Iconic UK band ABC have announced the release of a new live album, ‘The Lexicon of Love Live’, due for release on May 19th. The album was recorded last year at a show in ABC’s hometown of Sheffield, to mark the 40th anniversary of the seminal album, ‘The Lexicon Of Love’.
Say “Who broke my heart” to anyone who grew up in the 80s and there’s a high chance they’ll respond with “you did, you did”. Such was the impact of ‘The Lexicon Of Love’; released on June 21, 1982, it gave ABC their international breakthrough, and spawned an incredible 5 hit singles. To top it all off, it was originally produced by Trevor Horn, arguably the best producer of the 1980s and beyond.
So it’s no wonder that 40 years of such a momentous album must be celebrated, and that is exactly what ABC did last year, touring ‘The Lexicon Of Love’, accompanied by a full symphonic orchestra. Nowhere else was the magic more felt however than at their hometown gig in Sheffield, which occurred 40 years to the day of the album’s release, and it’s this performance that provided the music for ABC’s new release, ‘The Lexicon Of Love Live’.
Speaking about the album, Martin Fry said,
“A lot happens in four decades. A lot changes. Forty years is a long journey in a lifetime. To be able to return to Sheffield and to the City Hall felt magical and the best place to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘The Lexicon of Love’.
Sheffield is where it all started. Where these songs were born. Walking up and down West Street in the rain. In the basement at Bowood Road. On Barber Crescent. In Mr Kite’s Wine Bar. In the Beehive. In the Raven. In the graffiti written on the walls of the lift at Hyde Park Flats. In countless places, in countless conversations.
Around ten years ago we started playing these songs with Anne Dudley conducting the orchestra, with the band alongside. I’m standing centre stage, a microphone in my hand. Performing in front of an audience is the greatest feeling. The chance to look out into the crowd and see that even though the years have rolled on by, the songs still seem to mean so much. The spirit is still alive.
For the audience there’s been good times , there’s been bad times, yet everything seems to evaporate in these moments. People sometimes talk to me about nostalgia but a show is never about the past. For it to mean anything it lives in the here and now, no place else. In a special night at The Sheffield City Hall. June 21st. 2022”.
‘The Lexicon Of Love Live’ will be released on 19 May, 2023, via Live Here Now Recordings. The new live album will be available as a 2 x CD set, 3 x sparkly purple vinyl, and as a collector’s edition, book and 3 CD.
Find out more about the release, as well as about ABC and their music, online on their official website.
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