Money, Money, Money

"Money, Money, Money"
Single by ABBA
from the album Arrival
B-side	"Crazy World"
Released	November 1, 1976
Format	7" single
Recorded	May 17, 1976 at Metronome Studio
Genre	Pop
Length	3:05
Label	Polar Music
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Producer	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Certification	Gold (France)[citation needed] Gold (UK)[citation needed]
ABBA singles chronology
"Dancing Queen" (1976) "Money, Money, Money" (1976) "That's Me" (1976)

"Money, Money, Money", originally "Gypsy Girl", is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song, like most ABBA songs, was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was released as a single on November 1, 1976, as the follow-up single to "Dancing Queen, both from the album Arrival. The dramatic structure of the song was well-suited for Anni-Frid Lyngstad's mellow lead vocal.^{[citation needed]}

"Money, Money, Money" is an early indication of Björn & Benny's abilities to write dramatic music suitable for a musical.^{[citation needed]}

The B-side, "Crazy World", was recorded in 1974 during the sessions for the album ABBA.

ABBA perform parts of the song live in the 1977 film ABBA: The Movie. In the popular musical, Mamma Mia!, the song is sung by the character of Donna as she explains how hard she has to work for keeping the taverna in order and desires for a more wealthy life. In the film version, Mamma Mia! The Movie, Meryl Streep sings the song.

Music video

The video for "Money, Money, Money" was inspired by the film Cabaret, showing Frida wearing a hat typical of the 1920s. The video varies from her determined presence in reality during the verses, to the dream sequences about money and "the good life" in the chorus. The video's director, Lasse Hallström, later acknowledged "Money, Money, Money" as the best ABBA video he ever directed.^[1]

An alternate music video was filmed for the TV special 'ABBA-DADDA-DOOO!!" featuring Agnetha and Frida in 1930's style flapper dresses, with feathers in their hair.^[2]

Reception

"Money, Money, Money" was the second worldwide hit from Arrival. The song became a number-one chart hit in Australia, Belgium, France, West Germany, The Netherlands and New Zealand, while reaching the top three in Austria, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. This was ABBA's fifth consecutive number-one single in Australia.

Reaching #3 in the UK, "Money, Money, Money" ended ABBA's run of three consecutive #1 hits in the UK: "Mamma Mia", "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen".^[3] On 5 December 2010 on a British poll of The Nations Favourite ABBA song despite the success of the song on the British charts in 1976 it placed at #22.

Chart positions

Charts (1976/1977)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	3
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Singles Chart	1
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1
Finnish Singles Chart	7
French Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	2
Mexican Singles Chart[4]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	3
US Billboard Hot 100	56

Cover versions

• In January 1992, Roxette were joined onstage by ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad to sing this song when they performed in Zurich.
• On the 1995 New Zealand tribute album Abbasalutely, the song is covered by the group Chug.
• The song was covered by The Nolans^[5]
• The 1999 British tribute album Abbamania featured a cover by the group Madness, who also performed the song in the TV special.
• The song was featured in a German tribute album similarly entitled ABBA Mania which also was released in conjunction with a TV special. This time the song was performed by German model Mariella Ahrens.
• Dance versions have been recorded by Abbacadabra (released through British label Almighty Records), Tiny T on the Lay All Your Love On ABBA compilation, and German eurodance group E-Rotic from their 1997 album Thank You For The Music.
• Finnish heavy metal band Afterworld recorded a cover of the song for their 2000 album Connecting Animals.
• The tribute album ABBAMetal (also released as A Tribute to ABBA) featured a version by German power metal band At Vance and was included on their debut album, No Escape.
• A dance cover of the song by Donna Burke was included on the 2001 Japanese import ABBA Ibiza Caliente Mix compilation.
• The 2004 Funky ABBA tribute album by Swedish musician Nils Landgren includes a version of the song.
• American singer Stephanie St. James (also known as St. James) recorded a cover with slightly altered lyrics for her 2004 album What Did I Do?.
• Swedish opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter covered the song on her 2006 ABBA tribute album I Let The Music Speak.
• A cover of the song by Finnish a cappella choral ensemble Rajaton can be found on their 2006 ABBA tribute album Rajaton Sings ABBA With Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
• System of a Down front man Serj Tankian mixes this song in with his own song "Money" from his Solo Album during live performances.
• English rock band Marillion released a live version of the song in their 2007 album 'Friends', recorded at the Marillion Weekend held earlier that year.
• Sung by Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1976
• List of European number-one hits of 1976
• List of number-one hits of 1976 (France)
• List of number-one hits of 1976 (Germany)
• List of number-one singles in 1976 (New Zealand)

References

1. ^ ABBAsite.com - In Focus - Part 1
2. ^ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 85. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
3. ^ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 122. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
4. ^ Scott, Robert (2002) 'ABBA: Thank You for the Music - The Stories Behind Every Song', Carlton Books Limited: Great Britain, p.80
5. ^ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 209. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995