Mamma Mia! - Original Broadway Cast Recording (1999)

I bought this Broadway cast album for my wife as we prepared for a trip to New York City with our sons. My oldest son graduated from high school in 2012 and for a graduation gift, asked for a trip to see a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. You don't have to ask me twice to visit NYC, so plans were made. We went to the Yankee-White Sox game on Sunday, July 1, 2012. We got there early for the 66th annual Old-Timers’ Day celebrations/game, then watched the Yankees win 4-2.

But I couldn't possibly go to New York without seeing a show on Broadway and I figured my sons would tolerate a show if they were already familiar with the music, so this jukebox musical based on songs by ABBA fit the bill quite nicely. The show was enjoyable and we had a great time. This CD was originally purchased for my wife to spin in her car as she drove around the piney woods of East Texas for her job. It makes for a nice souvenir, but I never listen to it, preferring to spin the originals on Gold.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #169

Tracks:

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above

ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits (1992)

GREATEST HITS WEEK (JANUARY 17-23, 2011)

19 tracks and you know them all (even if you'd never admit it).

Song	Year	Hot 100	AC
Dancing Queen	1977	1	6
Knowing Me, Knowing You	1977	14	7
Take A Chance On Me	1978	3	9
Mamma Mia	1976	32	12
Lay All Your Love On Me	1981	-	-
Super Trouper	1981	45	14
I Have A Dream	1979	-	-
The Winner Takes It All	1980	8	1
Money, Money, Money	1977	56	38
S.O.S.	1975	15	19
Chiquitita	1979	29	15
Fernando	1976	13	1
Voulez Vous	1979	80	40
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)	1979	-	-
Does Your Mother Know	1979	19	41
One Of Us	1983	-	33
The Name Of The Game	1978	12	9
Thank You For The Music	1977	-	-
Waterloo	1974	6	-

US Top 40 omissions: Honey, Honey (#27 in 1974), I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (#15 in 1976), When All Is Said And Done (#27 in 1982).

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #63 (Oct 9, 1993)

Tracks: It's hard to pick favorites, but I'll give it a shot. Dancing Queen might have been my favorite song of 1977. Other picks would include Take A Chance On Me, S.O.S., Lay All Your Love On Me, Mamma Mia, Does Your Mother Know, and Waterloo. If were to skip some tracks, they would probably be The Winner Takes It All, Thank You For The Music, and One Of Us.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Lots of memories associated with this music, but most recently, around Labor Day 2009, we watched a Blu-Ray of Mamma Mia! with a group of about 13 or 14 friends crammed into our living room and we all had a great time (there's a possibility that alcohol may have been involved). Singing and dancing kept on after the movie ended. To this day, this disc remains on heavy rotation in the family car.