Waterloo (ABBA song)
March 4, 1974
Waterloo is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA from the year 1974. Agnetha Faltskog were Lead singers Anni-Frid Lyngstad and. Was composed of the song by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the text is written by the manager Stig Anderson. On April 6, 1974 ABBA entered with Waterloo to Euro Vision Song Contest in Brighton and won the competition with 24 points.
Waterloo was the first single with which ABBA International was able to place in the charts. Immediately after the competition, the single was released in over 50 countries around the world and came in almost 20 of them in the top ten of the charts, where he became the first number -one hit of the group in Germany and the UK. The song was recorded in Swedish, English, German and French.
Creation and publication
After they were eliminated in the preliminary round for the 1973 Euro Vision Song Contest with Ring Ring, Andersson, Ulvaeus and Anderson opted again for a happy and faster song. Because of the many works that they had also to do for Polar Music, Andersson and Ulvaeus retreated to the island Viggsö to work there in peace. After a few days four tunes were available, one of which corresponded to one of her imagination. They recorded a demo tape for Anderson, whose task was to write a text. His proposed after a week titles Honey Pie did not match the claim. In the book Bevingade ord ( Famous Quotes ) he found the three-syllable word "Waterloo" the inspiration for the final text, which is about a love relationship and draws comparisons to Napoleon's battle at Waterloo.
Originally a Spanish version was planned. The English version was recorded on 17 December 1973, first released on March 4, 1974, ABBA's second album Waterloo, which also came out on the same day the single in Swedish and English version. On the Swedish single was the Swedish version of Honey, Honey to the B-side, on the English Watch Out was used as such. Was released the single in the course of 1974 as well. Numerous other European countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey Also in Australia, South Africa, Japan, Mexico and the United States appeared Waterloo as a single.
Achievements
With the single Waterloo, the group succeeded for the first time, become internationally successful place in the charts. It reached # 1 on the singles charts, including Germany, France and Great Britain in ten countries. This success was due not least to the victory at the Euro Vision Song Contest 1974 in Waterloo won with a total of 24 points, 10 points more than the previously favored Olivia Newton-John received, who graduated as fourth-placed.
Apart from the top spots in the charts the single reached in nine other countries in the top ten, including in the U.S., where ABBA was also placed for the first time in the U.S. Top Ten and sold about 800,000 copies of the single. Waterloo became the first million-seller and the group has sold over 5 million copies.
On 22 October 2005, the song at the 50th ESC was voted " Best song in the history of the competition ." In 2004, the song reached at his re-release of the 30th anniversary re- number 20 on the British charts.