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Knowing Me, Knowing You

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For other uses, see Knowing Me, Knowing You (disambiguation).

"Knowing Me, Knowing You"
Song
B-side"Happy Hawaii"[1]

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" is a hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, with Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing the lead vocals. During recording sessions, it had the working titles of "Ring It In" and "Number 1, Number 1". The song is featured on the group's album Arrival, and also on the Gold: Greatest Hits compilation.

History

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was recorded in 1976 at the Metronome studio in Stockholm and was released as a single in February 1977, becoming one of the group's most successful hits. The B-side was "Happy Hawaii", an arrangement of another ABBA song, "Why Did It Have to Be Me?", but with a different lead vocalist and lyrics. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" was one of the first ABBA songs to deal with the break-up of a relationship, though with an upbeat quality to the music. It predates the divorces of the ABBA members, as well as further break-up songs to come: "The Winner Takes It All", "One of Us" and "When All Is Said and Done". Group member Benny Andersson named "Knowing Me, Knowing You" as one of ABBA's best recordings in a 2004 interview, along with "Dancing Queen", "The Winner Takes It All" and "When I Kissed the Teacher". "Conociéndome, Conociéndote" is the Spanish-language version of the song. It was included in the compilation Oro: Grandes Éxitos released in 1993.

Music video

The music video depicts the band against various colored backdrops singing while facing each other, turning away as a new line is sung. At the end of the video, the band's female members are seen walking away through thick snow. The video was directed by future Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallström and is a landmark in his career alongside most other videos of the band which were directed by him.[2]

Reception

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" proved to be one of ABBA's most successful singles, hitting #1 in Germany (ABBA's sixth consecutive chart-topper there), the United Kingdom,[3] Ireland, Mexico and South Africa,[4] while reaching the Top 3 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It was also a Top 10 hit in Australia, France, New Zealand and Norway. In the United States, it became ABBA's sixth Top 20 single, peaking at #14 on the Hot 100, and also reached #7 on Billboard's AC chart.

In the UK, "Knowing Me, Knowing You" began a second run of three consecutive #1 singles for ABBA (followed by "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me"), the group having already had three consecutive No. 1 hit singles in 1976.

Chart performance

Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single
19 March 1977 – 9 April 1977 		Succeeded by
"Lay Back In The Arms of Someone" by Smokie
Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
2 April 1977 – 7 May 1977 		Succeeded by
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
9 April 1977 – 7 May 1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by German Singles Chart number-one single
8 April 1977 – 15 April 1977 		Succeeded by
"Lay Back In The Arms of Someone" by Smokie

Cover versions

  • A cover recorded in 1977 by the Top of the Poppers appears on the 2002 compilation album Knowing Me, Knowing You.
  • The Paraguayan singer Perla recorded a Spanish version, Conociendonos Mas for the 1977 album Relaciones Internacionales.
  • The French conductor Franck Pourcel recorded an instrumental version for his 1978 album Pourcel meets Abba.
  • British singer Cilla Black recorded a cover for her 1980 album Especially For You.
  • Swedish pop group A-Teens included the song as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their debut album The ABBA Generation.
  • Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen recorded her own cover of the song for the 1992 Swedish tribute album ABBA – The Tribute, released on the Polar Music label.
  • The 1995 New Zealand tribute album entitled Abbasalutely features a cover by Superette.
  • American power pop band Wondermints included a cover of the song on their 1996 album Wonderful World Of The Wondermints.
  • Evan Dando, former lead singer of The Lemonheads, recorded an acoustic version of the song which was included on the album ABBA: A Tribute – The 25th Anniversary Celebration released in 1999.
  • Right Said Fred covered the song on the German album ABBA Mania which was a tie-in to a TV special in Germany.
  • Swedish musician Nils Landgren included a rendition of the song on his 2004 tribute album Funky ABBA.
  • Singer Hazell Dean included a dance-oriented cover of the song for her 1996 album The Winner Takes It All: Hazell Dean Sings ABBA.
  • Indie artists, including Minneapolis singer-songwriter/musician Pamela McNeill (on her Tribute To ABBA album, which was produced by her husband Dugan McNeill), Texan band Javelin Boot & Detroit country/rock band The Volebeats, have all recorded their own renditions of the song.
  • A version by Swedish heavy metal band Tad Morose was included on the ABBA tribute compilation ABBAMetal (also released as A Tribute to ABBA).
  • Two dance versions appear on the ABBA tribute compilation Lay All Your Love On ABBA. One is an instrumental techno version by Vectrolab, the other is a standard vocal version by Marmic.
  • A dance version by Australian singer Donna Burke was included on the 2001 Japanese ABBA Ibiza Caliente Mix tribute album.
  • Belgian singer Arno Hintjens included a cover as a bonus track on his 2004 album French Bazaar. It was also included on his 2008 album Covers Cocktail.
  • A eurotrance version by DCX was released as a single in 2007, with various remixes.
  • Tribute band Gabba (band) recorded a cover of the song, in the style of The Ramones.
  • A jazz cover of the song was recorded by Kristjana & Agnar for their album Ég um þig ("Me for you").
  • South African R&B group Jamali covered the song for their 2008 album 3rd Base.
  • The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded an instrumental version of the song.
  • Richard Clayderman played an instrumental version on his album The ABBA Collection.

Live cover performances, appearances in other media, etc.

  • Brief clips from the original ABBA recording features in the film ABBA: The Movie (1977), whilst Ashley is stuck in a traffic jam; it is presumably coming from the radio of another car.
  • Live versions have been performed by various artists including Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Norwegian singer/actress Anneli Drecker, Swedish band Eskobar, Canadian singer Ron Sexsmith and American singer Marshall Crenshaw.
  • Scottish band Danny Wilson included a live cover version, recorded at the Town & Country Club, London on 1 October 1989 as a B-side on their "I Can't Wait" single
  • The Phoenix Metropolitan Men's Chorus sung the song in a show entitled ExtrABBAganza that included almost all of the group's greatest hits.
  • The song is also performed in the musical Mamma Mia! by the character of Sam. In the context of the musical, the song is used as Sam's description of his failed marriage. Also, some people can interpret it as Sam reflecting on the time he left Donna to go home and get married. While the song is briefly heard in the film adaptation as Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Donna (Meryl Streep) walk down the aisle, it is not included on the soundtrack.
  • The song was sung on Australian Idol season 6 by Luke Dickens during Abba week.
  • The song is the theme of the Steve Coogan 1990's comic vehicle Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. "Knowing me, knowing you, a-ha", is also Partridge's key catch phrase.
  • On 5 December 2010 on a British poll for The Nations Favourite ABBA song, it placed at #5.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "ABBA - Knowing Me, Knowing You (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Knowing me Knowing you/ABBA Lasse Hallström". indielisboa.
  3. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 338–9. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ "South Africa". Home.zipworld.com.au. 5 January 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  5. ^ Downey, Pat; Albert, George; Hoffmann, Frank W (1994). Cash Box pop singles charts, 1950–1993. Libraries Unlimited. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-56308-316-7.
  6. ^ http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092
  7. ^ http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5502a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5502a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5502a
  8. ^ http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1977.shtml
  9. ^ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1977.htm
  10. ^ Billboard, December 24, 1977.
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