, 2018 17:10:30 GMT
I know it's going off topic ... but hey.. keeps the thread going.... a bit longer.....
There have been loads of One hit wonders in the UK, getting to number one and then nothing at all, ever/so far..
We have The Archie's with Sugar Sugar in the late 1969, number one for a huge 8 weeks, 6 months on the chart, then obscurity, nothing.... perhaps being one of the most famous one hit wonders....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2018 13:58:41 GMT
Never heard of 'Highwayman' - so clearly a perfect example! Wikipedia has this list of UK one-hit wonders: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_one-hit_wonders_on_the_UK_Singles_ChartNot surprisingly, perhaps, a lot of them (like The Archies) were novelty acts/records. I suppose (technically) ABBA were at one point in danger of ending up on that list as (technically) 'Ring Ring' wasn't a Top 30 hit (the Top 40 didn't kick in until 1978) and of course IDox5 only made the low 30s. Here's an interesting counter-factual. If 'SOS' HADN'T been a hit (e.g. if it just didn't get any airplay or ABBA hadn't appeared on 'Seaside Special'), might ABBA never have reappeared in the UK charts at all? Would they have ended up as one of those many Euro acts who were big on the Continent but never had a sniff of chart action in the UK (aside from 'Waterloo')? Or might 'Dancing Queen' have been picked up as 1976's Euro-hit-that-somehow-breaks-into-the-UK-charts-because-people-heard-it-on-their-holidays??? |
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Post by foreverfan on Nov 2, 2018 16:34:25 GMT
Interesting ^^^ However I think that Fernando would have been the " novelty" hit that would've got into the chart, before DQ..
Although we are probably bias.... the hits would've happened anyhow... because...... they were good....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2018 16:36:23 GMT
The 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Film has taken more in its 1st USA Weekend than the 2nd 'Mamma Mia!' Film.
It has taken $51 Million. the 'ABBA' Film' took around $35 Million in its 1st USA Weekend.
As it actually has genuine Queen Music and Vocals in it, it has had a huge effect on Queen's Sales.
They are now the World's No.1 Act. with 3 Top 10 Albums in both Global and European iTunes.
Neither 'Mamma Mia!' Film gave ABBA such a huge 'boost'. Then again, there is no 'real' ABBA in either Film.
At least in the Queen Film you get genuine Queen vocals, as well as Actors, who can actually sing. Let's face it,
we cannot claim the same thing for either 'Mamma Mia!' Film...
ABBA may well 'fade away' for a while now, as any plans that they had - Singles, 'ABBAtars' Tour, Global TV Special -
have been put back until at least March 2019.
They are currently not even in the World's Top 100 iTunes Acts. A sign that interest has faded away again.
They may get their usual December/January 'boost', and reach the iTunes Top 10 again, with 'Gold'. We will see...
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Post by foreverfan on Nov 4, 2018 18:07:56 GMT
Surely the release of MM2 on DVD will have a "boost" on both Mamma Mia films and Gold, alas agree nothing else, except the remote possibility of More Gold....
The interest will possibly go on until Christmas early January then everything will fade away until the New Singles whenever that will happen, whatever happens then will dictate a few more chart entries, rises, but if that's it.. I feel by the middle of 2019 ABBA will have almost disappeared from the charts, until that is MM2 gets to TV, small boost again... then nothing ....
All of that will depend if we get the album we are all hoping for....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2018 19:22:40 GMT
NOTE -- I keep wondering if ABBA will record an Album for us, as 'compensation', if they cannot get The 'ABBAtars'
to work! They may take pity on us, and decide that we deserve an Album, should The 'ABBAtars' end up in a huge
mess, and have to be 'cancelled'. (Or 'Exterminated' - however one gets rid of unruly Holograms). But, ABBA do
not want to be in any Videos for the New Singles, so even if the Tour is cancelled, they will need to get The 'ABBAtars'
to work for about 8 to 9 Minutes - to make 2 Videos for the Singles. Unless they ditch The 'ABBAtars' completely and
create 2 'State-Of-The-Art' Cartoons, to promote the Singles...
Although I very much enjoy seeing ABBA in the UK and World Charts, we have to remember that they really
split up in late 1982. we cannot expect them to keep having 'Revivals'. As with The Beatles and Queen, there
are times when ABBA are given a 'boost' and times when it all goes quiet again. We have no control over it.
It is important to realise that the UK Singles Chart - the 'Main' one - is now very hard for 'Older' Acts to enter.
Even if they do enter the Top 100, they cannot rise very far. Always a lack of 'Streaming' holds their Singles
back. Whereas the 'New' Acts get Millions of Streams and rise above the 'Old' Acts with ease. It is rather like
the 'Old' Acts are in a Horse Race, but their 'Horses' only have 3 legs and the 'New' Acts Horses have the usual
4 legs - and Win every Race. I'm afraid that we may find that ABBA cannot even reach the Top 10 in the 'Main'
UK Singles Charts. This means that a 10th UK No.1 Single is 100% very likely impossible for ABBA...
There is still a UK Singles Chart - Top 100 - based only on Sales, and ABBA should still be able to do very well
in that one. Unfortunately, The UK Charts Company see it as their Singles Chart B - no longer important. They
only count the Hits from the 'Main' Chart and that has Streaming in it, as well as Sales, and ABBA will probably
never, ever have a Top 10 Hit in it. If they wanted No.1 Hits again and Top 10 Hits, they left it far too late to
return. About 10 Years too late. The 'Main' UK Singles Chart is a huge barrier for them now.
'More ABBA Gold' did reach the 'Main' Album Top 100 a few Weeks ago. But it did not get very high. Again, a
lack of Streaming held it back. In the Sales Top 100, it did not need Streams, and it has been a bigger Hit in
that Chart - entering the Top 50, and selling for several Weeks.
Even with their huge 'Boost' from the Film, Queen were unable to do much in the 'Main' UK Singles Chart, last
Week. They managed to place just 2 of their old Singles in that Top 100. However, in the Sales Singles Chart,
they placed 13 Singles in the Top 100! The same in the Download Singles Chart. So, 11 of those Singles were
unable to enter the 'Main' Top 100, due to a lack of Streaming. Nothing shows how hard it is for 'Old' Acts, than
that. It will be the same for New Singles by ABBA...
As I want ABBA to have a 10th UK No.1 Single and 20th UK Top 10 Hit, I keep thinking of ways that they can achieve
it, even without huge Streams. All I do is give myself an headache and I get very depressed about it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 18:32:23 GMT
Queen continue to do very well, due to the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Film.
In recent Weeks they have become the World's biggest Act on Global iTunes.
As well as European iTunes biggest Act.
They've had 3 simultaneous Albums in both the Global & European iTunes Top 5. ABBA have never managed more than 2.
They've placed 2 simultaneous Albums in the USA Top 10. The 1st time that they have managed it. One of the 2 - the Soundtrack
to the Film - was at No.3. Queen's highest USA Album placing since 1980.
Last Week they had 3 Albums in the Australian Top 5. ABBA never achieved that there. ABBA's best effort, was in 1976, when - for
1 Week - they had 3 Albums in the Australian Top 10. But only 1 was Top 5. 'The Best Of ABBA' - No.1, 'ABBA' - No.7, 'Ring Ring' - No.10.
So, the Queen Film has had a much bigger impact on their back catalogue than either 'Mamma Mia!' Film had on ABBA's. Then again, the
Queen Film uses original Queen recordings and the 'Mamma Mia!' Films just use cover versions of ABBA Songs. Many of which are sung badly.
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Post by gary on Nov 21, 2018 13:36:21 GMT
Nothing to do with ABBA, but hey!
I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody yesterday. I expected it to be awful, and it was, though not quite as awful as I expected. The worst things about it are it looks like it was made very cheaply and, more importantly, it is full of inaccuracies. (I'm not a Queen fan; I'm sure a fan would have seen far more inaccuracies than I did.) But the lead actor is quite good and, surprisingly, I quite enjoyed the music. It's a reasonable advert for Queen's albums.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2018 21:15:08 GMT
The Queen Film is already a bigger Hit than 'Mamma Mia! 2'.
The 'ABBA' Film has taken just under $400 Million - Worldwide - since July. The Queen Film has already
gone past $400 Million and it was only released, in most Countries, in late October and the USA on the 2nd
of November. So it has beaten 'Mamma Mia! 2' in just 1 Month.
We will see if it can reach the $600 Million of the 1st 'Mamma Mia!' Film.
Incidentally, a UK Poll Organisation - YouGov - has done a big UK Survey, of which Groups, the Population
have the most positive and friendly attitude towards. The Top 4 were as follows:
1)... Queen -- 80%
2)... ABBA -- 78%
3)... The Beatles -- 73%
4)... Rolling Stones -- 61%
Freddie Mercury was also Voted the Top Solo Act - 76%.
I do wish that Benny and Bjorn would take better advantage of ABBA's UK popularity, than simply relying on
Films and 'Events, connected with 'Mamma Mia! all the time...
They could team up with Disney and do a huge, spectacular Fantasy Cartoon, with ABBA's original Songs as
the Soundtrack. That would do away with both the awful cover versions and the reliance on the rather weak
'Mamma Mia! Films. A 'Mamma Mia! 3' is not needed, but that does not mean that ABBA's original recordings
cannot be used in a really terrific Cartoon Film.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2018 22:58:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2018 12:53:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2018 22:19:28 GMT
^^^
I didn't mean you were dishonest, I was just being facetious. I realise now, looking at my own link, that the Stones are missing from it too, and that YouGov uses different, slightly arbitrary categorisations, pop/rock etc..
Anyway, it's nice that ABBA remain so popular in Britain and elsewhere, and yet it makes me long somehow for the wilderness years (i.e. the late eighties) when listening to them had the added pleasure of being a contrarian!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2018 19:50:35 GMT
Jensj2 - I'm sorry that I misunderstood your reply to me.
The Queen Film has now taken almost $500 Million - Globally - in just over a Month.
That is more than the 'almost' $400 Million that 'Mamma Mia! 2' has taken since July.
I wonder how Elton John's forthcoming Biog. Film will do?
I've no doubt that an ABBA Biog. Film would be huge, but ABBA will never, ever agree to one.
They are very private about such things.
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