Super Trouper (song)
| Super trouper | |
|---|---|
| ABBA | |
| publication | November 14, 1980 |
| length | 4:10 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus |
| album | Super trouper |
Super Trouper is a pop song by the Swedish group ABBA . It was released in November 1980 with the B-side The Piper as a single from the album of the same name . The piece was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus . The lead vocals were sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad , the backing vocals by Agnetha Fältskog .
The text is told from the perspective of a musician who is on tour and longs to return to the arms of her lover in the glaring light of the ( Super Trouper ) spotlights.
Origin and admission
Super Trouper is the type name of a special stage spotlight from Strong Entertainment Lighting, which illuminates the artists from the direction of the audience. The manager Stikkan Anderson had the idea to use this name as the title for the new album. After Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson had already worked on the album for nine months, they were of the opinion that the album still needed a “strong song” that could be released as a single. Then Stig Andersem suggested dedicating the last song to the spotlight and using Super Trouper as the song title accordingly. Although Björn and Benny were initially not very enthusiastic about this idea, they then spent two full days in the studio to write the song. Although the song was ultimately very successful, Ulvaeus struggled with the lyrics, which he later expressed by saying:
"Imagine writing about some damn headlights."
The recordings for the song, which initially had the working title Blinka Lilla Stjärna (Blinking Little Star) , began on October 3, 1980; overdubs were added on October 14th . The B-side (The Piper) was also used in Japan as the B-side of the single On and On and On .
In April 1981, a television special was produced at the Europa Film Studios in Stockholm with Dick Cavett as the host, during which the group performed several new and older songs from their repertoire . Among them was Super Trouper , which was performed live there for the only time.
success
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The single was able to place itself successfully in the charts. ABBA's Super Trouper last reached number 1 in Great Britain and the penultimate time in Germany. Super Trouper also topped the charts in Ireland, Belgium and Portugal. In Australia, where ABBA was the most popular band for a long time, the song came in at number 77. In Finland (number 5), Spain (number 8) and Mexico (number 3) the single was also successful.
Cover versions
The group A * Teens released a Eurodance version of Super Trouper as a single in 1999 and was thus internationally successful. The Scottish band Camera Obscura released a stylistically distinct version as the second song on their single Tears for Affairs .
A number of very different artists recorded the song for various albums. Already in 1981 the sisters Salma and Sabina Agha recorded an album with Abba hits in Hindi , when they played Super Trouper under the title Pehli pehli preet . Amit Khanna wrote the text in Hindi. Max Raabe recorded the song with the Palast Orchester for his album Die Hits des Jahres (2000). The German band Custard recorded him for the heavy metal album A Tribute to Abba (2001). The Swede Nils Landgren released a funk version of Super Trouper on his album Funky Abba in 2004 and the Swede Julia Lindholm released the album Super Trouper with Abba hits in German in 2016 , which also received the song of the same name. The German text here comes from Rosy Kindler. Another German version comes from the a cappella group Basta , who used the Super Trouper melody for their satirical song Super Puter .
Super Trouper is used in several jukebox musicals and films based on Abba songs. In the French original of the children's musical Abbacadabra , it was sung by Daniel Beaufixe under the title Tête d'allumette . Alain and Daniel Boublil wrote the French text . Due to the numerous performances and recordings of the musical Mamma Mia , Super Trouper was recorded by a larger number of singers and in different languages. In the film adaptation of the same name (2008) Meryl Streep , Julie Walters and Christine Baranski sing the song and in the sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) it is sung by the entire ensemble with solo parts by Meryl Streep and Cher .
Instrumental variants have been recorded by Paul Mauriat (1981), James Last (1985) and Richard Clayderman (1993) , among others .
literature
- Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. Bosworth Musikverlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86543-100-4 (German translation: Helmut Müller).
- Carl Magnus Palm: Abba. Story and songs compact. Bosworth Music, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86543-227-8 (compact story and songs; German translation: Cecilia Senge).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ ABBA Gold - The Success Story, p. 94
- ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow: ABBA - The true story , p. 499
- ↑ Oldie Stories - "Super Trouper" by ABBA . MDR Thürungen, November 15, 2018
- ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story and Songs compact , p. 71
- ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US Charts SE
- ↑ a b c d e Super Trouper on secondhandsongs.com (accessed September 29, 2010)
- ↑ Sonam Joshi: Mamma Mia! When Salma Agha sang ABBA in Hindi . Times of India, May 6, 2018
- ↑ Karsten Bödecker: Concert by the Basta group - Super Puter and chic daycare . Weser Kurier, January 22, 2019