The first couple of years of the 1980s gave us some British danceable pop albums that absolutely captured the era and have gone on to become beloved classics. 1981 alone gave us Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, The Human League’s Dare, Heaven 17’s Penthouse And Pavement with the boldly confident debut from Sheffield’s ABC, Lexicon Of Love released the following summer.
Tonight, on the third night of a 16 show tour, ABC’s frontman and sole original member, Martyn Fry has again teamed up with producer/conductor Anne Dudley, to perform Lexicon Of Love in full, plus a selection of hits backed by an orchestra, The Lexicon Sinfonia. The show was split into two acts and began with Fry taking the stage in a black tuxedo with white lapels as the orchestra played the overture, giving us a preview of the delights to come.
The show started big with ‘When Smokey Sings’, one of the greatest homage songs, thoroughly deserved as we witnessed during Smokey Robinson’s set at Love Supreme this summer (review here). Fry may be 67 but his voice was strong and with backing singer Tracey Graham’s “whoop whoops” and a Motown bass line, this was the perfect way to kick off the show.
The shimmering strings heralded in ‘Viva Love’, which soon built into a dance groove, where you could feel the full force of the orchestra. ‘The Night You Murdered Love’ had a Bond theme feel, which could not have been achieved with a regular band. The seated crowd swayed but the seated, cross armed security guards at the front prevented any dancing.
Two more songs from the Lexicon Of Love 2 album followed with ‘The Flames of Desire’ described as “a lust song” by Fry, slowly building into an uptempo disco delight with added bongos, after which Fry reminisced on forty-plus years of ABC and their many Top Of The Pops appearances.
‘Never Get To Be The King’, recorded as part of a mini-album released with the book A Lexicon of Life, was the newest song of the night and one of the more reflective. ‘(How To Be A) Millionaire’, one of their poppier singles was given more substance by the orchestra with the lyric “I’ve seen the future, I can’t afford it“ still ringing true.
Andy Carr switched to a fretless bass for ‘Ten Below Zero’, a beautiful wistful ballad that some members of the audience still talked over (this was an issue throughout the show, nicely augmented by a near punch-up in the bar). Between songs, Fry chatted about the Brighton versus Leeds match and name checked Danny Welbeck, adding “I envy you living by the sea”. The first set ended with a beautifully executed ‘Be Near Me’.
After the delicious appetiser of the first set it was time for the magnum opus, Lexicon Of Love, in full. Conductor Anne Dudley had changed into a sparkling silver jacket but Fry chose a shiny blue suit rather than the gold lame one that many were expecting.
After an exhilarating ‘Show Me’, Fry explained how he met Dudley and producer Trevor Horn below a wig shop in Brick Lane to work on the album. It was phones held aloft for ‘Poison Arrow’ as a fan in a gold lame suit was pointed out and Fry and Graham perfectly recreated the spoken interaction towards the end of the song. Following the spoken/sung introduction to ‘Many Happy Returns’, the two vocalists went head-to-head in the upper register, as the strings soared.
Fry spoke about the competitiveness amongst Sheffield bands to have a hit. To do this ABC created a new sound for 1982, which became the classic ‘Tears Are Not Enough’, which tonight had a late 70s New York funk feel, with Tracey Graham again delivering perfect high notes.
‘Valentine’s Day’ may not have been released as a single but it was an essential component of the album and tonight the band (guitar, bass, keys and drums) and orchestra were perfectly aligned. Plus where else are you going to get the Barrier Reef and Fred Astaire namechecked in the same song?
The album was half way through so it was time to turn the LP over for ‘The Look of Love (Part One)’. With saxophone and piano heralding this pop classic, the crowd were on their feet for the first time, (which thankfully stopped the constant chatter). The orchestra were clearly enjoying themselves and clapped along.
‘Date Stamp’, another lesser-known gem, fitted in perfectly with the album’s sound and themes and saw the tenor saxophonist come to the front of the stage for a solo and dance.
‘All of My Heart’ was dedicated to the audience and its perfect combination of lyric and melody was an absolutely gorgeous end to the album and the show. There was a standing ovation from almost everyone in the crowd and the orchestra remained seated, so there was clearly more to come. They struck up the instrumental ‘The Look of Love (Part Four)’ and the band returned with Fry encouraging the crowd to sing and dance along, which we gladly did.
This was a perfect end to a celebratory night, with Dudley and the lead violinist receiving bouquets. It was such a treat to hear a favourite album (and more) performed by a full orchestra and a vocalist sounding as fresh as he did over forty years ago.
The Brighton Centre
Saturday 1st November 2025
