The Singles: The First Ten Years

Last updated
The Singles: The First Ten Years
ABBA The Singles.jpg
Compilation album by
ABBA
Released8 November 1982
RecordedJanuary 1973 – August 1982
Genre Pop
Length92:44
Label Polar (Sweden)
Epic (UK, Ireland, Spain and Italy)
Atlantic (US and Canada)
Polydor (Germany and Netherlands)
Vogue (France)
RCA (Australia and New Zealand)
Sunshine (South Africa)
Producer
ABBA chronology
The Visitors
(1981)		The Singles: The First Ten Years
(1982)		 Thank You for the Music: A Collection of Love Songs
(1983)
Singles from The Singles: The First Ten Years
  1. "The Day Before You Came"
    Released: 18 October 1982
  2. "Under Attack"
    Released: 3 December 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [3]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 10/10 [4]

The Singles: The First Ten Years is a double compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on November 8, 1982. [5] [6] Issued as a double album of their most famous single A-sides, the collection included two new tracks: "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack". [7] Both songs were released as singles, with "Cassandra" and "You Owe Me One" as their respective B-sides. [7]

Contents

Background and release

In May 1982, ABBA started work on what was meant to be their ninth studio album ended up only completing three songs: "You Owe Me One", "I Am The City" and "Just Like That". [7] Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were not happy with the tracks and shelved the project in favor of a greatest hits album: The Singles: The First Ten Years. Released on November 1982, it contained most of the band's hit singles from their ten years together as recording artists, and included two new tracks: "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack". [7]

The Singles: The First Ten Years was released on CD in Canada only by Atlantic Records in 1987, but was quickly deleted in 1988 when Atlantic's rights to the catalog expired. [8] In 2001, the album was replaced by The Definitive Collection . In the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), the compilation was ranked 80th on the book's list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums". [9]

Richard Cook in the New Musical Express described the collection as a "documentation of the group who altered the course of pop more than anyone else. It resulted in a seam of unbroken, highly individual pop music that in lifespan terms is still unmatched." [10]

In September 2024, a new compilation was announced as an update to The Singles: The First Ten Years. [11] Titled The Singles: The First Fifty Years, this 38-track collection will not only contain the singles from Voyage (ABBA's latest studio album), but will also include ten extra tracks from the 1972-1982 period that were not included on the 1982 compilation. [12] [11] It will be released on October 25, 2024, and will be issued as a 2CD set and a 4LP 180g vinyl package. Both formats will feature an illustrated booklet with unseen band images and liner notes by Carl Magnus Palm. [12] [13]

Track listing

The compilation was released as a double album, and was therefore divided into two records.

Record one

All tracks are written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Stig Anderson, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Ring Ring"  Ring Ring 3:00
2."Waterloo"  Waterloo 2:46
3."So Long"
  • Andersson
  • Ulvaeus
 ABBA 3:06
4."I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" ABBA3:15
5."SOS" ABBA3:22
6."Mamma Mia" ABBA3:32
7."Fernando"  Greatest Hits 4:15
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Dancing Queen"  Arrival 3:51
2."Money, Money, Money"
  • Andersson
  • Ulvaeus
Arrival3:05
3."Knowing Me, Knowing You" Arrival4:02
4."The Name of the Game"  ABBA: The Album 4:53
5."Take a Chance on Me"
  • Andersson
  • Ulvaeus
ABBA: The Album4:05
6."Summer Night City"
  • Andersson
  • Ulvaeus
Non-album single (1978)3:34
Total length:46:46

Record two

All tracks are written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Side one
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Chiquitita" Voulez-Vous 5:26
2."Does Your Mother Know"Voulez-Vous3:13
3."Voulez-Vous"Voulez-Vous5:11
4."Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" Greatest Hits Vol. 2 4:45
5."I Have a Dream"Voulez-Vous4:44
Side two
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."The Winner Takes It All" Super Trouper 4:56
2."Super Trouper"Super Trouper4:13
3."One of Us" The Visitors 3:55
4."The Day Before You Came"Previously unreleased5:50
5."Under Attack"Previously unreleased3:45
Total length:45:58

Personnel

ABBA

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [24] Gold20,000^
Germany (BVMI) [25] Gold250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] Platinum300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ William Ruhlmann. "The Singles: The First Ten Years". Allmusic . Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 31. ISBN   978-1-84609-856-7.
  3. ↑ Archived December 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 3.
  5. ↑ Ruhlmann, Willam. "The Singles: The First Ten Years - ABBA | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  6. ↑ Palm, Carl Magnus (2009-10-28). Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA. Omnibus Press. ISBN   9780857120571.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "In focus: ABBA For The Last Time". ABBA. 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  8. ↑ "The Singles: The First Ten Years". Abba on CD. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  9. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide . New York: Vintage Books. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
  10. ↑ Cook, Richard (4 December 1982). "Abba: The Singles, The First Ten Years (Epic)" . www.rocksbackpages.com. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  11. 1 2 "ABBA / The Singles: The First Fifty Years – SuperDeluxeEdition". 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  12. 1 2 Armstrong, Sam (2024-09-04). "ABBA Announce New Box Set, 'The Singles – The First Fifty Years'". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  13. ↑ "The Singles – The First Fifty Years (4LP)". Polar Music. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  14. ↑ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970 – 1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – ABBA – The Singles – The First Ten Years" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  16. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "ABBA". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 8. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Charts.nz – ABBA – The Singles – The First Ten Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – ABBA – The Singles – The First Ten Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – ABBA – The Singles – The First Ten Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  21. ↑ "ABBA | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  22. ↑ "ABBA Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1983. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 453 – 28 February 1983 > Platinum Albums 1982 (Continued)". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 13 November 2021– via Imgur.com.
  25. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (ABBA; 'The Singles – The First Ten Years')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  26. ↑ "British album certifications – ABBA – The Singles: The First Ten Years". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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