Listen with Jonathan:- ABC - The Lexicon of Love

Released 1982. Version listened to 1998 remaster.
Track listing

1. "Show Me" – 4:02
2. "Poison Arrow" – 3:24
3. "Many Happy Returns" – 3:56
4. "Tears Are Not Enough" – 3:31
5. "Valentine's Day" – 3:42
6. "The Look of Love" (Part One) – 3:26
7. "Date Stamp" – 3:51
8. "All of My Heart" – 5:12
9. "4 Ever 2 Gether" – 5:30 [co-written by Anne Dudley]
10. "The Look of Love" (Part Four) – 1:02
11. "Theme from Man Trap" – 4:19*

Frequently debut albums are tricky things. Usually one of three things happen. You are lauded as the next best thing and you then hit the tricky second album (e.g. Rage Against The Machine). Alternatively it is a flop and you disappear into oblivion or it has some success but turns out to be the best thing you ever did. Rarely do bands have hit album after hit album. ABC came in towards the end of the New Romantics and at the start of electronic music. 

The thing that sets this album apart is that it doesn't really feel like it is either. ABC hailed from Sheffield along with bands like Human League and Heaven 17. The album opens strongly and the musical quality oozes from every pore. For me, a closet bassist ( I taught myself how to play bass as an intellectual exercise once), it is the bass lines which stand out. If to this you add the vocals of Martin Fry and the orchestration of Anne Dudley you have a work of immense quality. Anne Dudley can also be seen in Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra. The four singles - Poison Arrow, Tears Are Not Enough, The Look of Love (Part One) and All of My Heart are packed with quality. For me Tears is the weakest of the bunch. That being said I once met somebody who played on the demo version which can be found on the 2004 version of the album. 

There isn't really a weak track on this album the combination of Fry, Dudley and the bassline make this an outstanding debut. My personal favourite is the Theme from Man Trap which is a reworking of Poison Arrow on piano and vocals.

Track recommendation: Theme from Man Trap

Travels with Dinno - Goole

Following our family's move to the Costa Del Worksop we needed to find a new rugby club for my son. He had played at Huddersfield RUFC since the age of 5. We had a number of club choices in the 'greater' Worksop area. Worksop has a rugby club but not one that plays age group rugby. So the choices were Mansfield, Sheffield and Dinnington. We were invited to the end of season festival at Dinnington and were given a very warm welcome.

So that is where we started the season. The coaches seemed to like Tom and were excited that he could play in a few positions. First match of the season was against Market Rasen. This was a team which we had never played before.  When I was just a parent standing on the sidelines I used to judge a club by its bacon rolls and hot food. Market Rasen served very good bacon rolls and hot chocolate.

Tom started his first match at blindside flanker. He performed reasonably well and did the job he was asked to do. Unfortunately the team lost 31-25. It was a game of two halves with the development team starting the first and showing promise. The first team came on and scored 5 unanswered tries.

The club's next game was a local derby against Sheffield. The last time Tom visited this club he had to play without boots. the last time he played against them he was on a losing team. Two matches were played. The first team played the first game. After a slow start the first team absolutely dominated and came out 31-12. The second team won their match 15 - 13. This was a display of forward power. Two tries were drive over tries and one was a piece of individual brilliance by our beast of a flanker who is henceforth known as Rupert. The boy played on the wing and had a reasonably good game again. Since joining Dinno his tackling has improved somewhat

The food was very good but the parking was lousy.

Today we visited Goole another new club for us. So what did I learn today? That Google Maps has no idea about how to get somewhere. The food was pretty good. Bacon and brie rolls and very good hot chocolate. Only one minor criticism. When you are serving a customer don't tell your helper to give the customer a smaller mug for his hot chocolate.

The rugby was good. The squad was smaller than usual (a mere 24 players). The stars were new boy Jake and the beast that is Rupert. The club has a definite first team and a number of the players in the 'development' team are good enough to be in the first team. The coaches have made a point of telling the whole squad this. The boy started on the wing and made some good drives and some good tackles. At half time the game was comfortable. Changes were then made and the team switched off and then Goole got back into the match. However, the team kept the scoreboard ticking over and ended up winning 36 - 26. The boy had another solid performance and just needs to get the ball in space and he will start to do some serious damage.

The players meal was, according to the boy, the best he has ever had. For the record it was some kind of stew inside a huge Yorkshire pudding.

Throughout the season I will be reporting on our travels around the country to points north, south, east and west.

Come on Dinno!!!!