Voulez-Vous

"Voulez-Vous"
Single by ABBA
from the album Voulez-Vous
Released	July 2, 1979
Format	Single
Genre	Disco
Length	5:06
Label	Polar Music
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Producer	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Certification	Silver (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"Does Your Mother Know" (1979) "Voulez-Vous" (1979) "Angeleyes" (1979)

"Voulez-Vous" ("do you want" in French) is a eurodisco track by Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (under the working title "Amerika"). Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad shared the lead vocals.

The song is the 2nd track on the group's 1979 album of the same name. In the UK, "Voulez-Vous" was released as a double A-side with "Angeleyes" ("Angeleyes" was the dominant A-side); nearly everywhere else, "Voulez-Vous" was a single A-side. The song also features on the ABBA Gold album, first as a 4:21 edited version when the compilation was first released in 1992 and then in its full 5:09 version from 1999 onwards. "Angeleyes" is featured on the More ABBA Gold compilation.

"Voulez-Vous" is also the only ABBA song to have been officially released as an extended dance remix — albeit only as a promo. The 6:07 version of the track, released as a double A-side 12" single by Atlantic Records in the United States in 1979, was included as a bonus track on the 2001 compilation The Definitive Collection.

Reception

Compared to ABBA's hits both before and after, "Voulez-Vous" was not a major hit for the group. It did top the charts in Belgium, while reaching the Top 5 in Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands. It peaked at #9 in France, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland, but failed to make the Top 10 anywhere else.

At the time of the single's release in the UK, other publications provided singles charts alongside the official chart produced by Music Week for the BBC, New Musical Express & Melody Maker being 2 examples of publications with their own charts. There were often differences between these charts, but rarely more than a place or 2. The double A-side single "Angeleyes" and "Voulez-Vous" caused controversy by reaching #3 in the Music Week/BBC chart, when it actually rose no higher than #9 on any other chart and generally missed the Top 10 completely in the majority of the charts produced. BBC Radio 1 acknowledged that there was a discrepancy on air. If there was anything untoward, it was ignored and the #3 ranking with Music Week/BBC was never disqualified.

Chart positions

Cover versions

• "Voulez-Vous" topped the British charts again in 1992, when it was one of four ABBA songs covered on Erasure's EP Abba-esque.
• Swedish pop group A*Teens recorded a version on their debut album The ABBA Generation.
• Various eurodance/hi-NRG cover remixes by Abbacadabra were released in the late 1990s through British label Almighty Records. Some of them were most recently included on the 2008 compilation We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Collection.
• Dance versions of the song have been recorded by various artists including: Audio Science on the Lay All Your Love on ABBA tribute album; Euphorica (on the 2003 album ABBA Dance); and DJ Ensamble on the 2006 album Trancing Queen.^[1]
• The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
• The British 1999 Abbamania album includes a cover by Culture Club. The subsequent ABBAMania 2 album features a rendition sung by British actress Julie Forsyth. Ska Band Madness also covered the song on the programme of the same name.
• The German ABBA Mania compilation includes a cover of the song by Barbara Schöneberger.
• A cover by Swedish thrash metal band Morgana Lefay was featured on the tribute album ABBAMetal (also released as A Tribute to ABBA).
• Another metal version by Swedish band Time Requiem was a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their album The Inner Circle Of Reality.
• Vietnamese-American singer Da Nhat Yen recorded a version with rap by Chosen One.
• On the 2004 tribute album Abbalicious performed by various American drag queens, the song was covered by Sade Pendarvis.^[2]
• An electronica cover of the song by Transient can be found on the album The Electronic Tribute To ABBA.
• Swedish musician Nils Landgren includes a cover of the song on his 2004 tribute album Funky Abba.
• A cover of the song by Blue System can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.
• A cover of the song by Finnish a cappella choral ensemble Rajaton can be found on their 2006 ABBA tribute album Rajaton Sings ABBA With Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
• Australian rock band Audioscam covered the song on their 2008 album Abbattack. Samples from the album can be heard on their official MySpace page.^[3]
• Icelandic cult rock band HAM released a metal cover version which has become one of their landmark concert songs.
• British ABBA heavy metal tribute group Abbatoir recorded a cover of the song. An audio sample can be found on their official MySpace page.^[4]
• Motown group High Inergy covered it for their 1979 album Frenzy.

Live performances, appearances in other media, etc.

• "Voulez-Vous" is one of the numbers performed in the Mamma Mia! musical.
• At the beginning of the "Despre tine" video by O-Zone, the people are listening to the song when the band (O-Zone) appears.

References