"Dancing Queen" is the biggest hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, and as such is considered to be their signature song. The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, recorded in 1975 for the group's album Arrival, and released as a single the following year.
"Dancing Queen" features a shared lead vocal performance by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Its opening keyboard glissando and hummed vocals are one of the most identifiable sections of 1970s pop music.
Like a majority of ABBA songs, "Dancing Queen" is relatively straight-forward; it's about a seventeen-year-old girl having a good time on a Friday night. She is not fazed by the social and political pressures in her daily life as a teenager on the dancefloor, and all she wants to do is dance, no matter the identity of her dancing partner.
"Dancing Queen" recording sessions began August 4, 1975; the demo was called 'Boogaloo', and as the sessions progressed, Andersson and Ulvaeus found inspiration to the dance rhythm in George McCrae's disco classic "Rock Your Baby", as well as the drumming on Dr. John's 1972 album Gumbo. Faltskog and Lyngstad recorded the vocals on sessions in September, and the track was completed three months later.
During the sessions, Benny brought a tape home with the backing track on it and played it to his future wife Anni-Frid, who started crying when listening. Quote: "I found it so beautiful". While working on the lyrics, part of the verse was scrapped: "Baby, baby, you're out of sight/hey, you're looking alright tonight/when you come to the party/listen to the guys/they've got the look in their eyes...". I'll be posting my remix with this verse included. It Rocks!
"Dancing Queen" spent six weeks at No.1 in the UK from September 1976 and became ABBA's only American chart-topper in April 1977. It also hit No.1 in eleven other countries worldwide: ABBA's native Sweden (where it spent 14 weeks at the top), Norway, Ireland, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), South Africa, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. "Dancing Queen" also reached the Top Five in Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Austria and France. Best feel good happy song I've ever heard. Somehow this song causes a chemical reaction of euphoria in my brain that is always welcomed. Gotta Love the undalating ABBA neon as well. Best Wishes and ABBA Rocks!