History and Impact
The distinctive sound at the start of the song is the marimba.
"Mamma Mia" was written at the home of Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus, and was the last track recorded for the album ABBA. The song was one of the four songs from the album to have a music video made to promote the album. The song, however, was never intended for release as a single. Around this time, many artists were recording ABBA songs (such as "Honey, Honey" and "Bang a Boomerang").
When "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" topped the Australian charts for 3 weeks, the Australian public was hungry for more ABBA – the beginnings of ABBAmania. It was the promo clip for Mamma Mia that was proving the most popular after repeat screenings on Australian television, notably Molly Meldrum's Countdown. ABBA’s Australian record company, RCA, asked that Mamma Mia be released as a single but Polar Music refused. However, in the end Stig Anderson agreed & "Mamma Mia" was released in Australia in August 1975 where it spent 10 weeks at number one.
After this success in Australia, Epic Records in the United Kingdom took notice of ABBA for the first time since Eurovision and "Waterloo". From then on, Epic began to heavily promote ABBA's singles with the immediate result of "S.O.S." reaching the Top 10 in the important British market, their 1st hit since "Waterloo". "Mamma Mia" soon followed reaching number one on the British charts in early 1976, the second of ABBA's 18 consecutive Top 10 singles.
The B-side for the Australian release of "Mamma Mia" was "Hey, Hey Helen". In most other countries the singles' B-Side was the instrumental "Intermezzo Number 1". However ABBA's British label Epic selected "Tropical Loveland" as the B-side for the UK release, feeling another vocal track especially one showcasing ABBA in a different musical style would better promote the parent album, as it showed a different style of music and they thought it would be better than an instrumental song.
In the UK Singles Chart of January 1976, "Mamma Mia" replaced Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the number 1 position, which itself coincidentally contains the lyrical phrase "Mama Mia".
Read more about this topic: Mamma Mia (song)
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