Fun Fact: both Frida (“I Know There’s Something Going On”) and Agnetha (“Can’t Shake Loose”) had only one US Top 40 hit - and Russ Ballard wrote both of them.
Drummer is Phil Collins, using a cymballess technique that he was pioneering at the time. This song was near the epitome of the early 80's music. So edgy at the time.
@@RhettAnderson Well... Gabriel took away his cymbals for that album. ...and producer Hugh Padgham had a lot to do with it, as well. He also worked on XTC's "Black Sea" album, which also featured something pretty close (but not quite there) to that gated drum sound. Great stuff and worthy of checking out. Cheers!
Cymbal-less drumming goes back a few years, i.e. You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes, A Good Thing by Fontella Bass or Maybelline by Chuck Berry. I know Collins did a cover of the Supremes song which is probably where he got the inspiration.
Yeah, this is basically a Phil Collins song with Frida singing lead. Great song, but I've always hated the muddy-sounding guitar solo--not sure what they were thinking with that one. Jay & Amber should also listen to Agnetha Faltskog's biggest solo record, "Can't Shake Loose", or maybe the more fun "The Heat Is On".
I never knew it was Phil Collins until very recently (after all these years), but when I found out it was like "Duh! Of course that's Phil Collins!" The 80s were the BEST.
Im a child of the 80's....and this is my all time favorite song, ever. so haunting to me. Thx for the deep cut, and i enjoyed seeing you enjoy it. ;) worth a subscribe
Anni- frid has such an interesting story. The daughter of a Nazi in occupied Norway, moved to Sweden to escapre reprisals for that. Became part of the biggest super group in the work and is now an actual Princess!
It's not often that you can just hear the beat and percussion of a song, and be able to identify the artist who is behind the production(when they are behind the scenes). But this is easily one of the songs where it is. For anyone who was familiar with Phil Collins in those days(either in Genesis, or as a solo artist), you can't help but get the Phil Collins vibes when you hear the drums, and the entire production of the song...and sure enough, Phil was on the drums, and was a producer of the track. 2 unlikely legends coming together!!!
And don't forget that on top of producing and doing the drum parts, Phil Collins also did the backing vocals alongside Frida in the chorus, you can hear his distinctive voice there...
Anni-Frid also did guest vocals on Adam Ant's song "Strip". Which just brings me to say you need to check out Adam Ant! He was the "Prince Charming" of the early 80s
ABBA👑 is amazing Love ❤ FRIDA... and..... Hey! A new song of Agnetha came out last week: "Where we go from here"... The boys (Benny & Björn) still working too ... ABBA ❤ still alive! ❤️🇨🇱👍
The whole album was fantastic, all the songs were written for her by some of the biggest names in music at the time. Russ Ballard, Stephen Bishop, Bryan Ferry, Phil Collins, Rod Argent. A pure 80s classic
You should also listen to „To turn the Stone“ from the same Album. And also „Även en blomma“ from her Solo-Album „Djupa Andetag“, released 1996. This Song has swedish lyrics, but you will love it!
ABBA was still together when this and the 'Something's Going On' album was recorded. They did record a handful of cool numbers but they were fast heading for a split (although they never formerly announced one.) Mo Foster is on that driving bass and he sadly passed away recently (RIP). This song spent so long on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that it actually outsold two or three #1's in 1983.
@@drublood1807 You all should check out the album, "Something's Going On". Frida definitely knocked it out of the park with her performances on this album.
This is one of my Mom's favourite 80s songs. She sings it every time it comes on the radio, and just loves belting to the chorus! Thanks for reacting to it! HAPPY LABOR DAY!
Her voice is super sharp and right to the point, without any trace of sentimentality, it's just REAL and RAW, I really love it. If you listen to the title track of ABBA's last album, The Visitors (a gloomy experiemental and futuristic masterpiece, unfortunately, it doesn't have any video), you get the same feeling. It was created a year before Something's Going On, which is from 1982, where ABBA were slowly dissolving due to the members' divorces, them having different creative ambitions etc.
This song was HUGE when it came out in September 1982. It was played often on rock radio stations, and it was a shock when people found out that this was Frida from Abba because it was such a heavy sound. You knew immediately that it was Phil Collins on drums, the style was unmistakable. You can listen to the full “Something’s Going On” album on RU-vid. Frida also put out another great album in 1984 called “Shine” and you can listen to that album on RU-vid as well.
I have learned a few things today. I was familiar with this song but I didn't know the singer was from ABBA. I know them as a group not as individuals because I am not super fan. Then I see the comments here about Phil Collins involvement with the song which I can hear now pointed out. I just always liked the song. It's great to learn new things 🤗
Ahh, this reminds me of the early days of MTV. I've always loved Frida's voice. It has a mechanical quality to it that's almost unreal for a human voice. BTW, Phil Collins was the drummer for this song.
Russ Ballard from Argent was one of the great unsung songwriters. Argent's writing, Phil Collins' drums and production, that bass line, and of course Frida 's powerful delivery make this one of the all-time greatest songs.
This was released when I was in college, I want to say 83. It was the midst of the MTV explosion and the new wave genre was very popular. Very cool stylistic departure from abba and her voice is haunting
The album “Something’s Going On” was released on September 10, 1982 in the US. The song “I Know There’s Something Going On” was released on August 1, 1982 as a single, which was an immediate huge international hit. This song was played constantly on rock radio stations in ‘82 and ‘83.
@@byerenny he also wrote several other hits, including Rainbow's "Since You've Been Gone" and Kiss' "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" and was the lead vocalist on Argent's "Hold Your Head Up"
Never knew Russ Ballard wrote this one, but MAN do I love "Voices". One of the more mysterious-sounding hits of the 80's. Kind of along the same lines as the later hit "All You Zombies" by The Hooters.
A while back on another ABBA review by them I mentioned that they should do this song and also that there's a youtube video of Frida and Phil in the studio during a break in the recording of this song with a very special guest visiting...a Beatle!
Mine too - I love Agnetha, but Frida always had a pure and more "classical" edge to her sound. Not to mention that you could always pick her out on an ABBA song because she always pronounced her Ys as Js! She could have sung opera, but ABBA made its four member rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Check out another song called Shine from the album of the same name. Frida is my favourite ABBA member. Agnetha's recorded a few solo albums as well Wrap Arms Around Me, Eyes Of A Woman, I Stand Alone, My Colouring Book and A
I can’t believe I never realized this song was by was Anni-Frid from ABBA! 🙈 I absolutely love the vibe of this song! Don’t forget to check out some of Agnetha’s solo music as well! In fact she just came out with her first new single in ten years! Her duet with Gary Barlow is amazing. ❤
Check out her classic album "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" produced by Mike Chapman (of Blondie, Nick Gilder and Sweet fame), it's in a different vein from Frida's "Something's Going On" but just as good.
Now I am also reading comments left by other listeners and the one who commented that the drummer on this single was Phil Collins!! WOW AGAIN!! I grew up in Iowa and I am an African American male who was in Iowa while my mother obtained her MASTER'S DEGREE IN SPEECH PATHOLOGY, and I was the only African American kid in my class from 1st to 3rd grade and I was there when MTV MUSIC TELEVISION WAS INTRODUCED!! So there were no African American radio stations or any type of music being played by an with African American feel to it except for Michael Jackson and the "THRILLER," album as well as Prince, "1999," album...so I thought my 52 year old ass knew everything about everything behind the scenes, but you guys and your subscribers just hipped me 2 something I never knew all of these years...."THANK YOU ALL!!!"
One of the legion of great dance songs of that era. My girlfriend at the time and I went out several nights a week to hit the floor. Our favorite dance song was "Dress You Up" by Madonna, which is DEFINITELY a song to check out. Her live performance of it is jaw-droopingly awesome. PLEASE check it out. Great song, great outfits, great guitar break (all these songs had great guitar breaks), great dancing. The energy is INSANE. You WILL be dancing in your seats.
You gotta love that drum sound with Phil Collins. That drum sound is using "Gated Reverb". How it's done is the drums are fed through a reverb and lots of it. That is then fed through a gate. The gate only allows the sound above a certain level and then cuts it off. So you get that huge reverb vut only for a few milliseconds so it sounds like it's part of the drum. Very cool. It was very popular in the 1980s. I still think it sounds great.
Jay and Amber, I thank you for playing this tune by Frida. Love the song. Not only did Phil Collins provide the stellar drum beats, but he also produced the record. You should also check out "Easy Lover" by Phillip Bailey (you'll know his voice from Earth, Wind & Fire); this song is also produced by Phil Collins and features him on vocals.
Frida's first solo album was produced by Phil Collins (yes, him) who also played drums in 1982... Abba had just released their last album 'The Visitors' in 1981 and the group was slowly fading from view - their last single was released in 1983... Abba's insiders recalled that their records were not selling as much by 1982 and the guys (Benny and Bjorn) had both remarried and moved on... So, the incentive to keep Abba going just dissipated gradually... Agnetha and Frida began work on solo records, and they were growing less involved w/ their ex-husbands in the studio. Ultimately, Abba was over by '83... Bjorn and Benny stayed friends and worked behind the scenes together often on other musical projects. Frida (Anni-Frid) had a career in Sweden before she met Benny and joined Abba... Once Abba was seen as a "70's pop relic" in the 80's, Frida's solo career stalled after 2 albums and she practically gave up singing and retreated from the spotlight for decades. Agnetha also attempted to move on as a solo artist... but after a mishap on tour, she gave up singing and withdrew to the countryside of Sweden, where she stayed out of the limelight for decades as well. Years later, Benny and Bjorn revealed that communication w/ their ex-wives was non-existent for years, but by the 90's, they had started to correspond casually and the guys respected the privacy of their former spouses and remained supportive over years. Only recently did Abba finally decide to record a farewell album 'Voyage'... as a 'farewell' to their fans for decades of support.
Nice summary. I just feel like adding that Frida released a third solo album after ABBA, Dupa Andetag, which is entirely in Swedish and my favorite of the solo albums. She has a duet with Maria Frederiksson (of Roxette) that is great. But every time I listen to it I am reminded that something extra special happens when she sings with Agnetha.
I LOVED this song so much back in the day. In retrospect, it was very much of it's time, but I also found it really fresh and cool. Those big 80's beats were the BEST!
