Today’s classic song of the day is “Mamma Mia” by ABBA. Released in September of 1975, “Mamma Mia” was a worldwide hit—except, for some reason, here in the U.S. It hit the top ten in Australia (#1), Austria, Belgium, Ireland (#1), Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland (#1), the UK (#1), West Germany (#1). and Yugoslavia. For whatever reason, ABBA wasn’t quite the phenomenon here the U.S. as they were virtually every where else in the world; “Mamma Mia” only hit #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #36 on the Cash Box Top 100—although it did rise to #12 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
Like all of ABBA’s big hits, “Mamma Mia” was written by the two B’s in ABBA, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with an assist from frequent collaborator Stig Anderson. The two A’s, blonde Agnetha Fältskog and brunette Anni-Frid Lyngstad, provided the lead vocals.
Interestingly, Benny and Björn didn’t initially intend “Mamma Mia” to be an ABBA single. They first offered the tune to the British group Brotherhood of Man (their big hit was 1970’s “United We Stand” ), but the Brits inexplicably turned it down. Their loss; the ABBA single is a superb piece of mid-70s pop, the kind of hook-laden confection that only ABBA could create.
Younger listeners will know “Mamma Mia” from its inclusion in and inspiration for the Broadway musical and subsequent musical movie, Mamma Mia!. My granddaughter was in a high school production of Mamma Mia! two years ago and it was a wonderfully frothy and exuberant experience. Nothing at all wrong with two hours of ABBA songs, connected by the flimsiest whiff of plot. (In the play, “Mamma Mia” is sung by the main protagonist, Donna, in the middle of the first act when she sees her three ex-lovers together for the first time.)
Which leads us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, “Mamma Mia” as performed by Meryl Streep (as Donna) in the movie version of Mamma Mia! It is a fun little musical.
