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Under Attack
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Under Attack
| cover = ABBA - Under Attack.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = ABBA
| album = The Singles: The First Ten Years
| B-side = You Owe Me One
| released = 3 December 1982
| recorded = 24 August 1982
| studio = Polar Music Studios
| genre = Synthpop
| length = 3:45
| label =
* Polar Music
* Epic
* Atlantic
| writer =
* Benny Andersson
* Bjrn Ulvaeus
| producer =
* Benny Andersson
* Bjrn Ulvaeus
| prev_title = The Day Before You Came
| prev_year = 1982
| next_title = I Still Have Faith in You / Don't Shut Me Down
| next_year = 2021
| misc =
}}
"'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'.
Background
ABBA recorded "Under Attack" between 2 and 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm.[http://www.abbaannual.com/TheVisitors.htm Recording sessions]. Abba Annual. 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.
On 11 December 1982, ABBA performed "Under Attack" on the BBC's 'Late Late Breakfast Show', in what was their last collective performance.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhtfDx4JrMo Under Attack (ABBA) from "The Late, Late Breakfast Show"]. Youtube.
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, 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.Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). 'Rock movers & shakers.' ABC-CLIO. p. 20. 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.[http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/abba/artist.jhtml ABBA biography]. MTV.
"Under Attack" is featured in the musical theatre production 'Mamma Mia!' but not in the film.Adcock, Joe (13 June 2003). [http://www.seattlepi.com/theater/126387_mamma13.html 'Mamma Mia!' features ABBA tunes and a wedding plot]. 'Seattle Post-Intelligencer'.
Music video
ABBA filmed a music video for "Under Attack" on 16 November 1982.Palm, Carl Magnus (2002). 'Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba.' Omnibus Press. p. 459. Set in an empty warehouse, the video involves ABBA navigating their way through a room filled with red beacon lights. The video ends with the four members walking away in the distance, their backs to the camera, reaching the end of ABBA.
Personnel
* Agnetha Fltskog lead vocals
* Anni-Frid Lyngstad backing vocals
* Bjrn Ulvaeus guitar, vocoder vocals
* Benny Andersson keyboards, synthesizer
Charts
References
Category:1982 singles
Category:1983 singles
Category:ABBA songs
Category:Songs written by Benny Andersson and Bjrn Ulvaeus
Category:1982 songs
Category:Polar Music singles
Category:Songs about stalking
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