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Knowing Me, Knowing You

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For the Alan Partridge show, see Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge.
"Knowing Me, Knowing You"
Song
B-side"Happy Hawaii"

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" is a hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song was written by Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. During recording sessions it had the working titles of "Ring It In" and "Number One, Number One". "Knowing Me, Knowing You" features on the group's album Arrival, and the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits compilation. The song has remained popular in the years since it was released, and became the catchphrase of Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan's comic creation from the show of the same name. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" is also featured in the Mamma Mia! musical.

History

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was recorded in 1976 at the Metronome studio in Stockholm, and released in February 1977, becoming one of the group's most successful singles. 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 breakup of a relationship, though with an upbeat quality to the music. It predates the divorces of the ABBA members, as well as further breakup 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".

Reception

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was yet another worldwide smash hit, taken from the huge succsessful Arrival album. Hitting No.1 in the UK, Ireland, West Germany, South Africa and Mexico, and reaching the Top 3 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. It was also a Top 10 hit in Norway, New Zealand, Australia and France. In the United States, "Knowing Me, Knowing You" became ABBA's sixth Top 20 single, peaking at No.14.

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was also the first in the second in a series of chart-topping singles for ABBA in Britain (continuing with "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me"), coming after the group scored three number-ones in the UK in 1976.

Chart positions

Chart (1977) Position
UK Singles Chart 1
Irish Singles Chart 1
German Singles Chart 1
Mexican Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Belgian VRT Top 30 Singles Chart 2
Canadian Singles Chart 2
Dutch Top 40 3
Swiss Singles Chart 3
Norwegean VG-lista Singles Chart 6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 7
New Zeeland RIANZ Singles Chart 8
French IFOP Singles Chart 9
Australian Singles Chart 9
U.S Billboard Hot 100 14
Finnish Singles Chart 16
Spanish Singles Chart 17


Template:Succession box one to two
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single
March 19 1977 - April 9 1977 		Succeeded by
"Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" by Smokie
Preceded by German Singles Chart number-one single
April 8 1977 - April 15 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.
  • British singer Cilla Black recorded a cover for her 1980 album Especially For You.
  • Danish pop group How Do I recorded a slower cover version for their 1990 album Submarine. They also released a remix by the Danish DJ Kenneth Bager on a maxi single.
  • 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 recorded 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.
  • A dance version and numerous remixes by ABBA tribute group Abbacadabra were released through British label Almighty Records in the late 1990s.
  • A eurodance version was recorded by Housecream.
  • A techno dance version was recorded by DCX.
  • 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 musician/songwriter Pamela McNeill (on her Tribute To ABBA album, which was produced by her husband Dugan McNeill), Texan band Javelin Boot, and 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).
  • Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden recorded an ABBA tribute album entitled Gold, which includes their rendition of "Knowing Me, Knowing You". The beginning of this version includes a riff from the Led Zeppelin song "Heartbreaker".
  • 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.
  • The song is featured on the 2003 tribute album ABBA Dance by Euphorica.
  • The British ABBAMania 2 album from 2004 featured a number of ABBA songs performed by various British TV stars. The album contains a cover of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by actress Wendi Peters of Coronation Street fame.
  • 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.
  • On the 2004 tribute album Abbalicious performed by various American drag queens, the song was covered by Sade Pendarvis.[1]
  • A cover of the song by P. Kurz can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.
  • A techno dance version was recorded by DJ Ensamble for their 2006 tribute album Trancing Queen.[2]
  • Tribute band Gabba (band) recorded a cover of the song, in the style of The Ramones.
  • Danish a cappella sextet baSix included a cover for their 2007 album Star People.
  • A teen pop band from Iceland called Al'Margir with a former member of the group, Fraya, recorded the cover version for a TV series in Iceland.
  • A jazz cover of the song was recorded by Kristjana & Agnar for the compilation Jazz Lounge Volume 1.
  • The song was covered in a jazz/lounge music style by American group BNB on their 2008 album Bossa Mia: Songs of ABBA.[3]
  • Australian rock band Audioscam covered the song on their 2008 album Abbattack. Samples from the album can be heard on their official MySpace page.[4]

Live cover performances, appearances in other media, etc.

  • 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 October 1st 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.
  • 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.

References

  1. ^ http://www.figjament.com/figjam_records_v1/abbalicious_pages/abbalicious_the_cd.html
  2. ^ http://www.eurodancehits.com/review.html
  3. ^ http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/09/yehey/life/20080109lif4.html
  4. ^ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=396498104


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