Lexicon Of Love, The - ABC

.../> struck. ABC - The Lexicon of Love - and it's Valentine's Day tomorrow -
perfect! Ah, but it was too late to get it added... oh, hang on though -
it's there already, and no-one's written about it, so duty calls...

The Band - ABC
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ABC hailed from Sheffield and could be summed up as New Romantic pop
Roxy Music wannabees. Pure pop - tinny drum machine and synths, yes,
but with ...
...a "change in chart collation".The Lexicon of Love was also rated the 4th best album of the 1980's by Record Mirror magazine, behind Sign O' The Times by Prince, Actually by the Pet Shop Boys and The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths. I know everything you know.

The Digitally Remastered CD I picked up at an irresistable price last year includes six extra tracks:-

TEARS ARE NOT ENOUGH (Demo)
An impressive, ... more

I had a bit of time to fill last night, so I had a look through my CD
collection for something to play. It's arranged alphabetically of course,
me being a bit anal, so I didn't have to look very far before inspiration
struck. ABC - The Lexicon of Love - and it's Valentine's Day tomorrow -
perfect! Ah, but it was too late to get it added... oh, hang on though -
it's there already, and no-one's written about it, so duty calls...

The Band - ABC
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ABC hailed from Sheffield and could be summed up as New Romantic pop
Roxy Music wannabees. Pure pop - tinny drum machine and synths, yes,
but with saxophones and horns rounding out the sound nicely. Original
members Mark White (guitar) and Stephen Singleton (saxophone) called
themselves Vice Versa, but then Martin Fry (vocals) arrived and took
control of the band's image, changing their name to ABC and donning
shiny suits. They were joined by Mark Lickey (bass) and David Palmer
(drums) and recorded this, their first album, in 1981, ably assisted by...

The Producer - Trevor Horn
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Trevor Horn was the top pop producer of early 80's pop, he first sprang
to prominence as the bespectacled half of the Buggles (of Video Killed
The Radio Star fame). A bit of a perfectionist, Horn's production style,
inspired by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, utilised the most up-to-date
technology - often before anyone else got their hands on it. There is
nothing raw in a Trevor Horn production, everything is highly polished -
if you want a bit of rough, go elsewhere. (Horn's heroic production style
was later to make Frankie Goes To Hollywood a massive success.)

The Tracks
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There's not much point trying to describe each individual track, because
they all sound much the same. If you're familiar with the four hit singles
(how could you not have heard them?) then you know eactly what you
are going to get. There are no nasty surprises, no unknown gems hiding
among the other tracks and, it has to be said, no real variety either.
Not even a ballad to break things up.

SHOW ME {4:02}
An opening that promises something special with a classic string arrangment
and a fanfare of horns; the tedious repetition of "show me, show me" in the chorus
gets on my nerves though.

POISON ARROW {3:22}
A really pacy pop song underpinned by an almost impossibly fast bass riff,
this was the track that made their name - it was the 50th best-selling single of 1982.

♫ Who broke my heart?
♫ You did, you did
♫ Bow to the target,
♫ Blame Cupid, Cupid
♫ You think you're smart
♫ Stupid, Stupid.
♫ Shoot that poison arrow to my heart...

MANY HAPPY RETURNS {3:58}
A lot of catchy musical ideas with an irritatingly repetitive chorus -
much like the other tracks.

TEARS ARE NOT ENOUGH {3:29}
Their first hit single showcased Martin Fry's vocal abilities, which often sound a bit strained to me. Not least his rather worrying falsetto work. Simon Cowell probably wouldn't have been impressed.

♫ A blueprint that says that the boy meets the girl
♫ Picture in a magazine

VALENTINE'S DAY {3:40}
A pompous opening, some interludes of tinkly electric piano and agonized vocals,
not even remotely romantic I'm afraid.

♫ When the postman don't call on Valentine's day
♫ And Santa Claus don't come on a Christmas Day
♫ That umbrella won't work on a rainy day
♫ Don't ask me, I already know

Snivel, snivel, sob. 's not fair, why do I never get any Valentine's cards?

LOOK OF LOVE (Part One) {3:29}
A catchy clappy rhythm, funky bass, and a superb vocal performance from Martin Fry made this their biggest hit.

♫ All I'm saying, it takes a lot to love you
♫ All I'm doing, you know it's true
♫ All I mean now, there's one thing
♫ Yes one thing that turns this grey sky to blue...
♫ That's the look, that's the look
♫ The look of love.

DATE STAMP {3:51}
The addition of a couple of girls singing backing vocals make this sound
a little like the Human League (another group from Sheffield who were dominating the charts at the time.)

ALL OF MY HEART {5:18}
Pure pop perfection, and my favourite ABC song. I reckon that if I were making a compilation CD of early-80's pop, I would segue this song with Marillion's Kayleigh.

♫ Once upon a time when we were friends
♫ I gave you my heart. The story ends.

♫ Well I hope and I pray
♫ That maybe someday
♫ You'll walk in the room with my heart

4 EVER 2 GETHER {5:30}
Probably the most adventurous track on the album, the chorus isn't bad, but otherwise it's a rambling forgettable filler.

LOOK OF LOVE (Part Four) {0:56}
Part Four? What happened to Parts Two and Three? This track doesn't amount to much anyway, a brassy instrumental version under a minute long, it was the finale of the original album - which, for those of you who love stats, became the 250th number one in the UK album chart when it crashed straight in at the top spot on June 29th, 1982, staying there for three-and-a-half weeks. OK, four, but the fourth week it TIED for the number one position with the soundtrack to Fame, I believe this was the only instance of a tie at number one, although there was one week in October 1979 when Blondie and the Police both had the number one album because two charts were published due to a "change in chart collation".The Lexicon of Love was also rated the 4th best album of the 1980's by Record Mirror magazine, behind Sign O' The Times by Prince, Actually by the Pet Shop Boys and The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths. I know everything you know.

The Digitally Remastered CD I picked up at an irresistable price last year includes six extra tracks:-

TEARS ARE NOT ENOUGH (Demo)
An impressive, funky demo, well on the way to the finished version.
Shades of those other early 80's jazzy-pop-funksters Level 42.

POISON ARROW (Jazz Re-mix)
A lovely extended remix, but to call it Jazz is a bit cheeky,
it's still pop, only with a flute-break in the middle. Very pleasant.

LOOK OF LOVE (1990 Re-mix)
At first it sounds just like the original version, but then some rather disturbed effects
are added - the vocals being slowed down and then repeated in an over-produced bit
of 'scratching'. People pissing about in a studio with nothing better to do, basically.

ALPHABET SOUP (12" mix)
The sound quality seems to dip here, as if it was recorded live, and towards the end it turns into a long rambling instrumental with some mental screeching from Fry and the saxophone player over the top. Bizarre.

THEME FROM MANTRAP
A slowed down version of Poison Arrow with what sounds like a pianola,
or barrel organ, accompaniment. This is half-way to being an ice-cream
van version - stop me and buy one! Maybe that's what Martin Fry & co.
are doing these days.

LOOK OF LOVE (Live)
Opens gloriously, with a burst of sax playing. Fry's vocals are strong
and that great twanging bass riff is deservedly high up in the mix.
A terrific way to end.

The Packaging
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The CD booklet contains a six-page potted history of the band and nothing else.
No lyrics, no playing or songwriting credits. The cover design shows Martin Fry
holding a fainting woman with his left arm and pointing a gun, James Bond style,
with his right. They are standing by a dustbin in an alley in London NW3,
and next to the name ABC there are three stars, which is about right.

I wasn't a fan of ABC at the time - being more into B.A. Robertson(!)
and Madness - but if you have any interest at all in kitsch early-80's
synth-pop, then this album is one of the essentials - it's one of the
albums that defined the decade. Although that may have been because
there wasn't much good stuff around, and it was the best of a bad lot!

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