If Frida was hesitant about what to do subsequent after her run with the world’s largest group, it doesn’t present on the assured new-wave/pop hybrid, One thing’s Going On, which ended up being probably the most profitable post-ABBA venture from any of its members (musical theatre apart) after its launch in September 1982.
One thing’s Going On was solely Frida’s third solo report, was her first recorded solely in English, and offered shut to 2 million copies. She had some assist: Phil Collins added a particular layer of manufacturing, and among the planet’s most profitable hit-writers have been drafted in to share their songs after Frida’s label, Polar Music, put out the decision for concepts.
From the modern disco of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte’s “To Turn The Stone,” initially recorded with Donna Summer time, to Oscar nominee Stephen Bishop’s pressing “Tell Me It’s Over” and the coy, lilting “I See Red,” from Jim Rafferty, One thing’s Going On was a rounded 11-track assortment, the place virtually each tune might have made it as a single.
The tune really chosen to launch the album, recorded in Stockholm throughout February and March 1982, was the Russ Ballard pop-stomper “I Know There’s Something Going On.” Present process an enormous promotional blitz to promote the only, Frida was rewarded with a smash hit throughout continental Europe, and even a No.13 inserting within the US Billboard charts. Solely the UK remained lukewarm – the only made it to No.43, although the mother or father album made the Prime 20. “I Know There’s Something Going On” is a robust pop/rock hybrid solely of its time, however with a searing vocal and insanely catchy melody that maintains its wholesome rotation on radio to today.
However to categorize the entire of One thing’s Going On in that vein is to disregard its shocking range. “Strangers” is a young ballad of the kind Olivia Newton-John may need been recording right now, and comes closest to the ABBA sound of previous. “Threnody,” a poem from Dorothy Parker set to the music of Roxette’s Per Gessle, is a hovering epic that would have come from the pen of Stevie Nicks. Bryan Ferry contributed a demo from Roxy Music’s Flesh + Blood periods which turned “The Way You Do,” a lightweight however compulsive ballad that has by no means been recorded by Ferry or Roxy Music.
Frida sounds very assured on the album, and it’s clear she wished to distance herself from the kind of songs and manufacturing fashion that characterised her former group. The selection of Phil Collins to collaborate on the report was a private one – Frida reportedly fell in love with the singer’s Face Worth album, which had been launched the earlier 12 months. One of many basic ballads from that multi-platinum smash, “You Know What I Mean,” was re-recorded by Frida and have become One thing’s Going On’s penultimate tune. The closing quantity really got here from the 1980 Eurovision Track Contest: an unsuccessful tune from the UK heats reworked as a rousing power-pop anthem between Frida and (an uncredited) Phil. Shut your eyes and it might be Bee Gees, nevertheless it’s an efficient mix, with Phil’s drumming and the horn part from Earth, Wind & Fireplace making “Here We’ll Stay” one of many album’s finest songs – and a becoming finale.
So there’s a way that, whereas nothing was going to be left to probability, that is the sound of a unprecedented singer having fun with pushing some boundaries. One thing’s Going On is set to stay a pop album however, working inside these broad parameters, it’s additionally wildly experimental. Years of relentless work with ABBA, and the divorce that closed that chapter, may need seen Frida glad to retread former glories, however One thing’s Going On sees her making a play at a time when the world lacked a serious worldwide feminine star. Debbie Harry’s band was imploding, whereas Sheena Easton and Olivia have been seen as too protected, so, on the time of the album’s launch, every thing was nonetheless up for grabs.
One thing’s Going On generated good gross sales and largely optimistic critiques. That it didn’t rework Frida into an enormous worldwide solo star says extra about the best way feminine acts have been supported again then than anything. It stays her pop masterpiece.
One thing’s Going On will be purchased right here.
