"Just a Notion" | ||||
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Single by ABBA | ||||
from the album Voyage | ||||
Released | 22 October 2021 | |||
Recorded | 1978, 2021 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:31 | |||
Label | Polar | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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ABBA singles chronology | ||||
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Lyric video | ||||
"Just a Notion" on YouTube |
"Just a Notion" is a song by ABBA. It was released on 22 October 2021 as the second single from the quartet's 2021 album Voyage , following the dual lead single "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", released in September 2021. Originally written and produced for the group's 1979 album Voulez-Vous , the song was released over forty-three years later. The recording retains its vocals from 1978 but includes re-recorded instrumentation added much later, during the reunion. [2]
"Just a Notion" was initially recorded in September 1978 during sessions for the album Voulez-Vous . Although progressing beyond the demo stage, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus became unsatisfied with it, deeming it "unmixable" and leaving it unreleased. However, a snippet of a rough mix by ABBA's engineer Michael B. Tretow was ultimately released on the box set Thank You for the Music in 1994. Carl Magnus Palm has also confirmed that the verse included in the "ABBA Undeleted" medley is the second verse of the song. [3] [4]
After ABBA reunited, and despite Andersson and Ulvaeus' prior criticism, "Just a Notion" was revisited for the reunion album Voyage . Benny Andersson recorded a new backing track with drums and guitars for the Voyage version, but it retains the vocals from the original 1978 version. [5] "Just a Notion" was released as a single on 22 October 2021, before the November 5th release of Voyage.
Prior to the full release of ABBA’s partial re-recording, a complete version was recorded by cover band Arrival, which occasionally featured original ABBA bass player Rutger Gunnarsson as a special guest, and was included on their 1999 album First Flight. While the full version of the song had not yet been released, it still featured the same lyrics as ABBA's original, even though much of the song remained unheard and unreleased at that point.
ABBA released a lyric video on YouTube for "Just a Notion" to accompany its release. The video is directed by Mike Anderson and produced by Nick Barratt of the production company Able. The video received 583,000 views in its first 24 hours on YouTube. [6] A brief teaser video on TikTok earned over a million views in its first few days. [7]
Emily Zemler of Rolling Stone calls "Just a Notion" "buoyant" and a "hopeful, upbeat song." [8] Devon Ivie of Vulture writes that the song is "a ridiculously happy romp that finds Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid harmonizing about the joys of flirting while a power piano noodles in the background." [9]
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
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Finland Airplay (Radiosoittolista) [10] | 99 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [11] | 36 |
Japan Hot Overseas ( Billboard Japan ) [12] | 11 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [13] | 73 |
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) [14] | 27 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [15] | 22 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [16] | 60 |
UK Singles (OCC) [17] | 59 |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | 22 October 2021 | Polar | [18] | |
Italy | 12 November 2021 | Contemporary hit radio | Universal | [19] |
ABBA are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. One of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, they became one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982, and in 2022.
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! He co-produced the films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. He is the oldest member of the group.
Super Trouper is the seventh studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 3 November 1980. It features the No.1 singles "The Winner Takes It All" and "Super Trouper". The album became the biggest-selling album of 1980 in the UK.
Voulez-Vous is the sixth studio album by the Swedish supergroup ABBA. Released on 23 April 1979, the album yielded five hits, all of them big 1979 singles in Britain – "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know", "I Have a Dream" and the double A-side "Voulez-Vous"/"Angeleyes". The title track showed the group embracing disco music, which at the time was at its peak. The album topped the charts in a number of countries and ranked among Britain's five best-selling albums of the year.
The Visitors is the eighth studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 30 November 1981.
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 29 October 1979 to coincide with their tour of North America and Europe. It was ABBA's second chart-topping album of the year, the first being Voulez-Vous, and contained the brand new single "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", recorded in August 1979.
The discography of Swedish pop music group ABBA consists of nine studio albums, two live albums, seven compilation albums, four box sets, five video albums, 50 singles, and 43 music videos. To date, ABBA has sold 150 million records worldwide becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. They have scored 9 No. 1 singles and 10 No. 1 albums in the UK, becoming the most successful Swedish act of all time on the Official Charts.
The Singles: The First Ten Years is a double compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in November 1982.
"Summer Night City" is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a tribute to their hometown of Stockholm. It is the group's second non-album single, released on 6 September 1978. It was recorded during the sessions of the group's upcoming Voulez-Vous album, but was eventually not included. However, it was included on the ABBA compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 2 in October 1979, more than a year after its release. It was also featured as a bonus track on both the 1997 and 2001 CD re-issues of Voulez-Vous and as the full length version with the original intro on the 2010 re-issue.
"Ring Ring" is a song by Swedish group ABBA, released as the title track of their 1973 debut album. The single gave the group their big break in several European countries. The song was written in Swedish by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, along with their manager Stig Anderson, with an original title of "Ring Ring ". Translation into English lyrics was helped by Neil Sedaka and his collaborator Phil Cody. The Swedish version reached No. 1 in the Swedish charts.
"Lay All Your Love on Me" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA in 1980 for their seventh studio album, Super Trouper. The song was released as the sixth and final single from the album in the summer of 1981. At the time, it was the highest selling 12-inch record in UK chart history, where it peaked at No. 7.
"Voulez-Vous" is a 1979 song by the Swedish group ABBA, written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad shared the lead vocals. It is the second track on the group's 1979 album of the same name. In the UK and Ireland, "Voulez-Vous" was released as a double A-side, though nearly everywhere else, "Voulez-Vous" was a single A-side. The double A side single is, as of September 2021, ABBA's 13th-biggest song in the UK, including both pure sales and digital streams.
"Angeleyes" is a pop song written and recorded in 1978 by the Swedish group ABBA, and is featured on their sixth studio album, Voulez-Vous. Released as a double A-side with the title track of the album in July 1979, the lyrics and music were composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. As one of ABBA's most popular tracks in the United Kingdom, the song was a successful hit, peaking at No. 3 on the singles chart.
Thank You for the Music is a box set by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 31 October 1994. It consists of 66 tracks across four discs, with the first three discs including all of the band's singles from 1972 - 1982, many B-sides, and some album tracks in chronological order; while the fourth disc includes some rarities and some previously unreleased material, most notably the 23-and-a-half minute long medley "ABBA Undeleted" which includes the track Just a Notion, released as part of Voyage in 2021. This box set marks the appearance of several ABBA tracks on compact disc for the first time.
"I've Been Waiting for You" is a song recorded in 1974 by Swedish pop group ABBA, released first as the B-side to the single "So Long". It was included on their album ABBA, released April 1975.
"The Visitors", also known as "The Visitors ", is a 1981 song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It is the title track from the band's studio album of the same name, and was released as the fourth and final single in April 1982. The lead vocal was performed by Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
BAO 3 is a studio album by Swedish folk group Benny Anderssons Orkester, released on 24 October 2007. It is the group's third studio album and their fourth release in total.
"Kisses of Fire" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on their 1979 album Voulez-Vous.
Voyage is the ninth and final studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released 5 November 2021. With ten songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it is the group's first album of new material in forty years.