Ring Ring (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Ring Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal)


Artist = Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni Frid
from Album = Ring Ring
B-side = "Åh vilka tider"
Released = February 14, 1973
Format = 7" Single
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:00
Producer = Polar
Writer = Benny Andersson
Stig Anderson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Michael Tretow
Director = no video made
Last single = "He Is Your Brother"
(1972)
This single = "Ring Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal)"
(1973)
Next single = "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)"
(1973)Infobox Single
Name = Ring Ring


Artist = Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid
from Album = Ring Ring
B-sides = Rock'n Roll Band
Released = February 19 1973
Format = Single
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:00
Label = Polar Music
Writer = Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson, Neil Sedaka & Phil Cody
Producer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Director = Lasse Hallstrom
Certification = —
Chart position = * #1 (BEL)
* #2 (AUT, NOR, SWE)
* #32 UK (remix)
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc ="Ring Ring" is a 1973 single by ABBA, which gave the group their big break in several European countries (although the rest of Europe, North America and Australia would be introduced to ABBA the following year). "Ring Ring" was originally written in Swedish by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, along with their manager Stig Anderson, and the translation into English lyrics was helped by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. The Swedish version reached #1 in the Swedish charts.

History

After the success of "People Need Love" in 1972 by Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid (as the group was then known), the group's manager, Stig Anderson, realised the potential of coupling the vocal talents of the women with the writing talents of the men. It was then decided that the quartet would record an LP. This eventually turned out to be the album "Ring Ring".

Andersson, Ulvaeus and Anderson were invited to submit a song for the Swedish selection process in order to choose their entry for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. After several days, Andersson and Ulvaeus came up with the tune for the Swedish version of "Ring Ring", with the working title "Klocklåt" (Clock Tune). Stig Anderson wrote the lyrics with the intention of making a "poppy" song, trying to remove the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest at the time.

After this, the song had been retitled "Ring Ring". To make it more accessible to a universal audience, Anderson asked American songwriter Neil Sedaka to pen the lyrics for an English version, together with his songwriting partner, Phil Cody.

On January 10, 1973, the song was recorded at the Metronome Studio in Stockholm. Michael B. Tretow, the studio engineer, collaborated with Andersson and Ulvaeus over many of their subsequent singles and albums. Tretow had read a book about record producer Phil Spector, famed for his "Wall of Sound" treatment to the songs that he produced. While Spector used several musicians playing the same instruments in the same recording studio at the same time, this was far too expensive for this case. Thus, Tretow's solution was to simply record the song's backing track twice, in order to achieve an orchestral sound. By changing the speed of the tape between the overdubs, making the instruments marginally out of tune, this increased the effect. This was unlike anything that had been done before in Swedish music.

However, when Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid performed "Ring Ring" in the Swedish heats, they only finished third. Nevertheless, the song fared much better in the Swedish charts, both in its Swedish and English language incarnations, where it hit No.1 and No.2 respectively.

It was only now the quartet decided that performing as a group was a serious and realistic idea. They toured Sweden, and despite the failure of "Ring Ring" to represent the country at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, they began to prepare themselves for 1974's competition, with "Waterloo".

Reception and other versions

Though "Ring Ring" did not get the opportunity to represent Sweden in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, it performed extremely well in the Swedish charts, giving the quartet their first number-one hit. The English version did almost as well, peaking at number two in Sweden, Norway and Austria, and reaching the top 10 in the Netherlands and South Africa. It did, however, top the charts in Belgium, becoming the first of 16 chart-toppers for ABBA in that country. It was their first release in the UK, but failed to chart. A remixed version of the song reached number 32 in June 1974 (after the number-one success of "Waterloo"), and would later hit number 7 in Australia during the height of "ABBAmania". A second remixed version, different than but based on the one released in the UK, was included as a bonus track on the original U.S. and Canadian release of the "Waterloo" album. A German language version of the song was also recorded, and was released in what was then West Germany, but failed to chart. A Spanish version was also recorded, but this was not released until the 1993 CD compilation "Más ABBA Oro" in selected countries, and internationally on the 1999 edition of "".

The master tapes of the 1974 remix were presumed missing, or at least unobtainable, for some years. For this reason, it did not appear on the 1994 4-CD boxed set "Thank You for the Music". In 1999, a CD boxed set of singles was released. The 1974 single remix was included, but had been mastered from a vinyl single as the master tape was still not available. However, in 2001, "The Definitive Collection" was released which finally included the 1974 single remix sourced from the master tape. It was later revealed on Carl Magnus Palm's website that Polar Music had acquired the single master tapes from Epic Records in the UK. This had presumably occurred between 1999 and 2001.

Chart positions (Swedish and English versions)

Cover versions

*A Swedish country band called Nashville Train (which included some of ABBA's own backing band members) covered the song in the 1970s on their album "ABBA Our Way".

*A dance version can be found on the 1999 album "ABBAdance" by Angeleyes.

*Swedish alternative rock band Sator recorded a cover of the song for the 1992 Swedish tribute album "ABBA: The Tribute", released on the Polar Music label.

*Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden included a cover of the song on their ABBA tribute album "Gold". The beginning of this version includes a riff from the Judas Priest song "Breaking the Law".

*The 1995 New Zealand compilation "Abbasalutely" includes a cover by Breast Secreting Cake.

*Studio 99 released two versions of the song on their ABBA tribute albums, one performed in the traditional ABBA style & the second being more of a dance-oriented techno mix.