Super Trouper (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Super Trouper


Artist = ABBA
from Album = Super Trouper
B-side = "The Piper"
Released = November 1980
Format = Single
Genre = Pop
Length = 4:10
Label = Polar Music
Writer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Director = Lasse Hallstrom
Certification = Gold (UK)
Last single = "On and On and On"
(1980)
This single = "Super Trouper"
(1980)
Next single = "Happy New Year"
(1980)
Misc = "Super Trouper", at first called "Blinka lilla stjärna" (the Swedish title of nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"), was a hit single for Swedish pop group ABBA, and was the title track from their 1980 studio album "Super Trouper", written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song, with lead vocals by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, was the last to be written and recorded for this album. "Super Trouper" is included on the "" compilation, as well as in the "Mamma Mia!" musical.

The name "Super Trouper" referred to the gigantic spotlights used in stadium concerts and such. It is widely known that ABBA were not always fond of performing onstage, preferring the confines of the studio to being on tour. This is reflected in the lyrics, which, in typical ABBA style, are presented as happy and upbeat, yet tinged with an underlying hint of sadness.

Reception

"Super Trouper" was yet another successful chart-topping single for ABBA, providing the group with their ninth and final No. 1 in the UK, whilst also topping the charts in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany. It also reached the Top Five in Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, France and Finland. In the United States, where ABBA never quite managed to achieve the same sort of popularity experienced elsewhere, the single only reached No. 45. However, combined with "Lay All Your Love on Me" and "On and On and On," it managed to top the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Music Video

The music video for "Super Trouper" can be considered the largest numbers of artists that ABBA have ever used in their music video. Other than ABBA and their friends themselves, the rest were from a circus troupe based in UK

Chart positions

A*Teens version

Infobox Single
Name = Super Trouper


Artist = A*Teens
from Album = The ABBA Generation
Released = November 29, 1999
Format = CD Single
Cassette
12" Vinyl
Airplay
Recorded = 1999
Genre = Pop, Europop
Length = 3:52
Label = Universal Music
Producer = Thomas Johansson
Ronald Malmberg
Last single = "Mamma Mia"
(1999)
This single = "Super Trouper"
(1999)
Next single = "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"
(1999)"Super Trouper" was A*Teens' second single from their first album "The ABBA Generation", a cover of ABBA's song. When the single came out in the fall of 1999, it became a hit around the globe, just as its predecessor "Mamma Mia", also an ABBA cover. "Super Trouper" debuted at number-two in Sweden and was later Certified Platinum. [ [http://www.ifpi.se/02.images/01.top/02.subnav_pdf/04.guld_platina/pdf/1999.pdf IFPI Certifications in 1999] ]

It also became their first (and only) top five hit in Germany peaking at number-four, the single also reached twenty-one in the United Kingdom, number-eighteen in Switzerland, number-fifteen in Norway, number-eleven in Austria and number-twelve in Netherlands.

The song was a hit in the Latin America, peaking at number-seven in Mexico, number-four in Argentina and numnber-one in Chile.

Music video

The music video was directed by Sebastian Reed and it was filmed in Sweden. The video shows a girl obsessed with the band, she owns posters, magazines, mugs, clothing and many other items, she copies the band's choreography that is shown in her TV. Some of the articles that feature pictures of the band come to life in the video.

The video was a hit in most TV Stations charting inside the top ten cowntdowns in late 1999 and early 2000. It has 498,723 views on Youtube as of 11, April 2008.

Releases

;European 2-Track CD Single
#"Super Trouper" [Radio Version] - 3:52
#"Super Trouper" [Super Radio Remix] - 4:04

;European CD Maxi
#"Super Trouper" [Radio Version] - 3:52
#"Super Trouper" [Super Super Remix] - 8:58
#"Super Trouper" [Pinocchio Remix] - 5:08
#"Super Trouper" [Extended Version] - 6:05

;German CD Maxi
#"Super Trouper" [Radio Version] - 3:52
#"Super Trouper" [Perre J's Remix] - 4:04
#"Happy New Year" - 4:23
#"Mamma Mia" [Radio Version] - 3:43:*Video: "Mamma Mia"

;U.K. CD1
#"Super Trouper" [Radio Version] - 3:52
#"A*Teens Medley" [Pierre J's Full UK Mix] - 7:27
#"Super Trouper" [Karaoke Version] - 3:52:*Video: "Super Trouper"

;U.K. CD2
#"Super Trouper" [Extended Version] - 6:05
#"Super Trouper" [W.I.P.] - 6:10
#"Super Trouper" [The Bold & The Glamour Mix] - 6:50

;U.K. Cassette
#"Super Trouper" [Extended Version] - 3:52
#"Super Trouper" [Karaoke Version] - 3:52

;Japan CD Maxi
#"Super Trouper" [Radio Version] - 3:52
#"Happy New Year" - 4:23
#"Super Trouper" [Super Super Remix] - 8:58
#"Super Trouper" [Extended Version] - 6:05

Other cover versions, appearances in other media etc.

* Another cover slightly similar to the A*Teens version was included on the tribute album "ABBAdance" by Angeleyes from 1999.
* A hi-NRG/techno dance version and various remixes by ABBA tribute group Abbacadabra were released through the English label Almighty Records in the late 1990s.
* Another dance version by Jaybee is on the compilation "Lay All Your Love On ABBA".
* The "ABBAMetal" compilation (also released as "A Tribute to ABBA") featured a cover by German heavy metal band Custard.
* The song was covered in a 1920s style by German singer Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester.
* On the 1995 New Zealand ABBA tribute album "Abbasalutely", the song was covered by the band Headless Chickens.
* American musician/songwriter Pamela McNeill covered the song on her "Tribute To ABBA" album. Her husband, Dugan McNeill, helped produce the album.
* An electronica version of the song by Mitchell Sigman can be found on the compilation "The Electronic Tribute To ABBA", with Roger Gisborne on vocals.
* A slower, ambient dance version is included on the tribute album "ABBA Dance" by Euphorica in 2003.
* The 2004 British "ABBAMania 2" album includes a version sung by British TV actors Lucy Benjamin of "EastEnders" fame, and James Gaddas.
* Swedish musician Nils Landgren included a rendition of the song on his 2004 tribute album "Funky ABBA".
* On the 2004 tribute album "ABBAlicious" performed by various drag queens from the U.S., the song was covered by Betzy.
* A cover of the song by C.C. Miles can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation "ABBA Chill Out".
* Glasgow indie pop band Camera Obscura covered the song on the b-side of their 7" vinyl release "Tears For Affairs" single in 2007.
* The song was covered in a jazz/lounge music style by American group BNB on their 2008 album "Bossa Mia: Songs of ABBA".
* The song is performed in the "Mamma Mia!" stage musical. In the musical, Donna, Tanya and Rosie perform the song at Sophie's hen party dressed in the tight lyrca suits they used to wear when they were a girl band called "Donna and the Dynamos". Also, in the context of the musical, it explains that even though Donna has a hard life sometimes, all she has to know is that Sophie is there and that makes Donna feel much better. When Niklas Strömstedt wrote lyrics for the Swedish staging of the musical, "Glasgow" was replaced by "Gränna" as the place from which the singer calls in the lyrics.

External links

* [http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/abba/supertrouper.html Lyrics to "Super Trouper" (A-Z Lyrics Universe site)]
* [http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/abba/super+trouper_20002993.html Lyrics to "Super Trouper" (Lyrics Freak site)]
* [http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Abba/Super_Trouper_Lyrics/21043.htm Lyrics to "Super Trouper" (Ask Lyrics site)]

References