‘I cried when I heard it’: The story behind Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’

A new authorised biography about Swedish superstars Abba has offered a behind-the-scenes look at the making of one of their best-known songs, “Dancing Queen”.

Melancholy Undercover: The book of Abba by Jan Gradvall is scheduled for release this autumn, and offers rare interviews with members Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog – along with those who know and work with them – spanning over a decade.

Abba were working on what would be their fourth studio album, Arrival, which Gradvall dubs “their first true masterpiece”.

But the group were under pressure, following a slow period after their 1974 Eurovision triumph with “Waterloo”, meaning recording sessions were constantly interrupted by the need to do promotional tours.

“Dancing Queen” was recorded in August 1975 and marked the group’s first attempt at disco. Gradvall writes that the inspiration for the famous rhythm came from two sources.

“One was George McCrae’s ‘Rock Your Baby’, one of the first disco recordings, a song that had been released the year before and which the members of Abba had heard many times at Alexandra,” he says.

“The other was the New Orleans rhythm on the 1972 album Dr John’s Gumbo , which Roger Palm had been listening to.”

“These two templates were American,” he continues. “But when Abba plays disco there is an unmistakably European sound to it. The song opens with Benny running his finger over the keys on the Bolin grand piano, then the song starts – and it is always slower than you remember.”

He notes in passing the track’s clear influence on artists such as Elvis Costello, who said he borrowed Andersson’s grand piano style from “Dancing Queen” for “Oliver’s Army”, which would go on to become one of his biggest hits.

The working title for “Dancing Queen” was “Boogaloo”, he writes.

“When the recording was done, Bjorn and Benny understood that they had created something special. They went home late that night, ready to play it for their respective partners.”

“I cried when I heard it,’ Lyngstad says. “I thought it was so incredibly beautiful.”

Fältskog was asleep when Ulvaeus returned home and he “didn’t want to wake her”, so he went to his sister’s home instead: “I played it for her over and over,” he recalls.

“We couldn’t believe how good it sounded.”

“Dancing Queen” was released in 1976 as the lead single from Arrival and soon became a global hit, topping the charts in the US as well as the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Norway.

It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015 and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest pop songs of all time.

Gradvall, one of Sweden’s most respected music journalists who helped found the Swedish Music Hall of Fame, has a uniquely close relationship with Abba and has previously appeared in two BBC documentaries about the group.

Melancholy Undercover: The book of Abba is released by Faber on 10 October 2024 on hardback and ebook.