The Best of ABBA

The Best of ABBA
Greatest hits album by ABBA
Released 1975
Recorded 1972-1975
Genre Pop
Length 37:12
Label Polydor (Austria, Germany, India, Netherlands and Norway)
RCA (Australia and New Zealand)
Producer Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus

The Best of ABBA is a compilation greatest hits album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in November 1975 in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway, and in 1976 in Austria and India.[1][2] Globally ABBA released Greatest Hits. The album topped the charts in Australia, Austria and New Zealand, and went on to be certified 24x Platinum in New Zealand and 22x Platinum in Australia. The album is tied with Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms for being the best-selling album in that country.[3]

In Australia it spent 16 weeks at number one, and in New Zealand it topped the charts for 18 weeks. The Best of ABBA was one of the biggest selling vinyl albums in Australian history, selling over a million copies. At one stage RCA Records couldn’t keep up with the demand for the albums in the country's shops, and copies had to be pressed under licence by a rival record company. In both countries, this album charted better than all the other ABBA releases.

The Best of ABBA was re-released in 1988 on vinyl and CD, but was only available for a short time.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.

Side 1

  1. "Waterloo" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 2:42
  2. "Ring Ring" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus, N. Sedaka, P. Cody) – 3:03
  3. "Honey, Honey" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 2:55
  4. "Mamma Mia" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 3:32
  5. "People Need Love" – 2:43
  6. "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" – 2:52

Side 2

  1. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 3:15
  2. "SOS" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 3:22
  3. "Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)" – 3:12
  4. "Bang-A-Boomerang" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 3:02
  5. "Hasta Mañana" (written by B. Andersson, S. Anderson, B. Ulvaeus) – 3:09
  6. "So Long" – 3:06

Charts and certifications

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1976 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart 1
1976 Austrian Albums Chart[4] 1
1976 Netherlands Albums Chart[5] 1
1976 New Zealand Albums Chart 1
1975 Norwegian Albums Chart[6] 14

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[7] 22× Platinum 1,100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[8] 2× Gold 500,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[3] 24× Platinum 360,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ABBA: The Best of ABBA". Discogs. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "The Best of ABBA". ABBA—The Releases. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966-2006. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. ↑ austriancharts.at
  5. ↑ ABBA - The Worldwide Chart Lists - The Netherlands
  6. ↑ norwegiancharts.com
  7. ↑ Baker, Glen (8 November 1979). Billboard Magazine Volume 91, No. 36. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (ABBA; 'Best Of ABBA')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
Preceded by
A Night at the Opera by Queen		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
March 29 - July 18, 1976 		Succeeded by
Howzat by Sherbet