100 Greatest No.1 Singles
"Dancing Queen" was placed in 4th position. Björn said of the
song: “The first time we actually performed it was at
the Opera House in Stockholm in front of the King and Queen of Sweden
dressed in some kind of 16th Century clothes or something like
that. Oh, I must have looked more ridiculous than ever. The queen
flattered herself with thinking that we wrote it for her but it’s not the
case. It’s very, very uplifting, it’s sort of 100% positive. In the
beginning the critics were, you know, not very fond of us. I think they
thought we were the most ridiculous group ever. I’m constantly amazed by the
fact that 25 years, almost 30 now after the event, ABBA is still around in
such a way. I mean every day a couple of people come up to me and say “Thank
You For The Music” - something original like that.”
Other commentators on the song were presenter Kate Thornton and members
of New Order.
Click here to see the full list of 100 songs
100 Greatest Albums
Arrival was placed in 28th position.
Björn commented: "Writing songs, Benny and I never really thought about
who would sing it and how. We never thought of, you know, could Frida sing
this, could Agnetha sing this, that's something we found out later whether
that was possible or not! Sometimes the range was impossible, but then
again we had two to choose from like in a song like "Money, Money, Money",
the verse is very, very low so Frida does that. The chorus is very high, so
Agnetha does that. We used to write on a little island outside Stockholm in
those days, we had both summer houses on that island so we used to get
together in the morning in a little cottage with a piano and bang away ...
and I remember writing "Dancing Queen", that was in the mid-70s I think -
75, 76. The first time we actually performed it was at
the Opera House in Stockholm in front of the King and Queen of Sweden. The
queen flattered herself with thinking that we wrote it for her but it’s not
the case."
Click here to see the full list of 100 albums
Thanks to Patrick Smith