The distinguished recording catalog of ABBA has attracted an extraordinarily wide range of interpretations over the years. As part of this spotlight-with-a-twist on the Scandinavian superstars, we present another hand-picked playlist. This time it features no fewer than 50 ABBA covers in almost every style imaginable: progressive, orchestral, classical, easy listening, choral, modern rock, pop, hard rock, and even punk.
Mike Oldfield, for example, weighs in with a version of “Arrival,” the title song of the group’s fourth album, from 1976. There are straight-ahead pop covers, such as British outfit Steps’ take on “Dancing Queen,” Erasure’s “Take A Chance On Me” (from the synth duo’s Abba-Esque EP, which topped the UK charts in 1992), Irish group B*Witched with “Does Your Mother Know,” dance-pop singer Hazell Dean’s “One Of Us,” and British electro-pop duo Blancmange’s UK Top 30 cover of “The Day Before You Came,” from the charts of 1984.
On the modern rock side, we give you Sinead O’Connor’s unexpected take on “Chiquitita” and fellow Irishmen Ash with another take on “Does Your Mother Know.” There’s 1990s British band Lush with “Hey Hey Helen” and a favorite from British melodic rock outfit Any Trouble’s live set of the turn of the 80s, “The Name Of The Game.” Swedish guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen rocks up “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” and there’s the UK chart cover of “Honey Honey” by Sweet Dreams, the duo of top session singers Tony Jackson and Polly Brown.
There’s plenty of easy listening in here too, by Chris De Burgh, Nana Mouskouri, Andre Rieu and many more, as well as selections from the Mamma Mia movie and assorted other delights. We’re always delighted to know your favorites from the list, and to hear whether you can think of any other ABBA covers that we haven’t included.
Listen to the best of ABBA on Apple Music and Spotify.
