Take a Chance on Me
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| “Take a Chance on Me” | |||||
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| Single by ABBA from the album The Album |
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| Released | January 1978 | ||||
| Format | Single | ||||
| Recorded | 1977 | ||||
| Genre | Pop,Disco | ||||
| Length | 4:01 | ||||
| Label | Polar Music | ||||
| Writer(s) | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | ||||
| Producer | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | ||||
| Certification | Gold (UK), Gold (USA) | ||||
| ABBA singles chronology | |||||
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"Take a Chance on Me" is a song recorded in 1977 by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was the second single to be released from their fifth album, simply called The Album, and has appeared on numerous ABBA compilations, namely ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits.
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[edit] History
The working title of "Take a Chance on Me" was "Billy Boy". Written and recorded in 1977 by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it was sung by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, with Fältskog delivering the solo passages. It was one of ABBA's first singles in which their manager Stig Anderson did not lend a hand in writing the lyrics, firmly establishing Andersson and Ulvaeus as a songwriting partnership. The song's origins sprang from Ulvaeus, whose hobby was running. While running, he would sing a "tck-a-ch"-style rhythm to himself over and over again, which then evolved into "take-a-chance" and the eventual lyrics. The song's B-side was "I'm a Marionette", which, like "Thank You for the Music" and "I Wonder (Departure)" (the B-side to their previous single, "The Name of the Game"), was intended to be part of a mini-musical entitled The Girl with the Golden Hair that Andersson and Ulvaeus had planned, but ultimately shelved.
[edit] Reception
"Take a Chance on Me" proved to be one of ABBA's most successful chart hits. It was released in January 1978, and spent three weeks at No.1 in the UK. It also topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Mexico, and was a Top 3 hit in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the Netherlands, Switzerland, West Germany and the United States, where it sold more copies than "Dancing Queen" (though, unlike the latter, it did not manage to top the charts, peaking at No. 3). "Take a Chance on Me" also reached the Top 10 in South Africa, Canada, Norway and France.
The track is also Elton John's favourite ABBA song.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart | Position |
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| Austrian Singles Chart | 14 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 12 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 11 |
| Mexican Singles Chart | 16 |
| UK Singles Chart | 13 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 2 |
| Rhodesian Singles Chart | 2 |
| West German Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| South African Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 7 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 8 |
| French Singles Chart | 10 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 12 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 14 |
| Japanese Singles Chart | 67 |
[edit] Formats
Spanish Promotional CD
- Take A Chance On Me [Album Version] - 3:52
| Preceded by "Figaro" by Brotherhood of Man |
UK number one single February 18, 1978 |
Succeeded by "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush |
[edit] A Teens version
| “Take A Chance On Me” | ||
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| Single by A*Teens from the album The ABBA Generation |
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| Released | 2000 | |
| Format | Airplay | |
| Recorded | 1999 | |
| Genre | Pop, Europop | |
| Length | 3:52 | |
| Label | Universal Music | |
| Writer(s) | B. Andersson B. Ulvaeus |
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| Producer | Thomas Johansson Ronald Malmberg |
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| A*Teens chronology | ||
| "One of Us" (1999) |
"Take a Chance on Me" (2000) |
"Dancing Queen" (2000) |
Take a Chance on Me was an A*Teens promo single from their debut album The ABBA Generations, a cover on ABBA. Universal Music Spain released the song on Spanish radio, hoping to promote the band in Spain in the early 2000s. The song also became part of the Head Over Heels motion picture soundtrack in 2001.
[edit] Music Video
A music video for the song was filmed for a TV special in Sweden. The low budget video shows the A*Teens in little cars singing the song.
[edit] Other cover versions
- The track was famously covered by English synthpop duo Erasure in 1992, as part of their Abba-esque EP. Erasure members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell recreated ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" music video playing dual roles — as themselves and in drag — Clarke as Fältskog and Bell as Lyngstad. The cover itself topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in 1992.
- Dance versions of the song have been recorded by Abbacadabra (released through British label Almighty Records) in the late 1990s, Waterloop on the Lay All Your Love On ABBA compilation, Euphorica on their 2003 album ABBA Dance, and Wildside.
- American musician/songwriter Pamela McNeill covered the song on her Tribute To ABBA album, which was produced by her husband Dugan McNeill.
- An electronica cover of the song by Cicada can be found on the compilation The Electronic Tribute To ABBA.
- An a cappella version was recorded by an American vocal group called Canvas.
- The tribute album ABBAMetal (also released as A Tribute to ABBA) features a version by German heavy metal band Rough Silk.
- The late Vietnamese singer Ngoc Lan recorded a cover of the song which features her singing in both Vietnamese and English.
- Swedish musician Nils Landgren includes a version on his tribute album Funky ABBA.
- On the tribute album ABBAlicious performed by various American drag queens, the song was covered by Cashetta.
- Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden included the song on their ABBA tribute album entitled Gold. Their version featured an opening riff borrowed from the Metallica song "Enter Sandman".
- The 2000 covers compilation Tokahits contains a cover by American singer/musician J'Nae Fincannon.
- For the British ABBAMania 2 album from 2004, the song was covered by British TV actresses Jodi Albert and Carly Stenson.
- A cover of the song by Khaterine Lars can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out
- The Mexican band Los Horoscopos de Durango released a Spanish cover called "Sólo Piensa en Mí" (Just Think About Me) in a renewed, folk Duranguense rhythm.
- The song is a number in the Mamma Mia! musical.
- The song was covered by The Countdown Singers on their critically panned album "Disco Nights".
[edit] Appearances in other media, etc.
- Recently the song has enjoyed a sort of resurgence in the sports world. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of ESPN, have used the track as their official song for all sports drafts.
- In the fourth-season episode of the American series The Office entitled Launch Party, Andy, accompanied by two members of his college a cappella group (on speakerphone), sings this song to Angela in an attempt to woo her.
- The song appeared in the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Pearl Harbor" where Malcolm and Reese awkwardly dance to the song.
- "Take a Chance on Me" has been used as a campaign song by the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign in the United States.
- In the young adult fiction novel "So Yesterday", the song is the ringtone of Mandy's phone.
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