Mamma Mia (song)

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"Mamma Mia"
Single by ABBA
from the album ABBA
B-side	"Intermezzo No.1" "Tropical Loveland" (UK)
Released	September 1975
Format	7" single
Genre	Europop, Pop, Disco
Length	3:35
Label	Polar Music
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producer	Michael Tretow
Certification	Silver (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"Bang-A-Boomerang" (1975) "Mamma Mia" (1975) "Fernando" (1976)
Music video
"Mamma Mia" at YouTube

"Mamma Mia" is a song from ABBA's third album, ABBA, written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

• In 1980, a Spanish version of "Mamma Mia" was included on the album Gracias Por La Música.
• In 1999, a musical with the same name, Mamma Mia! opened in London's West End, featuring many of ABBA's songs, and production has spread to many other countries, with over 1500 performances on Broadway alone.

The song's name is derived from Italian, where it is an interjection (literally, my mum).

[edit] Reception

ABBA's ubiquitous single initially topped the charts in November 1975 in Australia where it stayed at the No.1 position for 10 weeks. At the time, it was rumoured that every third citizen of the country owned an ABBA record. It was almost entirely due to this overwhelming success that the single was subsequently, but reluctantly, released in the UK and other territories. On 21 July 2008, some 33 years later, "Mamma Mia" re-entered the Australian Charts at #48.

While never released as a single in their native Sweden, "Mamma Mia" was the act's first song to make a breakthrough in Australia, thus sparking off their surge in popularity there and elsewhere. It took the single nearly two months after it was released to top the UK charts. Interestingly, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (the single that "Mamma Mia" knocked off the top) coincidentally also contained the words "mamma mia" in the lyrics.

"Mamma Mia" also reached No.1 in Ireland, Switzerland and West Germany and made the Top Five in New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Austria and South Africa.

The single's popularity was boosted by a promotional music video, thus reintroducing the group to audiences, dressed in white à la 'glam rock' style outfits, and set against a pristine white backdrop. In the filming, sensual close-up and profile shots were used during the chorus "...

[edit] Releases and B-sides

The official B-side of the single was the instrumental "Intermezzo No.1", also included on the ABBA album. However, in the UK, "Tropical Loveland", another track from the same album, was used as the b-side. The reasoning for this is unclear. Epic Records in the UK may have made the change as "Intermezzo No. 1" was not representative of the album as a whole, being the only instrumental track on it. Epic may have feared that record buyers would be put off from buying the album if they thought there might be more than one vocal-less track on it.

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Cover versions

• French singer Karen Cheryl recorded a French language cover of the song in 1976.
• The 1995 New Zealand tribute compilation Abbasalutely includes a cover by alternative pop band The 3Ds.
• The song was covered by A*Teens on their debut album The ABBA Generation in 1999.
• The exact same music from the A*Teens version was re-used for another cover of "Mamma Mia" by Danish singer Kate Hall on the German compilation ABBA Mania a few years later.
• Italian pop group Gazosa recorded an English cover of the song in 1999. It was included on their self-titled 2001 album^[5].
• British singer/actress Martine McCutcheon covered the song for the 1999 tribute Abbamania. She also performed the song on the TV special. On the subsequent ABBAMania 2 album from 2004, the song is covered by British actress Tricia Penrose.
• British singer Hazell Dean recorded a dance-oriented cover for her 1996 album The Winner Takes It All: Hazell Dean Sings Abba.
• Dance covers of "Mamma Mia" have been recorded by Abbacadabra (produced by Almighty Records), Angeleyes on their 1999 tribute album ABBAdance, Sabu on the 2001 Japanese ABBA Ibiza Caliente Mix compilation, Euphorica on their 2003 album ABBA Dance, and DJ Ensamble on their 2006 Trancing Queen tribute album^[6].
• On the 2004 tribute compilation Abbalicious, the song is performed by several American drag queens.^[7]
• Ska band Five Iron Frenzy recorded their own rendition of the song.
• Musician/songwriter Pamela McNeill included a cover of the song on her album Tribute To ABBA, which was produced by her husband Dugan McNeill.
• A cover of the song was recorded by indie rock artist DackAttac.
• Indie rock band Seks Bomba from Boston recorded a cover of the song for their 2005 album Thanks & Good Night.
• Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden included the song on their ABBA tribute album entitled Gold. Their version featured an opening riff borrowed from the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
• A cover of the song by Storm Corp. can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.
• German AC/DC tribute band Riff Raff recorded a cover in AC/DC style for their 2006 album Rock 'N' Roll Mutation Vol. 1: Riff Raff Performs ABBA.
• A cover of the song by Finnish a cappella choral ensemble Rajaton can be found on their 2006 ABBA tribute album Rajaton Sings ABBA With Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
• Tribute band Gabba (band) recorded a cover of the song, in the style of The Ramones. A sample can be heard on their official website.^[8]
• A dance version by Shana Vanguarde omits the second half of the chorus.
• The song was covered in a jazz/lounge music style by American group BNB on their 2008 album Bossa Mia: Songs of ABBA.^[9]
• Australian rock band Audioscam covered the song on their 2008 album Abbattack. Samples from the album can be heard on their official MySpace page.^[10]
• American indie alternative rock band Miniature Tigers recorded a cover of the song that was available for download on the Net.
• Bollywood hit song Mil Gaya Humko Saathi from the movie Hum Kisise Kum Nahin is almost an exact reproduction of the Mama Mia tune (albeit not acknowledged in the end credits).
• Loreto Normanhurst teachers (Mr Lundon, Mr Lennon, Mrs Marsh and Mrs Millar) covered this song at Loreto Day 2009, almost an exact reproduction of the original.

[edit] Live cover performances

• Taiwanese singer A-mei has performed the song live.
• The song is featured in the Mamma Mia! musical, and sung by the character of Donna. In the context of the musical, the song is used as Donna's surprise at finding the three men she went out with at the same time. Donna explains how much pain the men caused her at the separation, but also in the song she explains how easily she can succumb to temptation. In the 2008 Mamma Mia! film adaptation, it is sung by Meryl Streep, who plays Donna.
• Elena Temnikova, Russian singer, sang this song in the 2003 television show Star Factory.
• Miley Cyrus sang this song in 2005 in one of her Hannah Montana audition tapes^{[citation needed]}.
• The Phoenix Metropolitan Men's Chorus sang "Mamma Mia" in a show entitled ExtrABBAganza that included almost all of the group's greatest hits.
• The song was sung on Australian Idol season 6 by Chrislyn Hamilton during Abba week.
• The song has also been performed, but without the lyrics, by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. [1]

[edit] References & appearances in other media

• ABBA perform parts of the song live in the film "ABBA: The Movie" (1977).
• The song is featured in the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert which was made in Australia, site of the single's greatest success.
• The song can be heard in the That 70s Show episode "No Quarter". Jackie plays it trying to get to sleep, to the annoyance of Donna.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://italiancharts.com/archive.asp?todo=show&day=23&month=10&year=2008&cat=s
2. ^ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/chartifacts.htm
3. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=6887 Chart Statistics for Mamma Mia
4. ^ http://www.swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=ABBA&titel=Mamma+Mia&cat=s
5. ^ http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazosa
6. ^ http://www.eurodancehits.com/review.html
7. ^ http://www.figjament.com/figjam_records_v1/abbalicious_pages/abbalicious_the_cd.html
8. ^ http://www.gabba.co.uk/media.html
9. ^ http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/09/yehey/life/20080109lif4.html
10. ^ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=396498104