DANCING QUEEN

"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).