ABC
Alphabet City

THE REVIEW

Welcome to northern soul! Joking aside, this is the only concept album by the British band ABC that is based on typically soul foundations, inspired by the Motown sound that made American R&B successful in the sixties and seventies.

In this album, "Alphabet City" (explanation of the title to follow), the formula was conducted in more modern and typically "British" terms, hence my not-so-risky definition of "Modern Northern Soul" for the genre of this record, for common mortals who are straightforward, simply vintage pop. Going back to the origins, of the five original members who composed the English band in 1982 (the debut with "The Lexicon of Love", opening the new wave along with Duran Duran and Culture Club, of "New romantic"), only two remain: the leader and vocalist Martin Fry and Mark White on guitar. Thanks to advancing technology and a large number of session men at Mercury, their label, two group components are sufficient to make do with synths and drum machines. It should be noted that their fourth record follows a series of great successes that made them known even outside the land of Margaret Thatcher, including "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" and "How to Be a Millionaire". This album is also the swan song of the typical ABC sound, based on an intelligent mix of electronic and acoustic, catchy and danceable, agile and smooth, which will disappear from the next album, "Up", characterized by the then-emerging "House music" sound.

Returning to "Alphabet City", dated precisely 1987, it must be said that a part, precisely the first two tracks, was produced under the supervision of a great figure in music, Nile Rodgers, who immediately instilled its characteristic traits by influencing a soul charge typical of the ex-leader of "Chic", producer, among others, of Madonna and David Bowie. So we head to a new city. When the album was released, Martin Fry was asked to describe Alphabet City in five adjectives; he said: suave, cosmopolitan, affluent, animated, shiny. Indeed, it's all you can deduce from the album: clean arrangements, captivating melodies, life-filled beats, unique timbres, precision, brilliance. An excellent way to carry Motown soul into the future. The work starts with a one-minute intro, "Avenue A", which with its noises and sounds introduces the listener into the urban dimension. It is followed by the first real track, "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to the charismatic figure of Smokey Robinson, a great interpreter of some of Motown's greatest hits, who worked alongside the likes of James Brown and Marvin Gaye. It's followed by the album's most successful single, the engaging yet mysterious "The Night You Murdered Love", the last major hit of the band from across the Channel. The album continues with high-class tracks: the fast-paced "Think Again" (always set in the atmospheres of the preceding track), the melodic "Rage and the Regret" and "Ark-angel", not much different from "Think Again". Next comes the album's third single, moderately successful in England, "King Without a Crown".

The album concludes with the mid-tempo "Bad Blood", the fast and sophisticated "Jealous Lover", and the romantic "One Day". It wraps up with a one-minute outro "Avenue Z", bringing the work to a silent close. Forty minutes of atmosphere, mystery, and charm pass by as fast as bullets and aptly convey the idea of "Alphabet City" as intended by its creators, primarily Martin Fry. Since I'm reviewing the CD reissue, I'll also mention the bonus tracks. After "Avenue Z", two B-sides from the single 45s released at the time for album promotion are presented. These aren't true songs but "showcases": they describe the atmospheres and sounds the band encountered during their American journey. So first, we find "Minneapolis", a three-minute presentation of the most typical sound by the producer duo Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, based in Minneapolis, made of Roland drum machines and DX-7 synths, so popular in their productions (Janet Jackson, SOS Band, The Human League, Ralph Tresvant ring any bells?). Then we move to an obsession of Martin Fry, the singer, the house music sound (very innovative at the time) of Chicago, found precisely in the next track, named without much imagination "Chicago", which features that acidic and relentless sound that would soon bring fortune to the English rave scene (Martin Fry was one of the key participants of the first acid-house rave in the United Kingdom, soon outlawed). After the "showcases", we move to a cut-off from the original album, the harmless "24 Carat Plastic". The (this time definitive) close of the disc is a hip-hop remix of "The Night You Murdered Love", an instrumental solo of "One Day", and an acid-house remix of "King Without a Crown" (Monarchy mix), surely a forerunner of the aforementioned British rave era on the horizon (soon suppressed by the Thatcher government).

In conclusion, "Alphabet City" is a nice record, quite conventional by ABC standards, but nevertheless a work worthy of more listens. Bonus tracks are always welcome, and this reissue is full of them, so it's another reason to purchase this CD. The sound of ABC will change definitively (as already mentioned) from the next album, "Up", but I'll talk about that another time.