Making it to the US Top 10 was once thought a long lost dream for ABBA. The Scandinavian foursome first came to prominence when its song Waterloo became the first Swedish composition to win in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. Waterloo became a worldwide hit and marked the beginning of the ABBA phenomenon. Many other hits followed in many other countries within the next decade but America stayed elusive.
ABBA did crack Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 list a few times. They made No. 1 once with Dancing Queen in 1977. The singles Knowing Me, Knowing You, Take a Chance on Me and the later The Winner Takes It All also entered the Top 10. But not one ABBA album, several of which were ruling the charts in other parts of the world, made it to the tabulation.
Then last week it finally happened. The soundtrack of the motion picture Mamma Mia! was found nicely ensconced in Billboard Magazine’s list of Top 200 albums. Of course it isn’t ABBA singing the songs. Not Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog because the group had long ago called it quits, both as marriage partners and as ABBA.
The album instead has the film cast of Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski and the young lovers of the flick, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper. But it is still ABBA music, more alive and vibrant than ever and telling everybody it will still be enjoyed everywhere for many more years to come.
The soundtrack is a blast. Mixed, mastered and produced by Ulvaeus and Andersson themselves, it gets you smiling and dancing and generally puts all listeners in a happy mood. There is actually not much of a difference between the CD and the movie. In fact until Mamma Mia! is released officially on video some months from now, no pirated copies, please, your best bet to replay the wonderful images you saw in the film would be to play the album.
Of course, not everything made it to the CD. Chiquitita is not in the line-up. Neither are Waterloo and Thank You for the Music. But the chance to enjoy again and again Meryl’s poignant Slipping Through My Fingers and intense The Winner Takes It All is already worth the price of the album. Take note, please that When All is Said and Done, the lovely duet by Meryl and Pierce was not in the stage version and is a new addition to the movie.
Interestingly, here is a bit of news for new ABBA converts and for all those fans who might want to relive the experience. Mamma Mia! is not the first film to use ABBA music in the soundtrack. Fernando, which, by the way was not used in the musical was featured in Muriel’s Wedding along with Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia! Dancing Queen was also in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Summer of Sam. The drag queens in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert danced to Mamma Mia! and Fernando. There must be other instances of ABBA use in films and more to come what with this exciting rediscovery of the delight that ABBA music brings.
I also highly recommend that fans check out the soundtrack of the successful stage musical Chess. A love story set in an international chess tournament, it has Bjorn and Benny teaming up with the esteemed Tim Rice, lyricist of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. It produced two big hits, One Night in Bangkok popularized by Murray Head and I Know Him So Well, which became a duet for Whitney Houston and her mother Ce Ce.
Top 10 albums in the US
The Top 10 selling albums in the US as of this week are Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne; Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends by Coldplay; Camp Rock the original soundtrack featuring the Jonas Brothers; Modern Guilt by Beck; Rock N Roll Jesus by Kid Rock; Now 28 by Various Artists; Mamma Mia! the Soundtrack; Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna; T*O*S* (Terminate on Sight) by G-Unit; and Where The Light Is, John Mayer Live in Los Angeles.
The Top 10 singles in the Hot 100 are I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry; Take a Bow by Rihanna; Lollipop by Lil Wayne feat. Static Major; Forever by Chris Brown; Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis; Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield; Viva La Vida by Coldplay; A Milli by Lil Wayne; 7 Things by Miley Cyrus; and Bust It Baby Part 2 by Plies feat. Ne-Yo.