Abba visited Tokyo from November 17-26 1978 to promote their growing success in Japan. They had 3 albums in their top 20 at that time: Arrival, Abba - The Album and Greatest Hits. This was their first visit to Japan since November 1972. They took part in several tv and radio shows and recorded "Abba Special". This was a one hour tv program in which they performed 13 songs, sometimes surrounded by dancers. The songs were Eagle, Take A Chance On Me, Money, Money, Money (live), SOS (live), That's Me, Tiger, Dancing Queen, Waterloo, Fernando, Summer Night City, Knowing Me, Knowing You, If It Wasn't For The Nights and Thank You For The Music (live).
This performance of Dancing Queen was recorded on November 22 and broadcast on December 20 in the tv show "11PM". The Japanese subtitles are presumably translating the lyrics.
Dancing Queen is Abba's best known song, and has filled dance floors all over the world ever since it was released. The inspiration for the song was George McCrae's 1974 disco classic Rock Your Baby. Frida recalls "I loved the song from the very beginning. Coming back from the studio, Benny played the backing track for me. It was so beautiful that I started to cry. I mean, even without lyrics or voices on it, it was outstanding."
Recording commenced in August 1975 at Glenstudio, Stocksund with additional recording at Metronome Studio, Stockholm. The song was released in Britain on August 16 1976. It was an instant hit and reached No.1 on September 4, and stayed there for 6 consecutive weeks. It reached No.1 in Sweden eight days after release, and stayed there for 14 weeks. The record sales figures were massive worldwide, reaching No.1 in 13 countries.
Stig recalls "One day, I found a note in my office with a phone number. I gave the piece of paper to Gorel and told her 'I don't know who it is, but can you call them anyway.' Gorel replied 'Its not a phone number, it's the latest sales figures for Dancing Queen in Britain.'"
Written by: Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
Lead vocal: Agnetha & Frida
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the Dancing Queen
Friday night and the lights are low,
Looking out for the place to go,
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy, night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance, and when you get the chance
You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet only seventeen
Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the Dancing Queen
You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another, anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance, and when you get the chance
You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet only seventeen
Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the Dancing Queen
Tags: Abba
