If it wasnt for the nights

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Marcus - 27.05.2007, 21:11
If it wasnt for the nights
This must be the ultimate ABBA track singleworthy.... Why did it never happen? Edited down a bit it wouldve been a hit! :P

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Maxi-saxi - 28.05.2007, 04:27

I never really thought much of this song when I first heard it, but over the years as I have aged, so to speak it's one of my favorites, An incredible vocal by the girls. Loved the Video clip on The UK TV Show, only a shame it was never considered as a single. Mind you in Japan it was the B-side Of Super Trouper 45.

Maxi-saxi

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

supertrouper - 28.05.2007, 09:48

Like Maxi-Saxi, this song never stood out for me when first released. But over time, the song has grown into one of my favourites. Brilliant vocals by the girls and an amazing production. The biggest missed oppotunity for a hit single I think. It could easily have been edited for single release as the song repeats itself at the end. I guess we'll never know for sure.

Anthony. :lol:

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Toni - 28.05.2007, 11:33

What Maxi-saxi and Anthony said, goes for me, too.


Toni 8)

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Hades - 28.05.2007, 12:38

'If it wasn't for the nights' could have been the right song for the US market at that time. And by performing it at the high profile promotional opportunity that the Unicef Gala was, they could have builded on their 1978 succes with 'The Album' and 'Take a chance on me' while also paving the way for the 'Voulez-vous' album.
Instead, ABBA was totally absent in the singles market for a whole year, and inexplicably 'Chiquitita' was not released as a single until much later in 1979. Very strange.

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

WATERL00 - 28.05.2007, 15:47

If It Wasn't For The Nights is a good song for a single but not the way it is included on the album.
It is far to long. Radio stations had never played that song with this lenght. On top of that I think it gets very repetetive in the end.
So as a single it had only worked in an edited form.

What I think is really sad is that As Good As New has never been an international single.
It could have been a great second or third single especially instead of Voulez-Vous since that song is anything but a single track although I really like it.
But As Good As New is really a stand-out track and definitely single-worthy.

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

abbaloni - 28.05.2007, 23:18

This is one of my favourite Abba songs!!! Im sure it would have been a hit if released, but then again i am biased!!! :roll:

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Maxi-saxi - 29.05.2007, 06:13

I also forgot to mention I like the clip on the Japan Tv Special as well.

Very Nice

Maxi-saxi

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

WATERL00 - 29.05.2007, 17:25

Hades wrote: WATERL00 wrote: If It Wasn't For The Nights is a good song for a single but not the way it is included on the album.
It is far to long. Radio stations had never played that song with this lenght.
'Chiquitita' was even longer, and that one did get played. I agree on 'As good as new'. It could have been a worldwide hit. It was an A-side in Mexico, where it reached number one.
Yeah but Chiquitita is often edited by radio-stations (at least today). The leave ot the introduction as well as the instrumental ending making the song 4.28 minutes short.

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

restareabear - 29.05.2007, 18:10

Yes, and don't for get "American Pie" and "...Edmund Fitzgerald". By the time IIWFTN would have been released, longer radio songs were becoming more acceptable, so I don't think the time would have been an issue. FM rock stations were already around playing full LP versions with great success.

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Fire&Ice - 29.05.2007, 22:04

Hades wrote: 'If it wasn't for the nights' could have been the right song for the US market at that time. And by performing it at the high profile promotional opportunity that the Unicef Gala was, they could have builded on their 1978 succes with 'The Album' and 'Take a chance on me' while also paving the way for the 'Voulez-vous' album.


Hades, you are so right! IIWFTN is certainly very groovy and I bet it would have charted very well in the US. A pity they hadn't released it as a single.

One of my favourites as well.

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

onlyabba4me - 29.05.2007, 22:14

It was not a matter of whether this or that ABBA Album Track, 'could have been a hit single' - in the Mid 1970's to late 1981, everything that ABBA released as a Single was a Top 10 Hit in several Countries.

ABBA would easily have had huge International Hits with, 'Move On', 'Hole In Your Soul', 'As Good As New', & 'If It Wasn't For The Nights', but they were left as Album Tracks, & Songs that were much weaker to my ears became Singles - 'Eagle', 'Summer Night City', 'Does Your Mother Know', & 'Voulez Vous' - none of which reached Number 1 in many Countries - always a sign when ABBA had chosen the wrong Singles.

Had ABBA only put out the other 4 Tracks instead they'd have had far more International Number 1 success with them.

As it is, in 1978, the UK, Ireland, USA, & Canada did not even get 'Eagle' as a Single.

There were some very long gaps between ABBA Singles - over 20 Weeks on more than one occasion, & over a Year for them to follow 'Super Trouper' with a New Single - a brand New Track. You lose a lot of interest when you take so long to release new material - you really do. (That's why the 'Super Trouper' Album had 1 Million UK Advance Sales in late 1980 - and why 'The Visitors' Album had 700,000 in late 1981 - much interest had been lost).

ABBA lost many chances for Number 1 Singles. I would not have made, 'The Name Of The Game' a Single - it always sounded disjointed & too slow to me. Sure enough it only reached Number 1 in 1 Country - the UK. Just as I felt, (as ABBA did), that 'Summer Night City' was a mistake as a Single. That only reached Number 1 in 2 Countries - Sweden & Ireland.

They'd have had far more Global Number 1 success with, 'As Good As New' etc. - there were too many wasted chances.....'If It Wasn't For The Nights', was perfect for a Single too.

There is no chance that Universal would release any Singles, by ABBA, that were not Singles before - Benny & Bjorn will not allow it. 'Happy New Year' was the only exception, (in SOME Countries - 1999), & that is hardly ABBA at their most exciting.

Certainly none of the old ABBA Hits can be Hits again - not big ones, anyhow. The main Hits have sold about 26 Million on 'Gold' - there is no longer a Market for them to be Hit Singles, again.

Goodness knows what - if anything - Universal will release, by ABBA, to cash in on the interest created, when the 'Mamma Mia!' Movie comes out. It really depends on what Benny & Bjorn will allow them to release. Nothing much will happen, if Universal try to cash in with old ABBA Hits - yet again. The World is tired of seeing them on endless ABBA Compilations.....As was proved when, 'Number Ones' was not exactly huge Globally - it only reached Number 1 in New Zealand, & that is a tiny Market for Record Sales.....

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Maxi-saxi - 30.05.2007, 05:15

Thanks for the link Matt

Maxi-saxi

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

WATERL00 - 30.05.2007, 06:48

restareabear wrote: Hey, does anyone know? Did they overlay the vocals on this song multiple times? It seems on this one that there's a whole "chorus" of A&F singing rather than just the two. I think you can achieve this effect by overlaying the same vocals but with a slight delay to make it sound like there's multiple voices singing. Or am I imagining it?
That's what ABBA did with nearly every song since th Waterloo-album. This makes up the ABBA-sound

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

ABBAnator - 30.05.2007, 09:20

WATERL00 wrote: restareabear wrote: Hey, does anyone know? Did they overlay the vocals on this song multiple times? It seems on this one that there's a whole "chorus" of A&F singing rather than just the two. I think you can achieve this effect by overlaying the same vocals but with a slight delay to make it sound like there's multiple voices singing. Or am I imagining it?
That's what ABBA did with nearly every song since th Waterloo-album. This makes up the ABBA-sound
Indeed, I believe Michael Tretow said he would apply that effect to most of the A&F harmonies. Just a slight delay overdub gave it a slight echo that gave the recording extra "volume" in a way. He called it "sprinkling fairy dust" over the vocals. 8)

Bruce

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Joe - 08.06.2007, 21:14

drimnagh wrote: I remember ABBA performing IIWFTN on the Mike Yarwood TV show in Britain and A and F looked gorgeous [...] the girls gave such an earnest delivery it battered you into submission!
Oooh yes! One of my favourites because of the different version of the song, the great black outfits and ABBA's whole appearance. I guess this version might have worked as a single, but I think that's very difficult to say - even then and especially today.

Anyway this is the kind of clips which are essential to me to get officially released: all different official versions - this is the minimum that ABBA & Universal should release!


Well, I actually was looking for this thread mainly because there's something with this clip I wonder about for quite some time now: how was it done?

There are parts where you see a split screen showing all 4 of them in a different angle. So far, so good. BUT how was it managed to show the different colours on the (same!) wall in ABBA's back. You actually can notice this throughout the clip, but it's best seen with split screen.



All material is from the same performance, it's all in perfect harmony - besides the colours. I don't get it! :?: :confused: :?:

Joachim

Re: If it wasnt for the nights

Joe - 08.06.2007, 21:42

WATERL00 wrote: Probably a blue-box.
But I think you would notice some differences between the picture quality of the people and the studio then!? In Musikladen you clearly can see that there was a projection. Here you even can see the shadow of Björn's guitar on the wall. I mean, that was 1978 and I really don't think it could be done in such a perfect way back then.

Joachim