The song, “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)”, was originally recorded by ABBA in 1979

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA wrote and produced the song “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” for the group’s 1979 “Greatest Hits Vol.2” album. It was released as the lead single that October and went to No.1 in Finland, Ireland, Belgium and Japan, as well as being a top ten hit in the UK, Australia, and The Netherlands. It only made it to No.16 in their homeland of Sweden however.

The song was covered by Swedish group the A-Teens in 1999 for their debut album “The ABBA Generation”. it was released as the third single and peaked at No.10 in Sweden, whilst being a top 40 hit across parts of mainland Europe.

American singer and actress Cher co-starred in the 2018 film ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ as Ruby Sheridan, and that same year recorded her own collection of ABBA songs with the “Dancing Queen” album. She released “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” as the lead single that September and took it to No.34 in the UK and top 40 in Australia, Belgium, Spain and Hungary.

And, of course, Madonna sampled the song heavily using the backing track for her 2005 single “Hung Up”. The first release from her “Confessions On A Dance Floor” was a global ‘phenomenon’ when it topped the charts in thirty countries worldwide, becoming her biggest success of the 21st century and her best seller since “Vogue” in 1990.

But which one is the best? ABBA’s original, The A-TEENS’s version, CHER’s cover or MADONNA’s sample?

Take a look at some of the other posts in this series and don’t forget to follow the playlist.