| | |  | Keyword Search: Benny Andersson | Home » Mamma Mia! The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA: A Decca Broadway Original Cast Recording (1999 London Cast) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Put together by Abba's own Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia! manages to cram over 20 of the Swedish supergroup's songs into a threadbare plot. It goes a little like this: Young Sophie is getting married and she's trying to identify which of three men is her father. That's about it. Wisely, the musical doesn't mess around with the songs, save for the insertion of some dialogue or for having some of them performed by a man (it works amazingly well). Abba fans will jump on this import of the London production, but traditional fans of musical theater should consider it as well. After all, Andersson and Ulvaeus's songs have always felt as if they were more than isolated pop gems and actually belonged to a longer narrative. --Elisabeth Vincentelli | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| October 17, 2000 | | Studio:
| Decca Broadway | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Format:
| Cast Recording | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 190 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Overture/Prologue - Lisa Stokke | | 2. | Honey, Honey - Melissa Gibson, Eliza Lumley, , Lisa Stokke | | 3. | Money, Money, Money - Jenny Galloway, Siobhán McCarthy, Louise Plowright, Neal Wright, Company | | 4. | Thank You for the Music - Paul Clarkson, Nicolas Colicos, Hilton McRae, Lisa Stokke | | 5. | Mamma Mia - Siobhán McCarthy, Company | | 6. | Chiquitita - Jenny Galloway, Siobhán McCarthy, Louise Plowright | | 7. | Dancing Queen - Jenny Galloway, Siobhán McCarthy, Louise Plowright | | 8. | Lay All Your Love on Me - Andrew Langtree, Lisa Stokke, Company | | 9. | Super Trouper - Jenny Galloway, Siobhán McCarthy, Louise Plowright | | 10. | Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! | | 11. | Name of the Game - Nicolas Colicos, Lisa Stokke | | 12. | Voulez-Vous - Company | | 13. | Entr'acte | | 14. | Under Attack - Lisa Stokke, Company | | 15. | One of Us - Siobhán McCarthy | | 16. | S.O.S. - Siobhán McCarthy, Hilton McRae | | 17. | Does Your Mother Know - Louise Plowright, Neal Wright, Company | | 18. | Knowing Me, Knowing You - Hilton McRae | | 19. | Our Last Summer - Paul Clarkson, Siobhán McCarthy | | 20. | Slipping Through My Fingers - Siobhán McCarthy, Lisa Stokke | | 21. | Winner Takes It All - Siobhán McCarthy | | 22. | Take a Chance on Me - Nicolas Colicos, Jenny Galloway | | 23. | I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - Siobhán McCarthy, Hilton McRae, Company | | 24. | I Have a Dream - Lisa Stokke | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
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 DisappointedAug 26, 2009
This vendor listed the condition of this used CD as very good. It came in a broken case and 4 tracks are so damaged that they ere unplayable and had to be skipped. I'll not order from them again
 Not an ABBA fanMay 13, 2009
First off, I have to say I'm not really an ABBA fan. I grew up in the 80's listening to Madonna and her contemporaries. But hearing this recording, my God, even I can appreciate their music!
I mean, wow! Listening to Siobhan McCarthy is a treat! She has a voice of an angel. Her rendition of The Winner Takes It All was absolutely brilliant! Nothing beats the original production of this musical.
So, thank you for the music! :o)
Original cast covers of Abba songsMar 30, 2009
Despite their huge worldwide popularity, I haven't come across as many covers of Abba songs as I might have expected. This may be in part because Abba's own brilliance was such that it is very hard for anybody else to do justice to their music. Quite apart from the quality of the voices, the music is far more intricate than is generally understood.
This particular project has the advantage that the songwriters collaborated with the musical director, even going back to the original multi-track tapes to provide detailed notes about the original recordings. In providing these notes, Benny and Bjorn were reminded of many details that they'd long forgotten. So the music here was recorded with full knowledge of all the nuances of the original recordings, although they aren't exact covers. Many of the songs had their lyrics tweaked to make them better fit the story being told in the musical. Some of the songs are performed by men, but all the singers here are British or Irish, so they inevitably sing them slightly differently from the original Scandinavian singers.
The song selection was dictated by the needs of the musical, so some classic songs are missing while some lesser songs are included, though most of the selected songs are classics. As playwright Catherine Johnson explained in the book about the musical, the hits were hits because they told the best stories, so most easily lent themselves to inclusion in a musical, but she also pointed out that some of them (particularly Fernando) just didn`t fit this particular story. There are no new songs here, though Catherine considered including Just like that, a song that Abba never officially released. Apparently, there was a scene in which the song could have been used, but she says that it didn't move the story forward so it was dropped.
I suspect that this album will have greatest appeal to those who have seen the musical and fully understand the need for the lyrical adjustments made to the songs, but as an Abba fan who hasn't seen the musical but who appreciates well-recorded cover versions, I enjoyed it anyway. Those who are averse to cover versions and who haven't seen the musical may be best to avoid this.
ABBA-stastic!!Mar 26, 2009
One of my favorite shows of all time and definately made me into an ABBA fan.
The original cast recording is excellent.Mar 04, 2009
I bought the original cast album just to see how the contemporary producers have handled the music. I was quite pleased that the album includes the spoken parts with the music.
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