Abba-esque

For the Irish tribute band, see Abbaesque.

Abba-esque is an extended play (EP) by English synth-pop duo Erasure. Released on 1 June 1992, the EP was Erasure's first and only number one on the UK Singles Chart and also became a number-one hit in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, and Sweden.

Abba-esque
EP by Erasure
Released	1 June 1992 (1992-06-01)
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	17:46
Label	Mute
Producer	David Bascombe
Erasure EPs chronology
Am I Right? (1991) Abba-esque (1992) I Love Saturday (1994)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Entertainment Weekly	C+[1]
Freaky Trigger	5/10[2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10[3]

As big fans of the Swedish group ABBA, Erasure (Vince Clarke and Andy Bell) had often performed ABBA songs in concert over the years. They had originally planned to release an album of ABBA covers but instead opted to release an EP of four of ABBA hits.^{[citation needed]}

Background

Mute Records released Abba-esque in the UK, while Elektra Records released it in the US. Music videos were produced for all four tracks, and issued as a video EP on VHS. A remix EP was also released by Mute Records in the UK which featured the same four songs in heavily reworked form.^[4] Shortly after the release, ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits album was released, sparking a revival of ABBA's music that has endured well into the 21st century.

After peaking at number two twice (with "Sometimes" in 1986 and Crackers International in 1988), Erasure finally reached number one in the UK with this release, remaining there for five weeks.^[5] In the United States, where EPs chart on the Billboard 200, Abba-esque peaked at number 85.^[6] Although never officially released as a single by itself, the song "Take a Chance on Me", which features a guest rap by MC Kinky, received significant radio play in the US, allowing it to peak at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart.^[7] In Sweden, the EP peaked at number one, staying there for six consecutive weeks,^[8] and it also peaked atop the charts of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece and Ireland.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

The release of the Abba-esque EP in due course precipitated the release of a similar EP, Erasure-ish, by the ABBA tribute band Björn Again, which features two Erasure tracks ("A Little Respect" and "Stop!") performed in the style of ABBA as an answer record.

Critical reception

Joe Brown from The Washington Post wrote, "To promote its summer tour, reportedly a camp extravaganza surpassing the last one, electroduo Erasure offer a sweet, cool pop-sicle - a four-song EP of faithful ABBA covers, delivered without perceptible irony. Like George Michael, who sang a slew of beloved '70s songs on his most recent tour, Andy Bell gets to pretend he is ABBA - specifically Frida and Agnetha. You can imagine Bell singing "S.O.S." and "Lay All Your Love On Me" in front of his bedroom mirror (complete with faintly phonetic English), while synthmeister Vince Clark handles the Bjorn-and-Benny parts singlehandedly - dense, bleeping-and-whooshing synth textures that sound like Giorgio Moroder's late-'70s settings for Donna Summer. Erasure drags yet another guilty pop pleasure out of the closet - what's surprising now is how grown-up and complex these ABBA songs really were beneath their candy coatings."^[14]

Music videos

The music video for "Take a Chance on Me" was directed by Philippe Gautier, and the other three were directed by Jan Kounen.^[15]

Track listings

All tracks written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus; "SOS" was co-written with Stig Anderson.

Abba-esque

1. "Lay All Your Love on Me" – 4:45
2. "SOS" – 3:49
3. "Take a Chance on Me" – 3:43
4. "Voulez-Vous" – 5:35

iTunes Store bonus track

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"	3:55

Abba-esque – The Remixes

1. "Voulez-Vous" (Brain Stem Death Test Mix) (remixed by Fortran 5)
2. "Lay All Your Love on Me" (No Panties Mix) (remixed by Fortran 5)
3. "Take a Chance on Me" (Take a Trance on Me Mix) (remixed by Philip Kelsey)
4. "SOS" (Perimeter Mix) (remixed by Chris & Cosey)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1992) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[16] 13 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[17] 4 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[18] 38 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 52 Denmark (IFPI)[10] 1 Ecuador (UPI)[20] "Take a Chance on Me" 10 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[21] 2 Europe (European Dance Radio)[22] "Take a Chance on Me" 11 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 1 Germany (GfK)[23] 2 Greece (IFPI Greece)[12] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[24] 39 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[25] "Take a Chance on Me" 14 Ireland (IRMA)[13] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[26] 7 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] 4 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 42 Portugal (AFP)[29] 8 Spain Airplay (AFYVE)[30] 40 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 3 UK Singles (OCC)[5] 1 US Billboard 200[6] 85 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[7] "Take a Chance on Me" 51 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[32] "Take a Chance on Me" 10

Year-end charts Chart (1992) Position Australia (ARIA)[33] 88 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[34] 3 Belgium (Ultratop)[35] 28 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[36] 5 Germany (Official German Charts)[37] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[38] 59 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[39] 60 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[40] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[41] 7 Decade-end charts Chart (1990–1999) Position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[42] 41

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[43]	Gold	25,000*
Germany (BVMI)[44]	Gold	250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[45]	Gold	400,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	1 June 1992	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	Mute	[46]
Japan	21 July 1992	CD		[47]

References

1. Brod, Doug (15 September 1992). "Erasure: Abba-esque". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
2. Ewing, Tom (24 August 2011). "Erasure - ABBA-Esque EP". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
3. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Erasure". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 131–132. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
4. "Erasure Releases/Other". Erasure the Official Website. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
5. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
6. "Erasure Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
7. "Erasure Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
8. "Erasure – Abba-esque". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
9. "Erasure – Abba-esque" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
10. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 29. 18 July 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
11. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
12. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 27. 4 July 1992. p. 24. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
13. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Abba-esque (EP)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
14. Brown, Joe (17 July 1992). "Moving the Feet, Shaking the Mind". The Washington Post.
15. "Erasure". Retrieved 1 January 2022.
16. "Erasure – Abba-esque". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
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18. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1904". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
19. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2022." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
20. "Discos Más Populares de América Latina". El Siglo de Torreón. 17 November 1992. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
21. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 28. 11 July 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
22. "European Dance Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. 19 September 1992. p. 24. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
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24. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1992. 39. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
25. "Vinsældalisti Íslands". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 24 July 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
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29. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 28. 11 July 1992. p. 12. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
30. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
31. "Erasure – Abba-esque". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
32. "Erasure Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
33. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1992 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 152)". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2 August 2019 – via Imgur.
34. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1992" (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
35. "Jaaroverzichten 1992" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
36. "1992 Year-End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 51/52. 19 December 1992. p. 17. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
37. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
38. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1992". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
39. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1992" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
40. "Swiss Year-End Charts 1992" (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
41. "Year End Charts: Top Singles". Music Week. 16 January 1993. p. 8.
42. "Bestenlisten – Singles 1990er". Hung Medien Austrian Charts Portal (in German). Retrieved 14 May 2019.
43. "Austrian single certifications – Erasure – Abbaesque" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
44. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Erasure; 'Abbaesque')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
45. "British single certifications – Erasure – Abba-Esque EP". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
46. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 30 May 1992. p. 21. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
47. "アバ-エスク | イレイジャー" [Abba-esque | Erasure] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 14 January 2024.