Ah, the 80s - that big colourful, brash era of high gloss, high quality pop.
And out of the darkness of the Gary Numan influenced industrial techno pop came an unashamedly romantic, string laden beast of an album. 1982s Lexicon Of Love followed the two brilliant singles Tears Are Not Enough & Poison Arrow and launched a career for Martin Fry that continues to this day.
With a good dose of catchy choruses and witty one liners, The Lexicon Of Love shone out and raised the bar for a lot of 80s artists.
Besides the inimitable talents of Martin Fry, the album also had a couple of aces up its sleeve. The beautiful string arrangements of Anne Dudley and the sympathetic production of the one and only Trevor Horn before he set the tone for over the top 80s production values that spawned a million sound-a-likes that could never match the sonic palette of Mr Horn.
With a mixture of High Camp and killer songs - the album plays like a musical. With the now classic Gold Lame Suit, Martin Fry turns the camp up to 11 and gives the performance of his career.
It seemed like it was hit after hit as the tracks kept being released as singles. Even the non-singles sounded like singles.
But the problem with such a fantastic debut album is how the hell do you follow it? ABC followed it up with the patchy and ill received Beauty Stab. It did produce a couple of minor hit singles in That Was Then & SOS but could not compete with the magic that was Lexicon Of Love.
The band have tried bravely to recapture that magic ever since and have released numerous hit singles and had various image changes since those heady days. But at least the band did manage to produce ONE classic album. which is one more than most bands.
So, soothe yourself in the beauty that is The Lexicon Of Love and remember those early 80s days with affection, if you were there that is. And just imagine what it was like if you weren't. It WAS pretty special.
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