"Angeleyes" (also known as "Angel Eyes") is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song written and recorded in 1978 by the Swedish group

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

, and is featured on their sixth studio album, ''

Voulez-Vous ''Voulez-Vous'' (; French for "Do you want (to)?") is the sixth studio album by the Swedish supergroup ABBA. Released on 23 April 1979, the album yielded five hits, all of them big 1979 singles in Britain – " Chiquitita", " Does Your Mother ...

''. Released as a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with the title track of the album in July 1979, the lyrics and music were composed by

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

and

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

. As one of ABBA's most popular tracks in the United Kingdom, the song was a successful hit, peaking at No. 3 on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

History

"Angeleyes" (which had the working title "Katakusom") is a song in which the protagonist beseeches women to avoid the deceptively innocent looking gaze of a handsome yet deceitful man, warning them to beware of the "game he likes to play." The vocals came from Ulvaeus,

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and a former member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 Agnetha Fältskog (album), self-titled debut alb ...

and

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles ''Principality of Reuss-Gera, Princess Re ...

Reception and reviews

In the United Kingdom, "Angeleyes" was released as a double

with "

", this being an unusual move for the group. ABBA and the personnel at

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, the group's British record label, believed that with its classic ABBA arrangement, "Angeleyes" would be considerably popular with the record buying public. No promotional video for "Angeleyes" was made; as ABBA had filmed one for "Voulez-Vous", this was used to promote the double A-side single on "''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''". The double A-side peaked at No. 3 in the UK in August 1979. As of September 2021, the double side is ABBA's 13th most popular song in the UK, including both pure sales and digital streams. Coincidentally, ABBA's "Angeleyes" was in the UK Top 20 at the same time as another unrelated song called " Angel Eyes" by the British rock group

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

. The latter track was composed by musicians

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

and

Andy Mackay Andrew Mackay (born 23 July 1946) is an English musician, best known as a founding member (playing oboe and saxophone) of the art rock group Roxy Music. In addition, he has taught music and provided scores for television, while his work as a se ...

, and although the two songs possess some lyrical similarities, Ferry and Mackay's song is more reminiscent of contemporary

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

. In critical terms, when the track was featured on the popular TV series ''

Juke Box Jury ''Juke Box Jury'' was a music panel show which ran on BBC Television between 1 June 1959 and 27 December 1967. The programme was based on the American show '' Jukebox Jury'', itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series. The American ser ...

'', the panel (which featured

Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting '' Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 20 ...

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

and

Elaine Paige Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...

) voted the song a "miss", wrongly predicting that it would not be a hit for the group. Only "Angeleyes" was mentioned on the show, with no reference made to "Voulez-Vous". A retrospective review of the ''Voulez-Vous'' album by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Bruce Eder gave "Angeleyes" a citation as an 'Album Pick' while praising the work as a whole. In the United States, the individual "Angeleyes" single failed to climb that high in the charts, reaching No. 64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in October 1979. "Voulez-Vous" fared even worse a month before, peaking at No. 80. Compared to expectations, the songs' parent album only performed modestly in the US. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said the song had "bubbly female harmonies and a layered,

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

-driven melody showing an inviting pop-classical influence." In October 1979 (three months after the single release), "Angeleyes" was included on the group's compilation album '' Greatest Hits Vol. 2''. It was not featured on ABBA's 1982 double-album compilation '' The Singles: The First Ten Years''. "Angeleyes" has also been a part of numerous other ABBA compilations over the years, including '' More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits'' (1993); the four-CD box-set ''

Thank You for the Music "Thank You for the Music" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally featured on the group's fifth studio album, '' The Album'' (1977), and was released as a double-A sided single with "Eagle" in May 1978 in limited territories ...

'' (1994); '' The Definitive Collection'' (2001), and '' The Albums'' (2008). In 2022, "Angeleyes" became a popular song on the

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

social media platform. ''

Mashable Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...

'' noted: "TikTokkers have been using the sound, a sped-up version of 'Angeleyes' by ABBA, to reminisce about the things they used to love, from television shows to discontinued candies." ABBA's own TikTok account participated in the trend, posting a video of

and his platform boots set to the song.

Charts

Certifications

''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'' version

"Angel Eyes" was released on 13 July 2018, alongside the soundtrack of ''

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'' is a 2018 jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson (playwright), Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel and prequel to t ...

'', by Capitol and

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. The song is performed by

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Go ...

(Rosie),

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom ''Cybill'' (1995–1998). Baranski is als ...

(Tanya) and Amanda Seyfried (Sophie) and it was produced by Benny Andersson.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1979 singles ABBA songs Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Epic Records singles 1979 songs