Arrival

Arrival
Studio album by ABBA
Released	October 11, 1976 (Sweden) January 5, 1977 (US)
Recorded	August 1975- September 1976
Genre	Pop, Disco
Length	33:16
Label	Polar (original release) PolyGram (1992 - 1997) Universal Music (1998 - )
Producer	Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C) link Rolling Stone (Favorable) link
ABBA chronology
Greatest Hits (1975) Arrival (1976) The Album (1977)
Alternate cover
French edition using the inner sleeve pic

Arrival is the fourth album by Swedish pop group ABBA, first released in Sweden on October 11, 1976 (see 1976 in music). Recording sessions began in August 1975 and continued until September 1976. The album was recorded at Metronome and Glen studios in Stockholm, Sweden. "Arrival" was first released on CD in 1984. The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form a total of four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, 2005 as part of the The Complete Studio Recordings box set, and again in 2006 (as a special Deluxe Edition). Upon its original 1976 release, "Fernando", released as a single earlier the same year, did not appear on Arrival, but it was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions. "Fernando" remained unreleased on Arrival until the first remastered issue in 1997. The album also contains three of the group's biggest hits, "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" & "Knowing Me, Knowing You". The helicopter used for the album art is a Bell 47. Arrival was the UK's best selling album of 1977. In April 1977 the album was certified Gold in the USA [1].

Track listing

Side A:

1. "When I Kissed the Teacher" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:58
2. "Dancing Queen" (Andersson, Stig Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:47
3. "My Love, My Life" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:50
4. "Dum Dum Diddle" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:50
5. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:55

Side B:

1. "Money, Money, Money" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:02
2. "That's Me" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:14
3. "Why Did It Have to Be Me?" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:19
4. "Tiger" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:54
5. "Arrival (instrumental)" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:58

The recording of "Dancing Queen" commenced at the same time as "Fernando" in August 1975. The original working title of the song was "Boogaloo" and George McCrae's 1974 disco classic "Rock Your Baby" was used as an inspiration for finding the right groove on the recording. Some of the rhythmic feel was also inspired by the Dr. John album Dr. John's Gumbo which influenced drummer Roger Palm. Frida started crying the moment she first heard the backing track for the song.^{[citation needed]}

CD re-issues, bonus tracks

Arrival was remastered and reissued in 1997 with one bonus track:

11. "Fernando" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:12

"Fernando" was released in the original track listing for the Australian and New Zealand version of the original record, after "Why Did It Have To Be Me" and before "Tiger".

Arrival was remastered and reissued in 2001 with another bonus track:

12. "Happy Hawaii" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:25
    • Early version of "Why Did It Have To Be Me?".

Arrival was remastered and reissued again in 2005 as part of the The Complete Studio Recordings box set with several bonus tracks:

11. "Fernando" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:14
12. "Happy Hawaii" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:25
    • B-side of "Knowing Me, Knowing You". Early version of "Why Did It Have To Be Me?".
13. "La Reina Del Baile" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Buddy McCluskey, Mary McCluskey) – 4:03
    • Spanish version of "Dancing Queen". When this track was first released in 1980, the Spanish title was "Reina Danzante".
14. "Conociéndome, Conociéndote" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, McCluskey, McCluskey) – 4:04
    • Spanish version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You".
15. "Fernando (Spanish Version)" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, McCluskey, McCluskey) – 4:17

Tracks 13–15, vocals recorded January 1980. These three songs are from the album Gracias Por La Música (Septima SRLM 1, June 23, 1980).

Arrival was reissued again in 2006 (October 16) as a 30th Anniversary of the original release, called the Deluxe' Edition. This features the same track listing as the 2005 release, with one additional track "Fernando" sung in Swedish by Frida (solo version, not with ABBA), and also came with a bonus DVD with the following clips:

1. ABBA-DABBA-DOOO! One hour Television Special
2. "Dancing Queen" (Musikladen)
3. "Fernando" (BBC - Top of the Pops)
4. "Happy Hawaii" (Cartoon of ABBA)
5. "Dancing Queen" (Recording Session)
6. ABBA in London (November 1976)
7. ABBA's 1976 Success (News Report, Sweden)
8. Arrival TV Commercial I - (UK)
9. Arrival TV Commercial II - (UK)
10. International Sleeve Gallery

Arrival was reissued once again in 2008 as part of the The Albums box set but without any bonus tracks.

Singles

1. "Dancing Queen"/"That's Me" (August 1976)
2. "Money Money Money"/"Crazy World" (October 1976)
3. "Dum Dum Diddle"/"Tiger" (1976)(Argentina only)
4. "Knowing Me Knowing You"/"Happy Hawaii" (February 1977)
5. "That's Me"/"Money Money Money" (July 1977) (Japan only)

When I Kissed The Teacher

While never released as a single, a promotional video was made for When I Kissed The Teacher (originally called "Rio de Janiero"). In the video, the teacher was played by Swedish actor Magnus Härenstam with Agnetha playing the student. Benny Andersson considers this one of his favorite ABBA songs.^[1]

The song was included on the greatest hits album More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits and the video was included on Abba:The Definitive Collection.^[2][3]

When I Kissed the Teacher cover versions

• Indie Cincinnati music artist Fungobat (Mike Hagen) covered the song. It was included on his Greatest Hits Vol. 1 compilation, released through the Old 3C Records indie label.
• On the 1995 New Zealand tribute album Abbasalutely, the song is covered by The Magick Heads.
• The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
• Studio 99 released a version on their "Studio 99 Perform A Tribute To ABBA, Vol. 2" in 2006.
• Russian metal band Boney Nem recorded a cover of the song.

In popular culture

• ABBA perform parts of the song live in the film "ABBA: The Movie" (1977).

Personnel

ABBA

• Benny Andersson – synthesizer, piano, accordion, chimes, keyboards, marimba, vocals
• Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
• Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals

Additional personnel

• Ola Brunkert – strings, drums
• Lars Carlsson – saxophone
• Anders Dahl – strings
• Malando Gassama – percussion, rhythm
• Anders Glenmark – electric guitar
• Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
• Roger Palm – strings, drums
• Janne Schaffer – electric guitar
• Lasse Wellander – acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Production

• Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
• Arranger: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Sven-Olof Walldoff
• String arrangements: Rutger Gunnarsson
• Cover design: Ola Lager. Rune Söderqvist
• Photography: Ola Lager
• Remastered for the 1997 Remasters by Jon Astley and Tim Young with Michael B. Tretow
• Remastered for the 2001 Remasters by Jon Astley with Michael B. Tretow
• Remastered for the 2005 Complete Studio Recordings Box Set by Henrik Jonsson

Charts

Album

Singles - UK Singles Chart

Singles - USA

Singles - Canada

Singles - Australia

Singles - West Germany

Singles - Norway

References

1. ^ Palm, C. (2005). Abba: The Complete Guide to their Music. p. 36. ISBN 1844495051. 
2. ^ "More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fbfyxq9gldhe. Retrieved 2009-02-11. 
3. ^ "The Definitive Collection". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jvfexq8dldae. Retrieved 2009-02-11. 
4. ^ Suomen virallinen lista

External links

• abba4therecord / Webpage showing ABBA Arrival releases worldwide [2]