ABC - Alphabet Soup (2022)

As you will know from my recent post from Vice Versa, ABC came about almost by accident, when Vice Versa were touring in the Netherlands and they were invited to jam in a studio in Rotterdam. Martin Fry improvised some vocals, and after the initial surprise at the quality of his voice, they decided to make him the lead singer of the band. After spending the next year writing new songs, they re-christened themselves ABC and set off to have a stab at pop stardom. The new band retained some of the old Vice Versa line-up, with Fry singing, Stephen Singleton playing saxophone and Mark White on guitar and keyboards, and they were joined by Mark Lickley on bass and David Robinson on drums, with the band's very first single, 'Tears Are Not Enough', making the UK top 20 when it was released in 1981. Soon afterwards, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer, shortly followed by Lickley, who was not replaced. In 1982, the band released their Trevor Horn-produced debut studio album 'The Lexicon Of Love', which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and it often features in UK critics' lists of their favourite albums. Three further singles were extracted from the album, with 'Poison Arrow', 'The Look Of Love' and 'All Of My Heart' all being top ten hits in 1982. Following the culmination of the Lexicon Of Love tour, Palmer joined the Yellow Magic Orchestra for a series of tour dates, but when Fry, White and Singleton decided to reconvene in order to commence work on their next album, Palmer had to leave ABC in order to honour Yellow Magic Orchestra's touring commitments. The remaining members found it difficult to follow-up on the success of their debut, and their Gary Langan-produced second album, 'Beauty Stab', was released in November 1983, performing poorly in comparison to its predecessor, and peaking at number 12 on the UK album chart. 

The first single from the album, 'That Was Then But This Is Now', briefly appeared in the UK top 20, followed by a top 40 showing for 'SOS', and rather perversely they decided to eschew remixes, and so the 12" single for 'That Was Then But This Is Now' featured the disclaimer "This record is exactly the same as the 7" version. The choice is yours." Singleton left the band shortly after the release of 'Beauty Stab' as a result of Fry and White's reluctance to spend much time touring the band's material, and so Fry and White enlisted the services of Fiona Russell Powell (under the name "Eden") and David Yarritu in the band's new line-up. They recorded their next album 'How to Be A ... Zillionaire!', which was released in 1985, but the band's chart success dwindled further in the UK with this album, although they did score their first US top 10 hit with 'Be Near Me', which also made the UK top 30. The album also featured the singles '(How To Be A) Millionaire', 'Vanity Kills' and 'Ocean Blue', although none of them could crack the UK top 40. After a hiatus, during which Fry was being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma, he and White reconvened ABC as a duo, releasing the album 'Alphabet City' in 1987, which returned them to the UK Top 10 for the first time in five years, peaking at No. 7. It featured 'When Smokey Sings', a tribute to Smokey Robinson, which narrowly missed the UK Top 10, although it did give the group their biggest hit in the US, where it peaked at number 5 in September. In 1989, the duo issued 'Up', and their fifth and final PolyGram studio album experimented with house music, scoring a minor UK hit with the single 'One Better World', although a second single, 'The Real Thing', and the album itself were less successful. During this period, the duo worked on a couple of outside productions aimed at the house music scene, one for Paul Rutherford's (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) solo album and first single release, and also for Lizzie Tear on the duo's own Neutron label. 

In 1990, they released a greatest hits compilation album, 'Absolutely', which covered all of ABC's albums up until 1990 and featured most of their singles, and it made the UK Top 10. In 1991 the duo moved to the EMI label (and MCA in North America), where they recorded the album 'Abracadabra', and  two singles, 'Love Conquers All' and 'Say It', which narrowly missed the UK Top 40, though a remix of the latter by the Italian production team Black Box appeared on the US dance charts. Fry also collaborated with M People in 1991 on their first album, 'Northern Soul', recording vocals for the song 'Life', although when the album was re-released in 1992, and again in 1995, this track was omitted. After a six-year hiatus, Fry, now the sole member of ABC, resurrected the band's name in 1997 for the album 'Skyscraping', an homage to several of his musical heroes, including David Bowie, Roxy Music and the Sex Pistols. With Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and Keith Lowndes contributing to the sessions and songwriting, the album was commercially unsuccessful, though a single, 'Stranger Things', did reach No. 57 in the UK, while two other singles, 'Rolling Sevens' and 'Skyscraping', did not fare as well. In 1999, ABC released their first live album, 'The Lexicon Of Live', and two years later came 'Look Of Love – The Very Best of ABC', which was essentially a reissue of the 1990 greatest hits compilation, but featured two new songs by Fry, 'Peace And Tranquility' and 'Blame'. In 2004, the VH1 show Bands Reunited attempted to get the band's classic line-up of Fry, White, Singleton and Palmer together for a reunion concert, and although Fry and Palmer appeared and played together, Singleton and White opted not to participate. 

Following a tour of the United States in May and June 2006, Fry and Palmer, together with session keyboardist Chuck Kentis, put together a new ABC album, 'Traffic', which was released in April 2008. In January 2016, Fry announced that a new ABC album would be entitled 'The Lexicon Of A Lost Ideal' and would be released in the UK in May 2016, featuring tracks penned by Fry, with contributions by Rob Fusari, Marcus Vere, Matt Rowe, and with orchestrations by Anne Dudley, who worked in a similar capacity on 'The Lexicon Of Love'. In May 2016, the re-titled 'The Lexicon of Love II' was released in the UK and the US, and it entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 5, the first time ABC had reached the Top 5 since the original 'Lexicon Of Love' album in 1982. The same year the band contributed a new song called 'Living Inside My Heart' to 'Fly: Songs Inspired By The Film Eddie The Eagle', and they closed the year by releasing their first Christmas song, entitled 'A Christmas We Deserve', as part of a 4-track EP. On Thursday 28th May 2020, the band released a new track 'Look Good Tonite', which was  available for 24 hours only as a lockdown-download, but it was later pressed up as a 7" single with 'Sixty Seconds Later' and given away free with issue 90 of Electronic Sounds magazine. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of 'The Lexicon Of Love', the band performed at Sheffield City Hall on 21 June 2022, including a performance of 'The Lexicon Of Love' in its entirety, and a recording of the concert was released as a limited edition live album on 19 May 2023. With the band still going strong 40 years after they formed, it's a good time post a collection of their non-album b-sides and compilation appearances, to celebrate one of the most iconic bands of the 80's. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1981-1985
01 Alphabet Soup (b-side of 'Tears Are Not Enough' 1981)
02 Overture (From The Lexicon Of Love) (b-side of 'All Of My Heart' 1982)
03 The Look Of Love (Part Three) (b-side of 'Valentine's Day' 1982)
04 The Look Of Love (Part Two) (b-side of 'The Look Of Love' 1982)
05 Theme From "Man-Trap" (b-side of 'Poison Arrow' 1982)
06 Into The Valley Of The Heathen Go (out-take from 'Lexicon Of Love' 1982)
07 Vertigo (b-side of 'That Was Then But This Is Now' 1983)
08 How To Be A Billionaire (b-side of 'How To Be A Millionaire' 1984)
09 What's Your Destination (b-side of 'Be Near Me' 1985) 
10 Judy's Jewels (b-side of 'Vanity Kills' 1985)

Disc II - 1987-1997
01 Chicago (Parts 1 & 2) (b-side of 'When Smokey Sings' 1987)
02 Minneapolis (b-side of 'The Night You Murdered Love' 1987)
03 The Night You Murdered Love (The Whole Story) (b-side of 'The Night You Murdered Love' 1987)
04 What's Good About Goodbye? (b-side of 'Love Conquers All' 1991)
05 Snakebite (bonus track on re-issue of 'Abracadabra' 1991)
06 Kiss Me Goodbye (original version - bonus track on re-issue of 'Abracadabra' 1991)
07 The World Spins On (b-side of 'Stranger Things' 1997)
08 All We Need (b-side of 'Stranger Things' 1997)

Disc III - 1997-2022
01 Skydubbing (b-side of 'Skyscraping' 1997)
02 Peace And Tranquility (single edit from 'Look Of Love: The Very Best Of ABC' 2001)
03 Blame (exclusive track from 'Look Of Love: The Very Best Of ABC' 2001)
04 High And Dry (from the '80's Recovered' compilation album 2015)
05 Living Inside My Heart (from 'Fly: Songs Inspired By The Film Eddie The Eagle' 2016)
06 A Christmas We Deserve (single 2016)
07 Look Good Tonite (7" single included with issue 90 of Electronic Sounds magazine 2022)
08 Sixty Seconds Later (b-side of 'Look Good Tonite')