ABBA -- SOS

 

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth article where I go over some of the songs from America, Canada, the UK and other nations outside of Japan that resonated happily in my ears and brains when I was a little tadpole. 

ABBA already has a small but growing file in KKP. "Dancing Queen" was the big hit of theirs that did become a part of my musical memories because of folks loving to sing it at karaoke both in Toronto and Tokyo. However, their earlier June 1975 single "SOS" was something that I first heard via those K-Tel record compilation commercials when I just kept hearing the chorus. "SOS" became one of those builder-uppers as I started getting more of their parts together. After the chorus, I finally got to hear the beginning with the somewhat contemplative piano and then the mournful lyrics by vocalist Agnetha Fältskog. It took a while but I finally got the entire song into my head. As for the music video above, they really liked their crane shots and reflective mirrors. No need for CG or AI here although those of course wouldn't be around for a few more decades.

On Canada's RPM, "SOS" made it up to No. 17 while in America, it peaked at No. 15. It did hit No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, South Africa, and West Germany.

Not only have I brought "SOS" to KKP just a little after its 51st anniversary but it's being posted about a year after my last ABBA tune, "Super Trouper". So, what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts a day before the release of "SOS"? I have Nos. 1, 2 and 4.

1. Akira Fuse -- Cyclamen no Kaori （シクラメンのかほり）

2. Downtown Boogie-Woogie Band -- Minato no Yoko, Yokohama Yokosuka （港のヨーコ・ヨコハマ・ヨコスカ）

4. Sakura to Ichiro -- Showa Kare Susuki （昭和枯れすゝき）

ABBA -- Super Trouper

 

Welcome to the regularly scheduled Reminiscings of Youth article for this week. The Swedish group ABBA has immortalized itself in Japan with their "Dancing Queen", a song that has become so ubiquitous in the karaoke boxes that it's practically an obligation to sing it on every visit.

Strangely enough, I never mentioned this in the "Dancing Queen" article, but ABBA was quite the common quartet on Canadian and American television when I was a kid because of the popularity of their disco hits in the 1970s. It would be a rare day when I either didn't see a compilation album on TV hawking an ABBA song or hear one of their tunes on the radio. Disco wasn't disco without them.

Therefore, it's a tad ironic that for the second ever ABBA song on KKP, I've chosen "Super Trouper", their November 1980 single. For one thing, I think it's probably the least disco of all of the songs I've heard by them and yet, next to "Dancing Queen", it's the one ABBA song that I remember the most. It's also catchy as heck in a children's song-like way especially when the chorus hits.

OK, we've established that "Super Trouper" is one of my cherished ABBA tunes but there is the matter of the title. For the longest time, I naturally assumed that it was talking about a really determined and heroic boy scout type but I only found out in the last few days that it was referring to a kind of massive spotlight and from the lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, despite that super trouper and all of the other spotlights blinding a superstar on stage, she knows that her darling is out there somewhere looking out for her. Awww...💓

I actually looked forward to hearing "Super Trouper" when I was in the car or listening to the radio. But I found out that it didn't do all that amazingly well in Canada or the United States with the former's RPM showing a No. 32 ranking while in America, it only went as high as No. 45. However, it did hit No. 1 in several European nations although ABBA's native Sweden wasn't one of them; it peaked at No. 11 there.

So, what was up in the Top 3 of Oricon in November 1980?

1. Seiko Matsuda -- Kaze wa Aki Iro （風は秋色）

2. The Nolans -- I'm in the Mood for Dancing

3. Mayumi Itsuwa -- Koibito yo （恋人よ）

ABBA -- Dancing Queen

 

Well, I've finally relented and put in the new Label of Disco. It's not that I think that disco sucks...it doesn't to me at all since I've stated that I enjoyed acts such as Van McCoy and KC and the Sunshine Band. Frankly, it's only because I realized that I had to re-categorize a lot of those songs which takes a fair amount of time, and I'm lazy. However, I'm already off to a galloping start.

The final straw was also realizing that with all of that disco music up here on KKP in the Reminiscings of Youth articles, I hadn't even written about ABBA's "Dancing Queen". In fact, this is ABBA's first entry in a ROY article. "Dancing Queen" isn't really in the R&B wing of disco and I can't really consider it as simple pop, so in went the disco label. 

"Dancing Queen" was released as an August 1976 single and I should give myself yet another Gibbs slap up the head for not having covered it because the song is a perennial favourite in the karaoke booths, sung by both Japanese and non-Japanese alike. I certainly heard it enough times while I was drinking down my Brown Cows and chugging on karaage and chips. I may have even tried singing it myself although I can't (and perhaps shouldn't) remember.

As Wikipedia will tell you, the song was an international behemoth. It hit No. 1 on America's Billboard, Canada's RPM, Czechoslovakia, Norway and of course, ABBA's native Sweden. In Japan, "Dancing Queen" managed to sell about 500,000 records and has been covered by folks like Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）and Little Glee Monster.

So, what was also coming out onto the shelves for the first time in August 1976?

Koichi Morita and The Top Gallants -- Seishun Jidai （青春時代）

Pink Lady -- Pepper Keibu (ペッパー・警部)

Hiromi Iwasaki -- Kiri no Meguriai（霧のめぐり逢い）

ABBA -- Dancing Queen

 

To their fans all over the world, ABBA's first single in around 40 years, "I Still Have Faith In You", which was released last week, was probably one early and wonderful Xmas present. I've enjoyed my ABBA songs over the years and I have their BEST compilation up on the shelves but I think it'll take a bit of time for me to warm up to this new song.

On today's Reminiscings of Youth though, I'm going to go back even further into the mid-1970s. My memory of the famed Swedish super group begins with those ancient K-Tel LP commercials which featured ABBA's "SOS" hit. However, the one song that I'm going to start the ABBA file here is "Dancing Queen", which according to Wikipedia, is the group's most famous hit worldwide. It is certainly a favourite at the Japanese karaoke joints which is why I chose "Dancing Queen".

The single was released in August 1976 which is a bit earlier than I had expected, and though I had heard it before on radio here in Toronto, it was during my time in Japan that I heard the song over and over again since it seemed to be mandatory singing at places like Shidax and Karaoke Kan. No matter which group I was with, there would always be one person who selected "Dancing Queen"; maybe none of us were hitting the dance floor anymore but there would be some vicarious enjoyment of the disco days via this song, and "Dancing Queen" was all about the enjoyment of dancing back then for the young and fancy-free.

From seeing the world record charts, "Dancing Queen" spun a pirouette right up to the top in many nations including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and of course, ABBA's home of Sweden. Now that ABBA has been resurrected, I wonder if a concert tour (or a concert) may now be in order although I realize that the members are well into their seventies.

Anyways, what was coming out during August 1976 according to Showa Pops?

Keiko Maruyama -- Douzo Kono Mama (どうぞこのまま）

Kozue Saito -- Yamaguchi Sanchi no Tsutomu-kun（山口さんちのツトム君）

Masumi Hoshi -- Nagisa Douri no Disco House（渚通りのディスコハウス）