One of the age-old music trivia questions is, ‘what is the only UK number one hit to mentioned the title in the lyrics of the song that knocked it off?’ When I get that question asked to me, I usually reply with Bye Bye Baby, by the Bay City Rollers and usually get told I’m wrong. No I’m not, the first line is, ‘If you hate me after what I say’ and it knocked off If by Telly Savalas, so I’m right. Then I tell them that you’re waiting for me to say Mamma Mia which is mentioned in Bohemian Rhapsody, but it’s not the only one. There are about 15 that I know of. I’m not showing off, just want to correct people on their question.
After Waterloo won Eurovision in 1974, it subsequently went on to top the chart in several European countries, and looked set to launch ABBA as a major recording act. In the UK things didn’t look too rosy with the follow-up Ring Ring peaking at number 32. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, a tribute to fifties orchestra leader, Billy Vaughn, fared slightly worse at number 38. However, 18 months later the palindromic SOS, (another trivia question) restored them to the Top 10. Whilst SOS was in the chart, Benny Andersson explained how he felt about the absence from the British scene. “In England, we didn’t get the image we deserved. Because we won Eurovision, we got the image that goes with Eurovision, and it’s not really correct. We just happened to be in the contest- for example, I think we’d prefer the reputation that the Mamas and Papas had.”
After SOS peaked at number six in October 1975, next came Mamma Mia when it entered the chart a couple of weeks before Christmas 1975 and took six weeks to reach the top and gave them their second chart-topper. You can blame Bohemian Rhapsody for that. The first time the expression Mamma Mia was heard on a UK hit single, was the closing words of Peter Sellers’ and Sophia Loren’s 1961 hit Bangers and Mash but that is not where Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson would have heard it. That expression is an Italian saying that basically means ‘my mother’ and is often used, initially by Italians, but now the world over, to express surprise which is exactly how it’s used in Bangers and Mash. Mamma Mia turned out to be another distinctive and memorable title, and one that maybe a native English writer would have thought was “too European – and very uncool”, Björn stated in the book Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You? “The saying ‘mamma mia’ is used very, very commonly in Swedish and is just as well known a phrase as it would be in English.”
ABBA’s manager was Stig Anderson (no relation to Benny and a slightly different spelling) and he often came up with a song title which Benny and Bjorn would write a song around and Mamma Mia was one such example. It was also the song that established ABBA as an international recording act as it topped the charts in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland and made the top five in Belgium, Austria, Italy, Norway, New Zealand and Yugoslavia (as was).
Mamma Mia was the last track to be recorded and included on the ABBA – The Album, As Carl Magnus Palm explained in Bright Light Dark Shadows, the song was expertly structured and arranged. When they entered the studio Benny found a marimba in there and, on the spur of the moment, decided to pick it up and start playing it to find out what sound it made. The verdict was positive and the tick-tocking sound became a distinguishing aspect of the track. They were working in Metronome Studios in Stockholm, which was their favourite place to work prior to them opening their own Polar Studio. They brought in guitarist Finn Sjöberg, Mike Watson on bass and the drummer Roger Palm who sadly passed away in September this year. Once the backing track was down, Frida and Agnetha came in and added both their vocals and a couple of days later songs strings were dubbed on. The next day, Benny and Bjorn decided some extra guitar work was required and brought in Janne Schaffer to finish the track.
“Mamma Mia is one of those typical ABBA songs which really don’t (sic) work that well when you play them with just a piano and a guitar,” Benny explained on the Abbasite.com. “It’s much too dependent on all the little whims and harmony parts and riffs and whatnot, which we somehow managed to organise, and which are what ABBA were all about.”
1976 was the year that saw Abba emerge as world superstars. Mamma Mia was the first of their three chart toppers that year, they were followed by Fernando and then Dancing Queen which has gone on to become their most famous song, and far too overplayed. It’s a shame in one way because so many radio stations continually play Dancing Queen it seems to have detracted from many of their other songs let alone hits and ABBA never made a bad song. When they did top the chart three times in 1976, it was the first time any non-British or American act had achieved the feat.
When Mamma Mia hit number one, ABBA appeared on Top of the Pops live for the sixth time. They had appeared three times for Waterloo, once for So Long and once for SOS. They did seven in total the final one was with Mamma Mia again on the Christmas special.
In the 21st century, when we hear the words Mamma Mia, many will instantly think of the movie or the stage musical. The musical, which features 27 ABBA songs, opened in London on 6th April 1999 which was the 25th anniversary of them winning the Eurovision Song Contest. It has since been shown around the world and has been seen by more than 25 million people worldwide. The show opened on Broadway two years later and got nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical, but, in the end, lost to Thoroughly Modern Millie.
The idea was conceived by Judy Craymer, a theatrical producer who had been a stage manager on the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats and then with Tim Rice on Chess where she became his executive producer, after hearing The Winner Takes It All and thought the idea of setting ABBA’s songs in a stage show could work. She took the idea to the British playwright, Catherine Johnson, to write the script and she also wrote the screenplay for the musical’s film adaptation. Craymer was so convinced it would be a hit that she went to the ends of the earth to make it happen and that included selling her flat to finance it. It paid off. She clearly looked at the words Mamma Mia and thought, ‘how can I resist you’?