United Kingdom - Additional Information

The week to week chart positions are from The Guinness Top 40 Charts by Paul Gambaccini, which was sent by Paul Campbell. Additional information from "The Top Twenty Book - The Official British Record Charts 1955 - 1987" compiled by Tony Jasper. The accreditations information is courtesy of BPI.

Thanks to Ian Price, Dean Scapolo, Vaughan Davies, John Boylan, Colin Hughes, Paul Warren, Michael Price, Gary Millar, Stephen Flanagan and Michael Hartmann for contributing the information that appears on this page.

Key to Abbreviations:

Title: The title of the single or album. With singles, if there are two titles listed on one line, that single was considered a double A side.
Date: This is the date the single or album first appeared in the chart.
Positions: These are the Top 40 chart positions for a single or album. A couple of singles have a position in brackets at the beginning or end - this was the position outside the official Top 40. All other ABBA entered top 40 in its first week.
Reviews: Contemporary album reviews from the period.
Year End Charts: The position in the end of year charts based on sales over the year. In the UK, it was performance to the end of November until the year 1980.
Accreditations: Gold and Platinum awards for copies shipped to stores.
Sales Figures: Total UK sales for singles and albums.

Week to Week Charts

United Kingdom Singles
Title	Date	Positions
Waterloo	20/04/74	17,2,1,1,2,6,15,23,33
Ring Ring	20/07/74	(48),34,32,37,(50)
So Long	29/11/74	(91)
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do	02/08/75	(50),(42),(41),38,(41),(44)
SOS	27/09/75	(47),31,16,13,7,6,6,7,21,33
Mamma Mia	20/12/75	(43),32,29,29,12,3,3,1,1,2,5,13,24,38
Fernando	03/04/76	(44),14,4,2,2,2,1,1,1,1,4,4,18,25,38
Dancing Queen	21/08/76	23,16,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,6,8,13,20,30,37
Money, Money, Money	20/11/76	34,10,6,3,5,3,3,4,3,8,17,34
Knowing Me, Knowing You	05/03/77	(48),18,7,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,7,12,30
The Name Of The Game	22/10/77	20,5,1,1,1,1,4,11,18,35,35,29
Take A Chance On Me	04/02/78	10,2,1,1,1,2,3,8,15,19
Summer Night City	16/09/78	21,7,8,5,12,20,34,(54),(72)
Chiquitita	03/02/79	8,2,2,3,5,9,17,30,(52)
Does Your Mother Know	05/05/79	19,4,4,4,6,12,25,(41),(73)
Angeleyes / Voulez-Vous	21/07/79	(48),23,12,5,3,5,9,14,29,40,(66)
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!	20/10/79	30,6,4,3,6,7,19,34,(52),(68),(68),(74)
I Have A Dream	15/12/79	21,2,2,2,2,7,13,26,(43),(58)
The Winner Takes It All	02/08/80	9,1,1,2,4,8,16,30,(41),(74)
Super Trouper	15/11/80	13,2,1,1,1,4,5,5,8,28,(48),(71)
Lay All Your Love On Me	18/07/81	17,7,9,14,24,28,(66)
One Of Us	12/12/81	11,3,3,3,5,6,17,22,30,(65)
Head Over Heels	27/02/82	(41),34,30,26,25,32,(52)
The Day Before You Came	30/10/82	(41),32,35,35,37,(46)
Under Attack	18/12/82	(46),31,26,26,26,26,(42),(73)
The Heat Is On (Agnetha)	04/06/83	35,37,35
Thank You For The Music	26/11/83	(64),(43),33,34,(43),(57)
One Night In Bangkok (Murray Head)	17/11/84	39,27,17,16,12,14,15,15,16,30
I Know Him So Well (Elaine & Barbara)	12/01/85	34,6,3,2,1,1,1,1,2,8,10,28,34
ABBA-Esque (EP) (Erasure)	13/06/92	1,1,1,1,1,4,9,12,21,37
Dancing Queen	05/09/92	21,16,19,33,(50)
If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind	18/04/04	11,22,31,44,55
Waterloo	23/05/04	20,43,70
When You Walk In The Room	20/06/04	34,59
Mamma Mia	20/07/08	59,57,56,71,

United Kingdom Albums
Title	Date	Positions
Waterloo	08/06/74	46,28
Abba	31/01/76	42,23,13,13,16,18,32,30,43,40
Greatest Hits	10/04/76	38,5,5,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4,7,6,9,7,7,7,6,4,3,2,2,1,1,3,4,7,12, 11,9,8,10,7,7,6,2,4,5,9,11,13,17,16,17,16,14,13,10,8,8,5,6,8,9, 14,15,17,28,13,17,20,17,26,21,19,26,27,22,25,34,43,32,46,42,47,58, 9,12,17,19,20,18,17,18,22,22,19,15,17,12,24,28,21,17,14,18,19,16, 21,27,23,28,31,36,28,34,28,33,40,42,43,0,40,49,55,58,59,50,48,36,43,39, 36,46,35,47
Arrival	27/11/76	6,3,2,2,2,2,3,1,2,2,5,10,11,14,9,11,9,3,3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,3,5, 5,6,9,14,13,13,12,10,13,18,9,17,25,37,34,33,39,25,31,30,25, 30,21,19,21,21,20,21,12,22,25,30,23,19,13,15,17,19,29,22,25,38,35, 37,47,32,38,58,44,49,40,0,54,0,46,0,52,0,56,0,58,0,60,52,53
Abba - The Album	04/02/78	1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,5,5,5,6,5,5,4,5,2,4,5,7,6,9,14,14, 15,18,22,27,20,20,20,22,24,38,36,49,59
Arrival	13/01/79	73
Abba - The Album	13/01/79	53,61,62,50,57,54,69,42,51,58,55,56,72,69,0,0,66,70,69,71,65,57,62
Voulez-Vous	19/05/79	1,1,1,1,2,2,4,6,8,12,10,7,7,4,4,4,5,7,10,12,24,20,38,25,36,53,43,43, 69,70,47,35,35,33,37,35,33,40,51,57,74,65
Greatest Hits Vol.2	10/11/79	8,1,1,1,2,2,2,2,2,1,2,4,5,11,11,17,19,25,35,33,41,31,43,55, 64,72,0,0,63,71,55,0,67,60
Greatest Hits Vol.2	16/08/80	75,32,39,61,40,37,43,48,53,0,64,0,0,0,0,72,62,60,49,44,44,59, 62,69,65,71,0,68,0, 0,0,74,45,46,53,56
Super Trouper	22/11/80	1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,5,10,13,24,22,23,36,36,43,38,41,44,49,37,41,42,50, 0,68,70,0,0,0,65,65,55,51,36,41,52,38,55,58,72
Greatest Hits Vol.2	25/07/81	71,0,90,76,64,94
The Vistors	19/12/81	1,1,1,2,3,4,6,11,15,21,19,26,25,28,28,37,77,64,86,88,94
Super Trouper	26/12/81	90,90,85,79
Abba - The Singles	20/11/82	6,1,2,2,3,2,2,2,9,14,21,22,27,46,51,60,51,64,81,91,66,0,76
Thank You For The Music	19/11/83	44,28,17,19,21,28,28,38,45,73,73,100
Absolute Abba	19/11/88	99,80,70,79,74,82,86
Abba Gold	03/10/92	1,3,3,5,4,4,5,7,8,8,7,8,10,10,10,9,13,13,18, 21,30,37,46,32,39,37,43,56,57,51,55,73,58,0,74,53,33,31,26, 29,32,36,38,8,14,11,16,18,20,30,36,55,53,46,45,52,58,63,67,70, 66,62,61,65,57,56,70,58,52,57,0,74,0,0,75
More Abba Gold	05/06/93	14,14,17,23,33,46,63,69,16,25,29,35,50,73
Abba Gold	30/04/94	24,11,10,22,22,26,26,39,53
Abba Gold	24/09/94	59,52,52,48,47,48,47,53,75
Abba Gold	07/01/95	60,73,69,0,67,75
Abba Gold	13/05/95	71,13,17,21,33,37,45,62,68,55,59,71,75,0,75,54,58,67,0,0,63,69,65,62
Abba Gold	13/01/96	74,74,72,69,65,70,68
Abba Gold	11/05/96	75,72,73,73,0,0,0,74,73,69,61,75,69,69,65,61,63,65,71,31,29,39,55,46, 55,64,60
Abba Gold	25/01/97	74,70,64,74,71
Abba Gold	12/07/97	74,73,72,72,65,66,72,0,0,65,48,49,58,60,71,0,0,66,59,71,69
Abba Gold	24/01/98	64
Abba Gold	21/03/98	21,15,21,27,34,39,46,39,19,26,25,28,30,29,26,27,35,38,39, 37,39,37,41,44,44,49,47,52,56,71,0,71,0,74,0,74,0,0,69,63,66, 67,0,0,0,64,68,53,44,13,12,16,13,18,11,8, 1,2,1,1,2,2,1,1,2,2,3,5,6,6,5,5,4,7,8,7,7,11, 10,16,20,25,18,10,15,17,21,10,14,13,14,15,16,12,8,10,10,11,14,14, 11,7,11,26,29,32,30,23,31,29,40,40,39,39,41,36,45,40,36,35, 35,32,36,37,37,29,37,37,36,33,29,38,41,40,44,48,59,57, 47,46,51,51,52,55,54,51,75,0,67,61,72,74,69,64,0,0,0,0,71,0,0,0,0,73
Love Stories	07/11/98	51,66
More Abba Gold	07/08/99	13,17,25,32,32,39,53,65
More Abba Gold	20/11/99	69
Abba Gold	23/06/01	72,64,0,0,66,0,75,69,67,68
The Definitive Collection	10/11/01	17,25,41,56,68,70,68,66
Abba Gold	23/08/03	30,28,45,57,63
Abba Gold	18/04/04	4,8,15,19,17,21,32,37,47,74
My Colouring Book	25/04/04	12,25,46,62,(98)
Abba Gold	26/09/04	51
Abba Gold	28/11/04	29,39,38,43,44,71,63,55,63,75
Number Ones	12/11/06	15,30,47,55,66,68,64
18 Hits	21/01/07	46,64
Abba Gold	08/09/07	64
Abba Gold	29/10/07	61,49,57,68,74
Abba Gold	24/05/08	63
Abba Gold	16/06/08	62
Abba Gold	08/07/08	43,12,5,3,2,1,
18 Hits	13/07/08	54,48,46,54,58,

Reviews

Eyes of a Woman LP Review from "Sounds", written by Barry McIlheney, 1985.

Life after Abba must be a fairly awful prospect for all those concerned. No more instant number ones, no longer the undying affection of boys and girls around the world. And for Agnetha Faltskog, the added bonus of knowing that grown men once wept over what they claimed was the most exquisite backside in Europe.

Don't really know too much about that one, being a bit of a song-man myself, and on this account alone Agnetha seems to have re-emerged as smelling of wonderful harmonies and first-class middle eights in the wake of the tragic split.

Naturally enough, she doesn't write anything herself here, quite content to grace the works of various other lesser mortals with her immaculate, sugar-sweet voice. Jeff Lynne and Justin Hayward, both of whom used to be quite well known, are just two of the desperadoes who obviously sweated blood to get on here and thus ensure endless respect from their grandchildren and, if their efforts are not quite up to the Benny Andersson is God standard, they are still considerably better than anything else they have done in the last 35 years.

Neither Paris Edvinson nor Marianne Flynner are even half as well known as Jeff or Justin, but their co-credit on the title track should go some way towards reversing this unfortunate position. Classic stuff really, three short introductory verses, and an essential Abba style chorus.

The Angels Cry is so good it immediately makes one harbour all sorts of uncharitable thoughts towards Bucks Fizz and wonder aloud why this woman does not have a BBC series of her own at the very least.

Eyes of a Woman LP Review from "NME", written by Simon Jones, 1985.

Well, here's a turn up for the book, this is a decent album... she's got in Eric Stewart and really gone to town. Stewart has introduced her to a barrel load of songs that suit her soft, delicate vocals. Names on here are as familiar as your back garden - there's Jeff Lynne, Justin Hayward, Wetton/Downes from Asia, and some of her own catchy ditties written in conjunction with Stewart.

While I came to this expecting a prop up job, actually in a solo guide she's produced a record that sounds 1985 and that's more than her contemporaries have done.

The Heat Is On Single Review, from "No.1" magazine, 1983.

Aggie is a beauty, while her oppo looks like a 45 year old housewife from Sevenoaks, but Frida's definitely the one one to watch in the solo stakes. This feeble pulp pop doesn't come close to the powerfully commercial sound of 'Something's Going On'. Ah well, theres always Benny's solo album to look forward to...

Wrap Your Arms Around Me LP Review, from "No.1" magazine, 1983.

'A' without her 'ABB' seems to have taken a while to find her feet. This is hardly in the class of the Swedish foursome's 'Knowing Me Knowing You'. But then neither is it nearly as bad as 'Chiquitita', so lets be thankful for small mercies and carry on with the washing up.

Thank You For The Music Single Review, from "Smash Hits", 1983.
ABBA are rumoured to make a bigger profit than Volvo and Bjorn Borg put together. Having decided we don't think much of the Swedes, we still give the record a sporting chance. The first line is 'I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore'. We take her word for it and go on to the next disc.

The Definitive Collection DVD Review, from "The Times", 10 August 2002.

Ignore the muso snobs who insist that the appeal of Abba is an ironic anomaly. First fact Abba were responsible for some of the best pop yet written. Second fact Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog's voices, combined, were incandescent. Third fact Abba were one of the first bands to use videos. And who directed the majority of their videos? Lasse Hallstrom, of The Cider House Rules renown.

Are they cool enough yet? No? Well, Fernando achieved a worldwide number one with lyrics about the Spanish Civil War.

This terrific DVD features 35 Abba "promo clips" (as they were called in the pre-MTV days). Apart from the odd clunker such as Thank You for the Music, there is barely a dud. Wonder at Bjorn Ulvaeus's romper suit and platform boots in Mamma Mia, and gasp at Anna-Frid's Rula Lenska-type tight perm in, well, just about every video.

Above everything, though, be astonished by how little these songs have dated. A lesser-known Abba track, Bang-a- Boomerang, stands out as a joyous anthem to love while The Winner Takes it All is tearjerking.

Oh, by the way, there is a fourth fact - Dancing Queen is the best pop song ever written

Year End Charts

At the end of each year, the top singles and albums for the year were compiled based upon sales. Below are the year-end positions for the ABBA material that made it into the year-end charts, sourced from this site.

Note: Often a preliminary end of year chart was published a couple of weeks before the end of the year. Some sites use this as the actual result, and as such there will be differences between my information and the other. To the best of my knowledge, the information here is from the 1/1 of a year, to 31/12 of a year.

1974 singles: Waterloo was number 16 for the year.

1975 singles: SOS was number 48 for the year.

1976 singles: Money, Money, Money was number 95 for the year.
1976 singles: Mamma Mia was number 21 for the year.
1976 singles: Fernando was number 7 for the year.
1976 singles: Dancing Queen was number 4 for the year.

1977 singles: The Name of the Game was number 16 for the year.
1977 singles: Knowing Me, Knowing You was number 6 for the year.

1978 singles: Summer Night City was number 73 for the year.
1978 singles: Take A Chance On Me was number 9 for the year.

1979 singles: Angeleyes / Voulez-Vous was number 51 for the year.
1979 singles: Does Your Mother Know was number 43 for the year.
1979 singles: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was number 28 for the year.
1979 singles: Chiquitita was number 16 for the year.

1980 singles: The Winner Takes It All was number 18 for the year.
1980 singles: Super Trouper was number 4 for the year.

1981 singles: One Of Us was number 76 for the year.

1976 albums: Abba was number 83 for the year.
1976 albums: Arrival was number 41 for the year.
1976 albums: Greatest Hits was number 1 for the year.

1977 albums: Greatest Hits was number 9 for the year.
1977 albums: Arrival was number 1 for the year.

1978 albums: Arrival was number 41 for the year.
1978 albums: Greatest Hits was number 35 for the year.
1978 albums: Abba - The Album was number 3 for the year.

1979 albums: Greatest Hits Vol.2 was number 8 for the year.
1979 albums: Voulez-Vous was number 5 for the year.

1980 albums: Greatest Hits Vol.2 was number 17 for the year.
1980 albums: Super Trouper was number 1 for the year.

1981 albums: Greatest Hits Vol.2 was number 127 for the year.
1981 albums: Super Trouper was number 40 for the year.
1981 albums: The Visitors was number 17 for the year.

1983 albums: Thank You For The Music was number 86 for the year.

Abba Gold: 12 in 1992, 36 in 1993, 63 in 1994, 80 in 1995, 87 in 1996,
Abba Gold: 100 in 1997 (110,000 sold), 55 in 1998 (211,000 sold),
Abba Gold: 4 in 1999 (1,253,187 sold), 41 in 2000 (367,000 sold),
Abba Gold: 148 in 2001, 47 in 2004 (380,000 sold).

2001 albums: The Definitive Collection was number 154 for the year.

2003 catalogue albums: Abba Gold was number 17 for the year.

2003 DVD: Abba Gold was number 97 for the year.
2003 DVD: The Definitive Collection was number 33 for the year.

Accreditations & Sales Figures:

Total sales over all formats for Abba items in the United Kingdom. Items with a plus sign indicate that accurate numbers are not available, and this is based on the accreditation only. The figures below (except those with question marks) are the figures given out by Epic. Please note that only ABBA Gold and Greatest Hits have actually sold over 2,000,000 copies in the UK. The basis for this information is the "Top 100 Albums 1967 - 1987 List" (based on sales) compiled by Gallup. That organisation was responsible for the charts back then, and are considered an accurate representation of actual sales.

Among Abba fans, there is much speculation over the sales figures. Some people believe that some of these figures are inflated to a vast degree, evident by The Winner Takes It All single which has no accreditation (ie: less than 250,000 copies sold) and yet has a sales figure of 565,000. Others, more familiar with the industry, believe that Epic merely forgot to certify the single, which is a common occurrance around the world. Please use any sales figures as a guide only, unless they are specific to the unit from a reputable source.

For singles in the UK, before 1 January 1987, a Silver award was for 250,000 copies, a Gold award was for 500,000 copies shipped to stores, and a Platinum award is for 1,000,000 copies shipped to stores. Post 1 January 1987, this was reduced for singles (not listed as not applicable here). Album accreditations were 60,000 / 100,000 / 300,000, with multiple platinum from 1987. Budget albums have to sell double to get accredited the same - so Gold is 200,000 copies and so on.

Abba no longer hold the record for the most advance orders for an album in the UK (1,000,000 for Super Trouper) - this was broken by Welcome to the Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984 with 1,150,000 advance copies ordered. In terms of singles, Abba are the 8th highest selling act in the UK ever.

United Kingdom Singles
Title	Sales	Accreditation
Ring Ring	500
Waterloo	350,000
Ring Ring (re-release)	50,000
So Long	10,000
SOS	280,000
Mamma Mia	340,000	Silver
Fernando	680,000	Gold
Dancing Queen	935,000	Gold
Money, Money, Money	430,000	Gold
Knowing Me, Knowing You	770,000	Gold
The Name of the Game	600,000	Gold
Take A Chance On Me	750,000	Gold
Summer Night City	300,000	Silver
Chiquitita	600,000	Gold
Does Your Mother Know	400,000	Silver
Angeleyes / Voulez-Vous	350,000	Silver
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!	400,000	Silver
I Have A Dream	650,000	Gold
The Winner Takes It All	565,000	(Gold)
Super Trouper	709,000	Gold
One Of Us	610,000	Gold
I Know Him So Well	810,000	Gold
Dancing Queen (re-release)	80,000
If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind	21,000
Waterloo	11,240

In the all time best sellers, Abba are at No. 105 with Dancing Queen (935,000), No. 178 with Knowing Me, Knowing You (770,000), while I Know Him So Well falls at No. 143 (810,000).

United Kingdom Albums
Title	Sales	Accreditation
Waterloo	70,000	Silver
Abba	165,000	Gold
Greatest Hits	2,600,000	Platinum
Arrival	1,653,225	Platinum
Abba - The Album	1,100,000	Platinum
Voulez-Vous	800,000	Platinum
Greatest Hits Vol.2	1,100,000	Platinum
Super Trouper	1,150,000	Platinum
The Visitors	600,000	Platinum
Something's Going On	60,000+	Silver
Abba - The Singles	600,000	Platinum
Thank You For The Music	130,000	Gold
Chess	100,000+	Gold
Absolute Abba	100,000+	Gold
The Hits Vol. 2	200,000+	Gold
The Collection	200,000+	Gold
Abba Gold	3,988,950+	Platinum x 13
More Abba Gold	300,000+	Platinum
My Colouring Book	60,000	Silver
The Definitive Collection	161,000	Gold
The Music Still Goes On	230,000
The Name of the Game	195,800
18 Hits	88,400
Number Ones	145,800

Maintained by Trent Nickson.
Last updated: 10 August 2008.