‘SOS’ Wins New Vote As Best-Ever ABBA Single

As the world awaits new music by ABBA, another high-profile publication has weighed in with its verdict on the ten best songs in the catalogue of the super-Swedes — and the No. 1 may be something of a surprise.

The Guardian newspaper today (29 June) publishes its list of the ten best singles by the quartet, thus ruling out lesser-known album tracks. But even so, the choice of the 1975 hit ‘SOS’ as the paper’s favourite, as selected by a panel of six Guardian journalists, may raise an eyebrow or two. When Billboard published an updated, similar list in August 2017, ‘SOS’ ranked only at No. 12. That chart, more predictably, had ‘Dancing Queen’ at No. 1.

“The ultimate pop band’s ultimate pop song went on to inspire hits for the Sex Pistols, Girls Aloud and countless songwriters in between,” writes the Guardian of ‘SOS.’ The song gets the paper’s vote ahead of ‘The Day Before You Came,’ which stands at No. 2, and ‘Knowing You, Knowing Me’ at No. 3.

In an artists’ survey of February 2018 by Crack magazine, singer-songwriter John Grant said that ‘SOS’ was “the song that made me fall head over heels in love with ABBA.” Björn Ulvaeus, who co-wrote it with bandmate Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson, has said that it was a key track in ABBA’s discovery of their sound and identity.

The Guardian poll also has ‘The Winner Takes It All’ at No. 5, with another rather surprising entry,’ ‘Lay All Your Love On Me,’ at No. 6. The top ten is completed by ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A Man After Midnight,’ ‘Super Trouper,’ ‘Take A Chance On Me’ and ‘The Name Of The Game.’

As reported, the Benny Andersson-produced soundtrack to the upcoming ABBA-inspired film MAMMA MIA! Here We Go Again will be released by Polydor on 13 July. The movie itself, the sequel to the smash hit MAMMA MIA! The Movie, follows a week later.

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Format: UK English