Honey, Honey

"Honey, Honey" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released as the second single from their second studio album, '' Waterloo'', after the success of the title track at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

History

"Honey, Honey" was written by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson, with shared vocals by Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Ulvaeus. Along with the English version, ABBA also recorded "Honey, Honey" in Swedish on January 30, 1974, at Metronome Studio, Stockholm.

This was the last official recording by the group in their own language, and was released as the B-side of the Swedish " Waterloo" single. In its English format, "Honey, Honey" was released with "King Kong Song" as the B-side.

Reception

"Honey, Honey" was released in several European countries, the United States, Australia & New Zealand, but not in the UK. ABBA's British record label, Epic Records, decided to release a remixed version of " Ring Ring" instead of "Honey, Honey". However, this single only reached No.32, and a cover version of "Honey, Honey" recorded by the act Sweet Dreams, featuring vocalist Polly Brown, hit the UK top 10.

"Honey, Honey" spent 4 months in the top 5 in West Germany and also reached the top 5 in Austria, Spain and Switzerland. In the United States, "Honey, Honey" was moderately successful compared to the group's later singles. It reached No.27 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts; the 1st ABBA single to reach the AC chart.

''Cash Box'' called it "a sweet pop rocker, featuring tight harmonies and excellent production."

Track listing

Official versions

* "Honey, Honey" (English version)
* "Honey, Honey" (Swedish version)

Personnel

ABBA
* Agnetha Falkstog – lead and backing vocals
*Anni-Frid Lyngstad – lead and backing vocals
* Björn Ulvaeus – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
* Benny Andersson – backing vocals, keyboards
;Additional personnel and production staff
* Janne Schaffer – lead guitar
* Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
* Ola Brunkert – drums
* Martin Bylund, Anders Dahl, Gunnar Michols, Claes Nilsson, Åke Jelving, Inge Lindstedt, Alfred Pisuke, Sixten Strömvall, Harry Teike, Kryztof Zdrzalka – violins

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

* Tina Charles has recorded a version of this song.
* In 1974, British band Sweet Dreams which reached No. 10 in the UK and No. 14 in Ireland in 1974. In the U.S. the Sweet Dreams version debuted on the Hot 100 in ''Billboard'' two weeks prior to the ABBA original but ultimately lost out to the latter, the peak of the Sweet Dreams version being No. 68. In Canada, the song reached No. 59. Both the Sweet Dreams and ABBA versions of "Honey, Honey" also charted concurrently in Germany, with Sweet Dreams being the less successful with a No. 42 peak.
* In 1975, a Czech version was recorded by Hana Zagorová & Petr Rezek and was released as a single in Czechoslovakia.
* In 1975, Finnish singer Monika aka Monica Aspelund wrote her own lyrics for her rendering of "Honey, Honey" featured on her album ''Monika''; this version was remade by Johanna Raunio on her self-titled 1994 album.
* In 1978, A Swedish country band called Nashville Train (which included some of ABBA's own backing band members) covered the song on their album ''ABBA Our Way''.
* In 1981, a Hindi version titled "Kabhi, Kabhi" was released by Pakistani sisters Salma and Sabina Agha.
* In 1992, Swedish schlager band Simons recorded an instrumental version for their album ''Spelar ABBA''.
* In 1995, New Zealand alternative rock band Loves Ugly Children recorded a version for the compilation ''Abbasalutely''.
* The 1999 compilation ''ABBA: A Tribute – The 25th Anniversary Celebration'' features a cover by Michael B. Tretow and his daughter Sofia. Michael Tretow was a recording engineer for ABBA during the group's career. This cover of the song is unique in that it features musical references to thirteen other ABBA songs interspersed within the melody.
* In 2001, a eurodance cover was recorded by the group Housecream.
* The song was covered as a duet by music artist John Klass and Singaporean actress Jamie Yeo.
* The song is sung in the first act of the '' Mamma Mia!'' musical by Sophie and her friends. Most of the lyrics are sung when Sophie is reading her mother's diary, therefore, it is as if her mother wrote the lyrics in her diary. Also, the end of song reflects on how much Sophie wants to meet her father. Unlike the original song, the vocals in the bridge between the 2nd and 3rd verses is omitted in this version and replaced with an instrumental version.
* The movie adaptation of '' Mamma Mia!'' features the song being sung by actress Amanda Seyfried (as Sophie), with actresses Ashley Lilley (as Ali) and Rachel McDowall (as Lisa) on backup vocals. As in the stage musical itself, the vocals in the bridge are replaced with an instrumental version. This recording made no. 61 in the UK singles chart dated 2 August 2008, and no. 50 on the Australian singles charts. Released on download sales alone, it was credited to simply 'Original Cast Recording'. In 2020, the version was certified Silver in the UK.
* A hi-NRG/eurodance cover by Abbacadabra was released in the late 1990s through Almighty Records. It was most recently available on the 2008 compilation ''We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Collection''. On various P2P sharing sites, the song is often mistakenly labelled as being performed by the Swedish teen pop group and ABBA tribute band A-Teens.

Appearances in other media

* Australian radio station 2GB's weekend rugby league sports show the ''Continuous Call Team'' uses the song as a parody in reference to Parramatta Eels player Fuifui Moimoi.

References

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1974 singles
1974 songs
ABBA songs
Number-one singles in Sweden
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Songs written by Stig Anderson