Angeleyes

Angeleyes

Infobox Single
Name = Angeleyes


Artist = ABBA
from Album = Voulez-Vous
B-side =
Released = July 2,1979
Format = Single
Recorded =
Genre = Disco, Pop
Length = 4:23
Label = Epic
Writer = Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Certification = Silver (UK)
Last single = "Voulez-Vous"
(1979)
This single = "Angeleyes"
(1979)
Next single = "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
(1979)

"Angeleyes" is a song written and recorded in 1979 by Swedish pop group ABBA. The lyrics and music were composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lyrics sung by both Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, typical of most ABBA compositions. In the lyrics, a woman is out walking when she sees her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. The man apparently has strikingly beautiful, bewitching eyes — if you look into them, you become "hypnotised"; in other words, fall madly in love with him — this happened to the narrator. The relationship is now over, and the woman worries that he will let his new girlfriend down in the same way as he let her down.

History

In the United Kingdom, "Angeleyes" was released as a double A-side with "Voulez-Vous". This was because Epic, ABBA's British record label, believed that with its classic ABBA arrangement, "Angeleyes" would be the song record buyers would want. "Voulez-Vous" received less radio airplay than "Angeleyes" in the UK. The popularity of "Angeleyes" is proven by its inclusion on "Greatest Hits Vol. 2", which did not feature "Voulez-Vous". However, later official ABBA compilations ' and ' included "Voulez-Vous" instead. This has distorted the facts somewhat, and has falsely created the impression that "Voulez-Vous" was the more popular track of the two in the UK during the original single's chart life. This was not the case.Fact|date=August 2008

"Angeleyes" was included in the official ABBA compilations "" (1993) and "The Definitive Collection" (2001), as well as the 1994 four-CD boxed set "Thank You for the Music". However, the phenomenal success of the "Angeleyes"-less "ABBA Gold" in reaching a mass audience means that the track's UK single success is largely forgotten except in the UK where it is still regarded with fondness.Fact|date=August 2008 A planned version of "Angeleyes" in Spanish remains unrecorded. Unlike "Lay All Your Love on Me" in 1981 (which used clips from older videos), Epic did not make a promotional video for the track. As ABBA had filmed one for "Voulez-Vous", it was this that was used on television shows such as "Top of the Pops".

The "Angeleyes"/"Voulez-Vous" single was the first in the UK to feature a picture sleeve. All of Epic's previous ABBA single releases were issued in plain company sleeves, which were yellow until 1976 when they changed to orange during a revision of Epic's label design. For this single, Epic used a photograph of ABBA that had already been used elsewhere for the "Chiquitita" single earlier in 1979. The single was also issued in several different colours of vinyl, and marked a change in Epic's presentation of their then most profitable act. Some of their future singles would be issued in either a gatefold sleeve, picture disc, or a 12-inch "pop-up" gatefold sleeve. However, the plain orange company sleeve was not yet history, as the next single "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" reverted to this for one last time.

Reception

The double A-side managed to reach number 3 on the UK charts. At the same time, the group Roxy Music released a song (with a different tune and lyrics) also called "Angel Eyes".

At the time of the single's release, however, other publications provided single's charts alongside the official chart produced by Music Week for the BBC, "New Musical Express" and "Melody Maker" being two examples of publications with their own charts. There were often differences between these charts, but rarely more than a place or two. The double A-side single "Angeleyes" and "Voulez-Vous" caused controversy by reaching number 3 in the Music Week/BBC chart, when it rose no higher than number 9 on any other chart and generally missed the top 10 completely in the majority of the charts produced. BBC Radio 1 acknowledged that there was a discrepancy on-air. If there was anything untoward, it was ignored and the number 3 ranking with Music Week/BBC was never disqualified. Fact|date=August 2008

Cover versions, appearances in other media, etc.

*German eurodance group E-Rotic covered the song for their ABBA tribute album "Thank You for the Music".

*American alternative rock band The Czars covered the song on their 2006 album "Sorry I Made You Cry".


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