ABBA – Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

Live performance from ABBA’s 1979-80 tour of North America and Europe.
Executive producer: Curt Edman
Director: Urban Larsson
Produced by Swedish Television (SVT) and Polar Music International AB

“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” – Single by ABBA from the album Greatest Hits Vol. 2
B-side: “The King Has Lost His Crown”
Released: 12 October 1979
Recorded; August 1979
Label: Polar Music
Songwriters: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus

The single was never released by Polar Music in the group’s native Sweden, instead being featured on the Greatest Hits Vol. 2 album, which did get a Swedish release. While Polar released the single in neighboring Norway, Denmark, and Finland, copies of these versions were not made available in the Swedish record stores, who thus arranged to import copies of the United Kingdom version on Epic Records. Sales of these imports were sufficient for the single to reach no. 16 on the sales chart in Sweden.

One of ABBA’s biggest international hits, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” is one of their most influential songs. What stands out in the mix is the synthesizer riff, played on an ARP Odyssey. This brought an electronic element into ABBA’s disco sound that set the stage for much of the techno music in the post-disco era.

The European appeal seems intentional – the song uses British English, with the line “I’m watchin’ the late show in my flat, all alone.” In America, a “flat” is an apartment.