"Happy New Year"
Single by ABBA
from the album Super Trouper
B-side"Andante, Andante"
Released15 December 1980[1]
GenrePop, soft rock
Length4:23
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Andersson
  • Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"Super Trouper"
(1980) 		"Happy New Year"
(1980) 		"Andante, Andante"
(1981)
Music video
"ABBA - Happy New Year (Video)" on YouTube
"Felicidad"
Cover for Argentinian release

"Happy New Year" is a song by Swedish group ABBA from their 1980 album Super Trouper, with lead vocals by Agnetha Fältskog. It originally had a very limited release as a single in December of that year. The song's working title was "Daddy Don't Get Drunk on Christmas Day".[2]

The Spanish-language version of the song, "Felicidad",[3] was released in 1980 in Spanish-speaking territories.[4] The single reportedly charted in the top 5 in Argentina and was included on the South American versions of the Super Trouper album.[5] It was first released on CD as part of the 1994 Polydor US compilation Más ABBA Oro, and in 1999 on the expanded re-release of ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos.

In 1999, the English version of the song was re-released for the new millennium, and charted at number 27 in Sweden, number 15 in the Netherlands and number 75 in Germany.[1][6][7]

In 2008, it was released again in several countries, and charted at number 4 in Sweden, number 6 in Norway and number 25 in Denmark.[1][8][9] It re-entered the Swedish and Norwegian charts in 2009 at number 5 in both charts and number 8 in the Netherlands in 2011.[1][8][6] It has since gone on to regularly chart in some countries upon the turn of the new year[1][6][7] and is regularly played at the same time such as Vietnam.[10]

In December 2011, a silver glitter vinyl single limited to 500 copies was released, including the songs "Happy New Year" and "The Way Old Friends Do". The edition was available exclusively from the official ABBA site and the ABBA fan site. It was sold out within a day of the release being announced.[11]

Upon the release of ABBA: The 40th Anniversary Singles Box Set on 5 May 2014, an alternate mix of "Andante, Andante" was revealed to have been used on the B-side of the single in the boxset instead of the original album version.

In 2022 it was the 32nd top best selling vinyl single in the UK behind Open the Floodgates by the Smile.[12]

A-Teens version

"Happy New Year"
Single by A-Teens
Released3 December 1999[13]
GenrePop
Length4:24
LabelUniversal Music Group
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Björn Stigsson
  • Andreas Rickstrand
A-Teens singles chronology
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
(1999) 		"Happy New Year"
(1999) 		"Dancing Queen"
(2000)

The song was covered by the A-Teens, and released as a single in 1999. The single was released to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium: thus, the last line in the song's third verse is altered to "in the end of ninety-nine", as opposed to the original's "in the end of eighty-nine". It reached number 4 on the Swedish charts, becoming the band's fourth consecutive top ten in the country and earning a Gold certification weeks after its release.[14] The single was only released in selected countries, including Chile, after their visit there in February 2000. A music video was made to support the single's release.

Track listing

Scandinavian 2-track CD single

  1. "Happy New Year" (radio version) – 4:24
  2. "Happy New Year" (extended version) – 6:52

Scandinavian CD Maxi

  1. "Happy New Year" (radio version) – 4:24
  2. "Happy New Year" (extended version) – 6:52
  3. "Mamma Mia" (The Bold & the Beautiful Glamourmix Edit) – 3:46
  4. "Super Trouper" (W.I.P.) – 6:10

Charts

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[38] Gold 45,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "ABBA – Happy New Year". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  2. ^ T. Dijkema. "ABBA Annual 1980". Abbaannual.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2005.
  3. ^ "ABBA Felicidad / Super Trouper". ABBA for the Record. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  4. ^ Felicidad (7 inch). ABBA. RCA Records. 1980. E-0045.((cite AV media)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ Jenson, Charlotte (31 December 2017). "Happy New Year – the story about ABBA's smash hit". Eurovisionary.com. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "ABBA – Happy New Year" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "ABBA – Happy New Year" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "ABBA – Happy New Year". VG-lista. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  9. ^ a b "ABBA – Happy New Year". Tracklisten. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  10. ^ Rama, Martin (19 February 2018). "'Happy New Year!', with a bittersweet smile". VnExpress International. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  11. ^ Felpin (21 November 2011). "Happy New Year vinyl single". ABBA- Latest Releases. Retrieved 14 January 2012.[self-published source]
  12. ^ "The Official Top 40 Best-Selling Vinyl Albums and Singles of 2022". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  13. ^ a b "A*Teens – Happy New Year". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  14. ^ "År 1999" (PDF). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i "ABBA – Happy New Year". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  16. ^ a b c d "ABBA – Happy New Year". VG-lista. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d e "ABBA – Happy New Year". Tracklisten. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Russia Airplay Chart for 2010-12-27." TopHit. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d e "ABBA – Happy New Year" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  20. ^ "Tedenska lestvica" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  21. ^ "SloTop50 – Tedenska lestvica : 1 Teden 30.12.2013 – 05.01.2014". SloTop50. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  22. ^ "SloTop50 – Tedenska lestvica : 52 Teden 26.12.2016 – 01.01.2017". SloTop50 (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  23. ^ "SloTop50 – Tedenska lestvica : 52 Teden 24.12.2018 – 30.12.2018". SloTop50. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  24. ^ "Official Physical Singles Chart Top 100 | 14 December 2018 – 20 December 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  25. ^ "Tedenska lestvica > 52 Teden: 23.12.2019 – 29.12.2019". SloTop (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  26. ^ "ABBA – Happy New Year". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Tedenska lestvica > 1 Teden: 30.12.2019 – 01.01.2020". SloTop (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  28. ^ "Tedenska lestvica > 53 Teden: 28.12.2020 – 03.01.2021". SloTop (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  29. ^ "ABBA: Happy New Year" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  30. ^ "Russia Airplay Chart for 2021-12-31." TopHit. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  31. ^ "ABBA Chart History (Billboard Vietnam Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  32. ^ "Russia Airplay Chart for 2023-12-22." TopHit. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  33. ^ "Singel 2024 uke 01". VG-lista. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Sverigetopplistan vecka 1". sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  35. ^ "A-teens: Happy New Year" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  36. ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 1999" (in Swedish). Hitlistan. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  37. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 52" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  38. ^ "Danish single certifications – ABBA – Happy New Year". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
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