Does Your Mother Know

"Does Your Mother Know"
Single by ABBA
from the album Voulez-Vous
B-side	"Kisses of Fire"
Released	April 1979
Format	7" single
Recorded	6 February 1979 at Polar Music Studios
Genre	Pop/Disco/Rock
Length	3:15
Label	Polar
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Producer	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Certification	Silver (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"Chiquitita" (1979) "Does Your Mother Know" (1979) "Voulez-Vous" (1979)

"Does Your Mother Know", originally "I Can Do It", is the name of a song recorded in 1979 by Swedish pop group ABBA and was the second single to be released from their album Voulez-Vous. The B-side was "Kisses of Fire", also taken from the album.

History

"Does Your Mother Know" was recorded in February 1979 and released as a single in April of that year. Written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the song is something of a pastiche to 1950s/early 1960s-style rock and roll and touches on the subject of a man responding to the flirting of a much younger girl. "Does Your Mother Know" deviated from the typical 'ABBA at their most famous' formula, in that the lead vocals were sung not by the female vocalists (Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad) as was usually the case, but by Björn Ulvaeus. This was one of the only ABBA singles to feature Björn as the sole lead vocal, along with 'Rock Me'.

The track originally featured a 30 second instrumental introduction which was ultimately cut from the recording. A session in late March 1979 saw the addition of Benny's characteristic synthesizer introduction, as well as work on the backing track that turned a boogie rock stomper into a disco track.

Reception

"Does Your Mother Know" was another sizable ABBA hit, hitting #1 in Belgium and reaching the top 5 in Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands. It was also a top 10 hit in Australia, Canada, West Germany, Rhodesia and Switzerland. In the United States, "Does Your Mother Know" would become ABBA's penultimate Top 20 hit, reaching #19.

Allmusic reviewer Donald A. Guarisco said in a review of the song that "ABBA's recording balances the song's rock elements with dance music touches to create an intriguing dance/rock hybrid" and that its "macho feel is enhanced by a rockabilly-styled melody that flowers into a swinging chorus".^[1]

Chart positions

Chart (1979)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	7
Austrian Singles Chart	13
Belgian Singles Chart	1
British Singles Chart	4
Canadian Singles Chart	8
Dutch Singles Chart	4
French Singles Chart	26
German Singles Chart	10
Irish Singles Chart	3
New Zealand Singles Chart	27
Swiss Singles Chart	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	19
Zimbabwe Singles Chart	9

Preceded by "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" by Boney M.	Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single June 9, 1979	Succeeded by "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel
Preceded by "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick	Belgian VRT Top 30 Singles Chart number-one single June 14, 1979 - June 18, 1979	Succeeded by "Pop Muzik" by M

Cover versions

• Studio 99 covered the song on their album Studio 99 Perform A Tribute To ABBA, Vol. 1.
• The 1992 compilation ABBA: The Tribute contained a cover by Swedish artists Pelle Almgren & Wow Liksom.
• The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
• Australian indie band Smudge included a cover of the song on their 1997 album Mo' Poontang.
• Northern Irish rock band Ash recorded what has often been called the best cover, which can be found on the 1999 compilation ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration.
• Gleaming Spires recorded a cover for their 1983 "Party E.P."
• Irish girl group B*Witched's version of the song can be found on the Abbamania album from 1999. They also performed it on the TV special. On the subsequent 2004 ABBAMania 2 album, the song is covered by British actor Will Mellor.
• On the German compilation ABBA Mania, the song was covered by German actors Stefan Bockelmann and Kai Noll.
• Swedish ska band Liberator covered the song on their 2001 album Soundchecks 95-00.
• Punk rock band The Restarts covered the song on their Slumworld album.
• Canadian a cappella group Streetnix recorded a cover of the song.
• Indie band Nosehare recorded a cover of the song.
• Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden recorded a cover on their ABBA tribute album Gold. Their version includes an opening riff from the Deep Purple song "Woman From Tokyo".
• 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.
• A cover of the song by Speachless Project can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.
• American indie rock music artists The Lundell Brothers recorded a cover of the song.
• The Slingsby Hornets recorded the song for their 2008 album Whatever Happened To....^[2]

Live cover performances, appearances in other media etc.

• The song is performed in the Mamma Mia! musical by the character of Tanya. In the 2008 Mamma Mia film adaptation, it is sung by actress Christine Baranski, who plays Tanya.
• Eoghan Quigg gave a live performance of this song on The X Factor as a contestant in 2008, as it is his favourite song. He also covered the song in his debut album. Eton Road performed the song in series 3.
• UK rapper Dizzee Rascal performed the song on tour.
• "Does Your Mother Know?" featured in the 2003 film Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson, who lip-synchs to the song in the bathroom, and incidentally, also briefly sings "Thank You for the Music" earlier in the film.

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/song/t2470922
2. ^ http://www.wix.com/jonpaulallen/the-slingsby-hornets

2.The Definitive Collection