ABBA’s worldwide fortunes had been considerably faltering after their Eurovision triumph with “Waterloo” in 1974. However by late 1977, they had been on an unstoppable roll, particularly within the UK, as they notched their sixth No.1 single, and fifth from their final six releases, with “The Name Of The Game.”
That sequence began with “Mamma Mia” and continued with “Fernando,” “Dancing Queen,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” It was solely interrupted by “Money Money Money” peaking at No.3, fairly surprisingly for what has grow to be an actual theme track for the Swedish pop champions.
The brand new, atmospheric “The Name Of The Game,” written as so usually by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with band supervisor Stig Andersson, was the primary to be composed for his or her subsequent LP, merely known as The Album. It grew to become a Prime 10 single in lots of nations, together with Germany, Holland, Australia, and certainly Sweden.
The track fared nicely within the States, with a No.12 peak and a Prime 10 putting on the Grownup Modern chart there. But it surely was within the UK that “The Name Of The Game” actually enhanced ABBA’s ever-growing repute because the premier high quality pop hitmakers of the period.
An album scene-setter
The monitor entered the British singles countdown at a comparatively modest No.20, however every week later, it raced to No.5, with the summit in its sights. On the chart for the primary week of November 1977, it unseated one other, infinitely extra fleeting European pop favourite, Baccara’s “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie,” to start a triumphant month at No.1. What’s extra, “The Name Of The Game” whetted the British urge for food for The Album, which landed on the chart early in 1978 and posted seven straight weeks on the high.
After covers of “The Name Of The Game” by such artists as Any Hassle in 1980 and Martha Wainwright in 1999, the track was given one other replace in 2018 when Cher remade it for her ABBA-inspired Dancing Queen album.
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