How to Be a ... Zillionaire! explained

How to Be a ... Zillionaire!
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	ABC
Cover:	Zillionaireversion2.jpg
Released:	4 October 1985^[1]
Recorded:	1984–1985
Studio:	Jacobs Studios (Farnham, Surrey)
Genre:	Disco^[2] electropop
Label:	Neutron (UK) Mercury (US) Vertigo (Canada)
Producer:	Mark White Martin Fry
Prev Title:	Beauty Stab
Prev Year:	1983
Next Title:	Alphabet City
Next Year:	1987

How to Be a ... Zillionaire! is the third studio album by English pop band ABC. It was originally released in October 1985, on the labels Neutron, Mercury and Vertigo. The album peaked at No. 28 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 30 on the Billboard 200.^[3] Four singles were released from the album, "(How to Be A) Millionaire" (UK singles chart: No. 49; Billboard Hot 100: No. 20), "Be Near Me" (UK: No. 26; US: No. 9), "Vanity Kills" (UK: No. 74; US: No. 91), and the fourth was "Ocean Blue", (UK: No. 54). It is the group's only album to feature founder members Martin Fry and Mark White flanked by new members Eden and David Yarritu, the latter two credited merely as "performers" with effectively no or limited musical contribution to the album. The four-piece was also presented in a cartoon form for the album's artwork and promotional videos, and wore outrageous costumes and played false instruments for "live" promotional performances.

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

Personnel

Credits adapted from the original album liner notes.ABC

• Martin Fry – lead and backing vocals
• Mark White – E-mu Emulator II, Fairlight CMI programming
• Fiona Russell Powell (aka Eden) – vocals, record scratching
• David Yarritu – spoken voice

Additional personnel

• Gary Moberley – Fairlight CMI programming
• Don Snow – acoustic piano, Yamaha DX7, synthesizers
• Skip McDonald – guitars on "Tower of London"
• David Williams – guitars on "(How to Be a) Millionaire"
• Brad Lang – bass guitar
• Keith LeBlanc – drums, rhythm beatbox programming
• David Palmer – hi-hat
• Chris Whitten – additional drums on "15 Storey Halo"
• Guy Barker – trumpet on "Vanity Kills"
• Alan Carvell – backing vocals
• Jackie Challenor – backing vocals
• Lorenza Johnson – backing vocals
• Mae McKenna – backing vocals
• P. P. Arnold – tertiary backing vocals on "Ocean Blue"

Production

• Mark White – producer
• Martin Fry – producer
• Martyn Webster – chief engineer
• Julian Mendelsohn – mixing, second engineer
• Paul Corkett – assistant engineer
• Mike Drake – assistant engineer
• Charles Harrowell – assistant engineer
• Heff Moraes – assistant engineer
• Dietmar Schillinger – assistant engineer
• Mark Stent – assistant engineer
• Paul Wright – assistant engineer
• Ian Cooper – analogue mastering engineer
• Daryl Easlea – digital pre-mastering, album sequencing
• Gary Moore – digital mastering engineer
• Nick Knight – photography
• Keith Breeden at Design KB – art direction
• Alan Best – animation art
• Ted Hall – animation art
• Peter Care – dialogue and photo modelling director

Charts

Year-end charts

External links

• • Album page from official ABC site

Notes and References

1. Strickland . Andy . 28 September 1985 . Index: That's Rich . . 2 . 0144-5804.
2. Book: Lewis. Justin. Buckley . Peter . The Rough Guide to Rock . 2003 . . London . 978-1-84353-105-0 . 2-3. 3rd. ABC.
3. Web site: ABC. Official Charts Company.
4. European Top 100 Albums . . 2 . 44 . 4 November 1985 . 15 . 29800226 . World Radio History.
5. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1986. Billboard. 26 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308021745/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1986/top-billboard-200-albums. 8 March 2021.