You've Got The Look, But Do I Want to Know It Better?

ABC was another beneficiary of being an early MTV band. HEY, THEY LOOK GOOD! HEY, THEY GOT VIDEOS! PLAY THE FUCK OUT OF THEM!

One of Trevor Horn’s demon spawn, they seemed English, elegant, oh so New Romantic.

But one thing that I only found out… they were straight out of Sheffield, and they sold out ( or bought in)  for success so hard it makes David Bowie’s early 80’s and 90’s look downright punk.

And by the way, if you aren’t familiar with Sheffield, I can’t say I am, either. I lived in London, where they joke about the rest of the UK far more vehemently than New Yorkers do about all but the most inbred of our fellow Americans. And they take the piss out of Sheffield like you would not belive.

But so much of the English music we swallowed whole in the US came out of Sheffield bands. Don’t believe me? Go see “Made In Sheffield” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325767/

It’s on cable. It’s on Netflix, DVD only. You’ll thank me.

So, ABC, by the time we saw them on our MTV were the synthtastic, smoove mother’s working the slap bass like you would not believe. “Posion Arrow” and “Look of Love” are the stand outs, and their retro-50’s,40’s look made them stand out on the screen. They had a second go at the States later, but they were one of the bands of very brief moment here.

The album succeeds on more than just nostalgia and drum machines. Great music, dramatic lyrics and singing. And yes.. it’s got some mild, funk. Very white funk. But funk nonetheless.

Artist: ABC

Album: The Lexicon of Love
Year: 1982
Date Listened in Tour:7/17/07
Rating: ****
Best Song: Posion Arrow