The Winner's Gonna Take It All: The final...

D

Deleted member 312

The Piper is brilliant and is my favourite non-single on Super Trouper (in fact, I like it better than the title track and Lay All Your Love so it's probably in my top 3 on the album). It deserves better, but then so do many of the lesser-known songs which naturally suffer from people being unfamiliar with them. I'm sure that if most people had had The Piper rammed down their throats as much as Thank You For The Pooshit, it would've faired a lot better.
 
D

Deleted member 312

Between this, Pooper Scooper, and I Have Diarrhea, these creative renamings are becoming one of my favorite parts of the rate.


Until you do it to my 11. Then it will cease to be funny.

(Pooper Scooper was mine as well, lest we forget. I have a remarkably childish sense of humour).
 
He/Him
43.

'...My whole class went wild as I held my breath, the world stood still, but then he just smiled... I was in the seventh heaven when I kissed the teacher...'
- Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad in Whan I Kissed the Teacher -

abba-when-i-kissed-the-teacher-rca-victor.jpg


Agnetha grinning through her teeth...

Average: 7.5543
Highest score: 8 *
10.00 - @Hudweiser @WhipperSnapper @CasperFan @WhatKindOfKylie? @tylerc904 @Mumty @haps @Remorque
Lowest score: 1 * 1.00 - @cityofdoomsday
My score: 10.00

At #43 we lose a song that would get the girls (Agnetha moreso than Frida), her teacher and their school in the news, as Arrival loses its opening track.

It was written and recorded in 1976 and was eventually released that same year on its parent album. It talks of a girl having a crush on her maths teacher and her taking action as she dares to kiss him in front of her whole class. It features the girls singing in a multi-layered harmony throughout, with Agnetha providing a nice little bridge, but however short it may be, she definitely shows off her powerful chops.

It's uplifting, it takes you back to that time of being in high school and having a crush on a certain teacher (come on, we've all been there) and it's a perfect example of early ABBA creating a perfect sonic landscape, without coming off too theatrical. That's something they would perfect during their later career though... And it sounds like one big long fucking chorus, which is either a hit or miss, but I'd definitely say it hits the right spot here.
It will always be lodged in my memory, however, of being on More ABBA Gold, which was the start of my love for ABBA after my mother bought it when she realised how much I loved the Gold compilation as a 9 year old...

Well...

cityofdoomsday did that, didn't he...

Anyway... Moving on.

Someone who just gets this song is tylerc904... "What a sugar-rush, bombastic way to kick off an album. It’s almost shocking they opted NOT to open with Dancing Queen, but this really does kick things off nicely. I love the “backing” vocals throughout." and Hudweiser's not too far off either... "This is one of the most fun songs they ever did. I've always wanted to hear a cover (however inferior) of it in a Busted pop-punk style, with a video out of Grease. The sheer number of vocal layers at work is astounding and that guitar drives everything so perfectly.".
Yes, to both of you.

Someone who studied the same métier as me is poor ol' Sprockrooster. He loves this, as he says "Ooh la la. A song about me. I obviously always had a crush for many of my teachers back in the day (that includes Physical Education hehe @Remorque), but now I am a teacher myself and the roles are switched. Or not if my boyfriend was one. But he is a flight steward. All he teaches is the safety warning before take off. Does that count?". I never take into account what they're saying on the plane, because I'm always either drunk or drowsy, seaux...

While ufint thinks this is "Naughty and pleasurable.", constantino thinks this is an "Inappropriate BOP! According to the song’s Wikipedia page, Buffalo News described it as ‘bouncy’ and I think that’s about right.".

To CasperFan this is a "great album opener-this should have been a single. The moment when it really kicks off at the 31 second mark is just incredible-and doesn’t stop from there on .Love the backing vocals, the unusual song structure and the ‘one of these days…’ – pure bliss. Almost my 11!". I don't know if it would have helped it out a bit more in the end, but you're a doll anyway!

VivaForever, however, sighs "Lord, the kitsch. When I hear stuff like this, I can almost understand why people think of ABBA as a terrible camp act.". Filippa thinks it has a "Good melody but those lyrics? Spoils the song for me..." and while kalonite thinks it's "Repetitive and boring.", Mina just "Ugh."'s...

"I definitely enjoy this song more than I should." admits TrueBeliever and "If I think about it too much, the questionable subject matter might bring this down to a 7/10. I just prefer to enjoy the rousing melody and joyful spirit of the song.". I actually just like to listen to the song too, rather than think about the subject matter...

What do you think about it, Mikey1701? ""Starts off slow, but quickly turns into a surreal, pop homage to low level sexual harassment"... I cackled when I read this description of the song. I always forget about this song, but whether that’s because it came late on More ABBA Gold or because I always skipped it on Arrival to get to Dancing Queen I’m not sure- but I really should listen to this, because it’s a fun little number!".

While SecretsOfFatima "Used to dislike it but I’ve grown to kind of love it.", bichard thinks it's "Rather lovely, but in the ABBA cannon it was never going to be top tier. Still, I do like it and was really happy to be exposed to it when I bought More ABBA Gold." and for P'nutbutter "Those overlapping vocals are heavenly!".

We'll end this write-up with WhatKindOfKylie? who really loves this song... "Oh how this should have been a single and huge #1 all over the globe, like it so should have been! Love it , and from the first time it came on More Gold, it was on repeat.".



A lovely little video was made with Agnetha being the star of the classroom (but Frida quietly stealing the show with some sultry looks into the camera), which featured Swedish actor Magnus Härenstam playing the teacher.


Here's the performance the group gave in 1976 on the French programme Les Rendez-Vous Du Dimanche...


...and another one that same year in Poland for something called ABBA In Studio 2 (ABBA In Poland), where they're wearing the Arrival jumpsuits.


An excerpt from when they performed it on their 1977 world tour in Sydney was featured in ABBA: The Movie too.

 
He/Him
A couple of covers were made too during the following years...
Hold on to your wigs, girls!

In 1982 it was covered by Swedish group Growing Girls who had a small hit with it in their native country. I can't find any info on them though, so here's the song...


The
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.
Here's a performance of them actually performing it live.


Russian metal band Boney Nem covered it too...

Oh dear.

Well... Luckily a lot of them weren't to be traced on the interweb, eh.
 
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