(Crack It!) Something Goin' On
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"I Know There's Something Going On" is a song by the Swedish singer and
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
member Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad, released on 6 August 1982 as her debut English-language single. It was the
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
to her third studio album and her first in the English language, ''Something's Going On'' (1982). It was penned by
Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...
and produced by
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
. Being released shortly before ABBA's hiatus, "I Know There's Something Going On" proved to be a major hit for Frida, peaking atop the
music charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include ...
of Belgium and Switzerland and made the top ten in multiple European countries and Australia. Uniquely, it also became a somewhat large American hit, stalling out at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking higher than many of ABBA's own singles on the chart.


Background

Recording began in ABBA's Polar Music Studio,
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, in February 1982. Frida recorded the album during the last year of ABBA in the 20th century. At the time of recording this song/album, Frida wanted to distance herself from "the typical ABBA pop sound". "I Know There's Something Going On" was written by
Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...
and produced by
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
drummer and singer
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
, who also played drums on the song. The backing vocals are sung by Lyngstad herself and Collins. A one-hour TV documentary about the making of the album and this song is included in '' Frida - The DVD''. The whole recording process, from day one in the studio to the release party, was filmed by Swedish television broadcaster SVT. This documentary includes interviews with Lyngstad and Collins, Björn and Benny from ABBA, as well as all the musicians involved with the album.


Reception

"I Know There's Something Going On" was released throughout the summer of 1982 and became a major chart success for Frida. The single reached the number one position in
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. The track reached the top ten throughout most of Europe– including a number three peak in Frida's native Sweden–as well as in Australia and South Africa. It had longevity in the United States, where it reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent 29 weeks in total, an unusually lengthy time in the chart at the time. This was reflected in the 1983 year end chart, where it was ranked at number 20 despite not peaking within the top ten. An exception of the song's success was in the United Kingdom, traditionally a popular market for ABBA, where it failed to enter the top forty, peaking at number 43. Her fellow member
Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and a former member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 Agnetha Fältskog (album), self-titled debut alb ...
was also struggling to enter the UK market.


Music video

The music video was directed by Stuart Orme and filmed at several locations in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in early July 1982. The video, which received heavy promotion on
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
due to the worldwide success of the song, shows Frida in a relationship with a man who works as a photographer. She then discovers through photos taken by a private investigator that the man is seeing another woman who had modeled for him. The rest of the video consists of Frida spying on the two.


Credits

*
Frida Frida, Frieda, or Freida may refer to: People and fictional characters *Frida (given name), any of several people or characters ** *Frieda (surname), any of several people or characters *Afroditi Frida (born 1964), Greek singer *Frida (singer) ...
– vocals *
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
– drums, backing vocals, producer *
Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and ...
– guitars *
Mo Foster Michael Ralph "Mo" Foster (22 December 1944 – 3 July 2023) was an English multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, solo artist, author, and public speaker. Through a career spanning over half a century, Foster toured, recorded, and p ...
– bass * Peter Robinson – keyboards


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Cover versions


Bomfunk MC's version

In 2002, Finnish hip hop group
Bomfunk MC's The Bomfunk MC's is a Finnish hip hop group that was active from 1998 to 2005, before reuniting in 2018. The group's frontman is rapper B.O. Dubb (born Raymond Ebanks, formerly known as B.O.W.), and the main producer is Jaakko Salovaara, also ...
used the song as a basis for their track "(Crack It) Something Going On", originally included on ''
The Official Album of the 2002 FIFA World Cup ''The Official Album of the 2002 FIFA World Cup'' is a compilation album with various artists, released in 2002 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It's the official music album of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The album spawne ...
''. This version features Swedish singer
Jessica Folcker Jessica Elisabeth Angelique Folcker (born 9 July 1975), known professionally as Jessica, is a Swedish singer. Her debut album ''Jessica'' in 1998 used her mononym, whereas follow up album ''Dino'' credited Jessica Folcker. Her following albums ...
performing the choruses and includes addition writing from Bomfunk MC's members Jaakko Salovaara (music) and Raymond Ebanks (lyrics). "Something Goin' On" was released a single in June 2002 and charted throughout mainland Europe, entering the top 10 in Finland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. A music video was made for the song, directed by Juuso "Uzi" Syrjä.


Track listings

Scandinavian CD single # "(Crack It) Something Going On" – 3:47 # "PamPam" – 4:20 European maxi-CD single # "(Crack It) Something Going On" (original) – 3:47 # "(Crack It) Something Going On" ( Beats'n'Styles remix) – 4:45 # "(Crack It) Something Going On" (extended) – 4:52 # "PamPam" – 4:20 # " Live Your Life" (video) – 3:53


Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the European maxi-CD single liner notes. Studio * Mixed at 16 Inch Studios (Helsinki, Finland) Personnel *
Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...
– music, lyrics * Jaakko Salovaara – music * Raymond Ebanks – lyrics, vocals (as B.O.W.) * Jessica Folcker – vocals * DJ Gismo – turntables * JS16 – programming, production, mixing * Edgar Tompson – mixing * Jani Tolin – artwork design * Matti Pyykkö – photography


Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts


Certifications


Other covers

* In 1992, Italian
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
band Co.Ro. covered the song and released it as a single. * In 1998, N'Time Vs Larry N'Mike - "What's Going On", rap version of "I Know There's Something Going On" * In 2006, American
electronic rock Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...
band Luxxury covered the song on their debut album ''Rock and Roll is Evil''. * In 2006, Tre Lux Covered the song on their Cover Album "A Strange Gathering". * In 2007,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
band Wild Frontier covered the song for their album ''Bite The Bullet''. * In 2009, American
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...
group Sleepthief covered the song, featuring vocals by Roberta Carter-Harrison. * In 2011, Swedish heavy metal group Overdrive covered the song for their album ''Angelmaker''. * In 2014, American Producer Straight-P covered the song featuring Elan Noelle on lead vocals. * In 2015, Norwegian DJ and producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm released his own remix of the song. * In 2016, Norwegian heavy metal singer
Jørn Lande Jørn Marumsrud Lande (born 31 May 1968) is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Masterplan. He ...
and his solo band Jorn recorded their version of the song as the opening number of their cover album '' Heavy Rock Radio''. * In 2017, American Darwave, EBM, industrial band Sun Goes Dark covered song and released it as a single. Song is also in their album Pieces of humanity, released in 2018.


Sampling

* In 1988, American
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
trio
Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...
sampled the guitar riff in the song "I Gotcha" on their second album ''
A Salt with a Deadly Pepa ''A Salt with a Deadly Pepa'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, released on August 2, 1988, by London Records and Next Plateau Records. The album reached number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number eight on the ...
''. * The drum line of
Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...
' "Erase/Replace" from their 2007 album ''
Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace ''Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007, through Roswell and RCA Records. The album is noted for a blend of regular rock and acoustic tracks with shifting ...
'' was borrowed from this song. * In 2009, the track was sampled by
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
artist k-os for the song "Eye Know Something" from his album '' Yes!''.


References

{{Authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs 2002 singles Anni-Frid Lyngstad songs Atlantic Records singles Bomfunk MC's songs Electropop songs Epic Records singles FIFA World Cup songs Number-one singles in Belgium Number-one singles in Switzerland Polar Music singles Song recordings produced by Phil Collins Songs written by JS16 Songs written by Russ Ballard