Recording began in ABBA's Polar Music Studio, Stockholm, in February 1982. Frida recorded the album during the last year of ABBA. At the time of recording this song/album, Frida wanted to distance herself from "the typical ABBA pop sound". "I Know There's Something Going On" was written by Russ Ballard and produced by Genesis drummer and singer Phil Collins, who also played drums on the song. The backing vocals are sung by Lyngstad herself and Collins. "I Know There's Something Going On" was released in the autumn of 1982 and became a major success for Frida. It hit #1 in Flemish Belgium and Switzerland, and was a Top 10 hit throughout most of Europe, as well as in Australia and South Africa. The song reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1983, where it had a total chart run of 29 weeks. Though the song did not reach the top ten, Billboard's Year-End chart ranked it as the 20th most popular song of 1983. However, in the UK, traditionally a popular market for ABBA, the song failed to reach the Top 40, peaking at #43. A one-hour TV documentary about the making of the album and this song, is included in Frida - The DVD. The whole recording process, from day one in the studio to the release party, was filmed by Swedish TV SVT. This documentary includes interviews with Lyngstad and Collins, Björn and Benny from ABBA, as well as all the musicians involved with the album.
Music video
The music video was directed by Stuart Orme and filmed at several locations in London, England in early July 1982. The video, which received heavy promotion on MTV due to the worldwide success of the song, shows Frida in a struggling relationship. She then discovers through photos taken at a fashion shoot that her husband or lover is seeing another woman. The video is included in Frida - The DVD.
In 2006, Tre Lux Covered the song on their Cover Album "A Strange Gathering".
In 2007, German band Wild Frontier covered the song for their album Bite The Bullet.
In 2009, American electronic group Sleepthief covered the song, featuring vocals by Roberta Carter-Harrison.
In 2011, Swedish heavy metal group Overdrive covered the song for their album Angelmaker.
In 2014, American Producer Straight-P covered the song featuring Elan Noelle on lead vocals.
In 2015, Norwegian DJ and producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm released his own remix of the song.
In 2016, Norwegian heavy metal singer Jørn Lande and his solo band Jorn recorded their version of the song as the opening number of their cover album Heavy Rock Radio.
In 2017, American Darwave, EBM, industrial band Sun goes dark covered song and released it as a single. Song is also in their album Pieces of humanity, released in 2018.
In 2002, Finnish hip hop groupBomfunk MC's used the song as basis for their hit named " Something Goin' On". The chorus was performed by Swedish singer Jessica Folcker.
The drum line of Foo Fighters' "Erase/Replace" from their 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace was borrowed from this song.
In 2009, the track was sampled by Canadian hip hop artist k-os for the song "Eye Know Something" from his album Yes!.
