Few periods in music are viewed with the contempt that is held for the early ‘80s. We witnessed the death of disco and punk. New wave suddenly meant A Flock of Seagulls instead of XTC or Talking Heads. Middle of the Road music (MOR) ruled the radio waves with acts such as Olivia Newton-John, Sheena Easton, and Kenny Rogers.
But in 1982, one of the finest albums of all time was released. ABC’s The Lexicon of Love was like disco done right, with one eye on the theatre stage (the album cover states that rather obviously) and another on the dance floor. Trevor Horn made his name producing this record, creating a lush landscape that no one previously considered him capable of doing, based on his work with Yes and the Buggles.
Yes .. the album is shamelessly over the top, but not in a gaudy way (unlike, say, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome to the Pleasuredome, also produced by Horn). It is a classic example of right place, right time for all concerned. ABC would go on to experiment with rock, house, and Motown with mixed results, to put it mildly. But The Lexicon of Love still holds its own, and still sounds bloody great today
Incidentally, the theatrical aspect of this album went a stage further - the band made a short film - Mantrap - which used the songs from this album to tell the story of a Martin Fry doppelganger form eastern Europe (well, it WAS 1982) who may ... or may not ... replace him. Very hard to come by now but very enjoyable, not least for the theme song ... surprisingly called "Theme from "Mantrap""
The Look Of Love
Date Stamp
Valentine's Day
Poison Arrow
and a bonus track, which is not actually on the album
Theme from Mantrap
and you can see a snapshot of the film here ...
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