Back In 1982

Whilst I'm surfing the wave of nostalgia it's worth recalling that one of the best debut albums of all time was released on 25th June 1982.

The Lexicon of Love by ABC is almost the perfect pop album and it was released in a year that summed up best the diversity of pop music in the U.K. It was a year that had begun with Human League sitting on top of the singles charts with 'Don't You Want Me?' and would end with the final single by one of the best British bands ever The Jam topping the singles charts. In between there were impressive releases by Culture Club, Kraftwerk, The Clash, Dexys Midnight Runners and the biggest selling album of all time would be released in time for the Christmas market when Michael Jackson unleashed Thriller on the world and changed his life forever.

ABC were from Sheffield, their lead singer Martin Fry looked the way you would have expected a lead singer to look in the 80's - floppy fringe, shiny suit, exaggerated moves. The album owes as much to the genius of Trevor Horn and Anne Dudley as it does to the band itself. Horn was the producer and Dudley was responsible for the string arrangements that dominate the album. The album release had been preceded by two of its tracks: Poison Arrow and The Look Of Love hitting the Top Ten of the singles charts in the Spring of 1982, the album went straight to Number One the week it was released and it stayed in the album charts for a year. In September of 1982 All of My Heart, my own personal favourite from the album, was released as a single and made Number 4. That was back in the days when you had to sell more than 50 copies to make the charts, CD's were still a year into the future and Wayne Rooney's parents hadn't yet met.

I played the album before writing this and it still sounds as fresh as it did a quarter of century ago, which is more than I can say about myself.