NewsABBA / The Singles: The First Fifty Years
2CD and 4LP vinyl
ABBA channel the spirit of their 1982 ‘best of’, The Singles: The First Ten Years, with a new collection called The Singles: The First Fifty Years, which brings the story of the Swedish group right up to date.
Admittedly, not much happened between 1982 and 2021, but nevertheless this perhaps pithily titled compilation features every ABBA single issued by Polar up until 1982, as well as the singles released from the group’s remarkable 2021 ‘comeback’ album,Voyage.
Issued in November 1982, The Singles: The First Ten Years was for a decade or the ABBA connoisseur’s hits collection of choice. ABBA’s Gold collection took over in 1992 and has never looked back, although The Singles The First Ten Years could always boast the inclusion of ‘The Day Before You Came’ and ‘Under Attack’ neither of which appear on Gold. Both songs were new at the time of The First Ten Years, with ‘The Day Before You Came’ released as a single to promote the compilation, while ‘Under Attack’ was unreleased at the time it was put out (but issued as a single a month later, in early December ’82).
The Singles: The First Ten Years contained 23 tracks. However, on the new compilation The Singles: The First Fifty Years expands on the period between 1972 and 1982 with 10 extra tracks not on the 1982 compilation. They are:
- People Need Love
- He Is Your Brother
- Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
- Honey Honey
- Hasta Mañana*
- Eagle
- Angeleyes*
- Lay All Your Love On Me*
- Head Over Heels
- When All is Said and Done*
The asterisked tracks were not issued as Polar Music A-sides, but were singles in some countries back in the day (‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ was a double A-side with ‘Voulez-Vous’ in some places). If you add the five singles from Voyage to the songs from the original era, that gives you a 38-track compilation which is being issued as a 2CD set or a 4LP vinyl package. The vinyl set includes a 24-page illustrated booklet including liner notes and “unseen” band images, while the CD booklet runs to 28 pages with the same content.
The typography on the new compilation is clearly is designed to echo the now 42-year-old collection, and one imagines that any hopes for a reissue of The First Ten Years are basically scuppered by this new set.
ABBA The Singles: The First Fifty Years will be released on 25 October 2024 via
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ABBA
The Singles The First Fifty Years - 2CD
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ABBA
The Singles The First Fifty Years - 4LP vinyl
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Tracklisting
The Singles: The First Fifty Years ABBA /
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CD 1: 1972-1979
- People Need Love
- He Is Your Brother
- Ring Ring
- Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
- Waterloo
- Honey Honey
- Hasta Manana
- So Long
- I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
- S.O.S.
- Mamma Mia
- Fernando
- Dancing Queen
- Money Money Money
- Knowing Me Knowing You
- The Name of the Game
- Take a Chance On Me
- Eagle
- Summer Night City
- Chiquitita
- Does Your Mother Know
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CD 2: 1979-2022
- Voulez-Vous
- Angeleyes
- Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)
- I Have a Dream
- The Winner Takes It All
- Super Trouper
- Lay All Your Love On Me
- One of Us
- Head Over Heels
- When All is Said and Done
- The Day Before You Came
- Under Attack
- I Still Have Faith in You
- Don’t Shut Me Down
- Just a Notion
- Little Things
- No Doubt About It
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CD 1: 1972-1979
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By Paul Sinclair
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