Super Trouper

In January 1980 Ulvaeus and Andersson went to Barbados to write, and the first songs recorded afterwards were Andante, Andante, Happy New Year and the backing track of On and On and On. A short tour of Japan in March interrupted the sessions. The title track was written in the studio in October as the last song, after Put On Your White Sombrero was left off. The album closes with The Way Old Friends Do, recorded live on the 1979 tour. Rune Söderqvist wanted to photograph the group among circus performers at Piccadilly Circus in London, but without permission to shoot there they invited the members of two circuses to Europa Film Studios in Stockholm instead.

It debuted at number one in the UK in November 1980 and stayed there for nine straight weeks, and it was the best-selling album in Britain that year. One million advance orders were reported. Record Mirror gave it five stars, and William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote that it brought an unusual amount of real unhappiness into their pop music.