4 single choices: Voulez-Vous

I'd love to know your b-sides.

As Good As New/I Have A Dream
Voulez Vous/Does Your Mother Know
Lovers Live A Little Longer/Angeleyes
If It Wasn't For The Nights/Kisses Of Fire

Maxisaxi

I would have chosen:-

Chiquitita/Lovelight
Does Your mother Know/Kisses Of Fire
Angeleyes/As Good As New
Voulez-Vous/Lovers (Live A Little Longer)

Got the wrong end of the stick with these polls. Thought we could only pair-up tracks available on the original studio albums (in the real world of course this wouldn't be normal practice, but because Rubber Ball Man hadn't made it clear that non-album tracks could be considered for verso selections, I thought we were to confine ourselves what was on the albums only). The penny's finally dropped with a look at the replies in this poll, and I realise that non-album tracks are fair game for B sides. Muggins' votes will have skewed the results though, since my third and fourth votes have been going to most appropriate B side selections, rather than choices for 3rd and 4th single A sides! So, with that established:

Chiquitita b/w Kisses Of Fire
The King Has Lost His Crown b/w Lovelight

  'Voulez-Vous' - which is doing well in this Poll - was not one of ABBA's biggest Global Hits. They had 16 Top 10 Hits, in the
  Global Charts and 'Voulez-Vous' was not one of them. Nor did it reach No.1, in the European Hit Parade. It was a No.2 Hit,
  in that Chart. ABBA had 17 No.1's in that Chart. It has never been one of my favourite ABBA Songs. I feel that it drags on
  and seems to go on forever. West Germany gave ABBA 21 Top 10 Hits, but it was not much interested in 'Voulez-Vous'
  - No.14. I say all of this, because several Fans here, think that it is one of the best Singles from the 'Voulez-Vous' Album,
 and neither Europe, nor the World, thought so in 1979...

 I'd have released these 4 Singles off 'Voulez-Vous':

 'As Good As New'
 'Angel Eyes'
 'If It Wasn't For The Nights'
 'Chiquitita'

   Bear in mind, that ABBA themselves, were going to release 'If It Wasn't For The Nights' as a Single, until they released 'Chiquitita' instead.
  'As Good As New' was touted, as a UK No.1 Hit, by UK/USA DJ Paul Gambaccini, and by 'Record Mirror', a UK Pop 'Paper. It never got the
  chance, as ABBA were too busy releasing 'Voulez-Vous' and 'Does Your Mother Know', as Singles. But, neither had any chance, at all, of
  being either UK No.1's or Top 5 German Hits. 'Does Your Mother Know', was ABBA's smallest UK Hit, since 1975, in the UK, (No.4), and
  their smallest, in Germany, (No.10), since 'So Long', (No.11 - in early 1975). 'As Good As New' would easily have been, at least Top 2,
  in both Countries. As well as many others. The lyrics of 'Does Your Mother Know' have not aged well, at all. They sound very awkward,
  in this day and age, and they were not very cool in 1979, either. As well as the fact, that Agnetha and Frida have good voices. Bjorn never
  did/has! If ABBA had released bigger Singles off 'Voulez-Vous', that Album would have sold more. It failed to reach a UK Million - 800,000,
  and it was only the 11th Best Seller of 1979, in Germany, where ABBA Albums were usually Top 5 for the Year. It is noticeable that the
  'Super Trouper' Album, did have No.1's on it and it sold more than 'Voulez-Vous' in the UK, Germany, and Worldwide. 'Chiquitita' was 
   actually - by far - the World's biggest Single, off 'Voulez-Vous', but now, (I've found), a lot of ABBA Fans don't like it...

   After 'Chiquitita', it was 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!', that was ABBA's biggest Global Single of 1979. It managed that, without even getting
   a proper release, in either the USA or Canada, and only reaching No.16 in Sweden, as it was only released on Import there...

This chimes with my feelings.  If you're going to aim to concoct a full-on disco track in effect, then the groove you cook up has got to groove!  VV grooves too tepidly - it bubbles away without ever threatening to boil up into something that can make you switch-off your real-world cares and fully submit to the here-and-now of the dance-floor.  

I agree, KOF and AGAN are underrated pop gems and had potential hit stamped all over were they released as A-side singles. Why did Epic Records decide on DYMK which has never been a favourite of mine and is not polished ABBA. What a travesty on their part !

^^^^ Agree totally regarding Lovelight, a fantastic track, deserves its place in higher esteem.. so often forgotten as the B side.
its another thread of course, but ABBA did some pretty good forgotten B sides...

The story about 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! in Sweden is indeed quite interesting.  We may have discussed it before, but, because ABBA's Swedish singles did not get a lot of radio play, and because Stig knew that the album market was more profitable, he decided that the single would not be released there. He wanted to push GHV2 - after all, nearly all ABBA LPs had got to number 1 in Sweden up to that point.

There was a demand for the single, though - and it would not lie down.  It seems that record-buyers didn't want to buy an album when they only wanted one new track off it, and GHV2 struggled to climb the chart (I think it just scraped the Top 20). 

Record dealers were frustrated. Polar had pressed the single for other Scandinavian markets, but these were not made available to them.  They turned to Epic in the UK, who had no such problem in selling extra singles. Reportedly, they pressed another 50,000 singles for the Swedish market and shipped them out in bulk.  There was nothing to stop this - it was business, after all - but I think it infuriated Stig, who couldn't prevent it.