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Encyclopedia > Waterloo (song)
"Waterloo"
"Waterloo" cover
Single by ABBA
from the album Waterloo
B-side(s) Watch Out
Released March 12, 1974
Format 7" single
Genre Glam rock
Length 2:42
Label Polar Music
Writer(s) Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s) Michael Tretow
Peak chart positions
ABBA singles chronology
"Waterloo (Swedish version)"
(1974)
"Waterloo"
(1974)
"Honey, Honey"
(1974)
Audio sample
Info (help· info)

"Waterloo" was the first single from ABBA's second album Waterloo, their first for Epic and Atlantic. This was the song that won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and began their path to worldwide fame. The single was coupled with "Watch Out" as the B-side and had a working title of "Honey-Pie". Image File history File links This image is of a music album or single cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the album or the artist(s) which produced the music in question. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... “Abba” redirects here. ... Alternate cover CD re-issue with ABBA logo. ... “B-Sides” redirects here. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... In music, a single is a short (usually ten minutes or less) record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-sides, often accompanied by several B-sides—usually remixes or other songs. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Glam rock (also known as glitter rock), is a style of rock and roll music, which initially surfaced in the post-hippie early 1970s. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Polar Music is a Swedish record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Image:Benny Andersson. ... Bust of Stikkan Anderson in his native Hova. ... Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (Swedish IPA: ) (born April 25, 1945) is a Swedish musician and composer, most notable as a member of ABBA. Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg, but as a child he moved with his family to Västervik. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Bo Michael Tretow, born August 20, 1944 in Norrköping, Sweden, recording engineer and producer most notably for Swedish pop group ABBA 1970-1982 and subsequently work with Chess. ... // A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... This article is about a region in the Netherlands. ... “Abba” redirects here. ... Waterloo is widely known as an English recording by supergroup ABBA but when the group won the pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest they sang it in Swedish. ... Honey, Honey was ABBAs second single in 1974 and part of the Waterloo album. ... Image File history File links ABBA_-_Waterloo. ... Image File history File links ABBA_-_Waterloo. ... “Abba” redirects here. ... Alternate cover CD re-issue with ABBA logo. ... Epic Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony BMG. // Epic was launched originally as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical releases. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the nineteenth Eurovision Song Contest. ... In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. ...

Contents

History

"Waterloo" was originally written as a song for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group finished third with "Ring Ring" in the previous year's national heats. Since it focused on lead vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson chose it in place of another of their songs, "Hasta Mañana". "Waterloo" is about a girl who is about to surrender to romance, as Napoleon had to surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the nineteenth Eurovision Song Contest. ... Ring Ring was a 1973 single by ABBA, which gave the group their big break in Australia and parts of Europe (though the rest of Europe and North America were introduced to ABBA the following year). ... Agnetha Ã…se Fältskog (born 5 April 1950) in Jönköping) is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter and producer, most notable for being a member of the popular Swedish pop group ABBA. Her name was originally spelled Agneta; she added the h later herself. ... The ABBA single cover for Mamma Mia (1975) shows the group: Benny, Anni-Frid (top center), Agnetha, and Björn. ... Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (Swedish IPA: ) (born April 25, 1945) is a Swedish musician and composer, most notable as a member of ABBA. Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg, but as a child he moved with his family to Västervik. ... Image:Benny Andersson. ... Hasta Mañana is the 4th track on ABBAs Album Waterloo. ... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... Combatants First French Empire Seventh Coalition: United Kingdom Kingdom of Prussia Kingdom of the United Netherlands Kingdom of Hanover Duchy of Nassau Duchy of Brunswick Commanders Napoleon Bonaparte, Michel Ney Duke of Wellington, Gebhard von Blücher Prince William of Orange Strength 73,000 67,000 Coalition 60,000 Prussian...


The song proved to be a good choice. It sailed through the Swedish heats (in Swedish) in February 1974 and won that year's Eurovision Song contest final on April 6 by six points. is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...


"Waterloo" was one of ABBA's few songs to be written with simultaneous rock music and jazz beats, something later discarded in favor of more disco-esque rhythms. For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... This article is about the music genre. ...


Reception

The "Waterloo" single introduced the world to the phenomenon that was ABBA. The song shot to No.1 in the UK and stayed there for two weeks, becoming the first of the band's nine UK chart-toppers. It also hit No.1 in Ireland, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, West Germany and South Africa, while reaching the Top 3 in ABBA's native Sweden (in both its English (No.2) and Swedish (No.3) formats), Austria, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Amazingly, for a Eurovision winning song, "Waterloo" also reached the Top 10 in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), New Zealand, Australia and the United States. This article is about the former British colony of Southern Rhodesia, todays Zimbabwe. ...


The "Waterloo" album performed similarly well in Europe, although in the U.S., it failed to match the success of the single. Though it would be another eighteen months before the group repeated their success, "Waterloo" introduced the world to a fresh-faced and vibrant group of individuals who were determined not to be Eurovision one-hit wonders.


In 1986, a cover version of the song was recorded and released by Doctor and the Medics, with special guest Roy Wood on saxophone and backing vocals, reached No.45 on the UK chart. ABBA had originally cited Wood and the Wizzard song "See My Baby Jive" as influences, and in the wake of their Eurovision victory, were quoted as saying that it would not surprise them if artists such as Wizzard would consider entering the Eurovision contest in future. Doctor and the Medics were a London-based Psychedelic rock band most prominent in the mid to late 1980s. ... Roy Adrian Wood (sometimes erroneously thought to be born as Ulysses Adrian Wood, from a offhand interview comment in the 1960s) (born 8 November 1946 in Birmingham), is a songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. ... This article refers to the 1970s rock and roll band. ...


In 1994, the song - together with several other ABBA hits - was included in the soundtrack of the film [Muriel's Wedding]]. It was re-released in 2004, with the same B-side, to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, reaching No.20 on the UK charts.


On October 22, 2005, during the fiftieth celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history.


Single track listing

Australia (7")

  1. Waterloo
  2. Watch Out
  3. Ring Ring
  4. Rock'n Roll Band

Ring Ring is the first album by Swedish singing group ABBA, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). ... Rockn Roll Band was the second single released in the USA by Swedish rock-pop group ABBA, although credited to Bjorn, Benny, Anna & Frieda. ...

Chart positions

Chart (1974) Position
Belgian Singles Chart (BRT) 1
Belgian Singles Chart (Humo) 1
Finland Singles Chart 1
German Singles Chart 1
Irish Singles Chart 1
Norwegian Singles Chart 1
South African Singles Chart 1
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 2
Zimbabwe Singles Chart 2
French Singles Chart 3
New Zealand Singles Chart 3
Spanish Singles Chart 3
Swedish Singles Chart 3
Australian Kent Music Report 4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6
Italian Singles Chart 14

Kent Music Report front cover 11 October 1976 The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by a music enthusiast, David Kent from the early 1970s through to 1998. ... “Hot 100” redirects here. ...

Miscellany

  • Contrary to what the song claims, Napoleon did not surrender at Waterloo; he surrendered at Rochefort on the French Atlantic coast four weeks later.
  • The song made an appearance on The Simpsons in the episode "Mother Simpson".
  • The Swedish heavy metal band Black Ingvars covered "Waterloo" on their 1998 album Schlager Metal.
  • In 1998, UK girl group Bananarama reunited to record "Waterloo" for the Eurovision parody A Song For Eurotrash on Channel 4. Their music video featured the girls waking up from a hang-over, dancing around in wedding dresses at an altar (with male back-up dancers in military uniform), and getting into a food fight at a wedding reception.
  • The song is featured in the encore of the musical Mamma Mia!.
  • On December 12, 2006, the song was played by NASA during STS-116 as the wake up song for Christer Fuglesang, also from Sweden, in honor of him becoming the first Nordic astronaut.
  • Bernd Stromberg, the main character of the German TV series Stromberg sang this song in the 9th episode of the 2nd season ("Die Kündigung")
Preceded by
Sommaren som aldrig säger nej by Malta
Melodifestivalen winners
1974
Succeeded by
Jennie, Jennie by Lasse Berghagen
Preceded by
Tu Te Reconnaîtras by Anne-Marie David
Eurovision Song Contest winners
1974
Succeeded by
Ding Ding-A-Dong by Teach-In
Preceded by
Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks
UK Singles Chart number one single
April 30, 1974
Succeeded by
Sugar Baby Love by Rubettes

  Results from FactBites:
 
Waterloo (3000 words)
The United Kingdom hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in the seaside resort of Brighton in 1974, as Luxembourg had won at home in the previous year and the EBU decided that it would be unfair to ask the tiny principality to stage the competition again.
Three songs in French followed, before the Dutch entry "I See A Star" performed by the Mouth And McNeal duo used the gimmicks of a barrel organ and puppets to supplement their singa-along song.
The song was produced by Michael B. Tretow who had a distinctive "wall of sound" technique, similar to that of Phil Spector and which was very fashionable in the mid 1970's thanks to the hits of Roy Wood and his band Wizzard.
Waterloo (song) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (543 words)
"Waterloo" was the song that won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and began their path to worldwide fame.
"Waterloo" was originally written as a song for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group came third with "Ring Ring" in the previous year's national heats.
The song was re-released in 2004, with the same B-side, to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, reaching #20 on the UK charts.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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