"Mamma Mia" the classic song from ABBA's 3rd album, ABBA, written by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The song "Mamma Mia" is a common song used in bands or orchestras. The song's name is derived from Italian, where it is an interjection (literally, "My mother").
The song is about a woman who is time and time again disappointed by her unfaithful partner, but forgives him anyway.
"Mamma Mia" was written at the home of Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and was the last track recorded for the album "ABBA". The song was one of the four songs from the album to have a promo clip made to promote the album. The song, however, was never intended for release as a single. Around this time, many artists were recording ABBA songs (such as "Honey, Honey" and "Bang a Boomerang"), similarly ABBA offered "Mamma Mia" to British pop group Brotherhood of Man, who turned it down.
When "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" topped the Australian charts for 3 weeks, the Australian public was hungry for more ABBA - the beginnings of ABBAmania. It was the promo clip for Mamma Mia that was proving the most popular after repeat screenings on Australian television, notably Molly Meldrum's Countdown. ABBA’s Australian record company, RCA, asked that Mamma Mia be released as a single but Polar Music refused. However, in the end Stig Anderson agreed & "Mamma Mia" was released in Australia in August 1975 where it spent 10 weeks at No 1.
After this success in Australia, Epic Records in Great Britain took notice of ABBA for the first time since Eurovision and "Waterloo". From then on, Epic began to heavily promote ABBA's singles with the immediate result of "S.O.S." reaching the Top 10 in the important British market, their 1st hit since "Waterloo". "Mamma Mia" soon followed reaching No1 on the British charts in early 1976, the 2nd of ABBA's 18 consecutive Top 10 singles.
The B-Side for the Australian release of "Mamma Mia" was "Hey, Hey Helen". In most other countries the singles' B-Side was the instrumental "Intermezzo Number 1". However ABBA's British label Epic selected "Tropical Loveland" as the B-side for the UK release, feeling another vocal track especially one showcasing ABBA in a different musical style would better promote the parent album.album, as it showed a different style of music and they thought it would be better than an instrumental song.
In the UK Singles Chart of January 1976, "Mamma Mia" replaced Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the number 1 position, which itself coincidentally contains the lyrical phrase "Mama Mia!".
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