| "Dancing Queen" | |||||
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| Single by ABBA from the album Arrival |
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| Released | August 16, 1976 (Sweden) August 21, 1976 (UK) November 12, 1976 (US) |
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| Format | 7" Single | ||||
| Genre | Pop/Europop/Disco | ||||
| Length | 3:51 | ||||
| Label | Polar (Sweden) Epic (UK) Atlantic (US) |
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| Writer | Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Stig Andersson |
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| Producer | Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson |
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| ABBA singles chronology | |||||
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"Dancing Queen" is the biggest hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, and as such is considered to be their signature song. The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, recorded in 1975 for the group's album Arrival, and released as a single the following year. "Dancing Queen" features a shared lead vocal performance by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Its opening keyboard glissando & hummed vocals are one of the most identifiable sections of 1970s pop music. Like a majority of ABBA songs, "Dancing Queen" is relatively straight-forward; it's about a seventeen-year-old girl having a good time on a Friday night. She is not fazed by the social and political pressures in her daily life as a teenager on the dancefloor, and all she wants to do is dance, no matter the identity of her dancing partner.
Contents |
History
"Dancing Queen" recording sessions began August 4, 1975; the demo was called 'Boogaloo', and as the sessions progressed, Andersson and Ulvaeus found inspiration to the dance rhythm in George McCrae's disco classic "Rock Your Baby", as well as the drumming on Dr. John's 1972 album Gumbo. Faltskog and Lyngstad recorded the vocals on sessions in September, and the track was completed three months later.
During the sessions, Benny brought a tape home with the backing track on it and played it to his future wife Anni-Frid, who started crying when listening. Quote: "I found it so beautiful". While working on the lyrics, part of the verse was scrapped: "Baby, baby, you're out of sight/hey, you're looking alright tonight/when you come to the party/listen to the guys/they've got the look in their eyes...".
Reception
"Dancing Queen" spent six weeks at No.1 in the UK from September 1976 and became ABBA's only American chart-topper in April 1977. It also hit No.1 in eleven other countries worldwide: ABBA's native Sweden (where it spent 14 weeks at the top), Norway, Ireland, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), South Africa, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. "Dancing Queen" also reached the Top Five in Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Austria and France. In 1992, the song was re-released in the UK, as Erasure sparked an ABBA revival after the success of their "Abba-esque" EP topping the UK charts. The re-issued "Dancing Queen" reached No.16 in the UK in September 1992. In 2000, "Dancing Queen" came fourth in a Channel 4 television poll of The 100 Best Number 1s.[1] In 2001, the song was chosen as number 148 as part of the 365 Songs of the Century list. In 2004 it became ABBA's only song on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, ranked number 171.
Chart positions
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles chart | 1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Brazilian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 1 |
| German Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Mexican Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| South African Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| Zimbabwean Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 3 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 4 |
| French Singles Chart | 5 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 10 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 14 |
| Japanese Singles Chart | 19 |
Cover versions, appearances in other media etc.
Artists who have recorded the song
- A*Teens from The ABBA Generation
- Abbacadabra from various compilations released by Almighty Records
- Jodi Albert and Carley Stenson from ABBAMania 2
- Angeleyes from ABBA tribute album ABBAdance
- Claudja Barry
- Beat Crusaders
- The Black Sweden from ABBA tribute album Gold
- Donna Burke from Japanese ABBA Ibiza Caliente Mix
- Belinda Carlisle from German ABBA Mania album
- Diablo from Elegance In Black album
- Chixie Dix from ABBA tribute album ABBAlicious
- Carol Douglas
- Doctor and the Medics
- E-Rotic from ABBA tribute album Thank You For The Music
- Euphorica from ABBA tribute album ABBA Dance
- Garageland from New Zealand tribute album ABBAsalutely
- Girl Authority from Girl Authority
- Glow from ABBA tribute album ABBAMetal
- The Grace a.k.a. TSZX
- Klaus Hallen
- Jennifer Love Hewitt from Love Songs
- CoCo Lee from ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration
- Scooter Lee from By Request...The Disco/Dance Album
- London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Pamela McNeill from Tribute To ABBA album
- Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
- Nils Landgren from Funky ABBA
- P
- Franck Pourcel
- Projekt Remix
- Puriti
- Raining Pleasure
- The Real Group from ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration
- Redd Kross
- Regine Velasquez
- Rozalla
- S Club 7 from Abbamania
- SexBomb Girls
- Sixpence None the Richer from Dick soundtrack and The Best Of Sixpence None The Richer
- Texas Lightning from Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
- Triple M
- Wing
- The Yayhoos from Fear Not The Obvious album
Artists who have performed/recorded the song live
- Dan Baird
- Jimmy Barnes
- Belle and Sebastian
- Black Sabbath
- Luka Bloom
- Christy Carlson Romano (on Even Stevens)
- Robbie Fulks
- Paul Gilbert
- Fran Healy
- The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
- Kylie Minogue
- Moxy Früvous
- Over the Rhine
- Jason Shand
- The Sugarcubes
- The Sunday Drivers
- Frank Turner
- Taylor Hicks
- U2
Appearances in other media etc.
- In recent years the song has been covered by such diverse artists as U2, who performed it with original writers Ulvaeus and Andersson, and Kylie Minogue who performed it at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Featured in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding, the song was used as the theme for idealised dreaming with the character Muriel saying early in the film that she wished her life was perfect. She always wished her life was "Dancing Queen". The song is occasionally performed by the Queen's military band (as part of an ABBA medley) during the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. It is also featured in the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!. The song was sung by the character "Ms. Swan" during a comedy sketch on MADtv.
- ABBA donned 18th century-inspired costumes when they first performed this song for King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden the night before he was married to Silvia Sommerlath, June 19, 1976.
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad performed this song to commemorate the 50th birthday of Queen Silvia. The performance used an a cappella arrangement by The Real Group, which sang back-up for the performance. The arrangement was later released on the group's album "Varför får man inte bara vara som man är".
- "Dancing Queen" was also featured in a couple of episodes of Winter Sonata, an immensely popular Korean drama series.
- The song was featured prominently in Spike Lee's 1999 film Summer of Sam. According to Lee, he had to personally contact ABBA and get permission to use the song, as the band were afraid that Lee was going to mock them in the movie. The song was used to ironically underscore an argument between John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino.
- Late night talk show host Art Bell occasionally uses "Dancing Queen" as bumper music on his show. Because of this, Phil Hendrie (on his own show) always uses "Dancing Queen" as his bumper music for bits in which he plays Bell.
- In one episode of That 70s Show, when Hyde and Jackie recount how they initially became romantic, Jackie began to reminisce about how they first danced together to "Dancing Queen." Upon hearing this, Hyde stops the story, saying: "Hold it. I don't shake it and I don't listen to Abba."
- During the 2007 Houston Art Car Parade, a former school bus which houses a dance floor, disco balls, and rope lights rolled as The Dancing Queen - the song was played on the bus, along with 70s disco hits.
- In the final episode of the TV show Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law, the song's melody accompanies Phil Ken Sebben's backwards drive back to California from "The Most Eastern Point In The USA".
- In the episode My Mirror Image of TV sitcom Scrubs the song is played on JD's deck when a group of gay seniors are having a party there.
Notes and references
External links
| Preceded by "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans |
Dutch Top 40 number-one single September 4 - October 2, 1976 |
Succeeded by "Mon Amour" by BZN |
| Preceded by "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee |
UK Singles Chart number-one single September 4 - October 11, 1976 |
Succeeded by "Mississippi" by Pussycat |
| Australian Kent Music Report number one single September 6 - October 25, 1976 |
Succeeded by "Let's Stick Together" by Bryan Ferry |
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| Irish Singles Chart number-one single September 10 - October 15, 1976 |
Succeeded by "Mississippi" by Pussycat |
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| Preceded by "Rich Girl" by Daryl Hall and John Oates |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 9, 1977 |
Succeeded by "Don't Give Up on Us" by David Soul |
