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"Waterloo" was released on March 4, 1974, as the first single of the
group's second album of the same name. After winning the 14th edition of
the Melodifestivalen, the song represented Sweden in the 19th edition of
the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brighton, winning the contest and
beginning Abba's path to worldwide fame. The title and lyrics reference
the 1815 battle of Waterloo, and use it as a metapher for a romantic
relationship. The song's production style was influenced by Phil
Spector's 'Wall Of Sound". Engineer Michael B.Tretow had read Richard
Williams' book Out Of His Head: The Sound Of Phil Spector, which
inspired him to layer multiple instrumental overdubs on the band's
recordings, becoming an integral part of Abba's sound. "Waterloo" topped
the hitlists in United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland and it reached even no.6
in the United States, very unusual for an Eurovision winner. On the
Year-End Chart 1974 it landed at no.3 with 8,541,000 points. |
