ABBA - Does Your Mother Know

What this video is

Released April 1979 as the second single from ABBA's sixth studio album Voulez-Vous, 'Does Your Mother Know' was an anomaly within ABBA's catalogue: one of the group's very few major singles to feature Björn Ulvaeus as lead vocalist rather than Agnetha Fältskog or Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The song blended rock-and-roll, glam-pop, and disco, with a distinctive synth-bass intro created on a Yamaha GX-1 synthesiser — one…

Why it matters

Represents a pivotal intersection of Europop, glam-pop pastiche, and disco within the late-1970s promotional video format. The male lead vocal was a deliberate stylistic departure that signalled ABBA's willingness to challenge their own commercial formula. The video codifies Hallström's…

The director

Lars Sven 'Lasse' Hallström (born 2 June 1946, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish film director who first gained international recognition directing almost all of ABBA's promotional music videos between 1974 and 1982, starting with 'Waterloo'. He also directed…