Did you know that lead singer Martin Fry interviewed Mark White (guitar) and Stephen Singleton (saxophone) for a fan magazine called Modern Drugs? The two were in the band Vice Versa at the time.

They invited Fry to sing for the group, and he agreed, changing the band's name to ABC.

Their first album was released on their own label, Neutron.

ABC made a 55 minute long espionage thriller called Mantrap, directed by Julien Temple.

In 1986, Fry found out that he had Hodgkins Disease (a form of cancer), and has to put the band on hold to receive treatment. He went back to singing and got married even though he hadn't fully recovered from treatments.

What do you know about ABC? :)

ABC released their first single, "Tears Are Not Enough," in November of 1981; it peaked at number 19 on the U.K. charts.

Before they recorded their second single, drummer David Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer in early 1982.

speaking of charts :)

US Charts:
#18 The look of love 1983
#25 Poison arrow 1983
#89 That was then but this is now 1984
#9 Be near me 1985
#20 (How to be a) millionaire 1986
#91 Vanity kills 1986
#5 When Smikey sings 1987

UK charts:
#19 Tears are not enough 1981
#6 Poison arrow 1982
#4 The look of love 1982
#5 All of my heart 1982
#71 The look of love (re-entry) 1983
#18 That was then this is now 1983
#39 S.O.S. 1984
#49 (How to be a) millionaire 1984
#26 Be near me 1985
#70 Vanity kills 1985
#51 Ocean blue 1986
#11 When Smokey sings 19987
#31 The night you murdered love 1987
#44 King without a crown 1987
#32 One better world 1989
#68 The real thing 1989
#68 The look of love (remix) 1990
#47 Love conquers all 1991
#42 Say it 1992
#57 Stranger things 1997

Album rock charts:
#32 The look of love (part 1) 1982
#35 That was then this is now 1984

Adult Contemporary charts:
#11 Be near me 1985
#2 When Smokey sings 1987

i actually own the mantrap VHS tape... it's a hoot! i love the theme to "mantrap", as well as the slow version of "poson arrow". also, "vanity kills" was such a good single. i cannot believe it flopped so badly in both the US and UK. i also own the "absolutely" VHS tape, which includes both versions of VK...

Martin Fry sang "Thunderball" on a recent compilation disk of Bond songs.

Marting Fry released "Skyscraper" as ABC but was a solo project in 1999.

Mark White has apparently split company with Martin for good.

Martin Fry continues to tour as ABC.

They have a website: www.abcmartinfry.com

ABC has repeatedly released the same songs over and over again. By my count there are six compiliation albums that cover the first four albmus.

Ok im not to sure about this but Martin Fry lived in Stretford here in Manchester,so did Morrissy and Mick Hucknall..err i think!

Holy crap! I used to think Martin Fry was gay just by looking at the insert photographs of their debut album :p

both All of My Heart (which eluded the U.S.) and That Was Then But This is Now (which was a minor U.S. hit) were BIG hits here in http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/canFlag.gif Canada along with the other hits they had (which were the same as the ones that charted into the U.S.)

What do you know about ABC?

Not much, it would seem! I knew they were brilliant and that Martin Fry is hot. I didn`t know he had been ill. He`ll be in my prayers.

Whistledog 　－　speaking of Canadian hits, I seem to remember hearing trhat Canadian artists made a Band Aid style song called "Tears Are Not Enoguh", same title as an ABC song. Was the ABC also a hit in Canada?

speaking of charts :)

US Charts:
#18 The look of love 1983
#25 Poison arrow 1983
#89 That was then but this is now 1984
#9 Be near me 1985
#20 (How to be a) millionaire 1986
#91 Vanity kills 1986
#5 When Smikey sings 1987

UK charts:
#19 Tears are not enough 1981
#6 Poison arrow 1982
#4 The look of love 1982
#5 All of my heart 1982
#71 The look of love (re-entry) 1983
#18 That was then this is now 1983
#39 S.O.S. 1984
#49 (How to be a) millionaire 1984
#26 Be near me 1985
#70 Vanity kills 1985
#51 Ocean blue 1986
#11 When Smokey sings 19987
#31 The night you murdered love 1987
#44 King without a crown 1987
#32 One better world 1989
#68 The real thing 1989
#68 The look of love (remix) 1990
#47 Love conquers all 1991
#42 Say it 1992
#57 Stranger things 1997

Album rock charts:
#32 The look of love (part 1) 1982
#35 That was then this is now 1984

Adult Contemporary charts:
#11 Be near me 1985
#2 When Smokey sings 1987

Great Chart info! :thumb:

Here's a couple more:
Dance / Club Play charts:
#1 The Look Of Love 1982
#39 Poison Arrow 1983
#58 How To Be A Millionaire 1985
#7 Vanity Kills 1985
#1 Be Near Me 1985
#4 How To Be A Zillionaire/Tower Of London 1986
#1 When Smokey Sings 1987
#3 The Night You Murdered Love 1987
#17 King Without A Crown 1988
#3 Say It 1991

Excellent chart action Guys.! I had no idea that there was a slow version of Poison Arrow. Somehow I can't imagine it.

ABC released their first single, "Tears Are Not Enough," in November of 1981; it peaked at number 19 on the U.K. charts
Before they recorded their second single, drummer David Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer in early 1982. *

Hi, I love the epic sound of ABC's debut album The Lexicon Of Love (apart from the quality of the 12inch transfers on the remastered deluxe cd which sound terrible) Lyrically I prefer How To Be A Zillionnaire ;)

*ABC's follow up single, Poison Arrow, raced up the charts after Martin Fry asked Trevor Horn to produce the Lexicon Of Love album to give it the epic sound we all know.

- A not often quoted fact I thought I should mention;

This was actually thanks to the success of UK pop duo Dollar's 1981-1982 project with Trevor Horn, on The Dollar Album. It was responsible for kick starting Trevor Horn's production career and the success of so many other artists.

Trevor was first asked to produce for another artist when approached by Dollar's Thereza Bazar who recognized Trevor's potential from Video Killed The Radio Star by Trevor's own band The Buggles.

The result of Dollar's team up with Trevor was 4 UK top 20 singles between August 1981 and August 1982 (Hand Held In Black And White # 19, Mirror Mirror #4, Give Me Back My Heart #4, and Videotheque #17, the second one alone spent 17 weeks on the UK chart)

Upon hearing Hand Held In Black And White in August 1981, ABC's Martin Fry approached Trevor to ask him to work on their forthcoming album The Lexicon Of Love. The long line of 80's artists turned to Trevor for their production

.