Let’s travel to the last year of the ’70s for today’s classic song of the day, ABBA’s “Chiquitita.” Released globally in January of 1979 (but not until October in the U.S.), this one, like most of their tunes, was a worldwide smash. It went all the way to #1 in Argentina, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland. The song came up just one position short in the UK, peaking at #2.
Here in the U.S., as usual, the single didn’t do quite as well, hitting only #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and doing even worse on the Cash Box Top 100, reaching only #36. It did a little better on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, going all the way to #15. But, for whatever reason, ABBA was never as big here in the States as they were in the rest of the world. I never could figure that out.
“Chiquitita” was written by the two Bs in ABBA, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It had several in-progress titles, presumably all with different lyrics, including “Kålsupare,” “3 Wise Guys,” “Chiquitita Angelina,” and “In the Arms of Rosalita.” Agnetha Fältskog sang solo during the first part of the song, joined later by the second A, Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.
ABBA debuted “Chiquitita” at The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song held at the United Nations on January 9, 1979. Subsequently, the group donated half of all the song’s royalties to UNICEF. That was very nice of them to do.
For your viewing pleasure, here’s ABBA’s official music video for “Chiquitita.” It looks a little cold there—but they’re probably used to that sort of thing.
