The Lexicon of Love

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The Lexicon of Love
ABC-Lexicon.jpg
Studio album by ABC
Released 25 June 1982
Recorded 1981–1982
Genre New wave, synthpop
Length 37:25
Label Neutron Records (UK)
Mercury Records (USA)
Vertigo Records (Canada and Europe)
Producer Trevor Horn, Steve Brown
ABC chronology
The Lexicon of Love
(1982)		 Beauty Stab
(1983)Beauty Stab1983

The Lexicon of Love is the RIAA Gold-certified debut album by the British new wave band ABC, released in 1982. It is not a concept album,[1] but features repeated themes in which the singer experiences heartache as he tries and fails to have a meaningful relationship.

It was produced by Trevor Horn, engineered by Gary Langan, and featured orchestrations by Anne Dudley and Fairlight CMI programming by JJ Jeczalik; Horn, Langan, Dudley and Jeczalik would later form the Art of Noise. Indeed, most of the production team and sessions players listed below would form the basis for the ZTT label, and their work with Horn meant all concerned would be in constant demand throughout the industry in years to come.

"Tears Are Not Enough" (in its initial release produced by Steve Brown), "All of My Heart", "Poison Arrow", and "The Look of Love (Part One)" were all Top 20 hits in the UK; the latter two also charted in the US, peaking at No. 25 and No. 14 respectively. The album reached No. 1 on the British charts, and peaked at No. 24 in the US charts.

In 2004, a deluxe 2-disc reissue including previously unreleased outtakes and early demos and a live performance of the album from 1982 was released on the Neutron label.

In 2009, ABC performed the album integrally at the Royal Albert Hall in London, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, and conducted by arranger and composer Anne Dudley. They were joined on stage by album producer Trevor Horn.[2]

The Lexicon of Love was again performed live in its entirety on 18 December 2012 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This marked the 30th anniversary of the album's release and once again featured Dudley as conductor, performing with the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra. The same line-up (with Dudley and Southbank Sinfonia) concluded a four-date mini-tour at this same venue on 30 March 2014 performing the complete album. Martin Fry and band were once more accompanied by the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra for dates at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, Sheffield City Hall, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, and Birmingham Symphony Hall between November 4th and 9th, 2015.

Critical acclaim

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 5/5 stars[3]
Blender 4/5 stars[4]
The Observer (favourable)[5]
PopMatters (favourable)[6]
Q 3/5 stars[7]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 9/10 stars[9]
Robert Christgau A−[10]
  • NME listed it number 15 on its list of 50 albums of the 80s.
  • NME listed it number 3 on its list of 50 albums of the year 1982.
  • Uncut listed It number 52 on its list of 100 greatest debut albums.
  • Mojo listed it in its list of 9 albums of the year 1982.
  • The Village Voice listed it number 19 on its list of 20 albums of the year 1982.
  • Q magazine listed it number 40 on its list of the 100 greatest British albums ever.
  • Q magazine readers voted The Lexicon of Love the 92nd greatest album of all time.
  • The Observer Music Monthly listed it number 42 on its list "Top 100 British Albums".
  • Mentioned in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Martin Fry, David Palmer, Stephen Singleton, and Mark White except where indicated.

Original release (Neutron NTRS 1)

Side One

  1. "Show Me" – 4:02
  2. "Poison Arrow" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Mark Lickley) – 3:24
  3. "Many Happy Returns" – 3:56
  4. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/David Robinson) – 3:31
  5. "Valentine's Day" – 3:42

Side Two

  1. "The Look of Love" (Part One) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:26
  2. "Date Stamp" – 3:51
  3. "All of My Heart" – 5:12
  4. "4 Ever 2 Gether" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Anne Dudley) – 5:30
  5. "The Look of Love" (Part Four) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 1:02

1996 Digitally re-mastered edition (Mercury 514942-2)

  1. "Show Me" – 4:02
  2. "Poison Arrow" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:22
  3. "Many Happy Returns" – 3:58
  4. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:29
  5. "Valentine's Day" – 3:40
  6. "The Look of Love (Part One)" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:29
  7. "Date Stamp" – 3:51
  8. "All of My Heart" – 5:18
  9. "4 Ever 2 Gether" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 5:30
  10. "The Look of Love (Part Four)" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 0:56
  11. "Tears Are Not Enough (Demo)" – 3:29*
  12. "Poison Arrow (Jazz Re-Mix)" – 6:54*
  13. "The Look of Love (US Special Remix – Edit)" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 5:43 (mislabelled as "The Look of Love (1990 Re-Mix)")*
  14. "Alphabet Soup (12" mix)" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 8:02*
  15. "Theme from Mantrap" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 4:19*
  16. "The Look of Love (Live)" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 6:07*
  • Tracks with * are bonus

1998 Re-issue (Mercury/Neutron 538,250-2)

  1. "Show Me" – 4:02
  2. "Poison Arrow" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:24
  3. "Many Happy Returns" – 3:56
  4. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:31
  5. "Valentine's Day" – 3:42
  6. "The Look of Love" (Part One) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:26
  7. "Date Stamp" – 3:51
  8. "All of My Heart" – 5:12
  9. "4 Ever 2 Gether" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 5:30
  10. "The Look of Love" (Part Four) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 1:02
  11. "Theme from Man Trap" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 4:19*
  • track with * is bonus

2004 deluxe edition (Mercury 982,437-3)

Disc one

Part 1
The Original Album
  1. "Show Me" – 4:02
  2. "Poison Arrow" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:24
  3. "Many Happy Returns" – 3:56
  4. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:31
  5. "Valentine's Day" – 3:42
  6. "The Look of Love" (Part One) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 3:26
  7. "Date Stamp – 3:51
  8. "All of My Heart" – 5:12
  9. "4 Ever 2 Gether" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 5:30
  10. "The Look of Love" (Part Four) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 1:02
    Part 2
    The Original Singles
  11. "Overture" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 3:59
  12. "Tears Are Not Enough" (original single version) (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:36
  13. "Alphabet Soup" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 8:03
  14. "Theme from Man Trap" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 4:19
  15. "Poison Arrow" (North American Jazz Mix) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 7:06
    Part 3
    An Oddity and An Out-Take
  16. "Into the Valley of the Heathen Go" – 2:00
  17. "Alphabet Soup" (BBC Swapshop version) (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:13

Disc two

Part 4
The Route to the Lexicon
  1. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Phonogram Demo 20 July 1981) (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 3:32
  2. "Show Me" (Phonogram Demo 20 July 1981) – 4:03
  3. "Surrender" (Phonogram Demo 20 July 1981 - song deleted from album's original release at "the 11th hour") – 3:29
    Part 5
    The Lexicon of Love — Live at Hammersmith Odeon November 1982
  4. "Overture" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 3:56
  5. "Show Me" – 4:21
  6. "Many Happy Returns" – 7:02
  7. "Tears Are Not Enough" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 5:33
  8. "Date Stamp" – 7:07
  9. "The Look of Love" (Complete Suite) (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 5:59
  10. "All of My Heart" – 6:45
  11. "Valentine's Day" – 4:44
  12. "4 Ever 2 Gether" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Dudley) – 6:53
  13. "Alphabet Soup" (Fry/Singleton/White/Lickley/Robinson) – 8:26
  14. "Poison Arrow" (Fry/Palmer/Singleton/White/Lickley) – 5:22

Chart performance

Chart (1982/1983) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 9
Canadian Albums Chart[12][13] 3
Dutch Albums Chart[14] 16
Finnish Albums Chart[citation needed] 1
German Albums Chart[15] 23
Japanese Albums Chart[citation needed] 17
New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[17] 13
Swedish Albums Chart[18] 3
UK Albums Chart[19] 1
US Billboard 200[20] 24

Personnel

  • Martin Fry - vocals
  • David Palmer - drums, percussion
  • Stephen Singleton - alto and tenor saxophones
  • Mark White - guitars, keyboards
  • Mark Lickley - bass guitar on "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love"
  • David Robinson - drums on single/demo versions of "Tears Are Not Enough"
Additional personnel
  • Anne Dudley - keyboards and orchestration
  • Brad Lang - bass guitar
  • J. J. Jeczalik - Fairlight CMI programming
  • Kim Wear - trumpet
  • Andy Gray - trombone on "Tears Are Not Enough"
  • Luís Jardim (misspelled as "Louis Jardin" on album notes) - additional percussion
  • Tessa Webb - female vocal lead on "Date Stamp"
  • Gaynor Sadler - harp
  • Karen Clayton - female speaking voice in "Poison Arrow"
Production
2004 deluxe edition credits
  • Gary Moore – digital remastering
  • Daryl Easlea – album coordinator and compiler
  • Martin Fry – compiler
  • Deluxe Graphics@Green Ink – artwork restoration and adaption

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "ABC: The Lexicon of Love > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Blender review[dead link]
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  9. ↑ Weisbard & Marks 1995, p. 4
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bibliography
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External links

Preceded by UK Albums Chart number one album
3 July 1982 – 17 July 1982		 Succeeded by
Fame, Original Soundtrack by Michael Gore
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