Once in a while a song comes along that not only defines its artiste but also an era. Dancing Queen is one such hit.
ABBA had been the darlings of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 when they so triumphantly won it (for the first time) for Sweden. However the group was dismissed by some circles as a one-hit wonder. As ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus said once in an interview people expected ABBA to be a one-hit wonder because they were perceived as a "Eurovision group" and that's what usually happens to "Eurovision groups" ... they have one huge hit and they go away.
As it happened, ABBA was to prove the critics wrong as they went on to have hit after hit and ABBA became Sweden's hottest pop export and, arguably, one of the biggest groups of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Dancing Queen was released in August
1976 and included on the album Arrival.
Upon its
release this monster hit went on to top the charts of more than 15 countries. It is easily ABBA's most recognised hit. It is also one of the songs to define the disco era and once topped a most popular disco hits poll on British telly - this despite ABBA not actually being a disco group.
The song has been covered by many artistes as diverse as U2, Donna Summer, The Sex Pistols and Kylie Minogue who performed it at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In fact, Dancing Queen was to be the inspiration for what was later to become Kylie's showgirl persona.
As a special treat I also feature ABBA singing Dancing Queen in Swedish costumes specially for the royal wedding of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden to Silvia Sommerlath (who would soon be Sweden's own Dancing Queen). Enjoy ...
