Waterloo (album)

Waterloo
Studio album by ABBA (Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida)
Publication (s)	March 4th 1974
Label (s)	Polar (LP) Universal International (CD)
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD
Genre (s)	pop
Title (number)	11
running time	35 min 20 s
occupation	Singing : Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus Bass : Rutger Gunnarsson Guitar : Janne Schaffer Electric bass : Rutger Gunnarsson Acoustic guitar : Björn Ulvaeus Drums : Ola Brunkert Piano , Moog , Mellotron : Benny Andersson Bass: Per Sahlberg Dance Tenor saxophone : Christer Eklund Waterloo Congas : Malando Gassama Sitting In The Palmtree
production	Benny Andersson Bjorn Ulvaeus
Studio (s)	Metronome Studio, Europafilm and KMH Studio, Stockholm
chronology Ring Ring (1973) Waterloo ABBA (1975)
Single releases March 4th 1974 Waterloo (Swedish and English) April 1974 Honey, Honey (Swedish and English)

Waterloo is the second album by the Swedish pop group ABBA . The original band name "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida" was put in brackets on the cover and label . The album was first released in Sweden on March 4, 1974 and was at the top of the sales charts for twelve weeks. By the end of 1974 it had sold 250,000 times, making it Sweden's best-selling album at the time. With the eponymous title song Waterloo , the group won the Eurovision Song Contest on April 6, 1974 in Brighton .

Recordings

After the group had finished a concert tour in September 1973, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus devoted themselves to composing new songs. The first musical experiments took place at the beginning of the month, the official recording start for the new album was on September 24, 1973 with the title Dance (While the Music Still Goes On) , which was very inspired by the recordings of Phil Spector and Agnetha Fältskog took over the solo . This was followed by recordings for My Mama Said , Suzy-Hang-Around , Honey, Honey and What About Livingstone in October . Suzy-Hang-Around is one of the few songs in ABBA's career whose lyrics were written by Andersson. In mid-November 1973, only the King Kong song was recorded, which was later described by many fans as "the silliest song the band has ever produced".

On November 14, 1973, the Swedish newspapers listed for the first time those musicians from whom a contribution to the " Melodifestivalen 1974" was desired, who would decide whether Sweden would participate in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest . This invitation was a great incentive for Andersson and Ulvaeus as well as for Stig Anderson. They put some thought into what type of song would be most suitable for them and ended up choosing a happier and faster song. Shortly afterwards they went to work on the piece they were looking for in Ulvaeus' holiday home on the island of Viggsö. After they were finished in early December 1973, they gave a demo tape to Anderson, whose task it was now to find a suitable text and title. After concentrating intensively on it for a few days, he came up with the three-syllable word “Waterloo” in mid-December, which he had taken from a book with well-known quotations.

Benny Andersson also wrote the lyrics for Gonna Sing You My Lovesong as a second contribution , the solo of which was sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad . The piece was recorded a few days before the first backing tracks for Waterloo were recorded, in which Fältskog and Lyngstad sang the main voices together. The songs Sitting in the Palmtree, Hasta Mañana, Watch Out were also recorded in the same month, some of which still needed revision. Work continued in January 1974, including the production of a Swedish-language version of Honey, Honey .

On January 7, 1974, the composers and Stig Anderson submitted the group's participation in the Swedish preliminary decision for the upcoming song contest, although they did not even agree on which song they wanted to finally present. Andersson and Ulvaeus had composed the song Waterloo especially for the occasion, but they also gave the ballad Hasta Mañana greater potential, as this song resembled the winning titles of previous years. Stig Anderson finally selected Waterloo because he was of the opinion that this title could have a better chance of victory due to its exceptionality in contrast to previous contributions and its traditional presentation.

Eurovision Song Contest and international breakthrough

On February 9, 1974, the " Melodifestivalen 1974" took place, in which ABBA competed with the Swedish version of Waterloo and scored a huge victory with 302 points. At this point, however, the song did not yet exist in its final mix ; this was done during the month before the album was first released on March 4, 1974 in Sweden. This version of the record also contained the Swedish version of Waterloo , which was released as a single in addition to the English version on the same day. To be on the safe side, the previous name Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida was given in brackets next to the new band name ABBA on the cover . In Sweden the album quickly rose to number 1 on the sales charts; the two singles took second and third place. Just four weeks after entering the chart, 125,000 units had been sold, something that no album in Sweden had achieved before.

The 1974 Eurovision Song Contest took place on April 6, 1974 in Brighton , England , with ABBA presenting their entry as the eighth of a total of 17 participants. The competition was broadcast in over 30 countries and seen by 500 million television viewers. In the end, the group dominated the points list by six points. With this performance, ABBA became known worldwide and the English Waterloo single was released in a total of 54 countries, occupying the top position in many European countries and in the top ten of the charts in others, including the USA .

The album was also the first in ABBA's discography to be released in a large number of countries, such as the GDR and Turkey, Poland, Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico and the former Yugoslavia. In contrast to the single, however, it had only very moderate success in the charts. Apart from Sweden, it only reached number 1 in Norway , as well as the top ten in Germany, Finland and Zimbabwe. On May 17, 1974 it was also released in Great Britain, where it only reached number 28, and in Australia (# 18) and New Zealand (# 38) it has not yet met with a particularly strong response, as has the subsequent single Honey, Honey which was not published at all in the UK. For the release of the album in other countries, a remix by Ring Ring was recorded, which replaced the Swedish version of Waterloo in the United States and Great Britain, for example .

reception

"With their succinct and fast-paced pop numbers, ABBA are much closer to actual rock'n'roll than many of these exaggerated guitar cannons or these soul-friendly groups who want to bring cosmo-dynamic enlightenment to the confused masses."

- Ken Barnes in Rolling Stone magazine, 1974.

Chart successes

album

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	SE
1974	Waterloo	DE6 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK28 (3 weeks) UK	US145 (8 weeks) US	SE1 (29 weeks) SE

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Singles

year	Title B side	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, B-side , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	SE
1974	Waterloo Watch Out	DE1 (25 weeks) DE	AT2 (20 weeks) AT	CH1 (19 weeks) CH	UK1 (12 weeks) UK	US6 (17 weeks) US	SE3 (10 weeks) SE
	Honey, Honey King Kong Song	DE2 (22 weeks) DE	AT4 (8 weeks) AT	CH4 (12 weeks) CH	-	US27 (10 weeks) US	-

Single releases

• Waterloo (French) / Gonna Sing You My Lovesong - France ( May 1974 - no placement! )
• Hasta Mañana / Watch Out - Portugal, South Africa (# 2 - Nov. 8, 1974 - 15 weeks )
• Honey Honey / Hasta Mañana - Spain ( September 1974 - no placement! )

Track list

• page 1

1. Waterloo (Swedish language version) - 2:48
2. Sitting In The Palmtree - 3:35
3. King Kong Song - 3:09
4. Hasta Mañana - 3:07
5. My Mama Said - 3:12
6. Dance (While The Music Still Goes On) - 3:11

• Page 2

1. Honey, honey - 2:54
2. Watch Out - 3:46
3. What About Livingstone - 2:54
4. Gonna Sing You My Lovesong - 3:39
5. Suzy-Hang-Around - 3:10
6. Waterloo (English version) - 2:47

The album was released on CD in Sweden in 1988 and in other countries in the following years. In international versions of this album, the Swedish version of Waterloo was omitted and the English version was listed as the first track on the album.

• Remaster version

The remastered version of the 2001 album was released with the following bonus tracks:

12. Ring Ring (US remix 1974) - 3:05

13. Waterloo (Swedish language version) - 2:44

14. Honey, Honey (Swedish language version) - 2:57

• 30th Anniversary Edition

In 2004 the album was released as the 30th Anniversary Edition and again added two more bonus tracks and a DVD:

15. Waterloo (German version) - 2:42

16. Waterloo (French version) - 2:42

The music videos on the DVD of the 30th Anniversary edition :

1. Waterloo (Eurovision Song Contest, BBC) - 3:56
2. Waterloo (Melodifestivalen, SVT) - 2:56
3. Honey, Honey (Star Parade, ZDF) - 3:19
4. Hasta Mañana (Señoras y Señores, RTVE) - 3:05

• Complete Studio Recordings

In 2005 Complete Studio Recordings was released with all eight studio albums, a rarity CD (B-sides, outtakes, remixes) and two DVDs. The 2001 remastered version of Waterloo has been expanded to include the following tracks:

15. Waterloo (German version)

16. Hasta Mañana (Spanish language version)

17. Ring Ring (1974 remix, single version)

18. Waterloo (French version)

• Deluxe Edition

For the 40th anniversary of the album and the ESC victory, a deluxe edition of the album was released on April 4, 2014, which, like the 30th anniversary edition, will be supplemented by a DVD. In addition to the regular album tracks, there are eight bonus tracks on the CD.

12. Ring Ring (US Remix 1974)

13. Waterloo (Swedish)

14. Honey, Honey (Swedish)

15. Waterloo (German)

16. Hasta Mañana (Spanish)

17. Waterloo (French)

18. Ring Ring (1974 Remix, Single Version)

19. Waterloo (Alternate mix)

DVD content:

1. Waterloo (Eurovision Song Contest Performance I, BBC)
2. Waterloo (Melodifestivalen I, SVT)
3. Waterloo (Melodifestivalen appearance II, SVT)
4. Waterloo (Eurovision Song Contest preview appearance, SVT)
5. Waterloo (Eurovision Song Contest, Performance II, BBC)
6. Interview with Frida and Stig after the Eurovision victory (Rapport, SVT)
7. Waterloo (Top Of The Pops Appearance I, BBC)
8. Honey, Honey (Disco, ZDF)
9. Waterloo (Top Of The Pops Appearance II, BBC)
10. Honey, Honey (Spotlight, ORF)
11. Waterloo (German) (music from Studio B, NDR)
12. Honey, Honey (A Kessel Buntes, TV of the GDR)
13. Waterloo (Top Of The Pops Appearance III, BBC)
14. International cover gallery

literature

• Carl Magnus Palm: Abba. Story and songs compact. Bosworth Edition, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86543-227-8 (German translation: Cecilia Senge)
• Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. Bosworth Edition, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-86543-100-4 (German translation: Helmut Müller)

Web links

• Waterloo at Allmusic (English)
• Waterloo at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Referred to as "Björn, Benny, Anna & Frida" on the German LP
2. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 258
3. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. P. 28
4. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. P. 30
5. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story and songs compact. P. 27
6. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 250
7. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 252
8. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Abba - Story & Songs compact. P. 26
9. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 253f
10. ↑ ^{a b} Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 254
11. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 255
12. ^ Carl Magnus Palm: ABBA - Story & Songs compact. P. 24
13. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 258
14. ↑ SuperSeventies.com
15. ↑ Carl Magnus Palm: Light and Shadow. ABBA - The real story. P. 281
16. ↑ see the international picture gallery on Waterloo - 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition , Universal Music 2014
17. ↑ ^{a b c} ABBA - The Worldwide Chart Lists ( Memento of the original from April 6, 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. 
18. ↑ see: Palm, "Licht und Schatten", 2006 edition, p. 281