Alphabet City (album) explained

Alphabet City
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	ABC
Cover:	sl_alphabet.jpg
Released:	3 August 1987 (US)^[1] 12 October 1987 (UK)^[2]
Recorded:	1986–1987
Studio:	Marcus Recording Studios (London)
Prev Title:	How to Be a ... Zillionaire!
Prev Year:	1985
Next Title:	Up
Next Year:	1989

Alphabet City is the fourth studio album by English pop band ABC. It was originally released in August 1987, on the labels Mercury, Phonogram and Neutron, two years after their previous album How to Be a ... Zillionaire! Following a hiatus in which singer Martin Fry was being treated for Hodgkin's disease, it was recorded over a period of nine months, in sessions that took place at Marcus Recording Studios in London, assisted by Bernard Edwards, best known for his work with the American band Chic.

The album's title and the titles of several tracks were inspired by the Alphabet City section of Manhattan, New York City, where Fry and Mark White lived for a time prior to the album's release. It peaked at No. 7 in the UK, making it their first album to reach the Top 10 since their debut The Lexicon of Love. The album launched three charting singles in the UK. "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to Smokey Robinson, peaked at No. 11 on the UK singles chart; "The Night You Murdered Love" peaked at No. 31; "King Without a Crown" at No. 44.

In 2005, a digitally remastered CD of the album was released with six bonus tracks.

Background

In a 1987 interview with Record Mirror, Fry said of the album, "It's a record where we sort of caught up with ourselves. For a while we were making records that just seemed to confuse people. It was necessary for us to work from a firm foundation and in a way, we figured Alphabet City might be the last record we ever made anyway, for a lot of reasons. So we figured, let's just make it a statement of our work that drew on all the other records we've made."^[3]

Personnel

ABC

• Martin Fry – lead and backing vocals
• Mark White – keyboards, programming, guitars

Additional personnel

• David Clayton – keyboards
• Brad Lang – bass guitar
• Danny Thompson – double bass
• Graham Broad – drums
• Pandit Dinesh – percussion, tabla
• Luís Jardim (misspelled as "Louis Jardin" on album notes) – percussion
• Howie Casey – saxophones
• Judd Lander – harmonica
• Richard Niles – string arrangements on "When Smokey Sings" and "The Night You Murdered Love"
• Anne Dudley – string arrangements on "One Day" and "Bad Blood"
• Alan Carvell – backing vocals
• Dolette McDonald – backing vocals
• Tessa Niles – backing vocals
• Miriam Stockley – backing vocals
• Linda Taylor – backing vocals

Production

• Martin Fry – producer
• Mark White – producer
• Bernard Edwards – producer
• Martyn Webber – engineer
• Tim Burrell – assistant engineer
• Julian Mendelsohn – mixing
• Ian Cooper – mastering at the Townhouse Studios (London, UK)
• Andy Earl – photography
• Keith Breeden – artwork
• Peter Curzon – artwork

Charts

Chart (1987)! scope="col"

Peak position
Australian Albums (Australian Music Report)^[4]	45
European Albums (Music & Media)^[5]	22
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)^[6]	4
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)^[7]	22
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[8]	82

Notes and References

1. Web site: FMQB. 43.
2. Andy Strickland . 10 October 1987 . Index: Releases . . 2 . 0144-5804.
3. Morton . Roger . 5 December 1987 . The crown princes of flash . . 34 . 0144-5804.
4. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 10. 0-646-11917-6.
5. European Hot 100 Albums . . 4 . 45 . 14 November 1987 . 18 . 29800226 . World Radio History.
6. News: Ísland (LP-plötur) . . is . 23 October 1987 . 43 . 1021-8254 . Timarit.is.
7. Web site: Classifiche . . it . 29 May 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "ABC" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
8. Book: AA.VV. . Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970~2005 . ja . Tokyo . . 2006 . 978-487-1-31077-2.