ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits

ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits
Compilation album from ABBA
Publication (s)	September 21, 1992
Label (s)	Polygram
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	pop
Title (number)	19th
running time	76: 25-79: 09
production	Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Studio (s)	Various
chronology ABBA Live (1986) ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits More ABBA Gold (1993)

ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the Swedish pop group ABBA . It was first released on September 21, 1992, about ten years after the band split up, by the Polygram record label . In 1999 it was released with a revised sound quality and slightly longer versions of some songs. Further, only optically revised editions appeared in 2002 and 2008. The album has meanwhile become the most commercially successful ABBA sound carrier and, with 28 to 31.4 million copies sold, is one of the world's most successful albums.

Almost all of ABBA Gold's songs are also featured in the musical Mamma Mia! to listen. Triggered by the start of the related film, ABBA Gold again reached top positions in the charts of numerous countries in 2008 and has since held the record in Great Britain, for example, as the oldest album ever to top the British charts.

History of origin

ABBA had their last big hits in the early 1980s with The Winner Takes It All , Super Trouper or One of Us . In December 1982, the group split indefinitely, so initially no new albums were announced. The album ABBA Live , released in 1986, was a commercial flop. Many ABBA sound carriers were already out of stock by the mid-1980s and were no longer produced due to the largely changed taste in music.

In 1990 the former ABBA manager Stig Anderson sold his record label Polar Music to the music company PolyGram. This transaction was accompanied by a legal dispute between Anderson and the former ABBA members. a. about unpaid royalties to the band members. In order to make ABBA's music accessible to a new generation, PolyGram wanted to compile the track list for a new best-of album. The publication was delayed, however, as various licenses had not yet expired. The ABBA hit Dancing Queen was released as a single new edition on CD in the summer of 1992 to promote the album. ABBA Gold was also released on CD, but was also released on LP in the Netherlands and Venezuela .

Commercial win

ABBA Gold sold more than 5 million times in one year. On October 5, 1993, the three former ABBA members Anni-Frid Lyngstad , Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus met at the Café Opera in Stockholm to receive a five-time platinum award for the album. Another 10 million copies had been sold by 1999. Triggered by the start of the musical Mamma Mia! this year it again reached the top of the charts in some countries, so that worldwide sales in 2002 totaled 22 million units. The success of the film adaptation of Mamma Mia! in 2008 sales increased by another three to four million copies. To date, it is estimated that up to 31.4 million units of the album have been sold.

In Germany, ABBA Gold received a total of five platinum records and is the fourth best-selling album with 2.5 million copies . In Great Britain it has received 17 platinum awards so far and in May 2013 it reached second place in the list of the best-selling albums in Great Britain with over 5.1 million copies. In British chart history, ABBA Gold is also the third album after Queen's greatest hits album and Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , which has sold over 5 million times. In Australia, too, the album has so far achieved 17 platinum awards as well as another platinum award for the anniversary edition in 2014. ABBA Gold is therefore one of the five best-selling albums in Australia with over 1.2 million copies (see en: List of best-selling albums in Australia ).

Chart placements

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

ABBA gold   DE 1 05/10/1992 (336 weeks)   AT 1 10/18/1992 (477 weeks)   CH 1 04/10/1992 (566 weeks)   UK 1 10/03/1992 (938 weeks)   US 25th 10/09/1993 (155 weeks)   SE 1 09/30/1992 (194 weeks)

To date, ABBA Gold has entered the charts in over 25 countries and peaked in nine of them, including Norway , Finland , Ireland and Australia . It was also able to place in the top 10 in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Canada and New Zealand .

Germany

ABBA Gold entered the German album charts on October 5, 1992 and weeks later reached first place, which it occupied eleven weeks in a row. After 60 weeks the album went off the charts. On May 17, 1999, the revised version of the album returned to the charts at number 63 and was again placed for a total of 25 weeks. The album returned to the charts again in the 17th week of 2003 at number 52. Subsequently, it was able to place itself in the charts again and again.

A renewed entry into the album charts succeeded in the 32nd week of 2008 at number 44. Only after the 46th week with last number 99 it fell out again.

On July 20, 2012, ABBA Gold was again in the German album charts and reached number 74. A week later, there was a significant improvement to number 40.

In the course of the release of ABBA Gold as a 3-CD deluxe version to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ABBA's victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton on April 6, 1974, the album climbed to number 9 in Germany on April 18, 2014. A week later, on April 25th, ABBA Gold rose to 3rd place.

In total, the album has been in the German album charts for 336 weeks and reached five times platinum with over 2.5 million copies sold by 2008.

Austria

In Austria, ABBA Gold entered the charts for the first time on October 18, 1992, at number 32, and made it to number 1 by November 8. It occupied this position until December 13th, then it fell further and further down until August 1st, 1993, when it was withdrawn.

A return to position 56 followed on November 11, 2005, which reached the highest position on February 24, 2006 with position 17. It fell off the charts again on April 28th.

On August 1, 2008, it entered the Austrian album charts again at number 30. The highest position was reached on August 29 with position 9.

On April 18, 2014, the 40th Anniversary Edition returned to the charts at number 7 and was at number 2 from April 25.

With 3 platinum awards and 150,000 copies sold, it is one of the ten most successful albums in Austria.

Great Britain

In the UK, ABBA Gold is now the second best-selling album with more than 5 million copies. It went straight to number 1 in the album charts on October 3, 1992. It stayed there for a week. On April 17, 1999, it reached the top position again, after having been in the charts up to this point. It remained there until June 23, 2001.

On August 23, 2003 it rose again and reached 4th place on April 17, 2004, before it again left the hit parade on December 31, 2005. Another re-entry followed on September 1, 2007, which continues to this day. The highest position was again number 1 on August 9, 2008 thanks to the success of the movie Mamma Mia! . ABBA Gold has been in the British album charts for 938 weeks to date (as of April 30, 2020).

Switzerland

In Switzerland, ABBA Gold is the best-selling CD of all with over 500,000 units sold and ten times platinum. The album first entered the album charts on October 4, 1992, reached number 1 on November 8, and topped the charts for nine weeks. Since then it has been in the chart list for 537 weeks and again reached number 3 on April 14, 2014.

United States

In the United States, the album has so far received six platinum awards, which correspond to at least 6 million copies sold. The last platinum record was awarded in 2002. On July 24, 2008, ABBA Gold reached the top position of the top pop catalog charts, making it the first ABBA album to reach first place on this US album charts. It has been placed there for over 400 weeks.

Track list

1. Dancing Queen (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)
2. Knowing Me, Knowing You (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)
3. Take a Chance on Me (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
4. Mamma Mia (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)
5. Lay All Your Love on Me (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
6. Super Trouper (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
7. I Have A Dream (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
8. The Winner Takes It All (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
9. Money, Money, Money (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
10. SOS (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)
11. Chiquitita (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
12. Fernando (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
13. Voulez-Vous (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
15. Does Your Mother Know (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
16. One of Us (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
17. The Name of the Game (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)
18. Thank You for the Music (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus)
19. Waterloo (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson)

New edition 2003 and DVD

The new edition of ABBA Gold from 2003 is a double CD. In addition to the original ABBA Gold CD with the titles already mentioned, it also contains a bonus CD with ten tracks that can be heard on the 1993 compilation More ABBA Gold - More ABBA Hits .

Also in 2003 a DVD with the music videos for the hits was released on the CD.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Argentina (CAPIF)	3 × platinum (original) + gold (re-release)	200,000
Australia (ARIA)	17 × platinum	1,190,000
Belgium (BEA)	7 × platinum	350,000
Brazil (PMB)	gold	100,000
Denmark (IFPI)	7 × platinum	560,000
Germany (BVMI)	5 × platinum	2,500,000
Finland (IFPI)	2 × platinum	145.962
France (SNEP)	diamond	1,000,000
Italy (FIMI)	platinum	70,000
Japan (RIAJ)	3 × platinum	600,000
Canada (MC)	diamond	1,000,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)	platinum	250,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	16 × platinum	240,000
Netherlands (NVPI)	platinum	100,000
Austria (IFPI)	3 × platinum	150,000
Poland (ZPAV)	platinum	100,000
Portugal (AFP)	platinum	20,000
Russia (NFPF)	gold	10,000
Sweden (IFPI)	5 × platinum	500,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	10 × platinum	500,000
Spain (Promusicae)	5 × platinum	500,000
Hungary (MAHASZ)	platinum	20,000
United States (RIAA)	6 × platinum	6,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	18 × platinum	5,400,000
All in all	3 × gold 113 × platinum 2 × diamond	21,185,962

Main article: ABBA / Music Sales Awards

See also

• List of the best-selling music albums certified by BVMI in Germany

literature

• Elisabeth Vincentelli: Abba Gold . In: David Barker (Ed.): 33 1/3 Greatest Hits . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4411-0185-3 , pp. 87-96 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ abbasite.com Information about ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (English), accessed on December 30, 2014.
2. ↑ ^{a b} ( page no longer available , search in web archives: ABBA sales homepage )
3. ↑ ABBA again conquer the top of the British charts +++ derNewsticker.de +++. www.dernewsticker.de, accessed on March 30, 2009 . 
4. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. Bosworth Edition, 2007, 156 pages. ISBN 978-3-86543-227-8 , p. 92 ff.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Palm: Story & Songs compact , 2007, p. 102 f.
6. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow , 2006, p. 570 f.
7. ↑ see getabba.com Collection - Audio Vinyl - Albums (LPs) - ABBA Gold
8. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow - ABBA, The True Story , Omnibus Press 2001, German edition 2006, page 580
9. ^ Carl Magnus Palm: ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits. Booklet for the new edition of the album, 2002, p. 13
10. ↑ FanOfMusic.fr Estimates of ABBA sales figures
11. ↑ icethesite.com “ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits” becomes the UK's second biggest selling album of all time , English article from May 20, 2013, accessed on August 25, 2013
12. ↑ ^{a b} Lauren Kreisler: ABBA join The Beatles and Queen in 5 million sellers' club. Official Charts Company, May 18, 2012, accessed March 23, 2013 . 
13. ↑ aria.com.au ARIA Charts Accreditations - Albums 2014
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US SE
15. ^ ABBA - The Worldwide Chart Lists ( Memento April 6, 2012 on WebCite ), Trent Nickson, January 26, 1997 - November 9, 2015
16. ↑ ABBA: CD collection "The Albums" will be released on November 7th. (No longer available online.) Naanoo.com, archived from the original ; accessed on May 2, 2019 . 
17. ↑ ABBA - GOLD - GREATEST HITS (ALBUM). In: www.austriancharts.at. Retrieved February 23, 2012 . 
18. ↑ Austria Top 40 - Albums Top 75 April 18, 2014 on Austriancharts.at.
19. ↑ Austria Top 40 - Albums Top 75 April 25, 2014 on Austriancharts.at.
20. ↑ Guidelines for Gold / Platinum Records and Awards (Guidelines for Gold and Platinum awards)
21. ↑ Swiss hit parade awards for ABBA sound carriers from 1989
22. ↑ ABBA - GOLD - GREATEST HITS. In: www.hitparade.ch. Retrieved February 22, 2012 . 
23. ↑ RIAA.com database search “ABBA Gold”, accessed December 30, 2014
24. ↑ Chart Beat: Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, the DeBarge family, Ace Young, ABBA. www.billboard.com, accessed March 30, 2009 . 
25. ↑ ABBA - Gold - The Greatest Hits DVD - Review - Trailer. (No longer available online.) Www.digitalvd.de, archived from the original on September 23, 2015 ; accessed on May 2, 2019 .