ABC (band)

ABC
ABC performing in 2023
Background information
OriginSheffield, England United Kingdom
Genres
Years active
  • 1980–present
Labels
MembersMartin Fry
Past members
Websiteabcmartinfry.com

ABC are an English pop band that originated in Sheffield in 1980, evolving from the earlier ensemble Vice Versa. The band's classic formation featured Martin Fry as the lead vocalist, Mark White on guitar and keyboards, Stephen Singleton playing the saxophone, and David Palmer behind the drums.[5]

ABC achieved ten UK and five US top 40 hit singles between 1981 and 1990, and their 1982 debut studio album, The Lexicon of Love, was a UK number one. Their early-1980s success in the US saw them associated with the Second British Invasion.[6][7] ABC continue to tour and released a ninth studio album, The Lexicon of Love II, in 2016.

  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "ABC – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Still a Spectacle, Fun-Loving ABC Holds Up Well". Hartford Courant. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  3. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2006). "New Pop and its Aftermath". On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93951-0.
  4. ^ Harvel, Jess. "Now That's What I Call New Pop!". Pitchfork Media. 12 September 2005.
  5. ^ Dafydd Rees; Luke Crampton (1991). The Guinness Book of Rock Stars: An A to Z of the People Who Made Rock Happen (2nd ed.). Enfield: Guinness World Records. pp. 2–3. ISBN 0-85112-971-4. OCLC 24712919.
  6. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2005). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber and Faber. pp. 340, 342–3. ISBN 0-571-21570-X.
  7. ^ Fletcher, Tony (2013). Perfect Circle: The Story of REM. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-8571-2853-9. By the time Murmur was released, the American chart was aflow with the likes of Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Haircut 100 and ABC: the fabled Second British Invasion.