After the wacky third album from ABC hit the streets in 1985, you could be excused for wondering “well, what will those guys come up with next?” Three albums, three images; all very different from each other. The truth is, this style conscious band telegraphed their hand like novice card players if you bothered to pay attention to the sleeve art for their singles in the order of release. Observe.

1st UK single

2nd UK single

3rd UK single

4th UK single

3rd US single

Voila! The metamorphosis is complete! From cartoon hip hop to suave, mid-80s sophistication in five easy steps. Special bonus points for Mark White’s tailor. Even the typography from the US “Vanity Kills” 12″ telegraphed the design choices that would inform their fourth album a full two years later!

ABC – Alphabet City | 1987 – 2.5

Early scuttlebutt on MTV said that this album was to be produced by Bernard Edwards, late of The Chic Organization. Since his hands were full with Robert Palmer’s mid-80s career resuscitation, he would only be producing the first two singles. The first of these is an ABC classic. “When Smokey Sings” is a fantastic tribute song in honor of Smokey Robinson; a singer who certainly influenced Fry’s falsetto soul singing. The sound is something of a throwback to the “Lexicon” sound that was the only phase of their career that had been really successful [at least in the UK]. Make no mistake, this album was about “getting serious” about their career and back on track. Following their third album, Fry had undergone treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease and I’m sure he would never be quite as carefree and cavalier about his career again.

“When Smokey Sings” was a resounding success for the band, and deservedly so. The track is a corker of neo-Motown soul that reached number eleven back home and went as high as number five on the US charts, at the same time that Mr. Robinson was having a top ten hit of his own! The followup single was the second Edwards track,”The Night You Murdered Love.” While the sound was a typically rich Bernard Edwards production, the subject matter marked it as a retread of the “done me wrong” themes that Fry thoroughly worked out [some would say too comprehensively] on his debut album.

The remainder of the album was produced by the band for the second time in a row. The result couldn’t sound further from “Zillionaire.” While that album careened gleefully all over the road in an almost drunken stupor, this album stayed in a very narrow set of stylistic parameters, as hinted at by the B-sides to the first two singles, “Chicago” and “Minneapolis.” The neo-soul of their debut had been touched by strains of house music and the then ascendant Jam + Lewis aesthetic. While The Human League’s dalliance with the Minneapolis sound on their ghastly “Crash” album of a year earlier effectively derailed their career for a decade, ABC come through the fireball without getting their tailfeathers singed too badly. The result is a hybrid approach that neither bores too badly, nor offends the ear. But there is a sameness to the tracks, which share the dreaded mid-tempo syndrome. Since the songs vary so little, there is a sense that it has all been heard before.

In the case of “Rage And Then Regret” the case was almost literal! The listener would be forgiven for thinking that they are hearing a blatant rehash of “Be Near Me” since the track is exactly that! It practically has a “wet paint” sign slapped on the lyrics! Tracks like “Think Again,” King Without A Crown,” “Bad Blood,” “Jealous Lover,” and “One Day” all seem to flow together into a fusion of competent but unthrilling music. For the first time in their career ABC sound unexciting and staid.

The one exception to the program is the spirited “Ark-Angel” which adds some gritty guitar to the mix without going full bore into “Beauty Stab” territory. The toughness of this song matches the feel on “The Night You Murdered Love,” but the lyrics and arrangement are much more accomplished. If the album had been invested with a little more of the sauce that this track had in abundance, it would have made for a more engaging outing that stoked a little passion instead of playing its cards too close to the vest. Up to this point, there were no fence sitters on the topic of ABC. People either fervently loved or hated their records, for better or worse. The album can be counted as a success, but only a modest one. For my ears, this is the album where ABC lost their cachet. Their feet, while not quite made of clay, were now planted firmly on the ground; not in the clouds where they’d previously trod.

Next: House music claims another victim…