All That She Wants
"All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in August 1992 by Mega Records as the second single from the group's first studio album, Happy Nation (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from the 1993 album The Sign in North America. Produced by Denniz Pop with group members Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg, the drum beat was inspired by the Kayo song "Another Mother". Berggren and Ekberg also wrote the lyrics.
For the 2008 Canadian film, see All That She Wants (film). For the documentary television series, see All That She Wants (TV series)."All That She Wants"
"All That She Wants" is a reggae-pop song that describes a sexually promiscuous woman, with the word "baby" being synonymous with "boyfriend".[3][5] The song was first recorded in 1991, but went through many revisions before it was officially released.
The song was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in many countries, including Denmark, Germany, the UK and Australia. It spent 13 weeks at the top of the Danish singles chart. The single was certified platinum in the United States, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the best-selling singles of that year. Its music video was directed by Matt Broadley and filmed in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 2007, the song was re-recorded by the band as a three-piece with new lyrics in a first-person perspective, but was never officially released. This re-recording was leaked online in June 2016 in a collaboration version of the song that features new Ace of Base vocals alongside Britney Spears's vocals from her own 2007 demo version.[6]
Background[edit]
While the group's predecessor single, "Wheel of Fortune", was a modest success, "All That She Wants" led Ace of Base to take off internationally. In 1991, the group produced a demo version of "All That She Wants", titled "Mr. Ace", which featured different lyrics, Linn Berggren on lead vocals, and rap vocals performed by both Jonas and Ekberg.[7] But they were not able to create the exact sound they were looking for, despite their attempts to get inspiration by listening to several other artists. After the release of the Swedish top 20 hit "Another Mother" by Kayo, the band finally found the drum beat they were looking for.
Jonas and Ekberg contacted the producer of "Another Mother", Denniz Pop, and sent him a demo tape featuring the song. Though Denniz was initially unimpressed with the song, the tape got stuck in the cassette tape player in his car. Because of this, he was forced to listen to it over and over again, which helped him decide to help produce the track.
Release[edit]
Following its release on 31 August 1992, "All That She Wants" quickly climbed to number one on the Danish chart while "Wheel of Fortune" was still sitting at number two. The song became a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in at least thirteen countries worldwide. It was certified platinum in the United States, after peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Keen to rush out an album for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album and it was hastily recorded, mixed, and released within a few weeks. Denniz Pop would go on to co-produce all officially released versions of the song that were available at the time, notably a more uptempo version of the song, dubbed the "Madness Version". This version features entirely different vocals and more spoken-word sections.[13] Ace of Base would later collaborate with Denniz Pop on "The Sign" and multiple tracks on the band's sophomore release, The Bridge.
In 2014, the original demo version of the song was released as a bonus track called "Mister Ace (Demo 1991)" on the remastered version of the album The Sign.[14]
Music video[edit]
A music video directed by Swedish director Matt Broadley was produced in November 1992[81] to promote the single. Danish actress and singer-songwriter Christiane Bjørg Nielsen appears in the video as the title character. The video was filmed in Nielsen's apartment in Ryesgade in central Copenhagen[82] in one day, on a budget of $2000.[83]
The video, shot in sepia tone, depicts the band members performing in a cramped apartment, interlaced with shots of a woman getting ready to go out. She goes to a bar where she meets a man. They talk and then she takes him home to her. Though Jenny has no vocals in the song, she lip syncs the vocals during the chorus. Ulf Ekberg noted, "The video is also an explanation for the song, because in the song you don't know if she found a guy or not, but [the video shows] a happy ending."[12] The band discovered Nielsen's apartment just by chance as they shared the same manager. She told in an interview, "They just came up to my apartment to pick something up, but when they saw it, they were absolutely determined that the video should be shot right there. After all, I had a grand piano and a black and white checkered floor, so it was just a perfect location."[82] Nanna Søndergaard Larsen from Danish Dagbladet Information remarked in her analyze of the video, "The apartment is not only full of a mixed assortment of furniture and mannequins, but also the four members of the band are seated at tables, in armchairs, on windowsills all around the small living room."[84]
Ekberg later said that MTV pushed the song as they "loved the video because it was so clean."[83] Being known as an actress only in Denmark, Nielsen's appearance in the video led her to being recognized all over the world. Nielsen mentioned an incident while she was shopping in New York, "I was walking around looking at shoes in a shoe store when a woman grabbed me and said "oh my God, you're the girl from the video".[82]
Cover versions and samples[edit]
An Italian band Age of Bass covered the song in 1993. Its close resemblance to the original Ace of Base version and the original band's name caused Mega Records alongside Polygram to prompt the rendition's record label Discomagic Italy into pulling the release from commercial markets. The rendition would later appear in a compilation release by Edel Records. In the same year, ZYX Music released a rendition performed by a German band called Box of Laces.[141]
Swedish band Grass Show covered the song on their 1997 debut album Something Smells Good in Stinkville.[142]
American singer Britney Spears recorded her rendition of "All That She Wants", which sampled the chorus from the Ace of Base song for her 2007 album Blackout, but it failed to make the final cut, among other songs considered for the album. Spears' version features verses taken from her self-written poem "Remembrance of Who I Am", published on her official website in 2006.[143] Ace of Base frontman Ulf Ekberg stated it was recorded in 2006 and never completed, while claiming it wasn't released due to the singer's hardships at the time. He praised her version, calling it "cool" and "very strong".[144] The demo leaked onto the internet in 2008.