ABC’s sumptuously orchestrated, unashamedly (new) romantic No 1 in 1982, The Lexicon of Love, was one of the artistic triumphs of 80s pop. However, the lineup fell apart, and singer Martin Fry struggled to follow the debut album’s success. Eventually he felt confined by having to perform the album’s hits year on year. At his lowest ebb, he attempted to flush his trademark gold lamé suit down the toilet, and even that didn’t go right – it stuck in the U-bend.
However, here he is, having long reconciled – perhaps on an accountant’s advice – with his masterpiece. Performing the album in its entirety, Fry hasn’t spared the budget. There is a huge band, and original arranger Anne Dudley leads the Southbank Sinfonia. The 61-year old singer bounds on – quiff, waistline and voice holding up admirably – in a tuxedo that isn’t quite gold lamé, but has a distinctly golden floral pattern.
The first set includes the good stuff that wasn’t on Lexicon, ranging from the 1987 smash When Smokey Sings to Viva Love, as fine a song as Fry has written, from 2016’s excellent belated sequel The Lexicon of Love II. He is in jocular form, quipping that ABC first played Birmingham to seven people, “four of whom were in Duran Duran”. “My mum was there!” yells one of a sizeable younger audience contingent. It’s all jolly good fun, but the Lexicon set gets the entire crowd on their feet and dancing from the off. Show Me, Poison Arrow and the rest sound ridiculously great. They are from an era when pop was unashamedly opulent and adventurous, and Fry’s songwriting dared to dream.
The lyrics are timeless and contemporary. “I know democracy / But I know what’s fascist,” he cries in Many Happy Returns; a funky, brassy Tears Are Not Enough mentions “such an unstable world”. All of My Heart and the Burt Bacharach-inspired The Look of Love predictably bring the house down – the latter so much so that they play it again. This time, the audience sing along, and then rapturously applaud Fry’s 37-year-old triumph, his pop Citizen Kane.
• At Sage, Gateshead, 11 April. Then touring.
