Abba – Take A Chance On Me
Description
| “Take a Chance on Me” | ||||
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| Single by ABBA | ||||
| from the album ABBA: The Album | ||||
| B-side | “I’m a Marionette“ | |||
| Released | January 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 15 August 1977 | |||
| Studio | Marcus Music Studio | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:05 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| ABBA singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| “Take A Chance on Me” on YouTube | ||||
“Take a Chance on Me” is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in January 1978 as the second single from their fifth studio album, ABBA: The Album (1977). Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad share the lead vocals on the verses and choruses, with Fältskog singing two bridge sections solo. The song reached the top ten in both the UK and US, and was notably covered by the British band Erasure in 1992.
Background and release
The working title of “Take a Chance on Me” was “Billy Boy”.[1] (An excerpt of “Billy Boy” was released on the 1994 box set Thank You for the Music, as part of the track ABBA Undeleted, which consisted of demos, early and alternate versions of completed songs, and unfinished songs.) Written and recorded in 1977 by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the song was one of ABBA’s first singles in which their manager Stig Anderson did not assist with writing the lyrics, confirming Andersson and Ulvaeus as a songwriting partnership.[2]
The song’s origins sprang from Ulvaeus, a keen runner, who would repeat a “tck-a-ch”-style rhythm to pace himself.[2] This evolved into “take-a-chance” and the eventual lyrics.[3] Roger Palm, the drummer on the track, described the song as “ABBA at their most energetic and forceful”.[2]
The single’s B-side was “I’m a Marionette“, which, like “Thank You for the Music” and “I Wonder (Departure)” (the B-side to their previous single, “The Name of the Game“), was part of a mini-musical entitled The Girl With the Golden Hair performed during their 1977 concert tour.[2]
Reception
Billboard described “Take a Chance on Me” as “one of [ABBA’s] most busy, fast paced productions.”[4] Cash Box said that the vocals “are intricately arranged to produce a wall of sound.”[5] Record World called it a “pleasing tune, very well arranged” with “one of pop’s most captivating acappella openings since Blue Swede tackled ‘Hooked On A Feeling.'” [6]
“Take a Chance on Me” proved to be one of ABBA’s most successful chart hits, becoming the group’s seventh UK number one (and third consecutive chart-topper in the country after “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “The Name of the Game“).[7] It was also ABBA’s final number one in the UK of the 1970s and gave the group the distinction of being the act with the most chart-topping singles of the 1970s in the UK. It sold and streamed over 600,000 units to receive a platinum disc.[8] As of September 2021, it is the group’s fourth-biggest song in the country with 950,000 chart sales (including 882,000 pure sales).[9]
In the United States it reached number three and was certified gold for one million sales.[10] The song peaked at number three in Canada and West Germany as well.[11][12]
“Take a Chance on Me” has been widely regarded as one of ABBA’s finest songs. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song number two on their list of the 15 greatest ABBA songs,[13] and in 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the song number nine on their list of the 25 greatest ABBA songs.[14]
Personnel
- Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
- Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
- Benny Andersson – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals
Additional musicians
- Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
- Roger Palm – drums[2]
- Malando Gassama – percussion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
