| "Summer Night City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byABBA | ||||
| from the albumGreatest Hits Vol. 2 | ||||
| B-side | "Medley (4:22)" | |||
| Released | 6 September 1978 (Sweden) | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:34 (single edit) 4:14 (with original intro) | |||
| Label | Polar | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| ABBA singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Summer Night City" onYouTube | ||||
"Summer Night City" is a song recorded by the Swedish recording groupABBA, written byBenny Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus as a tribute to their hometown ofStockholm. It was released on 6 September 1978, viaPolar Music, as a standalone single; it was the group's second non-album single after "Fernando". While it was recorded during sessions for the group's then-upcoming sixth studio albumVoulez-Vous (1979), it was scrapped from the album. It was, however, included on the group's compilation albumGreatest Hits Vol. 2, a year after its release. Both Andersson and Ulvaeus have shared dislike of the song, due to being unsatisfied with the final mix.
While "Summer Night City" was a chart success, it proved less so than previous hits. It charted within the top ten in thirteen countries, and topped the charts in Finland, Ireland, and Sweden, the group's last number one hit in their native country for over 40 years until "Don't Shut Me Down" in 2021. A planned US release was cancelled, the second ABBA single to be shelved following "Eagle", and charted poorly in Canada. It was featured as a bonus track on both the 1997 and 2001 CD re-issues ofVoulez-Vous and as the full-length version with the original intro on the 2010 re-issue. It is featured onMore ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits.
The recording sessions for "Summer Night City" began in early 1978. It had the working titles of "Kalle Sändare" and "Dancing in the Moonlight".[1] ABBA's new recording studio,Polar Music Studio, had opened in May 1978, but had not been ready to use initially, so the primary backing track had been recorded at Metronome Studio. A 43-second ballad-style introduction to the song had been edited out to improve the overall quality, but nothing seemed to work. Allegedly, mixing the single took at least a week, far more than it took to mix any other track in ABBA's recording history. In the end, the song had an enormous amount of compression applied to it to give it a more "driving" sound.[2]
Agnetha Fältskog has been quoted as saying she did not like the song to start with, as she felt "it wasn't ABBA" but later on grew to like it.[3] A reluctant ABBA decided to release "Summer Night City" as a single in September despite their disappointment with the track in its current form. It garnered minor controversy in the United Kingdom due to some listeners mishearing the fade out line "walking in the moonlight" as the more explicit "fucking in the moonlight".[4] The group still performed the song live on their 1979 world tour, though with the original introduction that had been removed from the studio recording. The previously unreleased version with the extended introduction was finally released as part of the box setThank You for the Music in 1994.
Their ambivalence about the record has surfaced occasionally in interviews where Andersson said "we shouldn't have released that one", and Ulvaeus called the recording "really lousy".[2]
The single'sB-side was a medley of the American traditional songs "Pick a Bale of Cotton", "On Top of Old Smokey", and "Midnight Special", which the group had recorded in May 1975. This was the only song released by ABBA that was not written by any of the members themselves.[5] On the single, "Medley" was actually a re-equalised version of the original 1975 version that had been issued on the German charity albumStars im Zeichen eines guten Sterns (Polydor). However, the 1978 compressed version is very similar, so much so that a mistake was made in the booklet notes of the 1994 4-CD boxed setThank You for the Music. It turned out that the 1975 original version was included in that set but it was claimed to be the 1978 compressed. The "Medley" mystery was allegedly solved when the UK single master tapes were returned byEpic Records toPolar Music in Sweden in the early 2000s. As the UK tapes had definitely included the 1978 compressed version, it then became possible to determine which version was which. As explained by ABBA historianCarl Magnus Palm:
WhenThe Complete Studio Recordings was put together, I and the mastering engineer tried to determine whether it actually was two different mixes. The conclusion was that it probably was and so both versions were included in the box set. However, since then it's finally been determined that they are one and the same mix, the difference being that the 1978 "version" was subjected to a lot more compression, presumably to make it sound more like the highly compressed "Summer Night City" A-side of the single.[6]
In a contemporary review, the BritishRecord Business gave it a mixed review. Although noting the "hustling disco rhythm swathed in the customary rich, intricate ABBA production" would give the group another hit, they also called it the group's weakest single in years.[7]Classic Pop ranked it as ABBA's 23rd best song.[8]
In the United Kingdom, "Summer Night City" debuted at number 21 on theUK Singles Chart the week of 16 September 1978 and was the most added song to UK radio stations that week.[9][10] It was certifiedSilver on the day of its release.[11] It reached a peak position of number five on its fourth week charting before exiting the top ten, spending nine weeks in total on the chart. Although it marked ABBA's ninth consecutive UK top ten hit, it was their first since "SOS" to miss the top three and was ABBA's lowest peaking single for the period between 1976 and 1980.[12] The song's lower than usual British chart placement, along with Ulvaeus and Andersson's disliking of the released recording, led to the full-length version being scrapped fromVoulez-Vous.[4] As of September 2021, it is ABBA's 18th-biggest song in the UK, including both pure sales and digital streams.[13]
Across Europe, "Summer Night City" entered the top ten in nearly all markets it charted in. In the group's native Sweden, the single debuted at number three on theSverigetopplistan before rising to number one, marking ABBA's last number one hit in their own country for 43 years until September 2021 when their comeback single, "Don't Shut Me Down" reached the top spot.[14] In neighboring Denmark, Norway, and Finland, the single reached position numbers nine, three, and one. While it peaked at number three in Belgium'sUltratop 50 chart, "Summer Night City" marked the group's first single since "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" to miss the top two. Similarly, in the Netherlands, usually a successful market for ABBA, "Summer Night City" stalled at number ten in the country'sSingle Top 100, the group's poorest showing since "Mamma Mia" peaked at number 12 in 1975. The single reached the top spot in Ireland, and reached top ten status in Iceland, Switzerland, and West Germany.
The group were already experiencing a decline in sales in Australia and New Zealand when "Summer Night City" was released in the countries viaRCA Victor. In Australia, the single debuted the week of 16 October 1978 on theKent Music Report at number 57 and reached as high at number 13 on 27 November; it was an chart improvement from the group's previous single "Eagle /Thank You for the Music", which only peaked at number 82, but was the third consecutive single from the group to miss the top ten. It charted even worse in neighboring New Zealand, debuting and peaking at number 37 on 26 November 1978, and stayed in theRMNZ Singles Chart for only one week, becoming ABBA's lowest charting hit until "One of Us" stalled at number 43 in February 1982.
"Summer Night City" was all but ignored in North America. In the United States, it was shelved byAtlantic Records, ABBA's North American record label, as although Atlantic realized the song's potential to be a chart hit, the group couldn't guarantee its inclusion on an album released beforeChristmas of that year and the label refused to release the single without a much more profitable album soon afterwards.[15] However, it did get a release in Canada, and the single reached a dismal position of number 90 on theRPM Top Singles listing; it charted higher at number 34 on theCRIA chart, which tracked sales only at retailers. The single also charted in Mexico, peaking at number 10, and marked the group's eighth consecutive top ten hit.
It proved a success inRhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Japan, peaking at number four on the former and number 24 on the latter.
"Summer Night City" makes small appearances in the musicalMamma Mia!. Samples from the song appear in scrambled "nightmare" form during the entr'acte, and is also scene change music between the songs "The Winner Takes It All" and "Take a Chance on Me".[citation needed]
It has been featured in the set list for ABBA'sVoyage concert residency in London, since its opening in May 2022.
7-inch single[16]
1993 CD single[17]
Weekly charts[edit]
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