The Best of ABBA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Best of ABBA
Best of abba.jpg
Greatest hits album by
ABBA
ReleasedAugust 1975
Recorded1972–1975
GenrePop
Length36:16
LabelPolydor (Austria, Germany, India, Netherlands and Norway)
RCA owned by Sony Music Entertainment Australia (Australia and New Zealand)
ProducerBenny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA chronology
ABBA
(1975) 		The Best of ABBA
(1975) 		Greatest Hits
(1975)

The Best of ABBA is a compilation greatest hits album by Swedish pop group ABBA, first released in August 1975 in the Netherlands. It was then released in West Germany, and then in Australia and New Zealand in November 1975, before being released in Austria and India in 1976.[1][2] Despite not being released in Norway, imports led the album to chart. After import copies were being sold in Scandinavia, ABBA's Greatest Hits was rush-released there in November 1975. The album topped the charts in Australia, Austria and New Zealand, and went on to be certified 24× Platinum in New Zealand and 22× Platinum in Australia. The album is tied with Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms for being the best-selling album in New Zealand.[3]

In Australia it spent 16 weeks at number one, and in New Zealand it topped the charts for 18 weeks. The Best of ABBA was one of the biggest selling vinyl albums in Australian history, selling over a million copies. At one stage RCA Records couldn’t keep up with the demand for the albums in the country's shops, and copies had to be pressed under licence by a rival record company. In both countries, this album charted better than all the other ABBA releases, and it also became the first ever album to be certified gold in Australia before it was even released.

The Best of ABBA was re-released in 1988 on vinyl and CD, but was only available for a short time.

Track listing[]

All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.

Side 1[]

  1. "Waterloo" (written by Andersson, Stig Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 2:41
  2. "Ring Ring" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody) – 3:01
  3. "Honey, Honey" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 2:52
  4. "Mamma Mia" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:32
  5. "People Need Love" (written by Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:40
  6. "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" (written by Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:50

[4]

Side 2[]

  1. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:15
  2. "SOS" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:22
  3. "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)" – 3:12
  4. "Bang-A-Boomerang" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:00
  5. "Hasta Mañana" (written by Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:05
  6. "So Long" (written by Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:06

[5]

Charts[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1975–76) Peak
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] 1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[9] 92
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[11] 14

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 1

Sales and certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[13] 22× Platinum 1,210,000[14]
Netherlands — 500,000[15]
Germany (BVMI)[16] Platinum 500,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[17] Gold 10,000*
India — 50,000[18]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[3] 24× Platinum 360,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "ABBA: The Best of ABBA". Discogs. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  2. ^ "The Best of ABBA". ABBA—The Releases. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966–2006. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. ^ RCA Victor VPL1-4020A LP recording 1975 Polar Music AB
  5. ^ RCA Victor VPL1-4020B LP recording 1975 Polar Music AB
  6. ^ "Austriancharts.at – ABBA – The Best of" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  7. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – ABBA – The Best of ABBA" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  8. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  9. ^ "Italiancharts.com – ABBA – The Best of". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  10. ^ "Charts.nz – ABBA – The Best of". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  11. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – ABBA – The Best of". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 428. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ Baker, Glen (8 November 1979). "Billboard Magazine Volume 91, No. 36". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510.
  14. ^ "The Music Australia Loved". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ Hoos, Willem (8 September 1979). "Abba The World". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (ABBA; 'Best Of ABBA')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  17. ^ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1977". IFPI Hong Kong.
  18. ^ Baker, Glenn (18 July 1981). "India: Sleeping Giant Awakes" (PDF). Billboard. p. 70. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
Retrieved from ""