ABC
Alphabet City (expanded and remastered)
ABC is a band that was (is?) never locked into any one genre. Their first album in 1982, the critically acclaimed and lauded ‘The Lexicon of Love’, was a lush mix of strings, pop and melodrama thanks to Trevor Horn’s production and Anne Dudley’s orchestral arrangements. Its follow up, ‘Beauty Stab’ was a mash of guitars, glam and guts and the third album, ‘How To Be A Zillionaire’, was cartoon, disco-pop at its most gimmicky. When it was revealed that ‘Alphabet City’ was likely to hark back to the style of pop that made ‘Lexicon…’ such a gem, fans could have been forgiven for thinking, ‘Yeah, sure.’ It soon became apparent that, although this album was not ‘The Lexicon of Love Part II) it certainly resembled ‘Lexicon…’ far more than anything they had dished up in the interim.
Like ‘Lexicon’. ‘Alphabet City’ opens and closes with short, mood defining pieces, only this time it was a modern city orchestral soundscape of traffic, sirens and radio waves instead of classically orchestrated overtures. From there on in, it was back to ‘Lexicon…’ territory of Anne Dudley arranged strings, thumping disco- inspired baselines and songs about love, betrayal, jealousy, and Smokey Robinson. Fry’s rhyming couplets were back on track and though none of them quite matched the cinematic imagery of ‘Lexicon’, they were nonetheless clever, witty and charming.
After picking us up at ‘’Avenue A’ it’s on to UK Top Ten hit ‘When Smokey Sings’ and from here the album wastes no time in asserting itself as a polished and sumptuous album. The groove laden single ‘The Night You Murdered Love’ follows with staccato guitars and synth baselines to rival Motown’s best followed by three equally groovy tracks, all of which were potential hits.
What was once side two opens with the album’s third single ‘King Without A Crown’ and makes its way through to the penultimate track, the dreamy ‘One Day’ before dropping us off at ‘Avenue Z’.
This re-release features two previously released instrumentals paying homage to Chicago and Minneapolis, the female response to ‘The Night You Murdered Love’ subtitled ‘(The Reply)’, ‘One Day (Instrumental With Real Strings)’, ‘King Without A Crown (Monarchy Mix) and a treat for real fans, the previously unreleased ’24 Carat Plastic’, a cracking little track that sits comfortably with the rest of the album.
‘Alphabet City’ was the album that ABC utilised to cement their earlier success in the US market with the accompanying videos being filmed in the states, and the album’s artwork shamelessly wearing its New York heart on its sleeve. It featured fancy cars, fancy threads and fancy photo-shoots. Even the album’s title is named after a New York district, as are the bookend tracks, ‘Avenue A’ and ‘Avenue Z’.
ABC’s follow up albums continued their genre exploring ways into early house, modern soul and rock. Fans and the record buying public however, proved that it was the ‘Lexicon…/Alphabet City’ sound that appealed the most and provided them with their only major UK hits. For casual fans who own ‘Lexicon’, purchasing this re-release of ‘Alphabet City’ will ensure they at least have the two more successful ABC albums.
Like ‘Lexicon’. ‘Alphabet City’ opens and closes with short, mood defining pieces, only this time it was a modern city orchestral soundscape of traffic, sirens and radio waves instead of classically orchestrated overtures. From there on in, it was back to ‘Lexicon…’ territory of Anne Dudley arranged strings, thumping disco- inspired baselines and songs about love, betrayal, jealousy, and Smokey Robinson. Fry’s rhyming couplets were back on track and though none of them quite matched the cinematic imagery of ‘Lexicon’, they were nonetheless clever, witty and charming.
After picking us up at ‘’Avenue A’ it’s on to UK Top Ten hit ‘When Smokey Sings’ and from here the album wastes no time in asserting itself as a polished and sumptuous album. The groove laden single ‘The Night You Murdered Love’ follows with staccato guitars and synth baselines to rival Motown’s best followed by three equally groovy tracks, all of which were potential hits.
What was once side two opens with the album’s third single ‘King Without A Crown’ and makes its way through to the penultimate track, the dreamy ‘One Day’ before dropping us off at ‘Avenue Z’.
This re-release features two previously released instrumentals paying homage to Chicago and Minneapolis, the female response to ‘The Night You Murdered Love’ subtitled ‘(The Reply)’, ‘One Day (Instrumental With Real Strings)’, ‘King Without A Crown (Monarchy Mix) and a treat for real fans, the previously unreleased ’24 Carat Plastic’, a cracking little track that sits comfortably with the rest of the album.
‘Alphabet City’ was the album that ABC utilised to cement their earlier success in the US market with the accompanying videos being filmed in the states, and the album’s artwork shamelessly wearing its New York heart on its sleeve. It featured fancy cars, fancy threads and fancy photo-shoots. Even the album’s title is named after a New York district, as are the bookend tracks, ‘Avenue A’ and ‘Avenue Z’.
ABC’s follow up albums continued their genre exploring ways into early house, modern soul and rock. Fans and the record buying public however, proved that it was the ‘Lexicon…/Alphabet City’ sound that appealed the most and provided them with their only major UK hits. For casual fans who own ‘Lexicon’, purchasing this re-release of ‘Alphabet City’ will ensure they at least have the two more successful ABC albums.
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