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ABC

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

ABC is an English pop band from Sheffield, formed in 1980. The band grew out of the electronic outfit Vice Versa of Stephen Singleton and Mark White. Martin Fry, who made a fanzine, interviewed them and was asked shortly afterwards to join. At the end of 1980 Fry became the singer and the group was called ABC. Singleton played saxophone, White guitar and keyboards. Fry is the only member who has always been part of it.

Music and breakthrough

The first single, Tears Are Not Enough, came out in 1981. In 1982 followed the debut album The Lexicon of Love, produced by Trevor Horn, which went to number 1 in Great Britain. Poison Arrow, The Look of Love and All of My Heart became hits. ABC belonged to the new pop of the early 1980s, bands that after punk sought glamour and grand gestures again. The music blended synth-pop with disco and rock, with lush strings arranged by Anne Dudley, who also played keyboards on them. Fry sang with great drama about heartbreak and appeared in photographs in a gold suit.

Influence

The follow-up Beauty Stab (1983) sounded rougher and did less well. With How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985) ABC scored in America with Be Near Me, and Alphabet City (1987) included When Smokey Sings, a tribute to Smokey Robinson. In those years Fry also had cancer and recovered. ABC kept performing, and in 2016 The Lexicon of Love II appeared, a sequel to the famous debut.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to The Look of Love from 1982. Notice the danceable disco rhythms, the lush strings and how theatrically Martin Fry delivers the lyrics.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: ArtistsNew Romantic