You can POLL, you can jive, having the time of your life -- ILM Artist Poll #20 -- ABBA (RESULTS THREAD)

i covet frida's sweater in this video

ok gonna post one more and then lunch (doing this poll has made me so hungry)

http://991.com/NewGallery/Abba-Waterloo-284839.jpg
7. Waterloo
Waterloo, 1974
(289 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_9CiNkkn4

So many animated gif opportunities in the Take a Chance on Me video.

definitely my best lol in an outfits poll would be..

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OGj0XFVwFGw/ShCmN8DuaEI/AAAAAAAAAZw/WeAJY2coOqY/s400/ABBA-Picture-0002.jpg

I think the Waterloo camerman was drunk

Frida's perm in Waterloo is pretty lolsy too

Take A Chance On Me - it's exactly the kind of good-natured blockbuster that'd turn me off with most other bands ... but there's that second-and-a-half of bubbling synth after "It's magic..." that's just attention-to-detail pop genius.

*belch*

ok back to results

we have six more songs to go but the next one was ABBA's last official recording

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Daybeforeyoucame.jpg
6. The Day Before You Came
“The Day Before You Came” b/w “Cassandra” single, 1982
(318 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HnOFwqpLRQ

That cover is... something.

Man, ABBA would have ruled the 80s so hard.

i want to know the name of the bright pink light in the band

skär

the narrator of this song could almost be jeanne dielman

(don't ask me to flesh that out)

Agnetha has the same haircut my mum had that same year

Tom Ewing did One Week One Band on Abba last week. I only saw one or two bits, but one nugget was The Day Before You Came landing at #3 when ITV (Britain's blandest channel) polled Abba a few years back. (i) that's a surprise, esp beating ILM; and (ii) why does it resonate so?

why does it resonate so?

Minor key gypsy/eastern european dirges go straight for the heart in ways that a lot of western music doesn't, regardless of the key. If you rearranged The Day Before You Came with piano and weepy violin, it would be very Hungarian.

That's interesting, I had supposed it would be the lyric.

It could also be the lyric. lol

yeah, the level of detail in the lyrics is what makes it for me. as a character sketch i think it's peerless

so "take a chance on me" was one of only two ABBA records to go gold in the US. this is the other one (and their only US #1):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Dancing_Queen_That%27s_Me.jpg
5. Dancing Queen
“Dancing Queen” b/w “That's Me” single, 1975/Arrival, 1976
(333 points, 14 votes, 1 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s

Okay, I thought that was nailed on for no.1

my heart still swells when i hear the first notes of this song
that's how i know it still works!

lol @ Agnetha's expression on the single photo

cf. the parkes essay upthread - i don't really buy the argument that i've often heard/read that this song is "secretly really depressing", at least not in the way that i think eg "should i laugh or cry" is. like certainly there's a sense that all these good vibes are fleeting but i think the mood is ultimately pretty celebratory. it's definitely not one of their more "reflective" songs, so much of it is about the present moment, feel the beat of the tambourine, etc

my heart still swells when i hear the first notes of this song
that's how i know it still works!

this argument, otoh, i totally buy (and agree with)

up next: my personal #1 vote

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Winner_Takes_It_All.jpg
4. The Winner Takes It All
Super Trouper, 1980
(368 points, 13 votes, 3 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92cwKCU8Z5c

guilty secret: this song makes me VERY teary for some reason, I have no idea why

Dancing Queen is A+ bcz of piano. OH the piano is so great

also aspirational lyrics very clever, everyone wants to be that girl

"winner" makes me well up every damn time

also: that blue eyeshadow

the top three songs each got 16 or 17 votes, meaning all but two or three people listed them on their ballots

I love how happy they all are on the cover of one of their most miserable (in content) songs.

i'm the only one of my friends/acquaintances irl that likes abba at all. Dancing Queen was my gateway to them as a 11 year old am radio junkie back in the day. i still completely love tha tune but for the past week or two i've been seriously diggin' everything i've gotten my hands on by these guys. it started with a vinyl purchase of Waterloo on vinyl and i haven't stopped listening to 'em since. thanks for another sublime poll pepoll

ok, the biggest jump in points in the entire poll:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Lay_All_Your_Love_On_Me.jpg
3. Lay All Your Love on Me
Super Trouper, 1980
(413 points, 17 votes, 1 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWI2bTckbgc

I hope my #1 is the poll's #1, but I'd be okay with my #3 being the poll's #1.

Love the yacht rock sleeve to TWTIA

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Knowing_Me_Knowing_You.jpg
2. Knowing Me, Knowing You
Arrival, 1977
(421 points, 17 votes, 2 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrzicaiRLU

So my #1 was #2. I can deal.

ahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

That "ah hahhhh" is THE BEST background vocal swell ever.

which means the runaway winner is...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/SOS_-_Man_In_The_Middle.jpg
1. SOS
ABBA, 1975
(457 points, 16 votes, 2 #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvChjHcABPA

lol at first i was shocked/pleasantly surprised to see that the two i had penciled as the heavy faves for #1 - 'dancing queen' and 'the winner takes it all' - had already placed (along w/ one i had pegged as a dark horse - 'the day before you came'), and was thinking 'o wow, i think my #1 is gonna "win"' but had trouble placing what else was left, glanced at the abba gold tracklist and thought 'dear god ilx, plz tell me you didn't put 'i have a dream' in the top two'.

It kinda had to be SOS, right? Sometimes the obvious is also correct.