The A-Teens started back in 1998 as 'The Abba Teens,' doing covers of ABBA songs. I remember when they came out I HATED them. I don't know what it was but I hated the fact that their whole existence was just doing lame ABBA covers. I spent about a year bashing them!; they were the band I loved to hate.
And that's when it happened. I heard their new single 'Upside Down!' No matter how hard I tried to hate it... it kept getting stuck in my head until I finally cracked under the pressure and bought the single. I kept it hidden from everyone I knew... I thought I could keep it a deep dark secret. But a few months later I saw the video for their next single 'Halfway Around The World.' Before I knew it I was hiding my face as I went to the record store to buy the album 'Teen Spirit.'
It turns out I wasn't the only one that fell for the 4 young Abba loving Swedes. Their debut album was a top ten hit across the globe with their singles hitting top ten in almost every country they were released in. The band even did the impossible and broke into the U.S market!
In 2000 it was announced the band would start releasing original material and 'Upside Down' was their first. The track was a huge success again hitting top ten across the globe. Their album went on to similar success as well.
I find it really interesting that a band as pop based as the A*Teens failed to make any impact in the Uk! Although 'Upside Down' reached #10 back in 2000... 'Halfway Around the World' barely made top 30 and their album failed to make top 75 in 2001. Meanwhile in the U.S their album sold over 500'000 copies.
Despite the failure in the Uk the band continued to sell albums everywhere. In 2001 Disney invited he band to record a song for the 'Princess Diaries' soundtrack. When it was released in Sweden, 'Heartbreak Lullaby' stayed in the charts for over 4 months! The album ended up selling over 1 million copies worldwide.
The band went on to release their final album in 2002. Despite successful singles from that album... sales were not as strong worldwide as their record label had hoped. Sales for their 3rd album peaked at approx. 350'000 copies.
In 2004 after the release of their Greatest Hits album and their final single 'I Promised Myself' the band parted ways and started their own solo projects. The 3 new tracks from their Greatest Hits album showed a maturity that the band had grown into in their 6 years together and I was extremely dissapointed to see the band split up. Although... how long can you go on with a name like The A* Teens.
1 comment:
A*Teens were so great--so many brilliant songs. You've got me on a revival now...
Oh, and re: the below post: awww, thanks so much! :D Into The Groove was the blog that posted his cover of "Alone," though.
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