DANCING QUEEN

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"Dancing Queen" is a pop song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in August 1976, and is commonly regarded as one of the most successful singles of the 1970s.

"Dancing Queen" was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Stig Anderson and features the shared lead vocal performance of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It is considered by many to be ABBA's signature song, as it reached the number 1 position on popular music charts in 13 countries. Recorded in 1975, it was released on the group's album Arrival the following year.[1] The song was re-released as a single in 1992 to promote the compilation ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits.

The recording sessions for "Dancing Queen" began on 4 August 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 Dr. John's Gumbo. Fältskog and Lyngstad recorded the vocals on sessions in September, and the track was completed three months later.

During the sessions, Benny Andersson brought a tape home with the backing track on it and played it to his then-fiancée and band member, singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who apparently started crying when listening. "I found the song so beautiful. It's one of those songs that goes straight to your heart."

While working on the lyrics, half of the second 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...". It survives in footage from a recording session.[2]

The track was premiered on Swedish TV on 18 June 1976, during an all-star live gala in honour of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his bride to be, Silvia Sommerlath, who were to be wedded the next day.[3][4] Benny Andersson has cited it as "one of those songs where you know during the sessions that it's going to be a smash hit". Also Agnetha Fältskog has stated in a TV-programme: "It's often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was Dancing Queen. We all knew it was going to be massive".

For their 1980 Spanish language album/compilation "Gracias Por La Música", ABBA recorded a Spanish version of "Dancing Queen", renamed "Reina Danzante", with Spanish lyrics provided by Buddy and Mary McCluskey. The track was later retitled "La Reina Del Baile" when included on the later compilation albums ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos in the 1990s.

In 1993, in honor of Swedish Queen Silvia´s 50th birthday, Anni-Frid Lyngstad was asked to perform "Dancing Queen" on stage, repeating ABBA's 1976 performance of the song at the wedding reception of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Frida contacted The Real Group and together they did an a cappella version of the song on stage at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, in front of the king and queen. The Swedish Prime Minister at that time,Ingvar Carlsson, was also in the audience that night and he said it was an ingenious step to do "Dancing Queen" a cappella. This performance with Lyngstad and The Real Group, was filmed by Swedish Television SVT and is included in Frida - The DVD.

The first International Standard Musical Work Code was assigned in 1995 to "Dancing Queen"; the code is T-000.000.001-0

"Dancing Queen" was a massive hit. It became ABBA's only No. 1 in the United States in April 1977. It also hit No. 1 in at least 13 other countries worldwide: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, West Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Rhodesia. "Dancing Queen" also reached the Top 5 in Austria, Canada, Finland, France and Switzerland. The track peaked at No. 14 in Italy, where ABBA never achieved the same degree of popularity as elsewhere. "Dancing Queen" was also extremely successful in Norway, where it charted for 32 weeks on the Norwegian charts (VG-lista Top 10), making it the 11th best-performing single of all time in that country.[5]The song sold over three million copies.[6] "Dancing Queen" was the last of three consecutive #1s the band had in the UK in 1976, following "Mamma Mia" and "Fernando" earlier in the year.

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 Ones". It was chosen as number 148 as part of the 365Songs of the Century list. It is also ranked No. 171 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[7] the only ABBA song on the list. That same year, it made VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs in Rock & Roll at #97. Also in 2000, editors of The Rolling Stone with MTV compiled a list of the best 100 pop songs. "Dancing Queen" was the 12th highest placed song from the 1970s.[8]

On 9 November 2002, the results of a poll, "Top 50 Favourite UK #1's", was broadcast on Radio 2, celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Official UK Charts Company. 188,357 listeners voted and "Dancing Queen" came out at #8. On 5 December 2010, Britain's ITV broadcast the results of a poll to determine The Nation's Favourite ABBA Song, in which "Dancing Queen" placed at #2.[citation needed]

In 2009, the British performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited celebrated its 75th anniversary by listing the 75 songs that have played most in Great Britain on the radio, in clubs and on jukeboxes. "Dancing Queen" was number eight on the list.[9]

Former U.S. presidential candidate John McCain named "Dancing Queen" as his favorite song in a top 10 list submitted to Blender Magazine in August 2008.[10] In August 2008, "Dancing Queen" surpassed the 500,000 mark for digital sales in the US (512,000).