Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
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| “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” | |||||
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| Single by ABBA from the album Greatest Hits Vol. 2 |
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| Released | October, 1979 | ||||
| Format | Single | ||||
| Genre | Disco | ||||
| Length | 4:46 | ||||
| Label | Polar Music | ||||
| Writer(s) | Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus |
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| Producer | Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus |
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| Certification | Gold (France), Gold (Netherlands), Silver (UK) | ||||
| ABBA singles chronology | |||||
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| ¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame! | |||||
Spanish language version single
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"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", originally titled "Been And Gone And Done It", is one of Swedish pop group ABBA's biggest disco hits. It was recorded and released in 1979 with "The King Has Lost His Crown" as the B-side. It appears on ABBA's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 album, as well as their bestselling ABBA Gold album.
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[edit] History
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" was written by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Agnetha Fältskog. Agnetha, as the narrator, weaves the image of a lonely young woman who longs for a romantic relationship & views her loneliness as a forbidding darkness of night, even drawing parallels to how the happy endings of movie stars are so different from her own existence. Some people believe though that she is slipping into insanity & will do anything to get romance, even if it means a one night stand. The song was recorded at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1979, and was ready for release in October of that year, in conjunction with the group's tour of North America and Europe.
Originally, ABBA had recorded another song, "Rubber Ball Man", which was planned as a single. It featured the typical "ABBA-arrangement" with both Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad on lead vocals and the use of classical strings. This song was also performed by the group during rehearsals for their current tour as "Under My Sun". However, they felt that "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!", with its disco sound, would be a better choice, and thus, "Rubber Ball Man" remained nothing more than a demo.
The single version of this song, which was released in its full length of 4:46 everywhere else in the world, was released in the United States and Canada in an edited format, being just 3:36 in length. This was done by removing the first half of the opening instrumental, the first four of the eight bars of the instrumental bridge between the second and final chorus, and fading the song out early. It is believed the edit was done by Atlantic, ABBA's North American record label, and not Polar, hence the reason why it was available only in the USA and Canada. This single version has never appeared on any commercial CD issued by Polar/Universal to date, and marked the only time Atlantic ever commercially released an edited version of an ABBA single while they had the North American rights to release ABBA recordings.
"¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame!" is the Spanish language version of the song. The song was released as a single to promote Gracias Por La Música in Latin America and other Spanish speaking countries.
[edit] Reception
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" was a No.1 hit in Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, France and Ireland. It reached the Top 3 in Austria, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK & West Germany. It also proved to be their most successful song in Japan, hitting No.17.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1979) | Position |
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| Belgian Singles Chart | 11 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1? |
| French Singles Chart | 15 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 12 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 8 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 15 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Japanese Singles Chart | 17 |
[edit] A*Teens cover
| “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” | ||
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| Single by A*Teens from the album The ABBA Generation |
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| Released | 1999, 2000 | |
| Format | CD single Airplay |
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| Recorded | 1999 | |
| Genre | Pop, Europop | |
| Length | 3:57 (Album Version) 3:45 (Radio Version) |
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| Label | Universal Music | |
| Writer(s) | B. Andersson B. Ulvaeus |
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| Producer | Thomas Johansson Ronald Malmberg |
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| A*Teens chronology | ||
| "Super Trouper" (1999) |
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" (1999) |
"Happy New Year" (1999) |
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was A*Teens' third single (fourth in other territories) from their first album "The ABBA Generation", a collection of ABBA cover versions.
When the single came out in the winter of 1999 in Sweden, it earned Gold Certification.[1] It also became their third Top Ten hit there and the band's third top 40 hit in Germany. The song peaked at number 51 in Switzerland, number 27 in the Netherlands, number 20 in Mexico, and number 22 in Argentina and Chile.
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" was recorded in Spanish for the Latin American promotion that started in early 2000.
[edit] Music video
The music video was directed by Sebastian Reed, and was filmed in Sweden.
The video starts with the boys entering a warehouse, where they find a crystal ball. Inside, there is an "alternate world" where they perform the song.
The video had high rotation on several music channels, but it was not as successful as the first singles.
The version of the song used on the video is the Radio Version, which is shorter and includes different beats and sounds to the album version.
[edit] Releases
European 2-track CD single
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Radio Version] - 3:45
- A*Teens Medley [Pierre J's Radio Mix] - 3:54
European maxi CD
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Radio Version] - 3:45
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Extended Version] - 6:02
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Earthbound Late Show Remix] - 5:04
- A*Teens Medley [Pierre J's Full Length Mix] - 8:19
Mexican CD single
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Radio Version] - 3:45
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Spanish Version] - 3:43
Japanese maxi CD
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Radio Version] - 3:45
- A*Teens Medley [Pierre J's Radio Mix] - 3:54
- Mamma Mia [Spanish Version] - 3:46
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [Spanish Version] - 3:43
[edit] Other cover versions
- A faithful cover in 1986 by British synthpop duo Erasure, who released it as the B-side to their 12" single "Oh L'amour", gave the song an even greater camp appeal, as gay male singer Andy Bell didn't change a word. Such was its success - and the band's appeal to gay audiences - that Erasure would go on to record a further EP of ABBA songs.
- In the same year as the Erasure cover, the song was also covered a single by the Swedish band The Leather Nun.
- A decade and a half later, teen pop group A*Teens, who recorded a full album of ABBA material, released their cover of the song as a single.
- An electronica cover of the song by Motor Industries can be found on the album The Electronic Tribute To ABBA.
- British electronic band O.V.N.I also recorded their own rendition of the song.
- The song was covered by the band Eldissa on their album What A Difference.
- On the tribute album ABBAlicious performed by various American drag queens, the song was covered by Hedda Lettuce.
- Dance versions have been recorded by the group Angeleyes on their album ABBADance, Marmic on the compilation Lay All Your Love On ABBA, and DJ Ensamble on their Trancing Queen tribute album.
- Tribute group Abbacadabra released numerous dance cover remixes of the song through Almighty Records in the late 1990s.
- As a B-side to their single "Gimme Back My Brain", the Northern Irish rock band Therapy? recorded a cover version.
- The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
- A version of the song performed by singer/actress Denise Van Outen was included on the British 1999 Abbamania tribute album. Van Outen was also the host of the ABBAMania TV special. On the subsequent ABBAMania 2 album from 2004 which featured covers performed by various British TV stars, the song was performed by actress Julie Forsyth.
- The famous guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen released a metal version of the song, titled "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Your Love After Midnight)". The song features the same lyrics, with minor edits, and the same music with a more powerful metal feel. Malmsteen plays an arpeggiated version of the main theme in his version, and has added guitar solos in the instrumental bridge.
- Another heavy metal version of the song is the track by Finnish power/speed metal band Sinergy from the ABBAMetal tribute album (also released as A Tribute to ABBA).
- A duet version by German heavy metal vocalist Doro Pesch and comedian Dirk Bach was featured on the German ABBA Mania album (released in conjunction with a TV special).
- The song was covered by Swedish metal band Black Ingvars on their 2000 album Kid's Super Hits.
- A cover by Swedish goth metal band Beseech can be found on their 2004 album Souls Highway.
- Swedish musician Nils Landgren included a cover on his tribute album Funky ABBA.
- German alternative band Bananafishbones covered the song with slightly altered lyrics.
- A cover of the song was featured on one of the album compilations for the French edition of the TV reality/singing contest series Star Academy.
- A cover of the song by Sawa Kobayashi can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.
- 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 looped sample at the end of the chorus before the eight-bar instrumental was used for a song with the same title, by Shana Vanguarde.
- The Punk-Rock Band Attaque 77 made a cover for their tribute album Otras Canciones; the version was in Spanish but featured different lyrics than the original Spanish version by ABBA
- Vietnamese-American singer, Christine Thuy Huong, recorded her version of the song for her album, Men Say Tinh Ai.
[edit] Live cover performances, appearances in other media, etc.
- The song is one of the major numbers in the Mamma Mia! musical.
- The song has remained well-known over the years. In 2005, it was sampled by Madonna, a self-confessed ABBA fan who used it on her worldwide hit "Hung Up". Madonna claimed to have begged Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus to use the song as a sample [1], since the Swedish songwriting duo are reluctant to let other artists sample their material. It was only the second time that an ABBA track had been officially sampled, the first being the Fugees in 1996 with their hit "Rumble in the Jungle", sampling part of 1977's "The Name of the Game".
- Ooh, Yes I Do, a single of the Dutch girl group Luv', uses a melody inspired by the flute theme of the song.
- An ringtone, called Cool Chick uses the rhythm of the song. It was released in many Siemens phones like Siemens AX72.
- X Factor girl band Hope sang a medley of the song and Madonna's Hung Up on Series 4.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Video of the song being recorded (from Abba's official web site)
- Music Video - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! @ My80s.biz
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