Angeleyes
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the ABBA song. For other similarly titled songs, see Angel EyesAngel Eyes- Music :* Angel Eyes , 1984* Angel Eyes , 1968* "Angeleyes", a song by ABBA* "Angel Eyes" , a jazz standard written by Earl Brent and Matt Dennis* "Angel Eyes"...
.
"Angeleyes" is a song written and recorded in 1979 by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
pop group ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
. The lyrics and music were composed by Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
, with the lyrics sung by both Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...
, typical of most ABBA compositions. The working title for the song was "Katakusom".
History
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, "Angeleyes" was released as a double A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
with "Voulez-Vous
Voulez-Vous (song)
"Voulez-Vous" is a eurodisco track by Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus . Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad shared the lead vocals....
". Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, ABBA's British record label, believed that with its classic ABBA arrangement, "Angeleyes" would be more popular with the record buying public.
"Angeleyes" was included in the official ABBA compilations More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits is compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released in 1993, it was the follow-up to the highly successful ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, released the previous year, and went on to sell 3 million copies....
(1993) and The Definitive Collection (2001), as well as the 1994 four-CD boxed set Thank You for the Music
Thank You for the Music (album)
-Disc 2:-Disc 3:-Disc 4:-Personnel:ABBA*Benny Andersson - synthesizer, keyboards, vocals*Agnetha Fältskog - vocals*Anni-Frid Lyngstad - vocals*Björn Ulvaeus - acoustic guitar, guitar, vocalsAdditional personnel*Ulf Andersson - saxophone...
. It also appeared on the group's 1979 'Greatest Hits Volume 2' album.
A planned version of "Angeleyes" in Spanish remains unrecorded.
No promotional video for the track was made. As ABBA had filmed one for "Voulez-Vous", it was this that was used to promote the AA side single.
The "Angeleyes"/"Voulez-Vous" single was the first ABBA single in the UK to feature a picture sleeve, although ABBA had previously issued picture sleeves in other countries. All of Epic's previous ABBA UK single releases were issued in plain company sleeves, which were yellow until 1976 when they changed to orange during a revision of Epic's label design. The single was also issued in several different colours of vinyl, and marked a change in Epic's presentation of their then most profitable act.
Reception and chart controversy
The double A-side peaked at number three on the UK charts. By coincidence, at the same time the group Roxy MusicRoxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
released an unrelated song named "Angel Eyes
Angel Eyes
- Music :* Angel Eyes , 1984* Angel Eyes , 1968* "Angeleyes", a song by ABBA* "Angel Eyes" , a jazz standard written by Earl Brent and Matt Dennis* "Angel Eyes"...
".
When the track was featured on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's popular TV series Juke Box Jury
Juke Box Jury
Juke Box Jury was a musical panel show which originally ran on BBC Television from 1 June 1959 until December 1967. The programme was based on the American show Jukebox Jury, itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series....
, the panel (which featured Alan Freeman
Alan Freeman
Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman, MBE was a British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years.-Career:...
, Johnny Rotten, Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
and Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
) unanimously voted the song a "miss", predicting that it would not be a hit for the group. Only "Angeleyes" was mentioned on the show, with no reference to "Voulez-Vous" being a double A side track.
At the time of the single's release other publications, such as New Musical Express
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, provided singles charts alongside the official chart produced by Music Week for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. While there were often minor differences between these charts, Angeleyes/Voulez Vous caused controversy by reaching number three in the Music Week/BBC chart, when it rose no higher than number 9 on any other chart and generally missed the top 10 completely in the majority of the charts produced. BBC Radio 1 acknowledged that there was a discrepancy on-air. If there was anything untoward in the chart placing it was ignored and the number three ranking with Music Week/BBC was never disqualified.
Cover versions, appearances in other media, etc.
- German eurodanceEurodanceEurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
group E-RoticE-RoticE-Rotic is a German Eurodance project. They are mostly known for their use of sexual topics and innuendo in their music. Some of the female vocalists who fronted E-Rotic over the years also fronted Missing Heart vocals.-History:...
covered the song for their 1997 ABBA tribute album Thank You for the Music. It was featured on DancemaniaDancemaniaDancemania is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE. The series deals primarily with dance music, especially eurodance. Despite its tracks have been made by various musicians from all over the world mainly from the European continent, the albums have been released exclusively in Japan.The...
's 1998 compilation Dancemania 8Dancemania 8Dancemania 8 is the eighth set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1998 by EMI Music Japan.The album debuted at #9 on Oricon's weekly album chart in January 1998 and remained within the top 20 positions on the chart for 4 consecutive weeks, peaking at #8.The...
. - American alternative rock band The CzarsThe CzarsThe Czars was an alternative rock band, formed in 1994 in Denver by John Grant and Chris Pearson. They released six studio albums, one EP, and three singles in the duration of their career. After the release of Goodbye in 2004, five of the six members of The Czars left the band over the span of...
covered the song on their 2006 album Sorry I Made You Cry. - Various eurodanceEurodanceEurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
cover remixes by Abbacadabra were released by Almighty RecordsAlmighty RecordsAlmighty Records is a British recording label and remix production team founded in 1989, releasing their first single in the same year. Producing mainly Dance-Pop and Hi-NRG music, the label is best known for releasing remakes and remixes of mainstream pop songs...
during the late 1990s. A version was included on the 2008 compilation We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Compilation. Audio samples can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.