The essential ABBA courses, from the gold to the obscure

ABBA in 1974 (Olle Lindeborg / AFP via Getty Images)

Graphic: Natalie Peeples

If someone asked you to make a playlist of classic ABBA songs, there is one single place you would start: with Gold. This 1992 collection, which has served as the go-to collection of the biggest hits from the iconic Swedish pop stars for almost twenty years, received six times platinum in the US (and is among the best-selling albums ever, globally) in a reason. It is filled from top to bottom with some of the most commercially successful songs the group has ever released.

The four people – Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – had already achieved some success in their home country in 1974. But that was the year when the group became Sweden’s first victories at the Eurovision Song Contest (with “Waterloo”, especially sung in English instead of their mother tongue) that ABBA found the international recognition it had sought. Here in the states, that meant 20 singles in Billboard Hot 100 during their decade of activity, almost all of which were subsequently put together for the release of Gold.

But for a band that has released more than 100 songs (and with the release of new album Trip, this number grows), any collection of greatest hits will surely leave some of the best material. Releases such as 2012’s 39 issues The essential collection goes some way towards correcting this, but it is still more than half of the group’s discography that remains unknown to the vast majority of listeners. As a result, OF THE CLUB has decided to put together an “essential ABBA” playlist, one that mixes the instantly recognizable hits – you now, the songs that can lure even your reluctant aunt to the family reunion dance floor – with a mix of the best music from Swedes who rarely see today light.

For each top-ten hit, we’ve paired it with a lesser-known track that not only shows more great music from ABBA, but highlights the band’s penchant (which will soon be followed by the cavalcade of ABBA-influenced Swedish acts over the years) to blur genres with aplomb. While some acts have forever been associated with disco (the poor Bee Gees just can’t escape forever and forever being seen as a disco band), ABBA’s reputation has evolved over the years to include its diverse, hybrid-style music production. The following songs emphasize that point; whether you get ass on the dance floor or break hearts with ballads, ABBA’s talent for melodic perfection remains unique.

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