Comments on: Indie / rock covers of ABBA's "Dancing Queen"?

Question: Indie / rock covers of ABBA's "Dancing Queen"?

Lush — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:39:56 -0800

I recently admitted to myself and to the world that I really, really love ABBA's Dancing Queen! Are there any interesting indie / rock covers of it to be found online?

Links would be nice, but not necessary. I just want to listen (and know that such covers exist) to many, many variations of it, and it would be interesting to hear other artists' (esp. in other genres) take on such a glorious pop song.

By: FreezBoy

FreezBoy — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:43:27 -0800

Milo Binder's singer-songwriteresque version of it on this compilation is a favorite of mine.

By: noloveforned

noloveforned — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:43:44 -0800

well, here's a list of people that have covered "dancing queen" according to the covers project.

By: gramcracker

gramcracker — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:59:59 -0800

You do know about the A-Teens, right?

By: Aznable

Aznable — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:08:21 -0800

While not an outright cover, The JAM's The Queen and I makes extensive use of samples from Dancing Queen.

By: cmm

cmm — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:09:13 -0800

Moxy Fruvous has a medley built around Dancing Queen and has some live shows on archive.org. You can just poke around for one that has "Dancing Queen Medley" on the set list. For example, this show.

By: Lush

Lush — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:11:34 -0800

Yes, gramcracker. Though the fact that you ask makes me think maybe I should have put more emphasis on the indie / rock part of my question.

By: gnomeloaf

gnomeloaf — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:16:25 -0800

U2's take, featuring Bjorn and Benny. (yt)

By: Martin E.

Martin E. — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:19:17 -0800

I quite like the Redd Kross version, which can be heard in YouTube quality here.

By: Clyde Mnestra

Clyde Mnestra — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:24:33 -0800

I like Robbie Fulks' live acoustic version. It does exist online, but not sure of the link.

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:33:44 -0800

Not indie rock, but I like the ethnic flavor of Salma & Sabina covering many things ABBA - Scroll down to Salma and Sabina (aprilwinchell.com) There are also some german ABBA covers in there as well as a bunch of other weird/nice stuff.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:34:25 -0800

Admittedly not DQ, but Erasure covered several Abba songs on the Abba-esque EP: "(which) in due course precipitated the release of a similar EP, Erasure-ish, by ABBA tribute band Björn Again, which featured two Erasure tracks ("A Little Respect" and "Stop!") performed in the style of ABBA.
"Many credit this EP release [in 1992] as a major catalyst for a revival of ABBA's music in the 1990s, which was further perpetuated with heavy emphasis on ABBA music in the motion pictures Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, as well as the stage show Mamma Mia!"

By: chococat

chococat — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:56:04 -0800

Also not Dancing Queen, but you may like the great Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello, who has remarked that Steve Nieve pretty much lifted the piano part from Dancing Queen.

By: Infernarl

Infernarl — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:01:44 -0800

Robbie Fulks' version is from when he was on Fresh Air promoting Let's Kill Saturday Night... so sometime in 1998? Unfortunately you can't listen to old Fresh Air episodes easily like you can for TAL.

By: abcde

abcde — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:26:50 -0800

You can't?

Granted, only in streaming format. 1998 is a bit old (the archives go back to sometime in the early 2000's), but this one had a recent rerun so it's up there.

By: hwestiii

hwestiii — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:59:55 -0800

Sixpence None The Richer does a version that appears on a greatest hits package. Here's a link to an Amazon hosted sample

I generally like SNTR a great deal, but this treatment of that song really doesn't do anything for me since it seems so similar to the ABBA version.

By: ijoshua

ijoshua — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 12:54:14 -0800

It ain't "Dancing Queen," but Chris Knox (of Tall Drawfs) does a rendition of "S.O.S." that I love.

By: ijoshua

ijoshua — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 12:56:49 -0800

Apparently, there's also an ABBA covers compilation, Abbasalutely.

By: Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:27:46 -0800

^
I was coming in here to mention that album. It's pretty good, featuring most of the key artists of the 1980s-mid 90s classic era of New Zealand alternative/indie music (Headless Chickens, Tall Dwarves, Able Tasmans, 3Ds, Martin from the Chills, Shayne from Straightjacket Fits, etc...

By: COD

COD — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:06:17 -0800

The Yahoos 2001 album Fear Not The Obvious has a wonderfully sloppy southern rock take on Dancing Queen.

By: prolific

prolific — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:27:47 -0800

Luka Bloom plays it live and recorded it on his album Keeper of the Flame.

By: confusionball

confusionball — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 15:41:55 -0800

A quick peek at the hype machine implies that both Belle and Sebastian and the Sugarcubes have covered it at some point. And, hey, if you're into German bluegrass, the Texas Lightning link works, even!

Also: Wikipedia's list of artists who have covered ABBA songs.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:40:05 -0800

Third Robbie Fulks' acoustinc cover.

Second "Oliver's Army." Lots of that album, Armed Forces, drew inspiration from Abba's arrangements.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:09:57 -0800

Ohhhh, my favorite version of Dancing Queen has to be the version created by my very favorite bad vocalist, Wing (Yes, she of South Park fame.).

I can't explain why, but when I hear her sing it makes me smile from ear to ear... admittedly, it also makes my eardrums bleed. But in a good way.

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:24:39 -0800

I think the best cover is by P, featuring Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Johnny Depp (?!).

By: cowmix

cowmix — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:54:40 -0800

On a Fresh Air a few years ago Terry Gross asked this atheist country music musician to do a cover and he did Dancing Queen.. Unfortunately, I can't find it online thought.

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:08:00 -0800

The Stanford Fleet Street Singers, an all-male a capella band from Stanford University, do a nice cover. It's on their album "What You Want," which is unfortunately out of print.

By: Hankins

Hankins — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:17:50 -0800

Tangent: you should watch this video of a car trip from Iowa City to Chicago listening to "Dancing Queen" on repeat.

By: abcde

abcde — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 07:45:41 -0800

Cowmix: My second Fresh Air-related post in a row... Robbie Fulks. I heard that episode, but it was such a vague memory that I couldn't remember the specifics until you mentioned it, so couldn't post anything here.