ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

Gold: Greatest Hits is a compilation album of recordings by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 21 September 1992 through PolyGram, the first compilation to be released after the company had acquired Polar Music and thus the rights to the ABBA back catalogue. In 1998, PolyGram was in turn merged into what is now the Universal Music Group. With sales in excess of 28 million copies, it is the best-selling ABBA album as well as one of the best-selling albums worldwide.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Overview  ==Overview[ edit] == Prior to its release, all previously released ABBA compilations had been deleted and only the original studio albums (along with the 1986 live album) remained in print. Gold: Greatest Hits was well received by the music-buying public, and went on to be one of the best-selling albums of all time.
 * 2 Regional variations and tie-ins
 * 2.1 Australasian editions
 * 2.2 Spanish versions
 * 2.3 Video and DVD
 * 2.4 Other variations
 * 3 Sales and Charts
 * 4 Track listings
 * 4.1 Worldwide Edition (excluding Australasia until 2008)
 * 4.2 Australasia version (until 2008)
 * 4.3 2014 40th Anniversary Edition
 * 5 Personnel
 * 6 Charts
 * 7 Certifications
 * 8 Further reading
 * 9 See also
 * 10 References
 * 11 External links

Gold: Greatest Hits has been re-released in various "special" or "remastered" releases: ==Regional variations and tie-ins[ edit] == ===Australasian editions[ edit] === The 1992 and 1999 editions released in Australia and New Zealand (and some other territories in that area) had a modified track listing (see below) to include three local hits, replacing three other songs on the international edition.

The 2002 re-release was not released in Australia, while in New Zealand, the international edition was issued.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">From 2008 onwards, only the international editions have been released in Australia and New Zealand. ===Spanish versions<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The original 1992 release had a slightly different track listing, replacing the English versions of Chiquitita and Fernando with the Spanish language versions.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shortly after the release of Gold: Greatest Hits, a Spanish version of the album, titled Oro: Grandes Exitos was issued, followed later by Mas Oro: Mas Grandes Exitos. ===Video and DVD<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1992 a VHS video was released which included all tracks from the original album. During the 1990s, various regional variations on this video were issued, until Universal Music decided in 2003 to re-issue the video on VHS and DVD. The track listing was similar to the original album, with some added content: a 25-minute documentary produced in 1999, and the 1992 video of Dancing Queen. In 2010, the DVD was remastered with six bonus clips, including five "split-screen" versions of the clips to show which improvements were made by remastering the old videos. These "split-screen" clips were ''Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All and Money, Money, Money''. The sixth bonus clip was an Australian cartoon version of Money, Money, Money. The 2010 edition did not include the 2003 Abba documentary or the 1992 version of Dancing Queen. This disk was available as a stand-alone DVD and as part of the 2010 'Special Edition' re-release. ===Other variations<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2003, Gold: Greatest Hits was released in Europe (not UK) with a bonus second disc. This included the following tracks:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The UK saw a 30th Anniversary Edition released in 2004 with a gold-coloured sleeve cover rather than the normal black sleeve. The original release included a DVD with 18 of the 19 songs from the CD, excluding Money Money Money. It was available also without the DVD. ==Sales and Charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The album topped the UK Albums Chart on five separate occasions, sixteen years apart, first in 1992, then three times in 1999, and then again in 2008. As a result, Gold: Greatest Hits is one of the best-selling and is the longest-charting album released in the United Kingdom, currently (May 2014) totalling 469 weeks on the album top 75 (948 weeks in the top 200).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[3]  It has now sold 5 million copies in the UK, making the third highest selling album in the UK.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[4]  Gold: Greatest Hits entered the UK Albums Chart at number one in October 1992, and had climbed back to the number one position four times after then, the most recent time in 2008.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[5]
 * 1) "Summer Night City"
 * 2) "Angeleyes"
 * 3) "The Day Before You Came"
 * 4) "Eagle"
 * 5) "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"
 * 6) "So Long"
 * 7) "Honey, Honey"
 * 8) "The Visitors"
 * 9) "Ring Ring"
 * 10) "When I Kissed the Teacher"
 * 11) "The Way Old Friends Do"

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In Germany, Gold: Greatest Hits has been certified five times Platinum for shipment of 2.5 million units.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[6]  It has also been certified 10 times Platinum in Switzerland for sales of 500,000 units.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[7]  In May 2014 the album once again returned to the highest selling album in the Swiss charts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[8]  In Sweden the album is listed as the second best selling album as of May 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On 2 August 2008, it topped the US Top Pop Catalog Albums chart for the first time, being its first number one ever on any one of Billboard's charts, previously peaking at number eleven on the Billboardalbum chart. Gold: Greatest Hits was listed at number twenty on the Top Pop Catalog Albums year-end chart of 2010.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the Netherlands, the album reached number 2 and spent 89 weeks on the chart. ==Track listings<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Gold: Greatest Hits includes "Lay All Your Love on Me", which was a Top 10 hit only in the UK and Ireland, and "Thank You for the Music", which only had a limited release as a single. Only the Australasian release of the album (until 2008) included "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", which was a successful global hit for ABBA (except in the UK and Ireland). It does not feature "Summer Night City" which was a bigger hit globally than "Voulez-Vous" which was included. ===Worldwide Edition (excluding Australasia until 2008)<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">All songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.

===Australasia version (until 2008)<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">All songs written by Andersson and Ulvaeus, except where noted.
 * 1) "Dancing Queen" (1976) (Andersson, Stig Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:51 from Arrival
 * 2) "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1976) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03 from Arrival
 * 3) "Take a Chance on Me" (1977) – 4:06 from ABBA: The Album
 * 4) "Mamma Mia" (1975) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:33 from ABBA
 * 5) "Lay All Your Love on Me" (1980) – 4:35 from Super Trouper
 * 6) "Super Trouper" (1980) – 4:13 from Super Trouper
 * 7) "I Have a Dream" (1979) – 4:42 from Voulez-Vous
 * 8) "The Winner Takes It All" (1980) – 4:54 from Super Trouper
 * 9) "Money, Money, Money" (1976) – 3:06 from Arrival
 * 10) "S.O.S." (1975) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:20 from ABBA
 * 11) "Chiquitita" (1979) – 5:27 from Voulez-Vous
 * 12) "Fernando" (1976) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:14 from Greatest Hits
 * 13) "Voulez-Vous" (1979) – 4:21/5:10 from Voulez-Vous
 * 14) "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979) – 4:52 from Greatest Hits Vol. 2
 * 15) "Does Your Mother Know" (1979) – 3:13 from Voulez-Vous
 * 16) "One of Us" (1981) – 3:58 from The Visitors
 * 17) "The Name of the Game" (1977) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:56/4:54 from ABBA: The Album
 * 18) "Thank You for the Music" (1977) – 3:49 from ABBA: The Album and Thank You for the Music
 * 19) "Waterloo" (1974) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 2:46 from Waterloo

===2014 40th Anniversary Edition<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Disk 1: (The original 1992 release; for tracklisting see above under "Worldwide edition")
 * 1) "Dancing Queen" (1976) (Andersson, Anderson Ulvaeus) – 3:49
 * 2) "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:01
 * 3) "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) – 4:01
 * 4) "Mamma Mia" (1975) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:32
 * 5) "Lay All Your Love on Me" (1980) – 4:32
 * 6) "Ring Ring" (1973) (Andersson, Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody) – 3:02
 * 7) "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:15
 * 8) "The Winner Takes It All" (1980) – 4:54
 * 9) "Money, Money, Money" (1976) – 3:05
 * 10) "S.O.S" (1975) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:19
 * 11) "Chiquitita" (1979) – 5:26
 * 12) "Fernando" (1976) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:10
 * 13) "Voulez-Vous" (1979) – 4:21
 * 14) "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979) – 4:46
 * 15) "Does Your Mother Know" (1979) – 3:14
 * 16) "One of Us" (1981) – 3:53
 * 17) "The Name of the Game" (1977) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 3:56
 * 18) "Rock Me" (1975) – 3:02
 * 19) "Waterloo" (1974) (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 2:42

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Disk 2: Same as on More Gold: More Hits

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Disk 3: The Golden B-sides (A-side listed in parentheses)
 * 1) "Summer Night City" (1978) – 3:34
 * 2) "Angeleyes" (1979) – 4:20
 * 3) "The Day Before You Came" (1982) – 5:51
 * 4) "Eagle" (1977) – 4:26
 * 5) "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975) (Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 3:16
 * 6) "So Long" (1974) – 3:06
 * 7) "Honey, Honey" (1974) (Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 2:55
 * 8) "The Visitors" (1981) 1993 edition: edited - 4:27, 1999 edition and subsequent reissues: – 5:47
 * 9) "Our Last Summer" (1980) – 4:19
 * 10) "On and On and On" (1980) – 3:38
 * 11) "Ring Ring" (1973) (Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka & Phil Cody) – 3:03
 * 12) "I Wonder (Departure)" (1977) (Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus) – 4:37
 * 13) "Lovelight" (1979) 1993 edition: alternate mix - 3:18, 1999 edition and subsequent reissues: original mix – 3:48
 * 14) "Head Over Heels" (1981) – 3:45
 * 15) "When I Kissed the Teacher" (1976) – 3:01
 * 16) "I Am the City" (1982) – 4:01
 * 17) "Cassandra" (1982) – 4:50
 * 18) "Under Attack" (1982) – 3:48
 * 19) "When All Is Said and Done" (1981) – 3:18
 * 20) "The Way Old Friends Do" (1980) – 2:53

==Personnel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Production
 * 1) "She's My Kind of Girl" (Ring Ring)
 * 2) "I Am Just a Girl" (Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough))
 * 3) "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong" (Waterloo (French version)
 * 4) "King Kong Song" (Honey Honey)
 * 5) "I've Been Waiting For You" (So Long)
 * 6) "Rock Me" (I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do)
 * 7) "Man in the Middle" (S.O.S.)
 * 8) "Intermezzo No. 1" (Mamma Mia)
 * 9) "That's Me" (Dancing Queen)
 * 10) "Crazy World" (Money, Money, Money)
 * 11) "Happy Hawaii" (Knowing Me, Knowing You)
 * 12) "I'm a Marionette" (Take a Chance on Me)
 * 13) "Medley: Pick a bale of cotton/etc." (Summer Night City)
 * 14) "Kisses of Fire" (Does Your Mother Know)
 * 15) "The King Has Lost His Crown" (Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!)
 * 16) "Elaine" (The Winner Takes It All)
 * 17) "The Piper" (Super Trouper)
 * 18) "Andante, Andante" (Happy New Year)
 * 19) "Should I Laugh or Cry" (One of Us)
 * 20) "Soldiers" (When All Is Said and Done)
 * Benny Andersson – synthesizer, keyboards, vocals
 * Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
 * Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
 * Björn Ulvaeus – banjo, guitar, vocals

==Charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Certifications<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Further reading<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Benny Andersson; Björn Ulvaeus – producers
 * Michael B. Tretow – engineer, digital remastering (1992 edition)
 * Jon Astley – digital remastering (1999, 2002, 2004 reissues)
 * Henrik Jonsson – digital remastering (2008 reissue)
 * Ingemar Bergman – compilation
 * Chris Griffin – compilation
 * George McManus – compilation
 * Jackie Stansfield – compilation
 * John Tobler – liner notes, compilation
 * Carl Magnus Palm – liner notes (1999, 2002, 2004, 2008 reissues)
 * ABBA Gold by Elisabeth Vincentelli – (ISBN 0-8264-1546-6) in 2004.
 * ABBA Record Sales http://abbasales.hpage.com