O/T: ABBA - Voulez-Vous
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Topic: O/T: ABBA - Voulez-Vous
Posted By: Scanner
Subject: O/T: ABBA - Voulez-Vous
Date Posted: 04 January 2021 at 1:24pm
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The promo 45 for this song featured a "Short Version"
edited down to 3:45 from the 5:08 album version. On many ABBA compilations, there is a 4:08 version of this song. Does anyone know whether this 4:08 version was an attempt to re-create the 3:45 version or some arbitrary edit that was perpetuated on multiple compilations? (Let's face it...there have been quite a few ABBA compilations released through the years - far more than the number of studio albums they ever released!) Although the 4:08 version has been released so often, I have never found it on an official single of this song which had either (or both) the 3:45 or 5:08 versions. BTW - I was always surprised that this song could not get past #80 on the Hot 100. When "Money, Money, Money" (#56) missed the Top 40, you could dismiss that as digging too deep with a third single from "Arrival." But, "Voulez-Vous" was only the second single from that album and the first with the more familiar female lead vocals. |
Replies:
Posted By: Stanko
Date Posted: 04 January 2021 at 7:06pm
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Voulez Vous probably suffered due to the anti-disco wave that settled in
around the time of its release. And - as has been discussed before - ABBA were inconsistent charters in the US. |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 06 January 2021 at 4:49am
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I don't know the origin of that odd length version. ABBA Gold has a 4:22 version. If you cut out 2:35-3:13 from that, you get the DJ 45, which has a run
time on my copy at 3:42. You might also want to speed up .15%. That seems to be a nice match for the DJ 45 pitch. The result might be a split second shorter than the DJ 45 which is closer to 3:42.5 seconds but if you really care the album version might have that tiny difference. |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 06 January 2021 at 10:36pm
This info is taken from the ABBA plaza fan site:
------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
In 1992, Michael B Tretow remastered a host of
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 07 January 2021 at 2:55pm
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Thanks, LunarLaugh. All of the 1979 promos I have found
online list the 3:45 and/or 5:08 lengths. I wonder where the 4:21 version was released.... (It still amazes me how many different versions of the same song were released at the same time!) |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 17 January 2021 at 3:03am
One reason may be that in the US it was a double A-side with "Angeleyes" which peaked a little higher (around #60). I remember hearing "Angeleyes" first on Boston radio (where I grew up), even though it debuted 3 weeks after "Voulez-Vous". I have a feeling the 2 sides competed with each other, and maybe radio stations were a bit confused as to which song to play/promote. Especially with ABBA not being nearly as big in the US as worldwide, radio dj's might not have cared that much. To me, ABBA was going for "pure pop" with Angeleyes (their known sound) and disco for "Voulez-Vous", so maybe the label was trying to give the choice for pop stations to play the pop song, and discos/clubs to play the disco song. Just a theory. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 18 January 2021 at 4:23pm
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Interesting theory. I always thought that since
"Voulez-Vous" flopped, Atlantic just flipped the single and said, "Here, play 'Angeleyes' instead." To me, "Angeleyes" was a typical B-side - a pleasant listen, but not hit material. (Side note - when this 45 finally charted in Record World, they listed "Angeleyes" as the A-side.) I've seen promos for "If It Wasn't For The Nights" online. Was that ever intended to be a single? |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 18 January 2021 at 5:31pm
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I was working at an adult contemporary station part-time in
late 1979 and I specifically remember the PD putting 'Angeleyes" in the studio. I don't recall playing "Voulez- Vous" at that station at all, even at night. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: AutumnAarilyn
Date Posted: 18 January 2021 at 10:29pm
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It probably did okay on the dance chart though. Wasn't
this perhaps the early beginning of the rhythmic radio era? |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 19 January 2021 at 10:29pm
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I worked at a small-market adult contemporary station at the time. ABBA was huge in the area; Atlantic had awarded the station a gold record for breaking "Dancing Queen" following initial airplay as an import. We were serviced with plenty of copies of ABBA 45s.
Two extra promo 45s I have from the station are date-stamped just two days apart: "Voulez-Vous" short/long: Aug 4, 1979 "Angeleyes"/"Angeleyes": Aug 6, 1979 It would seem that Atlantic had planned on actively working both sides from the get-go. |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 19 January 2021 at 10:38pm
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In summer of '79 I was Voulez-Vous'd to death on the dance
station (still love the song though!) and several months later I was hearing "Angeleyes" on the A/C station. I was pleased because I myself flipped the single over and I liked that one even better. MM |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 20 January 2021 at 1:30pm
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I just checked xmplaylist.com and was surprised they rarely
play "Voulez'Vous." They only play it on Studio 54 radio and the only 2 spins in the last 2 months were 11/28 and 11/29. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: FrankG
Date Posted: 29 January 2021 at 9:46pm
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I wanted to follow up on this sooner but work has been
busy. Yah Shure, it's interesting that your station received promo copies of "Voulez-Vous" and "Angel Eyes" two days apart. I remember seeing separate single reviews in Billboard back in 1979 so I spent some time tonight to find them. "Voulez-Vous" was released first. It was reviewed as a "pick" in Billboard in the issue dated August 18. "Angel Eyes" was reviewed as a pick on September 15. In the review, the reviewer states, "Atlantic flips over the foursome's 'Voulez-Vous' single to push this sprightly side, a recent hit throughout Europe." This appears to suggest that "Voulez-Vous" was the initial A-side and then the single was flipped when "Voulez-Vous" stalled on the charts at #80. The Atlantic single number for "Voulez-Vous" was 37012 and the single number for "Angel Eyes" was 37014, which also suggests that "Voulez-Vous" was the intended A-side. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 30 January 2021 at 8:46pm
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Frank, lower assigned tape master numbers (37012 vs. 37014) don't always reflect intended "A" sides. In this particular case, where's the number between those two: 37013? My guess is that it corresponds to "I Have A Dream", which follows "Voulez-Vous" (37012) and precedes "Angeleyes" (37014) in the original playing order on the Voulez-Vous Atlantic vinyl LP.
"I Have A Dream" turned out to be the most heavily-aired cut from the entire album on the station I was at. Given the unspectacular chart runs of the other two, that one might have been the wisest choice for a single among those three titles. A pity it had to wait a couple years to be covered as a country single by Christy Lane. |
Posted By: FrankG
Date Posted: 30 January 2021 at 9:08pm
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Yah Shure, thanks for the correction here. Interestingly,
my theory holds true for nearly all of ABBA's singles, with a few exceptions. In those cases, the B-sides were recorded earlier than the A-sides (from what I know or can easily determine). It is interesting how this holds true for most of their singles, though. I appreciate the correct information! |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 31 January 2021 at 11:44am
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Thanks, FrankG, for the Billboard review research. I
also intended to do that one day when time permitted since I also remembered reading "Angeleyes" was released as the flip of "Voulez-Vous" after the latter stalled on the charts. Like Yah Shure, I also wondered why "I Have A Dream" was never released as a single, but it would have probably been too similar to "Chiquitita" which, thanks to its Unicef connection, was going to become a single at some point. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 31 January 2021 at 12:42pm
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"I Have A Dream" peaked at #2 in the UK but only on the
chart for a week? ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 31 January 2021 at 12:51pm
| "Angeleyes" peaked at #3 in the UK and "Chiquitita" peaked at #2 there. So, with "I Have a Dream" peaking at #2, it looks like all 3 songs were good choices for singles. "Chiquitita" is my favorite ABBA song, and "Angeleyes" is way up there. But John, what do you mean "I Have a Dream" was only on the chart for a week? According to the British Hit Singles book, it was on the chart for 10 weeks. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 31 January 2021 at 4:31pm
 ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 01 February 2021 at 1:56pm
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There's another missed opportunity for ABBA. Why
Atlantic chose "On And On And On" as a single over "Lay All Your Love On Me" has always perplexed me! |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 01 February 2021 at 9:21pm
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I'm confused about "Lay All Your Love On Me" ... That
was getting very heavy airplay on the dance station so I bought the 45 at Record World. At the store, it was on the wall as the A-side. I assume because the store clerks were hearing it just as much as I was. Yet I see of course in the Hot 100 "On And On And On" was the one that entered the chart. Strange, I never once heard the A-side on the radio ever (great song, though) ... yet I hard the B-side to death. In fact, WKTU started playing the Disconet extended version quite a lot. MM |