In October 1980, the music video for "Super Trouper" used the largest number of artists that ABBA ever used in a music video. The spotlight featured throughout the video is, in fact, a CCT Silhouette follow spot, as opposed to a real Super Trouper. The city ofGlasgow mentioned in the lyric was suggested by Howard Huntridge who worked with their then-UK publishers Bocu Music. The music video was directed by Lasse Hallström. Parts of the video were later reused in the clip for the song "Happy New Year".
Reception
"Super Trouper" continued ABBA's run of chart success, particularly in Europe. It was to become ABBA's ninth No. 1 in the United Kingdom. This distinction placed ABBA fourth for the most UK chart-toppers in history ; a position the group would keep for almost 20 years until Madonna scored her tenth UK No. 1 with "Music" in August 2000. The track was also the fourth biggest selling single in the UK for 1980. "Super Trouper" also topped the charts in Belgium, West Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, and was a Top 10 hit in Austria, Finland, France, Norway, Spain and Switzerland. Outside of Europe, "Super Trouper" was a more modest hit. In the United States for example, where ABBA never quite managed to achieve the same sort of popularity experienced elsewhere, the single only reached No. 45. However, combined with "Lay All Your Love on Me" and "On and On and On", it topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart in May 1981. The song only reached the lower region of the charts in countries such as Australia and Japan, but did prove successful in Mexico, where it reached No. 3.
"Super Trouper" was A-Teens' second single from their first album The ABBA Generation, a cover of ABBA's song. When the single came out in the fall of 1999, it became a hit around the globe, just as its predecessor "Mamma Mia", also an ABBA cover. "Super Trouper" debuted at No. 2 in Sweden and was later certified platinum. It also became their only Top 5 hit in Germany peaking at No. 4. The single also reached No. 21 in the United Kingdom, No. 18 in Switzerland, No. 15 in Norway, No. 11 in Austria and No. 12 in the Netherlands.
Music video
The music video was directed by Sebastian Reed and was filmed in Sweden. The video shows a girl so obsessed with the band that she owns posters, magazines, mugs, clothing, and a key chain. She also copies the band's choreography that is shown on TV. Some of the articles that feature pictures of the band come to life in the video. In the first few seconds of the video, before the actual song starts, Mamma Mia can be faintly heard in the background. The video was a hit in most TV stations charting inside the Top 10 countdowns in late 1999 and early 2000.
Super Trouper was released on July 13, 2018, alongside the soundtrack of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, by Capitol and Polydor Records. The song is performed by the whole main cast and it was produced by Benny Andersson. The song was also performed in the first film by Streep, Baranski, and Walters.
Charts
Appearances in other media
The song is performed in the Mamma Mia! stage musical, as well as the 2008 film adaptation. In the musical and film, Donna, Tanya and Rosie perform the song at Sophie's hen party dressed in the tight lycra suits they used to wear when they were a girl band called "Donna and the Dynamos". In the context of the musical, it explains that even though Donna has a hard life sometimes, all she has to know is that Sophie is there and that makes Donna feel much better. When Niklas Strömstedt wrote lyrics for the Swedish staging of the musical, "Glasgow" was replaced by "Gränna" as the place from which the singer calls in the lyrics.
