Thank You for the Music (box set)

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Thank You for the Music
The original version's artwork. Cover for the 2008 re-issue was downsized.
Box set by
Released31 October 1994
Recorded1969–1982
GenrePop
LabelPolyGram
Producer
ABBA chronology
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
(1993)
Thank You for the Music
(1994)
The Definitive Collection
(2001)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

Thank You for the Music is a box set by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 31 October 1994. It consists of 66 tracks across four discs, with the first three discs including all of the band's singles from 1972–1982, many B-sides, and some album tracks in chronological order; while the fourth disc includes some rarities and some previously unreleased material, most notably the 23-and-a-half minute long medley "ABBA Undeleted", which includes the track "Just a Notion", later released as part of Voyage in 2021. This box set marks the appearance of several ABBA tracks on compact disc for the first time.

In 2008 the Thank You for the Music box set was reissued in downsized packaging with a revised booklet.

History

Plans for an ABBA box set had been floating around

Gold: Greatest Hits, which became an unexpected success, launching ABBA back into the mainstream for the first time since the group split apart 10 years earlier. Gold was followed up by More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits in 1993 which marked the first look into ABBA's archive of unreleased tracks. Two completed tracks from ABBA's 1982 recording sessions – "Just Like That" and "I Am the City" – were brought out for inclusion on the disc, however, just "I Am the City" ended up being chosen. More ABBA Gold was also something of an unexpected success, and thus the box set idea was back on the table.[3][4]

In late 1993, historian

Put On Your White Sombrero", from 1980.[5] No less than 15 other tracks that were rejected for inclusion in full were instead edited down into snippets and mixed together to create a medley titled "ABBA Undeleted", which also includes various sections of studio chatter from various recording sessions.[6] One of the tracks, "Just a Notion", would later be re-recorded in full in ABBA's 2021 album Voyage
.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.

Disc 1

Track release information taken from ABBA: The Complete Studio Recordings timeline booklet

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
Waterloo" (A-side, Polar POS 1187)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus2:44
7."Hasta Mañana" (Waterloo)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:09
8."Honey, Honey" (Waterloo)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus2:56
9."Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)" (Waterloo) 3:12
10."So Long" (A-side, Polar POS 1195) 3:05
11."I've Been Waiting for You" (B-side, Polar POS 1195)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:38
12."I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (ABBA)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:17
13."SOS" (ABBA)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:21
14."Mamma Mia" (ABBA)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:32
15."Fernando" (A-side, Polar POS 1224)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:12
16."Dancing Queen" (A-side, Polar POS 1225)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:50
17."That's Me" (B-side, Polar POS 1225)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:16
18."When I Kissed the Teacher" (Arrival) 3:01
19."Money, Money, Money" (Arrival) 3:08
20."Crazy World" (B-side, Polar POS 1227) 3:49
21."My Love, My Life" (Arrival)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:53
  • Tracks 1–5 originally credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid

Disc 2

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Knowing Me, Knowing You" (Arrival)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:02
2."Happy Hawaii" (B-side, Polar POS 1230)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:24
3."The Name of the Game" (US promo edit; A-Side, Atlantic 3449, full version appears on ABBA: The Album)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:57
4."I Wonder (Departure) (live)" (B-side, Polar POS 1234)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:26
5."Eagle" (ABBA: The Album) 5:49
6."Take a Chance on Me" (ABBA: The Album) 4:03
7."Thank You for the Music" (ABBA: The Album) 3:49
8."Summer Night City" (full-length version; previously unreleased) 4:14
9."Chiquitita" (A-side, Polar POS 1244) 5:26
10."Lovelight" (alternate mix; More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits, original version appears on 1999 re-release) 3:19
11."Does Your Mother Know" (Voulez-Vous) 3:15
12."Voulez-Vous" (edited version; ABBA Gold, full version appears on 1999 re-release) 4:19
13."Angeleyes" (Voulez-Vous) 4:18
14."Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (A-side, Polar POS 1256, early fade-out) 4:48
15."I Have a Dream" (Voulez-Vous) 4:44

Disc 3

No.TitleLength
1."
Cassandra" (B-side, Polar POS 1318)
4:50
16."Under Attack" (The Singles: The First Ten Years)3:44

Disc 4

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
Medley: Pick a Bale of CottonOn Top of Old SmokeyMidnight Special" (Stars im Zeichen eines guten Sterns)
Traditional, arranged by Andersson, Ulvaeus4:21
9."You Owe Me One" (B-side, Polar POS 1321) 3:25
10."Slipping Through My Fingers / Me and I" (live; from the TV special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA, 1981; previously unreleased) 8:37
11."ABBA Undeleted: Scaramouche / Summer Night City (early version) / Take a Chance on Me (early instrumental version) / Baby (early version of "Rock Me") / Just a Notion / Rikky Rock 'n' Roller / Burning My Bridges / Fernando (early Swedish solo version by Frida) / Here Comes Rubie Jamie / Hamlet III Part 1 & 2 / Free as a Bumble Bee / Rubber Ball Man / Crying Over You / Just Like That / Givin' a Little Bit More" (outtake medley; previously unreleased)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus23:30
12."Waterloo" (French/Swedish version medley; both versions previously released separately)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Alain Boublil2:40
13."Ring Ring" (Swedish/Spanish/German version; Swedish and German versions previously released as singles, while the Spanish version was first released in 1993 on the compilation Más ABBA Oro: Más ABBA Éxitos[7])Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Doris Band, Peter Lach4:21
14."Honey, Honey" (Swedish version, B-side, Polar POS 1186)Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus2:57

Personnel

ABBA
Additional personnel

Production

References