Release history - Charts
Even if Hot girl didn't repeat the phenomenal success of Boys, Sabrina's international success was still massive in early 1988. Thus, she began working on a new album in the spring of that year, determined to silence the gossips who predicted her to be a one-hit wonder. As the recording process took longer than expected, it was then decided to release two singles to keep the fans satisfied. That summer, 2 hits (All of Me and My chico) and a new song (Funky girl, performed at the Festivalbar) gave a taste of the LP that was still half-a-year away. Indeed, although announced throughout the 2nd half of the year, the album was finally published in late 1988 in Italy, when Sabrina started to co-host Odiens, a TV show which allowed her to promote her new songs again and again. Except in France and Scandinavia where the album also went out in December, it was published in other countries in 1989, in winter (in Germany and Southern Europe...) or in June (in Japan, Korea, South Africa...).
If Super Sabrina did not mark a real break with the first album in both form and content, important changes however were to notice.
On one hand, all the songs were produced from now on by Menzione for Videogram. On the other hand, if Sabrina did not really move away from Italo dance, her producer understood the necessity of opening her team to authors and recognized European composers, likely to strengthen the position of Sabrina on the international scene. He so obtained the participation of the English dream team, Stock Aitken and Waterman, whose songs for a whole generation of young singers scored then many hits in all Europe. Thus, All of me, the song they wrote for Sabrina, became a new European hit during the summer of 88. Menzione also appealed, for the first time, to Italian king of disco-pop, Giorgio Moroder, who had been responsible for many huge hits: Donna Summer's early songs, Flashdance… and Call me for Blondie, a song that Sabrina would cover with Samantha Fox in 2010. If, in 1988, his successful years had come to an end, his presence on an album was always a sign of credibility and his collaboration was highlighted by the media and Sabrina during her interviews. Moroder wrote two tracks on the album: Like a yo-yo and Pirate of love (which had been written for an Italian singer, Giorgia, two years earlier). Finally, four songs were "made in Italy" but without Claudio Cecchetto and his team. La Bionda, a group considered as the founder of Italo Disco arranged two songs and co-wrote the (destined to be) provocative song of the album, Sex. As for Mario Fuliano he finished the "trilogy" begun by Sexy girl and Hot girl, with Funky girl, the only song he ever wrote for Sabrina. She was involved in writing lyrics for the first time: My chico which was a huge hit in Italy, and Guys and Dolls, a song which is today cherished or friendly criticized by her fans.
Obviously, the production on Super Sabrina was better than on her first album and it featured only 2 cover versions, Sunny's Doctor'orders and Giorgia's Pirate of love, a song which could be almost considered as a new song since the original version was totally unknown to the public. We can however wonder why Sabrina didn't have more new material at her disposal, this second album featuring only 8 tracks. Indeed, Moroder or Stock Aitken and Waterman probably had a lot of songs "in stock" that Sabrina could have recorded. Moreover, no doubt that many Italian musicians were ready to collaborate with Sabrina after the success of Boys.
Few albums being published with less than 10 songs, the content and the tracklist of Super Sabrina varied by country, each record company using tricks to make the disc more attractive: some releases included a poster (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Greece) and/or featured 2 bonus tracks: Boys and Sexy girl (Germany, Italy, South America ...), some remixes (on the French CD or the Korean LP) or some extended versions (on the Italian and Japanese CDs). But in Scandinavia, where the success of Sabrina seemed guaranteed whatever happened, MegaRecords only released an 8-tracks version of the album, without poster.
Menzione also knew that the cover had to make the (mostly male-only) audience buy the record. He finally chose a picture taken from the photo session for the magazine Sorrisi & Canzoni while shooting the first video of All of me. This cover was used almost wherever the album was released with the exception of Colombia and Korea. Moreover, these countries were the only ones where the album did not bring the promising or risky title of Super Sabrina. In these countries, the album was indeed entitled respectively My chico and Like a yo-yo.
Although being a bit too short, Super Sabrina is probably one of her best albums. Nevertheless, its success was mixed. The album went to number 1 in Turkey and reached the top 15 in Yugoslavia. It also sold quite well in Italy and Scandinavia too where My chico and Like a yo-yo were strong hits. In some other countries, the album was maybe released too late. Indeed, if it would have been released when All of me was still in the charts, it could have sold much better. But it was published after My chico or Like a yo-yo, two singles which flopped in several countries such as France and Germany. In some other countries, the album which also included Boys and Sexy Girl was released as her debut (and sometimes only) album, like in South Africa. But it seems that it didn't make it into the charts.
In the end, the promotion of the album and the number of singles which were taken from it varied according to countries: 1 in Japan, 2 in England (where the album, as the first one, was not released), 3 in Germany, France, Portugal and 5 in Scandinavia, Mega Records publishing two other singles in 1989: Sex and Guy and dolls. As for the Italian market, almost all the songs were remixed and had a single release, even if Funky girl, Sex, Pirate of love and Doctor's orders were only available on 12".
In 1990, a kind of reloaded version of the album was released under the title of Super Remix or Super Sabrina Remix as mentioned on the label of the LP. Featuring rare or previously unreleased remixes in Italy, the album was intended to keep the fans satisfied until the release of Sabrina's third album which was constantly postponed.
Contrary to Sabrina and Over the Pop, the songs from Super Sabrina gave birth to an incredible number of compilations during the 90s and the early 2000. Moreover, the album was celebrated on the album Erase and rewind in 2008 since Sabrina re-recorded 5 of its tracks: All of me, My chico, Like a yo yo, Funky girl and Sex.
Charts
COUNTRY |
HIGHEST POSITION |
CHART ENTRY DATE |
CHART HISTORY |
Italy |
Unknown |
12/02/1989 |
48, 47... |
Switzerland |
28 |
02/04/1989 |
#28 (1 week) |
Finland |
9 |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Sweden |
39 |
08/02/1989 |
#44, 39, 43 (3 weeks) |
Turkey |
1(at least 2 weeks) on 25th August 1989 |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Yugoslavia |
12 (at least, on July 1989) |
Unknown |
Unknown |