Abba’s song ‘Mamma Mia’ was originally offered to the band Brotherhood of Man, who then turned the song down before their Eurovision win.
According to the UK documentary ‘Abba: Secrets Of Their Greatest Hits’ ‘Mamma Mia’ which spawned the Mamma Mia musical and two Hollywood films, topped the charts in 1976 and was originally offered to the band as the writers Benny, Bjorn and their Manager Stig didn’t see it as a hit.
But singer Martin Lee said:
“We already had a full set of songs for the studio at the time so we didn’t get to it”
The band instead chose to record ‘Save your kisses for me’ which then went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976. (You can see the performance below).
After the band turned down the song, Abba changed their minds and released the song after all. (You can see the song below)
‘Mamma Mia’ went on to reach Number 1 in a number of countries including the UK, the first time the band had achieved this since ‘Waterloo’.
You can hear more on this in the documentary ‘Abba:The Secrets Of Their Greatest Hits’ which is available on Channel 5’s website My 5. (This may not be accessible for viewers outside of the UK).
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