It certainly was!I'm putting a tenner on the Ski Sunday theme being one of them??
The Hitchhikers Guide theme was my introduction to The Eagles in 1978.It certainly was!
Of course there was always the "Grand Prix" theme (little did I know at the time it was Fleetwood Mac).
The Snooker theme was pretty good too - I once went into a guitar shop in Manchester and there was a guy playing it. Amazing.
I get why ABC got lumped in with a load of 80s bands including the guitar under the chin brigade that Bimbo loves so much; but there’s a reason I think why I, and a fair few other people I knew, hated the likes of Spandau Ballet and Haircut 100 but didn’t feel the same about ABC. Beyond the wedge cuts, floppy fringes and ostentatious dressing up I think there’s some differences most notably driven by the music scene where they came out of.
For me, apart from geography, it’s hard to knock the Sheffield music scene of the era. It was relatively small, a bit incestuous, innovative, vibrant and more often than not political will both a little and a big P. Though ABC were very different in some ways from the likes of early Human League, Cabaret Voltaire or Clock DVA they had some of the same sensibilities. I think, though they undoubtedly wanted to get on TOTP, they had more artistic aspirations and bore little resemblance to the aspirational spiveyness of Islingtons finest new romantics or the effete nonsense from the sweater wearing types of a place like Beckenham. (At the time I also lumped chubby simon and his brummie mates into the same bin but with the benefit of hindsight I think a bit unfairly). Fry’s on record saying they were looking to mash up the slick world of US soul and the more recent new wave influences such as Joy Division. Though I don’t think that always came through or came off, they were trying to do something interesting and aspirational in a less vacuous sense of the word. Even though I have no familial connections to the place, one of the reasons I later liked Skyscraping was I was quite chuffed that Martin Fry and Glenn Gregory were keeping the Sheffield flag flying together.
So yes, it’s a busy record with lots of signature 80s pop stuff going on thanks in no small part to Mr Horn but (a) they really lent into it in such a knowing way that made it cool rather than naff (b) there were some atypical interesting things going on with the music too. Chesterbells mentioned Mark White but the other unsung hero on this is, a pre Art of Noise, Anne Dudley who was still pretty inexperienced but created really confident proper orchestrations. Thinking back to the time I take the view that fashion aside, ABC were sort of their own category ploughing their own furrow, which was probably why unconsciously I didn’t see them in the same light as some bands they are often mentioned in the same breath as. Most of the time it works but sometimes less so, which to me again is a sign of a band trying to do something interesting. I think the part of the post-punk world that veered towards new romanticism and similar, split into two camps: the thatcher era poster boys and girls mostly concerned with getting famous and enriching themselves and the ones who were trying to do something artistically interesting. For me ABC fall in that latter camp.
Thank you for that, very interesting. He comes across as a very nicely spoken and thoughtful man.
I didn't like Haircut 100 or Spandau Ballet but did/do ABC, and I agree about the sensibilities of Human League (for sure, and by extension Heaven 17) and Cabaret Voltaire (sort of). Clock DVA I recall vaguely. Obviously Yanks tend to lump Brits together, so the differences between the Sheffield music scene and Manc one, Liverpudlian one or whatever mean very little to us (obviously not in my case as a Mancophile). In the States, while Duran Duran broke "first", they were seen as much as teeny-bop heartthrobs as musicians, and more a guitar band, and when Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" came out, it was viewed as more of a one-off. I think the poster children for Brit new wave sensibilities in the early 80s in the U.S. were centered on one band: A Flock of Seagulls. Hair matters! After that of course there were scads of others, including Depeche Mode.I get why ABC got lumped in with a load of 80s bands including the guitar under the chin brigade that Bimbo loves so much; but there’s a reason I think why I, and a fair few other people I knew, hated the likes of Spandau Ballet and Haircut 100 but didn’t feel the same about ABC. Beyond the wedge cuts, floppy fringes and ostentatious dressing up I think there’s some differences most notably driven by the music scene where they came out of.
For me, apart from geography, it’s hard to knock the Sheffield music scene of the era. It was relatively small, a bit incestuous, innovative, vibrant and more often than not political will both a little and a big P. Though ABC were very different in some ways from the likes of early Human League, Cabaret Voltaire or Clock DVA they had some of the same sensibilities. I think, though they undoubtedly wanted to get on TOTP, they had more artistic aspirations and bore little resemblance to the aspirational spiveyness of Islingtons finest new romantics or the effete nonsense from the sweater wearing types of a place like Beckenham. (At the time I also lumped chubby simon and his brummie mates into the same bin but with the benefit of hindsight I think a bit unfairly). Fry’s on record saying they were looking to mash up the slick world of US soul and the more recent new wave influences such as Joy Division. Though I don’t think that always came through or came off, they were trying to do something interesting and aspirational in a less vacuous sense of the word. Even though I have no familial connections to the place, one of the reasons I later liked Skyscraping was I was quite chuffed that Martin Fry and Glenn Gregory were keeping the Sheffield flag flying together.
So yes, it’s a busy record with lots of signature 80s pop stuff going on thanks in no small part to Mr Horn but (a) they really lent into it in such a knowing way that made it cool rather than naff (b) there were some atypical interesting things going on with the music too. Chesterbells mentioned Mark White but the other unsung hero on this is, a pre Art of Noise, Anne Dudley who was still pretty inexperienced but created really confident proper orchestrations. Thinking back to the time I take the view that fashion aside, ABC were sort of their own category ploughing their own furrow, which was probably why unconsciously I didn’t see them in the same light as some bands they are often mentioned in the same breath as. Most of the time it works but sometimes less so, which to me again is a sign of a band trying to do something interesting. I think the part of the post-punk world that veered towards new romanticism and similar, split into two camps: the thatcher era poster boys and girls mostly concerned with getting famous and enriching themselves and the ones who were trying to do something artistically interesting. For me ABC fall in that latter camp.
Most people over here at the time thought A Flock Of Seagulls were an American band. Big in the States, not much going on over here.I didn't like Haircut 100 or Spandau Ballet but did/do ABC, and I agree about the sensibilities of Human League (for sure, and by extension Heaven 17) and Cabaret Voltaire (sort of). Clock DVA I recall vaguely. Obviously Yanks tend to lump Brits together, so the differences between the Sheffield music scene and Manc one, Liverpudlian one or whatever mean very little to us (obviously not in my case as a Mancophile). In the States, while Duran Duran broke "first", they were seen as much as teeny-bop heartthrobs as musicians, and more a guitar band, and when Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" came out, it was viewed as more of a one-off. I think the poster children for Brit new wave sensibilities in the early 80s in the U.S. were centered on one band: A Flock of Seagulls. Hair matters! After that of course there were scads of others, including Depeche Mode.
Personally, I think the first "new wave" song I ever loved was Gary Numan's "Cars", which remains among my top 30 favo(u)rite tunes of all time, and that was late 70s. Though I had an elephantine rock side that dominated my youth, I heard and loved "Cars" long before I heard "Highway to Hell."
It certainly was!
Of course there was always the "Grand Prix" theme (little did I know at the time it was Fleetwood Mac).
The Snooker theme was pretty good too - I once went into a guitar shop in Manchester and there was a guy playing it. Amazing.