ABC Lexicon Of Love CD

Recorded in 1982. Includes liner notes by Martin Fry and Giles Smith.

Easily one of the '80s' finest albums, THE LEXICON OF LOVE not only established singer Martin Fry and guitarist Mark White as two of the decade's smartest and most skillful cross-breeders of Motownish dance grooves, Beatlesque pop and Roxy Music-style art-rock urgency, it cemented ex-Buggle Trevor Horn's status as the era's defining producer.

Throughout THE LEXICON OF LOVE, Horn's over-the-top blend of strings, horns, lush choirs and bizarre production tricks battles Fry's literate, witty lyrics and commanding voice and White's encyclopedic knowledge of pop hooks for the listener's attention. While the singles "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love"--aided by stylish, funny videos--garnered the most interest, there's not a single less-than-brilliant track, from the compelling opener "Show Me" to the near-desperate closer "4 Ever 2 Gether" and the lovely orchestral coda "The Look of Love (Part Four)." THE LEXICON OF LOVE is a classic.

ABC's debut album combined the talents of the Sheffield, U.K.-based band, particularly lead singer Martin Fry, a fashion plate of a frontman with a Bryan Ferry fixation, and the inventive production style of former Buggles member Trevor Horn and his team of musicians, several of whom would go on to form the Art of Noise. Horn created dense tracks that merged synthesizer sounds, prominent beats, and swaths of strings and horns, their orchestrations courtesy of Anne Dudley, who would follow her work with the Art of Noise by becoming a prominent film composer, and who here underscored Fry's stylized romantic lyrics and dramatic, if affected singing. The production style was dense and noisy, but frequently beautiful, and the group's emotional songs gave it a depth and coherence later Horn works, such as those of Yes ("Owner of a Lonely Heart") and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, would lack. (You can hear Horn trying out the latter band's style in "Date Stamp.") Fry and company used the sound to create moving dancefloor epics like "Many Happy Returns," which, like most of the album's tracks, deserved to be a hit single. (In the U.K., four were: "Tears Are Not Enough," "Poison Arrow," "The Look of Love," and "All of My Heart," the last three making the Top Ten; in the U.S., "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" charted Top 40.) ABC, who began fragmenting almost immediately, never equaled their gold-selling first LP commercially or artistically, despite some worthy later songs. Mercury's 2002 reissue is digitally remastered, emphasizing the album's still striking sound, and has been given a midline price. Added as a bonus track is "Theme From 'Mantrap,'" deriving from the band's documentary film chronicling their 1982 U.K. tour. The song is actually a slowed-down and rearranged version of "Poison Arrow." ~ William Ruhlmann

Additional personnel includes: Gaynor Sadler (harp); Kim Wear (trumpet); Andy Gray (trombone); Anne Dudley (keyboards); Brad Lang, Mark Lickley (bass); Louis Jardin (percussion); J.J. Jeczalik (programming); Tessa Webb (background vocals).

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Additional Tracks

Producer: Trevor Horn.

Compilation producers: Paul Reidy, Martin Fry.

Personnel: Tessa Webb, Martin Fry (vocals); Mark White (guitar, keyboards); Gaynor Sadler (harp); Kim Wear (trumpet); Andy Gray (trombone); Anne Dudley (keyboards); Brad Lang (bass guitar); David Palmer (drums, percussion).

Liner Note Authors: Giles Smith; Martin Fry.

Photographers: Gered Mankowitz; Paul Cox.

ABC includes: Martin Fry (vocals); Mark White (guitar, keyboards); Stephen Singleton (alto & tenor saxophones); David Palmer (drums, percussion).

Q (6/00, p.72) - Ranked #40 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"
Q (9/99, p.124) - 3 stars (out of 5) - "...superb....The set has been carefully chosen to reflect the highs...and...lesser known but equally forthright slices of powerpop..."
Uncut (p.160) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A] grand love story, or at the very least an elaborate seduction. It's the sound of a band - a generation - falling in love with the new stylistic and technological promise of '80s pop..."
Melody Maker (4/6/96, p.38) - Bloody Essential - "...Martin Fry was 23 when he conceived this masterpiece of orchestral songcraft and audacious lyrical insights, this celebration/deconstruction of photo story romance....sounds like the future, still."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[Including] songs as perfect as 'The Look Of Love' - replete with knowingly absurd talkover - or the jaw-dropping 'All Of My Heart,' still one of the '80s most underrated singles..."
NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #15 in NME's list of "The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s."