go.to/
Money Money Money - the single
Knowing Me Knowing You - the single
The new logo and the "hat" session
The wonderful "black & hat" session was used on the single cover. This cover featured a very special detail - the reversed "B" in the name ABBA. The new logo would be used from now until the end of the group's existence. It was never decided which A and which B represent Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny and Björn. The photo session was taken at the beginning of 1976 and it still is considered as one of the group's most classical photo sessions. There are several alternative shots available nowadays both with and without hats. Some rare shots appeared in 1976 in Danish press.
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Dancing Queen/That's Me - the single
"Dancing Queen" (with "That's Me" on B-side) was released in most European countries on 16 August 1976. In Sweden "Dancing Queen" entered the single chart on 26 August 1976 where it stayed for 32 weeks reaching #1. The cover of the single featured the picture from the classical "hat" photo session. In Denmark the single was released in two versions - the first had the same photo and lay-out as the Swedish version and the second version with red background featured an alternative shot from the photo session.
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The single entered the British chart on August 21st at #23. One week later "Dancing Queen" reached #16 and finally on September 4th the single came to the number 1 where it stayed for 6 weeks until October 16th. Totally "Dancing Queen" spent 15 weeks on the UK chart.
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In West Germany the single entered the chart on 16 August and on 20 September it reached #1 for one week. "Dancing Queen" became number 1 in almost all European countries, USA and Australia and it was ABBA's biggest commercial hit ever. The single did not topped the chart in France where it reached #5 (release 13 August).
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In The Netherlands the single "Dancing Queen" entered the chart already on 14 August and it stayed there for 15 weeks reaching the top.
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"Dancing Queen" never became number 1 hit in France but the single stayed on the chart for 15 weeks reaching #5. The French cover was different to the Swedish one but it featured the same photo from the "hat" session.
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Even the Austrian release of the single featured different cover to the Swedish one but the same picture in laterally reversed version. The single was released in Austria at the beginning of September. "Dancing Queen" stayed on the Austrian chart for 15 weeks reaching #4.
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The Italian record company Dig-It released the single "Dancing Queen" at about the same time as in other European countries. The single cover had slightly changed lay-out but it featured the same picture as other releases all over the world. The single stayed on the Italian chart for 15 weeks reaching #14.
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"Dancing Queen" saw its Spanish release at the end of August 1976. The cover lay-out was slightly changed comparing to the Swedish release. The single was quite successful in Spain where it stayed for 12 weeks reaching #10.
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In ABBA's "second homeland" Australia the single "Dancing Queen" entered the chart on 16 August 1976 where it stayed for unbelievable 25 weeks reaching #1.
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The Gröna Lund session
These pictures were taken someday in the summer 1976 in the amusement park Gröna Lund in Stockholm.
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Golden Double Album in France
The compilation double LP entitled "Golden double album" saw its release in France on 26 August 1976. The album contained 24 tracks some of them relatively unknown for French fans from the "Ring Ring" album which was still remaining unreleased outside Scandinavia.
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"Bravo" in Stockholm
The Bravo team from West Germany was in Stockholm in September for new photo sessions. Hundreds photos in different outfits were taken.
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The blue one
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In the recording studio
In September Björn and Benny were putting last touches on the forthcoming new album "Arrival". Together with Mikael B. Tretow they were in Metronome Studio in Stockholm where several pictures were taken. They even let the Bravo photographer take pictures in front of microphones but as all material had been already recorded so it seems to be a fake recording session. Some photos were taken at the Polar Music office another day.
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New show
On 1st September ABBA attended the premiere of a new show of Lasse Berghagen at Berns in Stockholm.
ABBA on the radio
At the beginning of September the four members of ABBA recorded four one-hour-shows for the Swedish radio. Each show in the series "ABBA i kvadrat" (ABBA in quadrat) was devoted to the one of the members and the host was the famous pop journalist Ulf Elfving. All four parts would be broadcasted by Swedish radio P 3 during the Christmas time 1976.
Strolling in Stockholm
In September a special feature about ABBA was being prepared for the 45th issue of the Swedish weekly "Allers". Exclusive photos showing ABBA strolling somewhere in Stockholm were taken. It can be noticed that Frida had the same little purse that she even had in Poland when they promoted "Arrival" at the beginning of October. The article with the photos came out in "Allers" on 7 November 1976.
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The Very Best of ABBA
The compilation album "The Very Best of ABBA" was released in West Germany in September 1976. The pictures on the cover had been taken from the TV special "The best of ABBA" which was shown in the same month as the album was promoted. A short interview was printed inside the fold out cover of the album. "The Very Best of ABBA" was released as 2LP & music cassette.
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Keep Australia beautiful - the photo session &...
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...Keep Britain tidy - the photo session
ABBA were avid supporters of the "Keep Britain Tidy" campaign and the photo session with tee-shirts and cleaning utensils was taken outside the Polar Music office in Baldersgatan in Stockholm.
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At the beginning of October ABBA paid a visit behind iron curtain - in Poland. They went to Warsaw one week before the release of the new album "Arrival". The Polish audience in the TV studio in Warsaw was probably the first audience in the world which could hear almost all the songs from the forthcoming album "Arrival".
go.to/ABBA in Poland if you want to know more
ABBA walking in the old town in Warsaw October 8, 1976
The fourth ABBA studio album was entitled "Arrival" . It contained 10 tracks including the instrumental composition "Arrival". Agnetha had lead vocals on "When I Kissed The Teacher" and "My Love My Life". Frida sung two single hits "Money Money Money" and "Knowing Me Knowing You". Björn had one lead vocal on "Why Did It Have To Be Me" which would become one of the highlights performed live by Björn and Frida on the upcoming tour in 1977. "Arrival" was undoubtedly one of the best albums ABBA ever did - commercially maybe the best one! The picture sessions were taken on the Barkarby airfield outside Stockholm (go.to/ABBA related places) if you want to know more).
The front cover of the album was the same on all the releases all over the world except France, Bulgaria and East Germany. But... the rest of the album layout had some differences from country to country. The Swedish "Polar" release can be probably considered as the "basic" one. The front cover features the classical shot with the band members sitting in the helicopter. The inner sleeve has one more classical photo of ABBA taken at the Barkarby airfield outside Stockholm featuring the group in front of the helicopter. Alternative shots from this photo session are extremely hard to find.
Scandinavia
"Arrival" was released on October 11, 1976 in Scandinavia. In Sweden the album saw its release as LP and MC and it entered the chart on October 19th, 1976 where it stayed for 32 weeks peaking at #1 (for 12 weeks).
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Norway
In Norway "Arrival" entered the chart on October 14th, 1976 where it stayed for 35 weeks reaching #1.
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Denmark
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UK
"Arrival" was a giant success in the UK where it entered the chart on November 27th, 1976 and stayed there for coming 92 weeks peaking at #1. The MC featured different track listing.
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Holland
In Holland "Arrival" entered the LP chart on November 6th, 1976 and stayed there for 49 weeks peaking at #1 (for 8 weeks).
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West Germany
In West Germany "Arrival" entered the chart on December 15th, 1976 and stayed there for 76 weeks reaching #1 (for 18 weeks).
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Austria
"Arrival" entered the Austrian LP chart on January 15th, 1977 and stayed there for 32 weeks peaking at #12. The Austrian version of the album featured different back cover.
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USA
On January 22nd, 1977 "Arrival" entered the Billboard album chart where it stayed for 50 weeks peaking at #20.
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Israel
Epic released "Arrival" in Israel with different back cover.
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France
The album "Arrival" saw its release in France on November 12th, 1976. The French edition was quite different to the other releases. It had gatefold cover and different picture on the front. It stayed on the French album chart 10 weeks peaking at #15.
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Australia & New Zealand
"Arrival" was released in Australia and New Zealand in November 1976 in gatefold sleeve. "Fernando" was included as an extra track on the side B. The MC release featured different track listing. In Australia the album entered the chart on November 22nd, 1976 where it stayed for 35 weeks reaching #1 (for 8 weeks). In New Zealand "Arrival" entered the chart on November 26th, 1976 and stayed there for 42 weeks peaking at #1 (for 5 weeks).
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East Germany
A different version of "Arrival" was released in East Germany in 1978. The album received the title "Dancing Queen", different cover and slightly different track list. As the communist regime did not like the lyrics to "Money Money Money" ("too capitalistic") the song was replaced by "Bang-A-Boomerang"!
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Bulgaria
The Bulgarian pressing of "Arrival". The titles of the songs are translated to Bulgarian.
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In Japan the album "Arrival" saw its release in April 1977. go.to//ABBA 1977
The "Arrival" photo sessions
Take 1
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Take 2
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Take 3
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More sessions from the Arrival period
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The "pin" & the snowy window sessions
This photo sessions were taken in the summer 1976. A shot from the "snowy window" would be used on the cover of the forthcoming single "Knowing Me Knowing You".
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The snowy windows
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The "kimono" sessions
ABBA performed in their kimonos during the promotion of "Arrival" in 1976 and even in Japan 1978. Lots of photo sessions had been taken in these outfits and they are maybe the most well-known from this period.
With the Swedish horse (Dalahäst)
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More kimono sessions
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The teddy-bear sessions
In kimono outfits featuring big teddy-bears.
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ABBA in Los Angeles, October 10-14, 1976
On October 10, ABBA went to North America where "Fernando" was already a big hit. They performed in 8 TV shows in USA and Canada. In the "Dinah Shore Show Frida and Benny were offered the chance to get married in front of TV cameras - an offer in the typical American style which was though refused by the couple. During the trip through America ABBA received a ... British prize of the newspaper "Sun" as the best entertainer in UK.
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TV
Wonderama
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Midnight Special
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The Jack Wolfman Show & more
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The "yellow" session
One more well-known photo session taken in 1976
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Money Money Money - the single
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The second single from "Arrival" "Money Money Money"/"Crazy World" was released by Polar on 1 November 1976. The B-side featured the song "Crazy World" which never appeared on any ABBA LP. "Crazy World" had been recorded in 1975 with lead vocal was sung by Björn.
The single cover featured four pictures taken during their 1975 tour. The single entered the UK single chart on 20 November 1976 and stayed there for 12 weeks reaching #3. The single was much more successful in West Germany where it stayed for 22 weeks reaching #1 on 20 December 1976 (for 5 weeks).
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In France "Money Money Money" entered the chart at the beginning of December 1976 and it stayed there for 13 weeks reaching #1.
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The single was very successful in the Benelux countries. In The Netherlands it entered the chart on 13 November 1976 and it stayed there for coming 12 weeks reaching #1. Even in Belgium "Money Money Money" became #1.
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The single was released in Italy at the beginning of 1977 and it featured two A-sides with "Money Money Money" ("Money Money" on the cover) and "Knowing Me Knowing You". Even if the both songs became smash hits in Europe they did not become big hits in Italy where the single flopped.
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In USA the single was released almost one year later - in October 77. It stayed on the chart for 12 weeks reaching though only #56.
In Australia
"Money Money Money" entered the Australian hit chart on 3 November 1976 (entry position #5) and it stayed there for 14 weeks. The single became ABBA's sixth number 1 single in Australia, remaining on the top for 6 weeks.
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Money Money Money - the video
ABBA created a new image for performances of this song and the outfits which maybe can lead the thoughts to the famous film "Cabaret".
The official video though featured the group members in the kimono-outfits.
The video was made at the beginning of autumn in Stockholm. Frida was filmed in the Old Town; the car with all four members was filmed on the central bridge (Centralbron) in the city center and on the island Lidingö. The other parts of the video were recorded in the studio.
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The Money Money Money Sessions
Several different photo sessions were taken during this period of 1976 in the "Money Money Money" outfits.
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In the frame
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ABBA-Dabba-Do documentary was made by Swedish Television in the summer 1976 and broadcasted for the first time on Swedish TV on 5 November at 8 pm.
Disco - West Germany
ABBA appeared in the German TV special "Disco" on 6 November 1976 performing "Dancing Queen" and "Money Money Money".
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ABBA's head-quarter was situated in the Baldersgatan in Stockholm (until 1981). There they met the boss - Stikkan Anderson. (thanks Maurits - Belgium 12 points!)
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The Bravo team with Wolfgang Heilemann came to Baldersgatan on Monday, 20 October 1976 and took several pictures in the afternoon.
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On 15 November ABBA came to London for the promotion. Short flight by chopper was part of the promotion of the newest album "Arrival".
Arrival
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Radio One & more
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Photo sessions in London
Spot1
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Spot 2
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Spot 3
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TV
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The first photos were taken on the arrival at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam on 23 November 1976.
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After UK ABBA continued their promotional trip in Holland. The visit was very short but the group managed to do two TV shows, participate in a press conference, do some photo sessions before they left for Paris the day after.
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ABBA in Den Haag, 23 November 1976 - the rehearsal and the show
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ABBA performed three songs in a TV special "Een Van De Acht" and on the press conference they were awarded with lots of gold and platinum records. As a bonus the group recorded for the Dutch TV a wish of a happy new year which would be aired on the New Year's Eve.
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Paris
The promotion in Holland was followed by a short stay in Paris the day after (24 November). ABBA performed two songs on the TV special "Les Randez-Vous du Dimanche". The songs were their latest single hit "Money Money Money" and "When I Kissed The Teacher".
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"...there was something in the air..."
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More pictures from the office
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LP "ABBA" - more releases
After the big success of the singles "Mamma Mia" and "SOS" the album "ABBA" originally released in 1975 saw its re-release in Denmark and first release in Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of 1976. The Czechoslovakian release featured so-called note from the record company (Opus-Bratislava) on the back cover in both Slovakian and English. The note seemed to be partly invented as it was stated that ABBA had toured twice in Poland and in Jugoslavia. ABBA paid a short visit in Poland in October 1976 but the group had never toured there as well as they had never been in Jugoslavia. The Czechoslovakian release of the "ABBA" album featured different track listing including "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen" whilst "Intermezzo No. 1" was omitted. The Polish version had the original track listing but the lay-out was partially changed.
Even Polar in Sweden re-released the album "Abba" in 1976.
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Dancing Queen in USA
At the beginning of December 1979 the single "Dancing Queen" released by Atlantic entered the US chart where it stayed for 22 weeks reaching #1. It was the only number 1 ABBA single in USA ever.
Group of the year
ABBA became the group of the year 1976 according to the verdict of the "Stable-companions society". The group was awarded with a silver horseshoe on a special ceremony at Berzelliterrassen in Stockholm in December 1976.
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1977
London, January 1977
Björn, Benny, Stig and Thomas Johansson went to London for final discussions before the forthcoming tour and the group's concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Björn and Benny went to see the musical "A chorus line". It was announced that ABBA would perform a mini musical during their 1977 tour.
Knowing Me Knowing You - the single
The third single from "Arrival" featured "Knowing Me Knowing You" with Frida's lead vocals. The B-side contained "Happy Hawaii", an early version of "Why Did It Have To Be Me". The single was not released in Sweden but the Polar Music edition of it came out in Denmark at the beginning of the year 1977.
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"Knowing Me Knowing You" entered the UK chart on 26 February 1977 where it stayed for 13 weeks reaching #1 on 2 April. "Knowing Me Knowing You" stayed on the top for 5 weeks.
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| West Germany |
In West Germany the single entered the chart on February 28, 1977 and topped it on April 11 for 2 weeks. The single did well in Canada reaching #2. USA released "Knowing Me Knowing You" in May 1977 and the single reached #14. The single was successful in whole Europe - in Austria and Belgium #2, Holland #3, Switzerland #3, Norway #6, France #9.
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In Mexico the single entered the hit chart in May 1977 and it was extremely successful reaching #1.
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The RCA Victor edition from Mexico |
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The Video
The video was filmed in January '77 partly in Lidingö outside Stockholm and partly in the studio. Probably the most "classical" Lasse Hallström video with the face-close-ups.
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ABBA in Gamla Stan in Stockholm
This photo session was taken someday in early winter morning 76/77 in the Old Town in Stockholm. The shots were taken mainly at the Market-place and Västerlånggatan-street.
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ABBA on Channel 9
On 22 February 1977 ABBA appeared on Channel 9. Agnetha had her "Knowing Me Knowing You" blue outfit on. ABBA was probably the most popular pop act Down Under during this period of time.
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