ABBA – The History Book on the Shelf

For years, music fans have debated about which are the finest songs ever by the likes of The Beatles, the Stones, Bowie, Springsteen, and Kate Bush - those artists widely regarded as all-time greats. But how about ABBA? Surely, postMamma Mia! the movie and musical and decades of mainstream adoration, they have earned their place in the pantheon and their catalogue merits serious evaluation. Pete Paphides believes so and, in this ABBA Special, picks their 40 (plus one) Best Songs. Then, on page 100, RC enjoy a rare encounter with one half of the group's peerless songwriting partnership...

- By Pete Paphides

40. Honey, Honey (from Waterloo, Epic EPC 80179, LP, yellow labels, UK) £15 While ABBA struggled to find a hit successor to Waterloo, British studio band Sweet Dreams, fronted by Pickettywitch’s Polly Browne, were quick to seize on the potential of the album track Honey Honey, scoring a Top 10 hit with it in the summer of 1974. Though bereft of the sonic signifiers that render later ABBA hits instantly recognisable, it’s long been established it as a fan favourite. Indeed, emerging from a Swedish music scene where critical reverence was reserved for socially conscious groups who set store by their desire to tackle major themes, ABBA’s explicit desire to write songs in the “bubblegum” tradition was almost subversive. Honey singlehandedly vindicates ABBA’s militant fidelity to the pure pop ideal.

39. Ring Ring (Epic EPC 1793, 7”, yellow labels UK, 1973) £70 Strip away the many production layers of ABBA’s first bid for Eurovision breakout success and, at its core, you have a sweet, Scandinavian take on Mardi Gras R&B. Fresh in the mind of engineer Michael B. Tretow, when it came to the recording of Ring Ring, was Richard Williams’ book Out Of His Head –