ABBA In Helvmark: 1981

How many number ones can a group have?

The 1981 Helvmark Music Awards see ABBA win Best International Group – again! During early 1981 various tracks from the Super Trouper album appear on the HitList and have a stranglehold on the #1 slot with the most notable being Me And I (#1 in February), Our Last Summer (#1 for 4 weeks in March) and On and On and On (#1 for 3 weeks in April). Polydor Helvmark release a Helvmark only single Our Last Summer b/w Me And I to capitalise on their success on the HitList. The result is a #2 placing on the HelvTop in April.


July sees the release, as in other territories, of a 12” only release of Lay All Your Love On Me / On And On And On. Despite the nature of the release it still manages to hit #1 for 4 weeks with Lay All Your Love On Me hitting #1 on the HitList for 6 weeks throughout the summer.


To consolidate on the success in the charts Polydor Helvmark relase a compilation package called Superhits which hits #1 for 5 weeks in August.


All the successes listed above are even more surprising given that there is no promotion (in fact ABBA don’t visit Helvmark again until late 1982). However, their videos and other special programmes are on frequent rotation on the main HT-1 and HT-2 channels plus the new T4H Independent Television channel which launched in January 1981.

In September, HT-1 shows the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA special created by the group and recorded in Stockholm in the spring of 1981. The viewing figures are huge with 53% of the audience share.

December sees the release of the new single One Of Us b/w Should I Laugh Or Cry plus the album The Visitors. The single does very well and hits #1 on the HelvTop for 4 weeks with One Of Us hitting #1 on the HitList for 4 weeks.


The album also hits #1 and stays there for 7 weeks. The album spawns other HitList hits with Like An Angel Passing Through My Room and Soldiers both hitting #1 in December/January.


Happy New Year is playlisted again and gets to #2 on the HitList. ABBA consolidate 1981 by winning Best International Group, Best International Single (Our Last Summer) and Best Disco Single (Lay All Your Love On Me) at the HT-1 TopHits TopAwards ’81.