Alphabet City (album)

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.

Alphabet City
Studio album by ABC
Released	3 August 1987 (US)[1] 12 October 1987 (UK)[2]
Recorded	1986–1987
Studio	Marcus Recording Studios (London)
Genre	Sophisti-pop[3] dance-pop[4] blue-eyed soul[5]
Length	40:55
Label	Mercury Phonogram Neutron
Producer	Mark White Martin Fry Bernard Edwards
ABC chronology
How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985) Alphabet City (1987) Up (1989)
Singles from Alphabet City
"When Smokey Sings" Released: 26 May 1987 "The Night You Murdered Love" Released: 24 August 1987[6] "King Without a Crown" Released: November 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[8]
Record Mirror	[9]
Smash Hits	8/10[10]

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."^[11]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Avenue A"	Mark White Anne Dudley	0:56
2.	"When Smokey Sings"		4:22
3.	"The Night You Murdered Love"		4:53
4.	"Think Again"		3:41
5.	"Rage and Then Regret"		3:34
6.	"Ark-Angel"		4:54

All tracks are written by Martin Fry and Mark White, except where noted

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"King Without a Crown"		4:41
8.	"Bad Blood"		3:56
9.	"Jealous Lover"		3:36
10.	"One Day"		5:35
11.	"Avenue Z"	White Dudley	0:42
Total length:			40:55

Additional tracks on initial CD pressing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Minneapolis"	White Bernard Edwards	2:57
13.	"When Smokey Sings" (The Miami Mix)		7:05
14.	"The Night You Murdered Love" (The Whole Story)		8:16
15.	"Chicago" (Abridged)	White Edwards	3:42

Additional tracks on 2005 version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Minneapolis"	White Edwards	2:57
13.	"Chicago" (Abridged)	White Edwards	3:42
14.	"24 Carat Plastic"		3:34
15.	"The Night You Murdered Love" (The Reply with Contessa Lady V)	Martin Fry White Vaughan Arnell Anthea Benton	4:50
16.	"One Day" (Instrumental with Real Strings)		5:47
17.	"King Without a Crown" (Monarchy Mix)		8:46

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 performance for Alphabet City

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Australian Music Report)[12]	45
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[13]	47
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14]	19
European Albums (Music & Media)[15]	22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16]	20
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[17]	4
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[18]	22
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19]	82
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20]	25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21]	26
UK Albums (OCC)[22]	7
US Billboard 200[23]	48

Certifications

Certifications for Alphabet City

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "FMQB" (PDF). p. 43.
2. Andy Strickland, ed. (10 October 1987). "Index: Releases". Record Mirror. p. 2. ISSN 0144-5804.
3. "Stylusmagazine.com". Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
4. Lewis, Justin (2003). "ABC". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
5. AllMusic
6. "ABC singles".
7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "ABC – Alphabet City". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
8. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
9. Culp, Nancy (10 October 1987). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 20. ISSN 0144-5804.
10. Heath, Chris (7–20 October 1987). "Albums: ABC – Alphabet City (Neutron)" (PDF). Smash Hits. Vol. 9, no. 19. Peterborough: EMAP National Publications, Ltd. p. 60. ISSN 0260-3004. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2023 – via World Radio History.
11. Morton, Roger (5 December 1987). "The crown princes of flash". Record Mirror. p. 34. ISSN 0144-5804.
12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 10. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
13. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0880". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – ABC – Alphabet City" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
15. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 45. 14 November 1987. p. 18. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – ABC – Alphabet City" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
17. "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). 23 October 1987. p. 43. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
18. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 29 May 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "ABC" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
19. AA.VV. (2006). Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970~2005 (in Japanese). Tokyo: Oricon. ISBN 978-487-1-31077-2.
20. "Charts.nz – ABC – Alphabet City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
21. "Swisscharts.com – ABC – Alphabet City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
22. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
23. "ABC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
24. "Canadian album certifications – ABC – Alphabet City". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
25. "British album certifications – ABC – Alphabet City". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

External links

• Alphabet City at Discogs (list of releases)