A small but very loyal fanbase has been with ABC from the beginning. Many fans still frequently communicate with eachother about the band, the different line ups, songs and albums, concerts and other related topics. With the release of the DELUXE edition of 'The Lexicon of Love' in mind we give them the opportunity to express themselves on their favourite band. Affectionately, alphabetically and most of all, proudly, we give you... the ABC fancore!

The Lexicon of Love heralded a new age, a new beginning, a ‘forerunner’ and challenge to the prophecy of ‘1984’…a final transition from punk and via funk. A pop masterpiece crafted in the depths of Sarm East.

It was a special moment in time when soul boy youth met with acidic new technophiles, combining to create a new unique sound - modestly intelligent, rich in clarity and sumptuous in design.

As time goes on the music increasingly becomes peerless and timeless, an epitaph of modern life as it was…

Most of all the Lexicon of Love was about four friends creating something very special, an historic record of musical emotions providing lifetime memories. It was the culmination of creative passions emerging from the punk industrial electronica, through unpolished funk into glistening pop. Like a pristine jewel, it sparkles…

Listening to the Lexicon from the mid-80s kick started my discovery of the evolution of A*B*C*, for which I am overtly grateful, why it’s even playing in the background now…show me…second that emotion…

Stephen Grady, Cambridge (England)

The Lexicon Of Love was the very first truly great New Wave album. At the time of its release, the early ‘80s New Wave scene was highly focused on releasing songs as singles. New Wave was still exploratory and experimental, so producing a fine album from front to end wasn’t envisioned by most artists. ABC stepped up and produced an album that was not a collection of songs, but was an entire package and a true album. Epic in nature and exceptional in vision, The Lexicon Of Love raised the bar on how albums were envisioned and produced for later acts. Nearly a quarter of a century later, The Lexicon Of Love still tends to rate in the top ten of “greatest albums of all time” lists. Martin Fry’s delivery, vocals and attitude also brought a level of dramatic expression and emotion to the New Wave scene. This album is one of the most perfect Pop recordings of all time. The Lexicon Of Love was a masterpiece from the start, and has stood the test of time for 23 years.

Derek Chilcote Bacco, Portland, Oregon (USA)

I'd kinda missed the party by the time I'd discovered Lexicon. Martin had flushed his suit down the toilet and Dave Palmer had defected to the Y.M.O. The baton had been passed and ABC's moment with it. But finding Beauty Stab made me realise there was much more to the lame veneer I'd originally found distasteful. I bought Lexicon, and gave it a deeper listen. I think I realised what many had failed to see - both albums were one and the same. There are no songs about true love on either recording. Instead, 2 hours of music that pours from open wounds of bitter heartache. They differ in that one album chooses raw guitars to articulate raw anger, the other drenches itself in D'ior to cloak it's agony. From the ironic 'hip-hip-hoorays' to the mock terrace chant at the end of 'S.O.S.', Martin had been hurt by both 'the girl' and 'the country'. As a 13 year old boy in South Yorkshire, I related to both - no job prospects, and no future with my girlfriend. Both albums became a melodramatic mantra for my teenage years. Thankfully 'House' got me (and ABC) out of the blues. But the sensitivity of those first albums will always echo inside of me - and (strange though it may seem) for those memories I'll be eternally grateful.

Marco Federici, Nottingham (England)

Lexicon of Love Put Some Class into the "New Wave" 
Growing up in Minnesota, my friends and I fancied ourselves as "new wavers" more than punk rockers in the early 80s. We lived close to Minneapolis, which was also home to The Replacements, Husker Du, and Loud Fast Rules (which later became Soul Aslyum). We also loved the Clash, Duran Duran, Adam Ant, B-52s, early REM, Bowie, and U2. Then we picked up a copy of Lexicon of Love. Wow! Our girlfriends loved it and we loved it. In our books, this was fun music to dance to, but it also had a certain amount of class. We felt better about ourselves, and maybe even a litte superior, for listening to this hip new band called ABC. 

Phil Ingrassia, Vienna (VA)

For me, ABC were an awakeing. The '80s were a golden age of music and ABC*** were right up there, leading the charge. To this day, The Lexicon Of Love still intrigues me lke no other album, and can ALWAYS get me moving and turn grey skies to blue. Thanks to ABC*** for providing the soundtrack to my life, especially with Lexicon. It is the one album that I will take to my grave over all others. 

Terry, Australia 

I remember hearing "All of my heart" and "Poison Arrow" on Dutch radio in the early '80s and thinking "Now, there's something different." A friend of mine bought the album soon after it's release and before I even knew anything about the band or the album. He played it all the time and soon I was able to sing along with all the tracks. After buying Lexicon for myself I was hooked. I've been hooked ever since and fervently hope Martin and ABC will produce some new material soon. I wish both the man and the band all the best. 

Robert Eijkelestam, Barendrecht (The Netherlands) 

The lexicon of love is my BIBLE. Since 1982 I have joined the religion of the amazing sound and lyrics by Martin Fry. Its hard to explain, but I feel a kind of connection to the band (unfortunately I have never met with Martin or the other original members, but I hope some day I will). I especially remember the back sleeve of the 45 single The Look of Love where Martin wrote: Be young, be foolish, be lucky in love. Those words have been with me since. (Am I crazy?) The best pop song ever written is The Look of Love. No doubt. The strings arranged by Mrs. Dudley and everything is so hypnotic and fantastic. There are a few songs you always can listen to without getting tired off. Beside of ALL the songs from The Lexicon.. I can name Dont Go by Yazoo, The whole album New gold dream by Simple Minds. The Lexicon of Love is a kind of manuscript of how a life should be. I also love Martin´s saying: "A loveaffair without a broken heart.. is like making an omelet without breaking an egg". It is so true and so beautiful said..Well, better sign off now, but to all you true ABC fans around the world.. Be alphabetical. Take care and I hope that Martin, Mark, David and Steven will read this someday. All I can say is. Thank you. God bless.

Thomas Kitter, Copenhagen (Denmark)

Without underestimating the sheer beauty of it all, the Lexicon of Love LP is a brilliant collage of new wave pop to the highest degree. However, unlike many of their MTV classmates (Blancmange, Visage, Ultravox) who were tapping into the same market genre, ABC were blessed with not only working with one of the most groundbreaking producers of all-time, lead singer Martin Fry wore the suit that reflected the album he created: shimmering, dazzling, and visions of gold. 

Lexicon is more than an '80s time-piece, it is a 35-minute galaxy of electro-synths, clapping drum machines, symphonies and strings, and the ultimate bass performance from any album to date! Not only has it become one the greatest yet genuine artifacts in pop-music, but also became the most cleverly themed soundtrack to a film that most of us have never viewed. Lexicon minus Mantrap was sufficient enough for us to create our own romances, adventures, and visions; memories that shaped who we were, the relationships we experienced, and where we are today, making it for many of us, the soundtrack of our very own lives. 

Jeremy Kennedy
Atlanta, GA (USA)

This definately wasn't the first album I bought,but left the biggest impact on me.I was thirteen at the time,the memories so clear,it feels like yesterday.(care free days,my first big crush on a girl at school) ABC SET THE BENCHMARK AND WELCOMED THE EIGHTIES.(those cool suits and fringe hairstyles)Lets not forget what a BRILLIANT album LEXICON IS!!!!!!!(IT'S A RARE OCCASION WHERE ARTIST AND PRODUCER CONNECT AND RELEASE AN ABSOLUTE GEM!!!!!) 

Andre, Cape Town(South Africa) 

The Lexicon of Love saw previously dispersed elements of popular music brought together and fused seamlessly in one monumental record. Perfect pop singles blended effortlessly within an album marked by dynamic musical gloss and turbulence, topped with Martin Fry´s suave vocal performance. ABC could not possibly replicate it, nor could any other band. It is always a joy to listen to The Lexicon of Love in its entirety.

Rory Sutherland, New Jersey (USA)

"When The Lexicon Of Love was released, I was working at Haymarket Publishing in England and reviewing albums for their hi-fi magazines. When TLOL came in, nobody else had heard of them and I was given the "short straw" of reviewing it. I wasn't too enthralled as I only knew Tears Are Not Enough and had not been too struck by the Top Of The Pops performance.

But when I listened to the album, it blew my mind. Trevor Horn's superb slick production, Martin Fry's wordsmithery, the classy packaging and romanticism...without hesitation, I played it repeatedly that evening and went back into the office and said it should be our album of the month. This was seriously questioned by the editors. They were keen to champion an unknown (they usually featured Eric Clapton and Genesis), but were unsure of my judgement. 

I persisted and the album soon appeared at the top of the reviews page with my name credit. In retrospect, I feel vindicated in my faith in the album. Still cherished at one of the more enduring works of the 80s, I think maybe I was right?

In the months that followed, my girlfriend of five years decided to say the words "I care enough to know I can never love you". As a cyclist living in London, the beat of the music and the melodrama of the words meant that I spent many a month with the album on my Walkman full blast, pedalling in time and wallowing in self-pity. Actually very therapeutic - and I got extremely fit at the same time!

PS The editors may have been right to doubt me. Within 12 months of this album, I wrote off the Michael Jackson album Thriller with a review that stated that he could never hope to follow the success of Off The Wall with such a weak collection of one-off tracks. I might not have been quite so on the money with that one!"

Richard Mills, England

"When I entered university in 1982, I was, to put it bluntly, a musical neophyte. But with the freedom of being away from home, living in a dorm and spending time at the student union, I was exposed, for the first time, to this brave new world of cutting-edge, lush musical innovation. One of those bands, of course, was ABC with their Lexicon of Love. Wow! What a brilliant stroke of genius that was! Fry's tantalizingly whimsical lyrics, vocal extremes and that luxuriant sound of combined horns, strings and percussion all mixed together to produce a sound I will never forget and one that I constantly revisit again and again. And I suppose I always will for the music sounds as fresh today as it did when I first heard it - and watched it. From that point on I was hooked - I readily purchased every album without even bothering to hear it first. And I was never disappointed. I look forward to the day that ABC continues to produce either new music or gives us a taste of their past with previously unreleased magic."

Jason Miko

It meant everything to me at fifteen years old. It was my first album, played until it wouldn't play anymore, but kept it anyway. The posters have long been taken down, but there is nothing more thrilling in popular music to me than the intro of Poison Arrow. Others claim the Elvis, Beatles, Stones, Clash for the first, I will always be proud to say mine was ABC.

Will Spracklen

OLD SCHOOLBAG

The early eighties were depressing years. There was a lot of unemployment and many houses were for sale. My personal life was also not much better, I just lost my mother and my father was having an affair in the meantime. It was in this period that we heard ABC for the first time on Radio Luxembourg. Wow what kind of music is this was the thought of myself and my older brother. This is great uplifting music which also sounds classical with al these violins. As soon as this album is for sale we will buy it we agreed together. 
At the day my older brother was celebrating his birthday he got two memorable presents, a new schoolbag from my father and the LP "the Lexicon on love" from ABC from me. The schoolbag was a present because "his" schoolbag was wear out according my father. The fact was that my schoolbag was wear out and not that of my brother! My father then decided to give the new schoolbag to me leaving my older brother with no present at all. But this did not matter to him he had a copy of the Lexicon of love! We played this LP over and over again........
From that moment on we always carried ABC in our hearts as we moved on with our lives.

Erik Stam, The Netherlands

1982. A GREAT SUMMER, A WORLD CUP, AND 'THE LEXICON OF LOVE'. ABC'S FIRST THREE SINGLES HAD SET THE TONE FOR THIS MASTERPIECE, AND THE FINISHED ARTICLE WAS A WORK OF ART. FROM THE BOLD AND STYLISH LP COVER, THE RED CURTAIN SLEEVE INSIDE AND THE CLASSY SILVER BLUE LABEL, THE STAGE WAS SET FOR 2 SIDES OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE. LUSH, DRIVING, MELODIC, ROMANTIC...THERE ARE ENDLESS WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS ALBUM. IT WAS A TOUCH OF STYLE IN A MUSIC SCENE WHICH, THOUGH INCREBIBLY DIVERSE AT THE TIME, JUST DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING LIKE ABC.

THE ALBUM ITSELF WAS WITTY, THOUGHTFUL AND OPENLY EMOTIONAL. WHAT CAME ACROSS WAS THAT THESE WERE MUSICIANS WILLING TO WEAR THEIR HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVES;THAT IT WAS OK TO FEEL CRUSHED, AS INVARIABLY YOU'D COME BOUNCING BACK AGAIN. IT WAS A FINE ATTITUDE TO HAVE IN THATCHER'S BRITAIN, NEVER GIVE UP AND NEVER GIVE IN. IT STAYS WITH YOU. NOT ONLY CAN THE SONGS BE LISTENED TO OVER AND OVER, EVEN 20-ODD YEARS LATER, IT CAN STILL INSPIRE. HERE'S TO THE NEXT 20-ODD YEARS.

Derek Thorburn, Glasgow (Scotland)



"The Lexicon of Love" was staple in my teenage daydream & lifestyle. It became the soundtrack to my morning ritual of getting ready for school & preparing for the "boredom" to soon ensue at school. Martin & co. would "save" me from a certain death from academic overdose. Afterwards, it would be the soundtrack to various "doodles" in my sketchbook (I was & am still an artist at heart). Sometimes, even get me through my homework studies. Today, it serves as a wonderful reminder of how a simple LP of melodic ecstasy could remind me of a lovely time & how rich I really was having ABC at my side all these years.

All of my heart,
Jon A. Leslie

The "Lexicon of Love" plays part in a novel

The "Lexicon of Love" is creaseproof after all these years. To me it seemed sensational when I first heard it at the age of 15 and it still does... It always inspires me. When I wrote my first novel "Kommste, willste, kriegste" I took this album as a symbol for the love of one protagonist. He only plays this one CD while he drives from Germany to the UK. He tells his companion about this great music and gives a summary of the lyrics ("A quarry, again and again it brings something to light"; "The singer's voice sells courage."). At the end of the book this protagonist dies and the CD is burnt by his companion, rubed with petrol...

The book I've written is a kind of a philosophical crime novel and published in Germany (2004). Unfortunately it will never be translated (no bestseller - yet?, no big publishing house). For those who unterstand German: You'll find more details and reviews at www.amazon.de.

Regards, 
Martin Eichhorn

I still fondly remember my first pirate cassette of ‘The Lexicon of Love’; the songs sparkled like little diamonds on my lo-fi and it became the soundtrack to my highs, my lows and all my teenage angst: I became Alphabetical. Martin Fry was God, a prophet and Jesus Christ all rolled into one, and I was a convert to the cause. ‘The Lexicon…’ was a veritable portfolio of arrangements and offered a chance! the belief!! indeed, proof!!! that you could have your cake and eat it and not have to clean the dishes or even worry about crumbs afterwards. It was Martin and Martin only, the embryonic Art of Noise and Mr Trevor C Horn that made it all so special, one of those unrepeatable moments in time when 1982 was to become timeless: forever 1982 and never the past or the future but always the present. My favourite song will always be ‘Date Stamp’, though I knew then, as I know now, that the album was meant to be listened to from beginning to end: it told a story and each song was a chapter in the book. Was it happy ever after? I always thought so ‘The Lexicon’ made me believe in romantic love, in the pursuit of beauty and perfection, to fight for ideas and beliefs. Mr Fry and ABC went on to make even better, but not alas bigger, records (‘How to be a Zillionaire’ should have pimped the world but that is another story) but no one recording since by any artist in the world has attained such perfection; ‘The Lexicon…’ is a testament to the ability of man and machine to create art together, perhaps even to build a better world through technology. Audacious and arrogant, ‘The Lexicon…’ is breathtaking in its scope, in its brevity and, of course, in its longevity. 

Graeme M! Gibbs, Madrid (Spain)

I discovered "The Lexicon of Love" at a very early age. I recall at the age of 10, my local radio station played this amazing song called "The Look of Love". The vocals at the end of the song were so uplifting and climactic...I was immediately hooked. I soon went out and bought this album, and it has gone on to become my all-time favorite album ever. There is simply nothing to compare to it. In fact, I would go so far to say that this is not just an album, it's a work of art. It is so lush and multi-textured, and it blushes with emotion. It overflows with heart and sincerity, and will always sound fresh and exquisite. This album has always been there for me, in times of joy and in times of heartache. To the men of ABC, I tip my hat and say a huge "thank you" for creating such a marvellous, timeless masterpiece.

Gary Flanagan

The Lexicon of Love was the first album that I ever bought. Until then I had been a single(s) man! Unfortunately, after I bought it, I expected all albums I buy to live up to that standard - but of course they never could. Lexicon is one of those rare albums that works as a whole but where each song is written, performed, produced and executed to perfection. To begin an album with an outlandish string arrangement that explodes into a funk workout, and to lace that with Wildean wit and sumptuous melody was as outstanding as an opening track could be - and it was all uphill from there.

In the age of vinyl (when sides actually meant something) Valentines Day was born to close the first side. The drama of its outro left you breathless and wanting more. Turning the record over gave you the chance to catch your breath before opening bars of The Look of Love picked you up off the floor and took you flying again. Along the way Date Stamp (like all truly great songs) made you cry with joy. 

Everything is temporary written on that sand but Lexicon is, was and always will be as perfect as pop has ever got.

Aaron Kans

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