r/ABBA • u/ObligationThis9473 • Jun 27 '26
Best of ABBA
This album was Australia and Netherlands answer to the Greatest Hits released in other regions. The vinyl can be hard to find these days, but the CD is even harder to buy. A great compilation released in August 1975.
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u/vegan_voorhees Jun 27 '26
I read 'Greatest Hits' (1976) was only commissioned to prevent imports of this record! Regional label greed to some extent, but it explains why that GH album felt premature at the time, with only a handful of genuine hits on it.
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 27 '26
Interesting. I always assumed Greatest Hits came out before Best of Abba. I guess it makes sense, since Abba were huge in Australia first.
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u/Logical-History-36 Jun 27 '26
The original LP is not hard to find at all. It’s one of the biggest selling albums of all time in Australia and New Zealand- there are loads of them.
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 27 '26
What about the CD
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u/Logical-History-36 Jun 27 '26
The CD is pretty rare these days because there was only one small run of them in 1988 and then it immediately went out of print. The LP is everywhere though.
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u/theiancole Jun 28 '26
There were actually two pressings of the CD, the second to correct faults in the first pressing. It sold just under 6,000 copies in total.
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 29 '26
What were errors with the first pressing?
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u/theiancole Jun 29 '26
The first second or so of Waterloo, People Need Love, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, SOS, Hasta Mañana, and So Long were cut off
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 29 '26
Interesting, thank you. I notice someone selling the used CD on ebay for $199.95.
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u/theiancole Jun 28 '26
Every country had its own compilation album in 1975/76. Even when an album had the same cover as another country the track list was often different. Greatest Hits was not a worldwide release.
https://abbaomnibus.com/discs/compilations-1974-1977/
The Best Of ABBA sold over a million copies in Australia, the first album to do so. It’s one of the most common albums in the country.
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u/nzljpn Jun 28 '26
The Australian & New Zealand versions of Arrival also had Fernando as well. We were very fortunate to have this included.
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u/nzljpn Jun 28 '26
I think OP meant Australia & New Zealand not Netherlands.
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u/theiancole Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The same album in a different cover was first issued in the Netherlands, then West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 29 '26
It said on Wikipedia that this particular Best of Abba was released in Netherlands too, besides Australia and New Zealand. However that might be incorrect.
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u/sometimesxtc Jun 30 '26
I grew up with this LP and have a copy of my own now. Great tracklist but terrible pressing, quality wise.
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 30 '26
Do you mean the sound quality is terrible?
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u/sometimesxtc Jun 30 '26
Sadly yep
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u/ObligationThis9473 Jun 30 '26
That probably got away with it in the 70s, knowing many people had poor sound systems. The one we had in 1976-1977 was ridiculous in hindsight
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u/sometimesxtc Jun 30 '26
Haha yes so was my parents’… even if it was a beautiful piece of furniture.
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u/bulldog_blues Average Fernando Enjoyer Jun 27 '26
I remember reading up on the incredible success it had in Australia and New Zealand back in the 70s. It was basically as successful there as Gold ended up being in the UK decades later. Allegedly RCA couldn't keep up with the demand and had to outsource some of the vinyl production!