Under Attack

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This article is about the ABBA song. For other uses, see Under Attack (disambiguation).

"Under Attack"
ABBA - Under Attack.jpg
Single by ABBA
from the album The Singles: The First Ten Years
B-side"You Owe Me One"
Released1 December 1982 (Netherlands)
3 December 1982 (UK)
21 February 1983 (Worldwide)
Recorded2 – 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios
GenreSynthpop
Length3:45
LabelPolar Music, Epic, Atlantic
Songwriter(s)Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s)Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"The Day Before You Came"
(1982) 		"Under Attack"
(1982) 		"Thank You for the Music"
(1983)
Music video
"Under Attack" on YouTube

"Under Attack" is a single by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally featured as a track on the 1982 compilation album The Singles: The First Ten Years, but was released as a single the following year in most countries. However, in the United Kingdom it was released on 3 December 1982.[1]

Background[]

ABBA recorded "Under Attack" between 2 and 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm.[2] The group had originally intended to release a new studio album, but instead decided to release a double-album compilation of their past singles while adding two new songs from the session. The two new tracks that made it onto The Singles: The First Ten Years were "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack". The latter would eventually be added to the expanded editions of The Visitors album.[1]

On 11 December 1982, ABBA performed "Under Attack" on the BBC's Late Late Breakfast Show, in what was their last collective performance.[3][4]

Music video[]

ABBA filmed a music video for "Under Attack" on 16 November 1982.[3] Set in an empty warehouse, the video involves ABBA navigating their way through a room filled with red beacon lights. The video ends with the four members walking away in the distance, their backs to the camera, reaching the end of ABBA.

Reception[]

"Under Attack" was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles ("Head over Heels" and "The Day Before You Came") had failed to reach No. 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands,[3] and a Top 20 single in a couple of other European charts, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at No. 26 in the United Kingdom.[5] In Australia, where the group's popularity only a few years earlier had rivaled that of The Beatles, "Under Attack" only reached No. 96 in the singles chart. "Under Attack" became ABBA's lowest charting single since "So Long". After the single's release, ABBA went on a temporary hiatus that effectively became indefinite and marked the end of the band.[6]

"Under Attack" is featured in the musical theatre production Mamma Mia! but not in the film.[7]

Personnel[]

Chart history[]

Chart (1982–83) Position
Australian Singles Chart 96
Belgian Singles Chart[8] 2
British Singles Chart 26
Dutch Singles Chart 5
Finnish Singles Chart 8
French Singles Chart 43
German Singles Chart 22
Irish Singles Chart[9] 11
Polish Singles Chart 11
Swiss Singles Chart 15

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Palm, Carl Magnus (2005). Abba : the complete guide to their music. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 70, 85. ISBN 1-84449-505-1. OCLC 60589495.
  2. ^ Recording sessions. Abba Annual.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Palm, Carl Magnus (2002). Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba. Omnibus Press. p. 459.
  4. ^ Under Attack (ABBA) – from "The Late, Late Breakfast Show". Youtube.
  5. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock movers & shakers. ABC-CLIO. p. 20.
  6. ^ ABBA biography. MTV.
  7. ^ Adcock, Joe (13 June 2003). 'Mamma Mia!' features ABBA tunes and a wedding plot. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  8. ^ "ABBA - Under Attack".
  9. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know".

External links[]

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