This was a 1973 single by ABBA, which gave the group their big break in several European countries Andersson, Ulvaeus and Anderson were invited to submit a song for the Swedish selection process in order to choose their entry for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. After several days, Andersson and Ulvaeus came up with the tune for the Swedish version of "Ring Ring", with the working title "Klocklåt" (Clock Tune). Stig Anderson wrote the lyrics with the intention of making a "poppy" song, trying to remove the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest at the time. After this, the song had been retitled "Ring Ring". To make it more accessible to a universal audience, Anderson asked American songwriter Neil Sedaka to pen the lyrics for an English version, together with his songwriting partner, Phil Cody. On January 10, 1973, the song was recorded at the Metronome Studio in Stockholm. Michael B. Tretow, the studio engineer, collaborated with Andersson and Ulvaeus over many of their subsequent singles and albums. Tretow had read a book about record producer Phil Spector, famed for his "Wall of Sound" treatment to the songs that he produced. While Spector used several musicians playing the same instruments in the same recording studio at the same time, this was far too expensive for this case. Thus, Tretow's solution was to simply record the song's backing track twice, in order to achieve an orchestral sound. By changing the speed of the tape between the overdubs, making the instruments marginally out of tune, this increased the effect. This was unlike anything that had been done before in Swedish music. However, when Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid performed "Ring Ring" in the Swedish heats on 10 February 1973[2], they only finished third. Nevertheless, the song fared much better in the Swedish charts, both in its Swedish and English language incarnations, where it hit number one and number two respectively. It was only now the quartet decided that performing as a group was a serious and realistic idea. They toured Sweden, and despite the failure of "Ring Ring" to represent the country at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, they began to prepare themselves for 1974's competition, with "Waterloo". - wikipedia I was sitting by the phone I was waiting all alone Baby by myself I sit and wait and wonder about you It's a dark and dreary night Seems like nothing's going right Won't you tell me honey how can I go on here without you? Yes I'm down and feeling blue And I don't know what to do, oh-oh Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all Ring, ring, I stare at the phone on the wall And I sit all alone impatiently Won't you please understand the need in me So, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? So, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? You were here and now you're gone Hey did I do something wrong? I just can't believe that I could be so badly mistaken Was it me or was it you? Tell me, are we really through? Won't you hear me cry and you will know that my heart is breaking Please forgive and then forget Or maybe darling better yet, oh-oh Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all Ring, ring, I stare at the phone on the wall And I sit all alone impatiently Won't you please understand the need in me So, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? So, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? Oh-oh, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? So, ring, ring, why don't you give me a call?

• published: 18 Feb 2011
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