Head over Heels (ABBA song)

"Head over Heels"
Single by ABBA
from the album The Visitors
A-side "The Visitors"
Released February 1982
Recorded 2 September 1981 at Polar Music Studios
Genre Pop, synthpop
Length 3:45
Label Polar Music
Songwriter(s) Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s) Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"When All Is Said and Done"
(1982)		 "Head over Heels"
(1982)		 "The Visitors"
(1982)

"When All Is Said and Done"
(1982)		 "Head over Heels"
(1982)		 "The Visitors"
(1982)
Music video
"Head Over Heels" on YouTube

"Head over Heels" is a 1981 song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, released as a single the following year. The song is the second track from their final studio album, The Visitors, and was released as a double A-side with the title track of that album.

History

"Head over Heels", whose working title was "Tango", was written and composed by both Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals, singing about her "very good friend," played in the music video by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, an overactive high-society woman who rushes through the shops, with her hapless and exhausted husband (played by Ulvaeus) following behind. The song's video was the group's final clip directed by long-time collaborator Lasse Hallström.

As with the previous single "One of Us", Epic Records in the UK used a different picture sleeve from the standard one used in most countries.

The single itself was not released in the United States; it was accompanied as the B-side to another single "The Visitors" instead.

The sheet music has been released,[1] and the song has been choreographed for dance numbers.[2][3]

Reception

"Head Over Heels" was not a successful chart hit; the release came as the group's popularity was declining, and became ABBA's worst selling single since "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", seven years earlier.[4] It only managed to chart as high as #25 in the UK, breaking a run of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits (from "SOS" in October 1975 to "One of Us" in December 1981). This 18-hit run had equaled that of The Beatles, who had consecutive Top 10 hits from 1964 (with "A Hard Day's Night") to 1976 (with "Yesterday"), broken by "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Although "Head Over Heels" did experience Top 10 success in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and France, by this time, ABBA's chart domination was all but over, and the group effectively disbanded a year later. The track was excluded from their retrospective double LP The Singles: The First Ten Years, which was released later in 1982.

George Starostin of Only Solitaire praised the song as the third best track from The Visitors, and described the "bouncy ballad" as a "slightly stupid, slightly corny, but immaculately written [song] notorious for...incorporating elements of a tango". He also complemented the vocal melody, which he said less talented bands would "simply kill for".[5]

Chart performance

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 8
Belgian Singles Chart 2
UK Singles Chart[6] 25
Dutch Singles Chart 4
French Singles Chart 10
German Singles Chart 19
Irish Singles Chart 14
Polish Singles Chart 6
Swiss Singles Chart 18

Cover versions

  • 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.
  • The song is covered on an ABBA tribute album presented by the San Juan Music Group.
  • The K&K Studio Singers recorded the song in Polish as "Dumna Jak Paw".
  • The German dance music project ZokZok based their 2002 club hit ZokZok 3 on the intro of this song.

References

  1. ↑ "Head over Heels (ABBA)". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Big Dave – Leicestershire: Awesome Linedancing". Docs.google.com. March 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bear City Dancers: Head over Heels". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 185. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
  5. ↑ Starostin, George. "ABBA: THE VISITORS". Only Solitaire. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Abba | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
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