Ring ring (song)
| Ring ring | |
|---|---|
| ABBA | |
| publication | February 14, 1973 |
| length | 3:07 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text |
Bjorn Ulvaeus Stig Anderson Neil Sedaka |
| music |
Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus |
| Publisher (s) | Polar Music |
| album | Ring ring |
Ring Ring is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA from 1973, which also appeared on the group 's debut album of the same name . It was written by Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson , with Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad taking over the lead vocals . In addition to the well-known English version, there is also a Swedish, a German and a Spanish version of the song. The text is about a woman who is longingly waiting for a call from her boyfriend. Since the group was not yet called "ABBA" at the time of publication, the single was released under the band name "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid".
Emergence
The origins of the song go back to November 1972, when Björn Ulvaeus , Benny Andersson and their manager Stig Anderson agreed to submit a contribution to the Melodifestivalen next year. At this point, the group was already in the recording sessions for their first album together, which had started in September. At the end of December 1972, Andersson and Ulvaeus stayed in their holiday home on the island of Viggsö and worked on a piece with the working title Klocklåt ("Bell Song "). They tried hard to compose a song with which they could achieve their international breakthrough and land in the British and US charts.
“We wanted to do something trendy, something that reflected the musical tastes of the time. We just wanted to get away from all the superficial Grand Prix pomp. We wanted to get away from tuxedos and evening dresses. "
After Anderson had written the Swedish text, he asked his friend Neil Sedaka and his partner Phil Cody to develop an English text based on it. Ring Ring was recorded on January 10, 1973 at the Metronome Studio . The sound engineer in charge was Michael B. Tretow , who had worked in the studio since 1967 and had recently read a book by Phil Spector on the Wall of Sound . Tretow first applied the principle of this production technique, in which a large number of instruments are used. Bassist Rutger Gunnarsson , guitarist Janne Schaffer and drummer Ola Brunkert were also involved , who worked half the day on the backing tracks with Andersson and Ulvaeus . Tretow changed the speed of individual tape tracks in the mix , which gave the music a fuller sound. In addition, the voices of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were not highlighted, but integrated into the backing tracks like an instrument. After the release, some radio stations that were not used to such a sound contacted Polar Music and pointed out that something was wrong with the recording.
Shortly after the recording was finished, Stig Anderson traveled to the Midem music fair in Cannes with a demo tape and ultimately found licensees from 15 different countries who acquired the release rights for Ring Ring . On February 10, 1973, the group entered the Melodifestivalen. Although both the four musicians and their manager were convinced of their victory, the jury of music experts decided differently and Ring Ring only took third place in the end. The single in Swedish was released on February 14, 1973, the B-side being Åh, vilka tider (" Those were the days"), which was recorded in June 1972 and included the voices of Fältskog and Lyngstad in the background . The English version appeared on February 19, 1973 with the B-side She's My Kind of Girl . In March 1973 the group traveled to Central Europe and performed with Ring Ring u. a. in the Austrian music show Spotlight , with Fältskog being replaced by her friend Inger Brundin due to her daughter who was born shortly before.
success
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Although Ring Ring was eliminated from the Melodifestivalen , the Singles became a huge success. The Swedish version reached number 1 on the sales charts, while the English version reached number 2 a short time later. By the end of March 1973, a total of around 100,000 copies of the two singles had been sold, which until then had only been achieved by a few artists in Sweden. Ring Ring also reached the top of the charts in Denmark and Belgium , while it reached number 2 in Norway and Austria. The single made it into the top five in the Netherlands and South Africa, and Ring Ring even made it into the charts in Costa Rica, Finland and a number of South American countries . After a year around 545,000 units had been sold worldwide.
In Great Britain, Stig Anderson initially received numerous rejections for the single, until he was finally able to negotiate a contract with Epic Records through Paul Atkinson , with an advance of £ 600 and a participation of 10 percent. Ring Ring was released in Great Britain in October 1973, but never entered the charts and only sold 5000 copies. After the group won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, however, the label wanted to release a song that was similar to the winning title Waterloo . For this purpose, Ring Ring was revised, the tempo slowed down, a saxophone played and the guitar beats amplified. This new version of the single was released in Great Britain on June 21, 1974, but also proved unsuccessful. Rock'n'Roll Band from the album Ring Ring served as the B-side .
In Australia Ring Ring only came in 92nd at first, but in the course of Abbamania in 1976 it even reached 7th place and received 3 gold awards . In New Zealand, the single also rose to number 16 in 1976. In France, Ring Ring reached number 82. In Germany, neither the English nor the German single could enter the charts, nor in Italy, Spain, the USA and Japan, where Ring Ring appeared as the B-side of I Am Just a Girl .
literature
- Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. Bosworth Edition, 2006, paperback edition, 638 pages. ISBN 3-86543-100-3 .
- Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. Bosworth Edition, 2007, 156 pages. ISBN 978-3-86543-227-8 .
Web links
- Ring Ring - ABBA's journey towards Eurovision . Accessed on July 23, 2018
Individual evidence
Palm: "light and shadow"
Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. Bosworth Edition, 2006, paperback edition, 638 pages. ISBN 3-86543-100-3 .
Palm: "Story & Songs compact"
Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. Bosworth Edition, 2007, 156 pages. ISBN 978-3-86543-227-8 .
Other
- ↑ abbasite.com Ring Ring (English Version) / She's My Kind of Girl
- ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: The First Step - The Making Of the Ring Ring Album. Text accompanying the Deluxe Edition, Polar Music International AB, 2013, p. 17
- ↑ Charts AT Charts UK Charts SE
- ↑ Denmark ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Belgium ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Norway ( Memento of the original from February 29, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ South Africa ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Costa Rica ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Australia ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Peter Charley: THE ABBA ALBUM Horowitz Publications, January 1977 (?)
- ↑ New Zealand ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ France ( Memento des original from March 29, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Italy ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Spain ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ USA ( Memento of the original from February 29, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Japan ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
