"On and on and On" is a pop song recorded by Swedish pop groupABBA in 1980 for their seventh studio album, Super Trouper. It was released as a single in a limited number of countries.
Background
The track, which had working titles "Esses vad det svänger när man spelar jazz" and "'Til the Night is Gone", was released as a single in a few countries, namely Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Japan and the United States. The B-side in Australia and Japan was "The Piper"; in Argentina and Canada it was "Our Last Summer", and in the US it was "Lay All Your Love on Me"—all of which were also taken from the Super Trouper album. "On and on and On" peaked at No. 9 in Australia, making it the 15th ABBA single to reach the Top 10 in that country. Although the song only managed to reach No. 90 on the US BillboardHot 100 chart, its inclusion on a 12-inch single with the songs "Super Trouper" and "Lay All Your Love on Me" merits all three songs as having reached No. 1 on the American dance chart in May 1981. An early mix of the song was used in the accompanying music video, but not released on record in stereo until 2011, and it features an extra verse: And for the first time since ABBA made music videos, the clip for "On and on and On" did not feature any live movement from the group. Instead, a photo montage was made from their Las Vegas concert during their 1979 United States tour and tried to match the action of the photos with the song. The track is in the Mixolydian mode.
Lars O. Carlsson, Katjek Wojciechowski, Jan Kling – saxophones
Chart placings
Cover versions
The song's chorus has a backing vocals arrangement clearly influenced by one of Benny Andersson's favorite bands, The Beach Boys, and in particular their 1968 hit "Do It Again". In 1981, Beach Boys member Mike Love returned the compliment by covering "On and on and On" on his solo album Looking Back with Love. It was also later included on the 1999 compilation ABBA: A Tribute – The 25th Anniversary Celebration.
A French version was recorded as Ça va mal "" by Sylvie Vartan for her 1981 album of the same name.
The 1992 compilation ABBA: The Tribute contained a cover by Swedish rock musician/singer Mats Ronander.
A eurodance cover by Italian act Raffa was released as a single in 1997.
Almighty Records released several eurodance cover remixes of the song from the group Abbacadabra during the late 1990s. Various remixes can be found on the 2008 compilation We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Compilation. Audio samples can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.