Does Your Mother Know

"Does Your Mother Know"
Single by ABBA
from the album Voulez-Vous
B-side "Kisses of Fire"
Released April 1979
Format 7" single
Recorded 6 February 1979 at Polar Music Studios
Genre Pop, disco, rock
Length 3:15
Label Polar (Sweden)
Epic (UK)
Writer(s) Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s) Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Certification Silver (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"Chiquitita"
(1979)
"Does Your Mother Know"
(1979)
"Voulez-Vous"
(1979)
Music video
"Does Your Mother Know" on YouTube

"Does Your Mother Know" (working title: "I Can Do It") is a song recorded in 1979 by Swedish pop group ABBA and was the second single to be released from their album Voulez-Vous. The B-side was "Kisses of Fire", also taken from the album.

History

"Does Your Mother Know" was recorded in February 1979 and released as a single in April of that year. Written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the song is something of a pastiche to 1950s/early 1960s-style rock and roll and touches on the subject of a man responding to the flirting of a much younger girl.

"Does Your Mother Know" deviated from the typical 'ABBA at their most famous' formula, in that the lead vocals were sung not by the female vocalists (Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad) as was usually the case, but by Björn Ulvaeus. This was one of the few ABBA singles to feature Ulvaeus as the sole lead vocal, along with 'Rock Me'.

The track originally featured a 30 second instrumental introduction which was ultimately cut from the recording. A session in late March 1979 saw the addition of Benny's characteristic synthesizer introduction, as well as work on the backing track that turned a boogie rock stomper into a disco track.

Reception

"Does Your Mother Know" was another sizable ABBA hit, hitting No. 1 in Belgium and reaching the top 5 in Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands. It was also a top 10 hit in Australia, Canada, Germany, Rhodesia and Switzerland.

Allmusic reviewer Donald A. Guarisco said in a review of the song that "ABBA's recording balances the song's rock elements with dance music touches to create an intriguing dance/rock hybrid" and that its "macho feel is enhanced by a rockabilly-styled melody that flowers into a swinging chorus".[1]

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart Position
German Singles Chart (Airplay) 1
Belgian Singles Chart (BRT) 1
Belgian Singles Chart (Humo) 1
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1
Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart 2
Finnish Singles Chart 2
Irish Singles Chart 3
Dutch Top 30 National Hitparade Singles Chart 3
Dutch Top 40 Singles Chart 4
UK Singles Chart 4
Swiss Singles Chart 6
Australian Singles Chart 7
Canada Top 50 Singles Chart 8
Rhodesian Singles Chart 9
German Singles Chart (Sales) 10
South African Singles Chart 12
Austrian Singles Chart 13
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles[2] 16
US Record World 17
Mexican Singles Chart 17
Japan Top 100 Oricon Singles Chart 18
US Billboard Hot 100 19
French Singles Chart 26
New Zealand Singles Chart 27
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 41

Year-end charts

Chart (1979) Position
Canada 52
UK [3] 54
US Billboard Hot 100 [4] 132 (not official - see citation)


Preceded by
"Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" by Boney M.
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single
9 June 1979
Succeeded by
"Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel
Preceded by
"I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick
Belgian VRT Top 30 Singles Chart number-one single
14 June 1979 – 18 June 1979
Succeeded by
"Pop Muzik" by M

Cover versions

Live cover performances, appearances in other media etc.

References

  1. Donald A. Guarisco. "Does Your Mother Know". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  2. Downey, Pat; Albert, George; Hoffmann, Frank W (1994). Cash Box pop singles charts, 1950–1993. Libraries Unlimited. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-56308-316-7.
  3. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1979.shtml
  4. http://www.bullfrogspond.com/whitburn/1979wye.htm NOTE: This is not an official Billboard chart ranking, as Billboard compiled their year-end charts differently from the way the statistician cited here, Joel Whitburn, did. Billboard does not list singles on year-end charts according to peak position first. Billboard itself did not list singles below No. 100 in its year-end tabulation, and "Does Your Mother Know" did not appear in the Top 100.

External links

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