"Under Attack"
Single by ABBA
from the album The Singles: The First Ten Years
B-side"You Owe Me One"
Released3 December 1982
Recorded2–4 August 1982
StudioPolar Music Studios
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:45
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Benny Andersson
  • Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"The Day Before You Came"
(1982)		 "Under Attack"
(1982)		 "I Still Have Faith in You / Don't Shut Me Down"
(2021)
Music video
"Under Attack" on YouTube

"Under Attack" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in December 1982 as the second and final single from the compilation The Singles: The First Ten Years.[1]

Background

ABBA recorded "Under Attack" between 2 and 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm.[2] The group had originally intended to release a new studio album, but instead decided to release a double-album compilation of their past singles while adding two new songs from the session. The two new tracks that made it onto The Singles: The First Ten Years were "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack". The latter would eventually be added to the expanded editions of The Visitors album.[1]

On 11 December 1982, ABBA performed "Under Attack" on the BBC's Late Late Breakfast Show, in what was their last collective performance.[3][4]

Reception

"Under Attack" was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles ("Head over Heels" and "The Day Before You Came") had failed to reach No. 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands,[3] and a Top 20 single in a couple of other European charts, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at No. 26 in the United Kingdom.[5] In Australia, where the group's popularity only a few years earlier had rivaled that of The Beatles, "Under Attack" only reached No. 96 in the singles chart. "Under Attack" became ABBA's lowest charting single since "So Long". After the single's release, ABBA went on a temporary hiatus that effectively lasted for almost 40 years.[6]

"Under Attack" is featured in the musical theatre production Mamma Mia! but not in the film.[7]

Music video

ABBA filmed a music video for "Under Attack" on 16 November 1982.[3] The video shows ABBA navigating their way through an empty warehouse filled with red beacon lights. The video ends with the four members walking through the open warehouse door and into the distance, their backs to the camera, reaching the end of ABBA.

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for "Under Attack"
Chart (1982–1983) Peak
position
Argentina [8] 9
Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 96
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 11
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 26
West Germany (Official German Charts)[16] 22

References

  1. 1 2 Palm, Carl Magnus (2005). Abba : the complete guide to their music. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 70, 85. ISBN 1-84449-505-1. OCLC 60589495.
  2. ↑ Recording sessions. Abba Annual.
  3. 1 2 3 Palm, Carl Magnus (2002). Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba. Omnibus Press. p. 459.
  4. ↑ Under Attack (ABBA) – from "The Late, Late Breakfast Show". Youtube.
  5. ↑ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock movers & shakers. ABC-CLIO. p. 20.
  6. ↑ "ABBA | Music Videos, News, Photos, Tour Dates, Ringtones, and Lyrics | MTV". MTV. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Adcock, Joe (13 June 2003). "'Mamma Mia!' features ABBA tunes and a wedding plot". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). Cashbox. 16 April 1983. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. ↑ David Kent (2006). Australian Charts Book 1993—2005. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-646-45889-2.
  10. ↑ "ABBA – Under Attack" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "ABBA". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 8. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – ABBA" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  13. ↑ "ABBA – Under Attack" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – ABBA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "ABBA: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – ABBA – Under Attack" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
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