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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on May 16, 2020 19:38:33 GMT
  Are you ready? |
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on May 16, 2020 19:43:25 GMT
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Post by madonnabba on May 16, 2020 20:19:28 GMT
Well I did not see that coming. Fully expected KMKY to clean up. Thanks Rubber Ball Man . Interesting too is that if you add up all the points for the songs on the original listings on the studio albums, not the extras added at a later date the albums finish like this ...1 Arrival 410 points, 2 The Album 369, 3 Super Trouper 316, 4 Voulez Vous 270, 5 Abba 266, 6 The Visitors 170, 7 Waterloo 45 and 8th Ring Ring 17. Other songs not featured on an original album scored 340. From this sample , it suggests that The Visitors is not as popular as commonly perceived.
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Post by gary on May 16, 2020 20:21:03 GMT
Thanks for organising that. Nice to see something other than Dancing Queen or The Winner Takes It All taking top place.
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on May 16, 2020 20:24:40 GMT
Well I did not see that coming. Fully expected KMKY to clean up. Thanks Rubber Ball Man . Interesting too is that if you add up all the points for the songs on the original listings on the studio albums, not the extras added at a later date the albums finish like this ...1 Arrival 410 points, 2 The Album 369, 3 Super Trouper 316, 4 Voulez Vous 270, 5 Abba 266, 6 The Visitors 170, 7 Waterloo 45 and 8th Ring Ring 17. Other songs not featured on an original album scored 340. From this sample , it suggests that The Visitors is not as popular as commonly perceived. That’s such a great idea. I’m going to do that right now. Thank you. |
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Post by richard on May 16, 2020 20:28:16 GMT
Very entertaining thread. Delighted with the widely unexpected (?) victory of SOS.
Thanks, RBM, for staging so well the best line-up of songs for one ESC ever! A case of fantasy being better than the real thing for that reason alone! 😀
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on May 16, 2020 21:55:04 GMT
 I’ve compiled a bit of statistics here with the total and averages for each album. The Ring Ring album had the lowest total and average which is understandable due to the fact the only song from this album scored low. Depsite SOS being the winning song, the other songs bought the average of the songs from ABBA (1975) down a bit. That album had the 3rd highest average with Arrival being 1st followed by Super Trouper in 2nd place. It was interesting that The Visitors total and average is quite low. However, the 2 bonus tracks does bump it up. What are your thoughts? |
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2020 22:46:19 GMT
Fantastic work, Rubber Ball Man, good to see so many classic songs in the top ten and deservedly so. To be honest Ring Ring is the weakest album, Waterloo has stronger tracks, ABBA is when the band started composing and recording better songs although a few exceptions come to mind, notably TL, MITM and RM. Arrival is an iconic album, The Album, also, widely acclaimed, Voulez-Vous, includes many disco classics, Super Trouper, a very accomplished album including very different and outstanding songs and The Visitors, a very sombre and brooding album with a few lighter moments. I ask myself does that have any bearing on the scores ?
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Post by madonnabba on May 17, 2020 5:44:16 GMT
Fantastic work, Rubber Ball Man, good to see so many classic songs in the top ten and deservedly so. To be honest Ring Ring is the weakest album, Waterloo has stronger tracks, ABBA is when the band started composing and recording better songs although a few exceptions come to mind, notably TL, MITM and RM. Arrival is an iconic album, The Album, also, widely acclaimed, Voulez-Vous, includes many disco classics, Super Trouper, a very accomplished album including very different and outstanding songs and The Visitors, a very sombre and brooding album with a few lighter moments. I ask myself does that have any bearing on the scores ? |
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Post by madonnabba on May 17, 2020 6:22:10 GMT
Tried to quote and comment but didn’t work. Tried to delete but didn’t work. I must be doing something wrong. Re ..The Visitors. Think you could be right ..very dark album compared to the others. My ideal track listing for that album would have been The Visitors, re worked Should I laugh or cry, WAISAD, Soldiers, the more fast paced LAAPTTR..... side 2 I let the music Speak, one of us, I am the city, The Day before you came, STMF and a reprise ... the original LAAPTMR. Would have meant a delay of about 6 months for some of those songs to appear. Never liked TFTPOO and I only liked the intro to HOH. Back to the results...SNC features in the top 10 yet the band did not appear to value it....yet the boys favoured songs like TYFTM and I Wonder which did not feature at all. I like the energy of SNC. Other surprise Voulez Vous above all the tracks on that album. Again I love it for its energy. Still fresh to this day and that intro. Had the number ones not been given a by then there may have been small differences around the bottom of the chart and middle but not in the Top 10. I know that Fernando would have been in my top 3 and TACOM and Super Trouper would have been at the lower end of my 10 choices. That would have lost votes for 3 at the bottom end of my Top 10. Guess they would have picked up votes here and there to get them into the Top 25. It’s been fun and thanks again Rubber Ball Man. And Sos now joins the ranks of those named in various polls as The fans’favourite. That list being Dancing Queen, TWTIA, TDBYC and now S.O.S.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2020 12:25:40 GMT
Madonnabba, I agree with you about TFTPOO. It has never been one that I was that keen on. From ST to the TV ABBA re-launched themselves with a mature and serious sound. The sweet innocent pop replaced by melancholy classics. Have you noticed that virtually every ABBA song is different. The band's creativity and diversity is one of their enduring qualities and the four members are indeed very talented individuals. I can't wait to hear the new songs ONE DAY ! Until then, we will just have to put on a positive front.
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Post by madonnabba on May 17, 2020 13:50:58 GMT
Remember back in the day , listening to the album for the first time and enjoying the album then it happened....Two for the Price of one. Why? I remember I had high expectations for that song as I read somewhere prior to album release that it was a contender for release as a single! Boy was I disappointed. Then it was back to the Abba standard with the last two tracks. Think there was a push to get the album out in time for Christmas and I think that is why this ended up on the album. Or was it an attempt to lighten the mood? That would explain the piece of jovial music at the end reminding me of the burst of music at the end of Chiquitita. Suspect that had Christmas been another 2 month away , we may have had a different song on the album , maybe same tune, girls singing and different lyrics.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2020 21:49:09 GMT
Do you know I rushed out to buy a copy of the studio albums ST and TV as soon as they were released as I had high expectations of both albums and impatience getting the better of me I guess. I was not disappointed when I heard both albums for the first time back in 1980 and 1981. TFTPOO didn't quite grab my attention the way the other songs did. If Agnetha and Frida recorded it, you are quite right it would have been different and as you say adding a lighter moment. I remember I saved all my pocket money to buy both albums at the time. I was so excited.
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Post by Alan on May 18, 2020 16:53:42 GMT
Oh no, not the dreaded Two For The Price of One bashing again, is it? I love that song. I especially love the choruses when Agnetha and Frida are singing their own lines to Bjorn’s lead:
If you are dreaming of someone that would be right for you
Why don't you call us and then you’ll get two for the price of one
We may be the answer to your problem, by chance you feel blue
Why don't you call us and then you’ll get two for the price of one
On a related note, I found where I’d saved the backing vocals for the chorus of Chiquitita:
Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go
And the scars they're leaving
(You and I we know
how all the heartaches come and go)
You'll be dancing once again
(and you'll be dancing once again)
and the pain will end
(and all the pain you take will end)
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
(Even though you cry
the sun is shining in the sky)
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
(so let me hear you sing some more the way you used to do before)
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
And finally, the line in One of Us after “wishing she was somewhere else instead”:
One of us is shaking with a heart that’s breaking
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2020 17:09:00 GMT
Alan, I don't particularly dislike TFTPOO I just think it didn't receive quite the treatment as Madonnabba mentioned if Agnetha and Frida had recorded the track with their combined lead vocals it would have been different.
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Post by jj on May 18, 2020 17:18:53 GMT
If you are dreaming of someone that would be right for you Why don't you call us and then you’ll get two for the price of one We may be the answer to your problem, by chance you feel blue Why don't you call us and then you’ll get two for the price of one That's my favourite part, too, although I hear these slightly different lyrics instead: If you are dreaming of a girl that would be right for you Why don't you call us and you’ll get two for the price of one We may be the answer to your problem if by chance you feel blue Why don't you call us and you’ll get two for the price of one |
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Post by Alan on May 18, 2020 19:04:30 GMT
You could be right, jj . There is a completely wrong version that circulates on some lyric sites, that I assumed to be accurate for years, where a line is “a chance with we two” which is incorrect English. The source for mine is www.abbaomnibus.net/ask/qa_dec10.htm . I missed an “if” out in my earlier post, but having just listened to it repeatedly, it does sound like it’s “someone” not “a girl”? The beauty of TFTPOO is that A and F are not centre stage but are stealing the show anyway. I like songs like that. I Saw It In The Mirror is another one that everyone loves to hate, but again the women steal it with their few lines. You wouldn’t get that if they were doing the leads. Also TFTPOO has great production, and the lyrics make it a slightly lighter moment in what is otherwise a dark album (but dark in a very good way). |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2020 22:43:05 GMT
This is what makes the forum so interesting as we all have different thoughts in respect of ABBA songs.
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Post by Alan on May 18, 2020 22:57:28 GMT
Also, it’s not just stealing it from Björn but also from each other. With Agnetha, for instance, I love it when it’s not her lead but she comes in with a few vocals. Notable examples are Lovers (Live A Little Longer) where she swoops in during the verses with “Ooh, you know that...” and “Ah, please don’t wait...”, and I Let The Music Speak where she comes in with “From my shallow sleep the sounds awake me”. That one gets me every time. The classic ABBA sound at full power.
Frida does her own swooping in, notably on The Day Before You Came.
I think I just love it when in just a line or two they can make you appreciate them more that you would if they were leading it. Hence why TFTPOO and I Saw It In The Mirror are two tracks I love listening to.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 13:24:47 GMT
Alan, I totally get where you're coming from. Beautiful melodies, songs, vocals are so indicative of the classic sound of ABBA. Agnetha and Frida have very distinct and recognisable voices. You know it is ABBA from the start.
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Post by stepalm on May 19, 2020 14:04:20 GMT
I Think I have been commenting about before on this site. I think the songs where they have different parts are very interesting but there are so few. The name of the game is the best example. But also I am the city is so fun to here there voices bouncing back and between each other. I'm quite sure also that in the medley on Midnight special Agnetha sings first verse and Frida second. I think its the only time we can here them doing that. Or do you know more examples. I allways thought Move on would have been great with Bjorn on first verse, then Agnetha and then Frida. But maybe it didnt fit their range to share lead on the same songs. |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 17:45:27 GMT
Stepalm, there is so much more to comment about ABBA's back catalogue that we could burn the midnight oil. Keep up the good work.
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