Abba rescue their career

In April 1974, Abba won the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo and the world fell for the Swedish band's charms, the song turning into a global hit. But their future success was far from certain: to the public, they looked like classic Euro one-hit-wonders. But Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus had a trump card. Holed up in Stockholm in August 74, they'd written SOS – its title the work of manager Stig Anderson. It wasn't their next single; instead they chose to release So Long, which crawled to No 91 in the UK. Next they put out I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do – to which Radio 1 said: No, you don't, giving it little airplay, and it limped to No 38. But in September 1975, SOS was released and Abba were back with a bang, reaching No 6 in the UK, with Mamma Mia next, topping the charts. The band hit their stride and went on to become the fourth bestselling pop act in the history of recorded music. Not only was SOS a rarity because the title and the band's name were both palindromes, its influence was far-reaching. John Lennon and Pete Townshend declared themselves fans – and a short while later, a band called the Sex Pistols seemed to borrow its riff for the introduction to a snappy track of theirs called Pretty Vacant.