All That She Wants

"All That She Wants"
Standard European cover (Scandinavian CD single pictured)
Single by Ace of Base
from the album Happy Nation and The Sign
B-side "Fashion Party"
Released 1992
Format
Recorded
  • August 1992[1]
  • SweMix Studios
  • Stockholm, Sweden
Genre
Length 3:30
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Ace of Base singles chronology
"Wheel of Fortune"
(1992)		 "All That She Wants"
(1992)		 "Happy Nation"
(1993)

"Wheel of Fortune"
(1992)		 "All That She Wants"
(1992)		 "Happy Nation"
(1993)
Music video
"All That She Wants" on YouTube
1993 single cover
1993 U.S. edition cover

"All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, Happy Nation and in the following year, it was released as the first single from the 1993 album The Sign in North America. Produced by Denniz Pop, Jonas Berggren, and Ulf Ekberg, the song was inspired by the Kayo song "Another Mother".

"All That She Wants" is a reggae-pop song that describes a sexually promiscuous woman, with the word "baby" being synonymous with "boyfriend".[4][3] The song was first recorded in 1991, but went through many renditions before it was officially released.

The song was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in many countries, including Denmark, Germany, the UK and Australia. The single was certified platinum in the United States, where it peaked at number two, behind Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". The single sold over 1 million copies in 1993 in the United States alone, and became one of the best-selling singles of that year.[5] On 7 July 2014, the single was re-released with new remixes as a digital EP.[6]

Background

Ace of Base was influenced by Kayo's "Another Mother" to create "All That She Wants".

While the group's predecessor single, "Wheel of Fortune", was a modest success, "All That She Wants", led Ace of Base to take off internationally. After hearing Swedish top 20 hit "Another Mother" by Kayo, the band decided that this was exactly the sound they wanted to create.[7] In 1991, the group produced a demo version of "All That She Wants", titled "Mr. Ace", which featured different lyrics, Linn on lead vocals, and rap vocals performed by both Jonas and Ulf.[8] The song was initially in major key, but was changed to minor upon Linn Berggren's insistence.[9] Jenny explained that changing the key to minor allowed the song to portray a greater level of sadness and increased its relatability. Some of the other material on the Happy Nation album stemmed from "All That She Wants", leading the album to have a darker sound.[10]

Jonas and Ulf contacted the producer of "Another Mother", Denniz PoP, and sent him a demo tape featuring the song. Though Denniz was initially unimpressed with the song, the tape got stuck in the cassette tape player in his car. Because of this, he was forced to listen to it over and over again, which helped him decide to help produce the track. Denniz introduced many changes to the song. Denniz was not fond of the rap vocals on the original demo, and these were subsequently replaced with short spoken word sections. A new second verse was also added. Though vocals were recorded by all four members for this version, Jenny's vocals were eventually cut on the final release.[1]

The final version of the song evolved into a dark fusion of dub-reggae with pop which became the band's trademark sound. The song is performed in the key of C♯ minor with a tempo of 94 beats per minute in common time. The vocals span from G♯3 to C♯5.[11] Ekberg described the song as being about "a typical girl in Sweden or Norway or Germany" who "meets a lot of guys".[12] Jenny noted that it was about "a woman who is always leaving and that is because the woman is not whole in herself."[10]

Denniz would go on to co-produce all officially released versions of the song that were available at the time, notably a more uptempo version of the song, dubbed the "Madness Version". This version features entirely different vocals and more spoken-word sections.[13] Ace of Base would later collaborate with Denniz Pop on "The Sign" and multiple tracks on the band's sophomore release, The Bridge.

Following its release in October 1992, the song quickly climbed to number one on the Danish chart while "Wheel of Fortune" was still sitting at number two. Keen to rush out an album for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album and it was hastily recorded, mixed, and released within a few weeks.

In 2007, the song was re-recorded by the band as a three-piece with new lyrics in a first-person perspective, but was never officially released. This re-recording was leaked online in June 2016 in a collaboration version of the song that features new Ace of Base vocals alongside Britney Spears's vocals from her own 2007 demo version.[14]

Critical reception

Billboard wrote about the song: "Swedish quartet wears its Abba influences proudly on this shuffling, reggae-splashed ditty."[15]

Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented on the song: "The last time a new act from Sweden came on this strong it was Roxette with "The Look." Since we got hold of the import several months ago, the word about this release has spread. Not every song that reaches #1 in the U.K. like this one did succeeds in America, but they all would if they were this hot. Can't imagine it would take more than one listen to be convinced."[16]

Commercial performance

"All That She Wants" reached the number-one position in thirteen countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom. The song peaked at top three positions in most other places where it was released. It was released as the band's first single from The Sign in the United States, where it peaked at number two and was certified platinum. The song was a very successful radio hit in the United States, sustaining the number one position on the US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[17] chart for nine consecutive weeks.

"All That She Wants" was listed at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end charts and at number 70 on the 1990s decade-end charts. In Germany, the song was the best-selling single of 1993.[18]

Ace of Base in the "All That She Wants" music video.

Music video

A music video directed by Matt Broadley was produced in November 1992[19] to promote the single. The video had a very low budget, and was filmed in Copenhagen in one day with only two takes. The music video was meant to serve as an explanation for the song. It depicts the band members performing in a cramped apartment, interlaced with shots of a woman getting ready to go out. She goes to a bar where she meets a man. They talk and then she takes him home to her. The woman who appears in the music video is the Danish actress and singer-songwriter Christiane Bjørg Nielsen. The video is recorded in her apartment and has a sepia tone. Though Jenny has no vocals in the song, she lip syncs the vocals during the chorus.

Accolades

Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
1995 Life United States "The Best Recordings of the 90's"[20] *
2011 MTV Dance United Kingdom "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time"[21] 56
2013 Vibe United States "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from the '90s That Changed the Game"[22] 6
2017 BuzzFeed United States "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s"[23] 18
2018 Time Out United Kingdom "The 50 Best Pop Songs"[24] 36
2018 Time Out United Kingdom "50 Best '90s Songs"[25] 48

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

Track listings

Personnel

  • Vocals by Linn Berggren, Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg
  • Written by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg
  • Produced by Denniz Pop, Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg
  • Recorded at Swemix Studios, Stockholm

Charts and sales

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Sweden 1 November 1992 Mega
United Kingdom 6 March 1993 London
United States 18 September 1993 Arista

Cover versions

Swedish band Grass Show covered the song on their 1997 debut album Something Smells Good In Stinkville.[79] American popstar Britney Spears recorded a song titled "Remembrance of Who I Am" which lifted the chorus from "All That She Wants" for her 2007 album Blackout but it failed to make the final cut for the album. The demo leaked onto the internet in January 2008.[80]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Seabrook, John (14 October 2015). "Mr. Pop". Slate. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2010). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Volume 1. Guinness Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-5615-9176-3. When Ace of Base scored a massive worldwide number 1 in 1993 with 'All That She Wants', the comparisons to fellow Swedish group, Abba, seemed obvious: Two female vocalists, one blonde, one brunette, and two male musicians, playing catchy dance pop.
  3. 1 2 Daw, Robbie (20 November 2014). "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994". Idolator. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Seabrook, John (2015). The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-3932-4192-0.
  5. 1 2 "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. Vol. 106 no. 3. 15 January 1994. p. 73. ISSN 0006-2510.
  6. ↑ "Ace of Base Facebook – All That She Wants Remixed". Facebook. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Beatlab, SVT documentary, 2001
  8. ↑ "The Sign (Remastered)". iTunes. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Säsong 5 – Avsnitt 3: Ace of Base". Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. . SVT.
  10. 1 2 Saeed, Saeed (13 November 2012). "Take a trip down memory lane at the Mixtape Rewind festival". The National. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "All That She Wants by Ace of Base – Digital Sheet Music". Musicnotes. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Bernstein, Jonathan. "ABBA-ESQUE?". Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "All That She Wants (Madness Version)". Beatport. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Lacroix, Jeremiah (3 June 2016). "Quand Britney Spears reprenait All That She Wants avec Ace of Base". Tetu (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  15. ↑ Flick, Larry (11 September 1993). "Single Reviews > Pop" (PDF). Billboard. p. 53.
  16. ↑ Sholin, Dave (10 September 1993). "Gavin Picks > Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 1971. p. 46. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ace of Base – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  18. 1 2 (in German) "Jahrescharts – 1993". Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. . Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts.
  19. ↑ "HN photo session: making of All That She Wants music video". Tapatalk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  20. ↑ "The Best Recordings of the 90's". Life. Archived from the original on 13 June 2002. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  21. ↑ MTV Dance Tuesday 27.12.2011
  22. ↑ "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from the '90s That Changed the Game". Vibe. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  23. ↑ Stopera, Matt; Galindo, Brian (11 March 2017). "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  24. ↑ "The 50 best pop songs". Time Out. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  25. ↑ "The 50 best '90s songs". Time Out. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  26. ↑ "Amazon.com: All That She Wants (Remixed)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  27. ↑ "All That She Wants (Remixed)". Beatport. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  30. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  31. ↑ "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 2288." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  32. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2305." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  33. ↑ Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-3133-1547-3.
  34. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 105 no. 24. 12 June 1993. p. 57. ISSN 0006-2510.
  35. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
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  37. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  38. 1 2 "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 18. 1 May 1993. p. 24.
  39. ↑ "The Singles: All That She Wants" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 29. 17 July 1993. p. 2.
  40. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – All That She Wants". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  41. ↑ (in Italian) "Singoli – I numeri uno (1959-2006) (parte 4: 1990–1996)". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. . It-charts.150m.com.
  42. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Ace Of Base - All That She Wants" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  43. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  44. ↑ "Charts.nz – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  45. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". VG-lista. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  46. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  47. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  48. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  49. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
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  51. ↑ Kimberley, Chris (2000). Zimbabwe : Zimbabwe Singles Chart Book. Harare.
  52. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  53. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Singles 1993". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  54. ↑ "Jahreshitparade 1993" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  55. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1993" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  56. ↑ "The RPM Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1993". RPM. Vol. 58 no. 23. 18 December 1993. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  57. ↑ "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1993". RPM. Vol. 58 no. 23. 18 December 1993. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  58. ↑ "1993 YEAR-END SALES CHARTS" (PDF). Music & Media (1993-12-18, page 15). Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  59. ↑ "I singoli più venduti del 1993" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  60. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  61. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1993" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  62. ↑ "End of Year Charts 1993". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  63. ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1993" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  64. ↑ "Top 100 Singles 1993". Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 24.
  65. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1993". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  66. 1 2 "Australian Top 100 Singles 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  67. ↑ "End of Year Charts 1994". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  68. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1994". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  69. ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1994". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. . Cash Box magazine.
  70. ↑ "Hot 100 Singles of the '90s". Billboard. 111 (52): 20. 25 December 1999. ISSN 0006-2510.
  71. ↑ "Austrian single certifications – Ace of Base – All That She Wants" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Ace of Base in the field Interpret. Enter All That She Wants in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen. 
  72. ↑ "Les Singles / Titres Certifiés "Or"" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  73. ↑ (in French) "Les Singles en Or". Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. . InfoDisc.
  74. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Ace of Base; 'All That She Wants')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  75. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Ace of Base – All That She Wants". Recorded Music NZ.
  76. ↑ "British single certifications – Ace of Base – All That She Wants". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Enter All That She Wants in the search field and then press Enter.
  77. ↑ Copsey, Rob (18 May 2017). "Flashback 1993: Ace of Base land their first UK Number 1". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  78. ↑ "American single certifications – Ace of Base – All That She Wants". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  79. ↑ "Grass Show – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  80. ↑ "Friday Flashback: Britney Spears – All That She Wants". Crushable. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
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