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ABBA · S3 E1
Ring Ring
ABBA record their first proper album. Ring Ring is catchy, professional, and good enough to enter Sweden's Eurovision selection. It finishes third. Not good enough
Melodifestivalen, Stockholm, February 1973. ABBA perform "Ring Ring" in front of the entire nation, finish third, and Stig Anderson watches his Eurovision dream die on live television.
"Ring Ring" (ABBA, official music video). The song that was supposed to take ABBA to Eurovision but fell short at Melodifestivalen. The hook is relentless, the arrangement is tight, and it reached number one in multiple countries anyway. But for Stig Anderson, anything less than Eurovision was failure.
The First Album
The Ring Ring album, released in March 1973, is ABBA's proper debut as a group. The production shows a new confidence, with Björn and Benny's songwriting sharper and the vocal arrangements more sophisticated than anything on Lycka. The title track was co-written with Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody, who were brought in to add English lyrics.
Sources
Palm, Carl Magnus. "Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA." Omnibus Press, 2001.
ABBA: The Official Photo Book. Bonnier Fakta, 2014.
Ring Ring, ABBA (1973)
The song went through multiple versions before the final cut. Björn and Benny first recorded it in Swedish, then brought in American songwriters Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody to write English lyrics. The result sounds like it was engineered in a lab to be a hit: a telephone metaphor, a driving tempo, and a chorus that repeats the title until it is permanently lodged in your brain. Listen for how Agnetha and Frida's voices interlock on the chorus, trading lines like they're having a phone conversation through the song itself.
Sources
Palm, Carl Magnus. "Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA." Omnibus Press, 2001.
“We finished third and Stig was furious. He had bet everything on Eurovision as our way out of Sweden.”
— Björn Ulvaeus, quoted in Carl Magnus Palm, "Bright Lights Dark Shadows" (Omnibus Press, 2001)
TAP TO REVEAL: Who was the unlikely American songwriter who helped write 'Ring Ring'?
Third Place
Ring Ring finishes third at Melodifestivalen 1973, and for Stig Anderson, it's a crushing blow. He has invested everything in the Eurovision strategy as ABBA's path to international success. But outside the contest, the single becomes a massive hit across Europe, reaching number one in several countries. The irony is undeniable: the song Sweden rejected is conquering the continent without Eurovision's help.
Sources
Palm, Carl Magnus. "Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA." Omnibus Press, 2001.
ABBA: The Official Photo Book. Bonnier Fakta, 2014.
Ring Ring: The Numbers
Nina, Pretty Ballerina, ABBA (1973)
From the Ring Ring album. A playful, storytelling pop track about a girl who leads a quiet life by day and dances wildly by night. It showcases the other side of the album: beyond the Eurovision-chasing title track, Björn and Benny were writing clever, character-driven pop songs with hooks that stick just as hard.
Nina, Pretty Ballerina, ABBA (1973)
The lyrics tell a miniature short story: Nina the shy office worker transforms at night into a dancer who lives on the edge. It's an early glimpse of Björn's talent for writing characters who hide their true selves behind everyday routines. The melody is deceptively simple, bouncing along while the story underneath gets more complex with every verse.
How many different languages did ABBA record "Ring Ring" in?
Behind ABBA stands a man who has bet his entire fortune on one idea: that Eurovision is the only way to break a Swedish pop group internationally. Ring Ring's failure hasn't killed the dream. It has only made Stig Anderson more dangerous.
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