Between two places: ABC: TRAFFIC

Martin Fry

Martin Fry and Mark White

I didn’t know that ABC (Martin Fry) is still rocking until last month, October 2011. While surfing the net, I came across a poster from Café 80’s showing Go West, Tony Hadley and ABC’s upcoming concert here in the Philippines on November 2011. Stated at the bottom was, “only from Steve O’Neal Productions.” Excitedly I immediately visited Steve O’Neal’s website; but there was no announcement, not even a word. I can’t find any details from the internet either, including the band’s website. I figured this must be in the negotiation phase but-- since it’s already November and still no word regarding the said concert, it’s safe to conclude that it won’t push through. At least not yet, I hope.

The poster brought me renewed interest in ABC. During the mid-80's, their song “Be Near Me” was very popular here. Their other songs which I remembered hearing on the radio or was able to view the music video during the 80’s were as follows: "How To Be A Millionaire," "Vanity Kills" and "When Smokey Sings." From their music videos, my initial impression was that, they were another one of those quirky bands, with weird hairdos, outlandish outfits and with funny but silly videos-- but I like them, especially, Martin Fry’s voice and his theatrical manner of singing. Their songs are a very 'New Wavish' sounding mix of pop, funk and soul. (Melodic and very catchy.)

During the 90’s I was able to buy for the first time an ABC CD called, Absolutely, a greatest hits compilation from their first five albums. I realized then that they got many wonderful songs aside from their tunes I already know. “Ocean Blue” and “The Look Of Love” became two of my favorites.

The past decade I bought two of their remastered edition CBs. Their critically acclaimed and commercially most successful, The Lexicon Of Love and my personal favorite, Alphabet City. I must say, both are excellent releases. But despite having three of their albums which I still play( and enjoy) from time to time, I must admit , I don’t really pay much attention to ABC…not as much as compared to my all time favorite New Wave bands . I didn’t know until last month, that Martin Fry revived ABC and released an album, Skyscraping, in 1997. I didn’t know that an excellent 2 disc compilation (ABC Gold) with two new tracks was pressed here locally back in 2006. I just found out that one, again only last month when I saw it for sale in Ebay. ABC's latest album , Traffic, was release in 2008.

Martin Fry interview, April 30 ,2008

After I read about Traffic, I was a able to view in Amazon a video of a live concert rendition of the song “ The Very First Time.” Instantly, I liked it! Absolutely classic ABC. On the strength of that song alone, I ordered the CD and here is my take…

On first listen, “For The Very First Time” grabbed me by the neck. Such a wonderful song! Very catchy and groovy with that familiar ABC vibe or style that one customer from Amazon describes as “twinkly.” Two other songs caught my attention, namely: “Love Is Strong and Caroline” The opening riff of the first track, “Sixteen Seconds To Choose”, reminded me of Deep Purple (the hard rock band.) I thought that track was quite heavy and 'unABC.'

After repeated listens, I must say, this is a very good album. Cut above the rest is “ The Very First Time.” This song would sit well with their greatest works. Very good songs are the following: "Love Is Strong," "Caroline," "Life Shapes You" and "One Way Traffic." The rest are all good songs but those I find memorable are: "Ride," "Way Back When," 'Validation," "Lose Yourself" and "Minus Love." That leaves only two songs which have not grown on me yet . The opening “Sixteen Seconds to Choose” and “Fugitive."

The album is as ABC as it can get. Melodic and catchy mixed of pop, soul, and funk delivered the ABC way. Martin Fry is sounding still very much like Martin Fry of the 80’s. The production is great as well. Everything is sounding clear and great in my Yamaha sound system.The packaging though is a very simple three fold digipack with no booklet and pictures.

How would Traffic measure up with my other ABC studio albums? It does measure up quite well, although, it would place a not so distant third behind my favorite Alphabet City (no.1) and The Lexicon Of Love.

" The Very First Time - Live

Love Is Strong

All in all, this is a very good release by ABC. A must-have for the esoteric ABC fans and a very good buy for the casual ABC and 80’s New Wave music fans. As for me this is definitely for keeps.

track list:

"Sixteen Seconds to Choose"
"The Very First Time"
"Ride"
"Love Is Strong"
"Caroline"
"Life Shapes You"
"One Way Traffic"
"Way Back When"
"Validation"
"Lose Yourself"
"Fugitives"
"Minus Love"

Brieff history of ABC from Wikipedia:

Formation

ABC has its roots in the band Vice Versa. Vice Versa was formed in 1977 in Sheffield by Stephen Singleton, Mark White and David Sydenham. They founded their own label, Neutron Records, releasing the EP Music 4. They had similarities to The Human League, whom they supported in 1978. Martin Fry, who wrote the fanzine Modern Drugs, interviewed the band; shortly afterwards, they asked him to join as synthesizer player. Fry accepted. Within a short time, the band evolved into ABC, with Fry taking over on lead vocals

By 1984, the band was essentially a duo of Martin Fry and Mark White . Mark White left the band after the 1991 album, Abracadabra. Martin Fry resurrected ABC in 1997. Since then, he has been actively touring and had released two ABC albums .

ABC Studio Albums:

The Lexicon of Love (1982

Beauty Stab (1983)