The single gave the group their big break in several European countries (although the rest of Europe, North America and Australia would be introduced to ABBA the following year).

As in other languages, the English translation (helped by Neil Sedaka and his collaborator Phil Cody) showed notable changes in the original lyrics but with a similar meaning, including a new chorus: "Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call?".

[1] After the success of "People Need Love" in 1972 by Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid (as the group was then known), the group's manager, Stig Anderson, realised the potential of coupling the vocal talents of the women with the writing talents of the men.

To make it more accessible to a universal audience, Anderson asked American songwriter Neil Sedaka to pen the lyrics for an English version.

Record World said that the lyrics co-penned by Sedaka "[deal] with a cold relationship and a silent telephone.

Studio engineer Michael B. Tretow, who later collaborated with Andersson and Ulvaeus on many singles and albums, had read a book about record producer Phil Spector (Richard Williams' book Out of His Head: The Sound of Phil Spector),[3] famed for his "Wall of Sound" treatment to the songs that he produced.

Tretow's solution was to simply record the song's backing track twice in order to achieve an orchestral sound.

Changing the speed of the tape between the overdubs, making the instruments marginally out of tune, increased the effect.

[4] When ABBA performed "Ring Ring" in the Swedish Eurovision selection competition on 10 February 1973,[5] it was a simpler version arranged by Lars Samuelson and backed by his orchestra, losing the "wall of sound" production sound.

2 in Sweden, Norway and Austria, and reaching the Top 10 in the charts of the Netherlands, South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

In 2001, The Definitive Collection was released, which finally included the 1974 single remix sourced from the master tape.

It was later revealed on Carl Magnus Palm's website that Polar Music had acquired the master tapes from Epic Records in the UK.