Europop Rules In America With "Dancing Queen"

1977

ABBA goes to #1 on the US singles chart with "Dancing Queen," the group's seventh US Top 40 hit and first #1. The song is also a #1 in the UK and 12 other countries.

Before "Dancing Queen," Abba had their fair share of hits in the US, but while the Swedish quartet was sweeping the globe with massive album sales and Top 10 singles - five at once in Australia - their tunes rarely hit the upper echelon on the US charts. The most recent record, "Fernando," petered out at #13. Respectable, but that same song breezed to the #1 slot across the globe. What gives, America? Up to this point, Abba has given the US a name without a face. Without tours or TV appearances, Stateside listeners are largely oblivious to the fact that all these bright Swedish pop records of late come from the same group. To combat the invisibility issue, they show up on a few LA-based programs like Dinah and Midnight Special so they won't be forgotten, but Abba isn't really phased. "We'll wait until there's a demand from the audience," the group's Benny Andersson tells Phonograph Record in 1976. "We could come here as a supporting act, but it takes so much money and so much time to do it the way we want (a 13-piece band and no backing tapes)...We can wait." They don't have to wait too long. Less than six months later, their new single "Dancing Queen" is a #1 hit in the US. The song replicates Phil Spector's lush Wall of Sound and taps into the still-raging disco boom in the country. Plus, there's the novelty of watching the foursome on their TV screens performing in bedazzled jumpsuits - finally, a shiny image to go with a shiny record. Abba has officially conquered the world.