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  • Reminds me of a great night i had at stoke green.....................than­ks for posting.

  • Love this song...I bet most of my friends dont even know this song...It puts me in a great mood remembering when I was a kid.

  • Comment removed

  • oh wow i finally found the song :D accidentally too

  • Came out the the first year of secondary school for me - a really great year.

  • smashing the hell with the heaven she brings

  • ABC and the Pet Shop Boys were so underrated. They had masterpieces.

  • Both were huge in the 80's and still are.

  • RIP , so upset when I heard the news.. YOU WILL BE MISSED

  • This song really takes me back... to last weekend. The poeple who live around me know when the weekend has arrived because this song is cranking from my Rockford Fosgate 15 inch woofers on repeat. Every Friday at 4:00pm nonstop until Monday morning.

  • god i was young then

  • ow this takes me back

  • Ohhhh, love this tune... Ken on sax was the best. Only Smokey could do better! Really, this song was way beyond pop, it goes to the bone. Makes my top 5, behind only Bad Man's Song (TFF), Belfast Child (Simple Minds), Prodigal Son ( Billy Idol) , Hard Day's Night (Beatles) and Love Shack (B-52's)

  • Ahh 1987.

  • Classic 80's production! Pop music isnt made this good anymore.

    And yes....whenever I hear this song it immediately cheers me up!

    5 stars

  • Hoo Hoo!

  • Hoo Hoo

  • Classic song and video!

  • The lead singer is a very nice man in real life!

  • why do people look up videos just to diss it, if you didn't like it in the 80's or now good for you, shouldn't have looked it up, i still like it

  • lmao, your a moron. You insult a great tune then say "no haters"

  • just because you have no taste and like perry como and max bygraves.

  • What a tribute song! Smokey had to feel good about the props :)

  • I liked this...........memories memories.

  • oop oop!!!  oop oop!!!

  • GREAT video. Great camera angles, use of zoom, back and forth movement and alternating between story and performance. PERFECT!

  • Smokey wasn't worth this great song!!!!!!!!!

  • what a feel good song. abc you were good

  • I wish I knew who thet gorgeous girl was in that video..The one with the short crew cut....Ihad a crush on a girlin high school who looked like that....I would think of her whenever I heard this song too....It's funny what sets off happy memories in a person:)

  • She is indeed luscious. I love short-haired girls/women myself. :-)

  • It was me. Really... no joke. 25yrs ago!

  • You're right, she is gorgeous. Not may women can pull off that type of haircut.

    I'd like to know her name, too. She's probably a model they hired to be in the video.

  • the picture of smokey looks like a vic reeves original print.

  • i love this song first time seen vid mixs up well with tears of a clown great stuff

  • I am pretty darn sure Trevor Horn produced this record. He is the MASTER when it comes to this stuff!

  • Saw them at the weekend, he's still got it!!

  • I used to think he was singing about Smokey the Bear.

  • I used to think he was singing, "When Smokey sings I hear violence."  Hilarious.

  • if I feel like shit, This song works every time. I don't even know if I like it but it's a guaranteed smile

  • Oh, wow I had forgotten all about this song and how good it is!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Awesome song. ABC are one of 80's greatests. This guy has such an incredible voice...

  • Always love this cut.

    Smokey R is one of my fav vocalist.

  • God I remember hearing this in a club in London.

    Dancing all night long and going home at the crack of dawn.

    Now it is working everyday and being a adult god I miss those days.

  • well mike, maybe you shouldn't have gotten a boring job eh? ;)

  • Now I am the boss and I don't leave work early due to it being a poor example.

    But I have been known to call a meeting take a head count and send everyone home early on friday lol.

    That is so I can go home pack a bag grab a flight and walk the Thames and visit my childhood home.

    Did it last year and the people I work with were befuddled.

    Seemed so out of character for me but then again I am considered the cornerstone of the office lol.

    Just had to get away for a couple of days to relax.

  • um. where's the luther/james/marvin part?... i love it in the song.

  • wow, who's the backup singer carrying the guitar at 1:15..........sooooooooo pretty

  • Thats Smokey's daughter....."Jagar"

  • Great tribute to Mr Robinson, by an outfit that genuinly appreciated him and captured his spirit perfectly. ABC were exceptionally talented (and didn't receive anywhere near the acknowledgement they deserved). GREAT song, guys - Thanks for the great post.

  • I agree. I just heard "Be Near Me" on the radio today and that brought me back to the good old 80's. I remember when "When Smokey Sings" came out my senior year in high school. It really is a beautiful melody. :)

  • I lost my virginity to this song. JUST KIDDING, REMINDS ME OF LEAVING ON A PLANE FROM COLUMBUS OHIO BACK IN 87, IT WAS BLARING IN THE AIRPORT AS I WAS RUNNING TO CATC MY PLANE.

  • 1987 growing up as a teen loved this song!1!1

  • One of the greatest songs of the 80's, period!

  • I saw Smokey Robinson live once and I have to say the guy doesn't sing music--he IS music. His voice is every bit as incredible live as it is on stereo or radio. He just oozes music--he is awesome. And he doesn't hold back---he puts all of himself into his perforamnce--but its sooo smooth and flowing you don't know it until its over and you realize you weren't dreaming--that he really IS that good.

    Great song to honopr this.

  • Who cares about sexual orientation the music is good. why are you preoccupied with how they look?Just accept them as they looked 25 years ago. geeze i get so tired of seeing everybody labeled

  • ABC is one of my favourite groups of all time, by the way... They had so much appreciation for the roots of rock'n'roll.

    This song is an obvious tribute to "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Great stuff!!

    Rock on Martin Fry (F-R-Y!) and Mark White (that's right!).... :-)

  • I'm a straight guy. No gay friends (that I know of, lol), no gay acquaintences, etc. I let them do their thing, and they leave me alone.

    That said, I am so sick of this modern preoccupation with "gayness." It's all you see on TV, every talk show, every sitcom, even SNL constantly throw homosexuality in our faces...

    So it's not surprising that the more weak-minded among us automatically project "GAY" onto everything they see. The've been conditioned! It's all they see each and every day!

  • This is so true! It is an unnatural "DeathStyle" that is shoved into everything we see and it is not okay! I don't dislike the person but i do dislike the behaviour.

  • Exactly, FLIGHTCENTRE.

  • i say YES to this song. oh the good old songs.

  • music just isn't the same anymore :(

  • The singer ? the guitarist looks faggier then the singer .

  • what are you talking about??????????

  • Holy Crap...I stole the blonde dudes haircut back in the day...and still wear it like that...lmfao!!!

  • Hey everybody, I just saw ABC in LA (7/9/09). Martin was in great form!! He is still quite handsome and his voice is unchanged. The band and back-up singers were very good and enthusiastic. I've loved ABC since Lexicon and find that their music doesn't get old - it still makes me happy and want to dance!

  • I don't mind being ignored, but then I didn't call the lead singer queer as a three dollar bill.... I think he just a run of the mill bender.

  • This song had me dancing around the room! Sad thing is I was dancing in the clubs to the song when it first came out!! Bloody awesome stuff, LOL!

  • Compared to today's artists, these guys certainly do not look gay and don't act like. Today's artists think they have to be gay to sell their no-value music. The eighties were indeed great.

  • why is that people are always throwing the word ''gay'' around as if it has a thousand meaning? Just say the word feminine.

  • Funny the male character looks gay and so does his "girlfriend". Because of walls at the time it seems lesbians in video had to mingle with gay men to make it "ok"

  • That's a great song, little youngs! The '80s was the most beautiful decade for the music revolution. I miss it.

  • This group was great, too bad I was born in 85 and couldn't enjoy them until this decade lol!

  • when Smokey sings, i remember everything!

  • What happened to the original, when smokey sings, video?

  • Man, 1986, what simpler times. This song was great. I went to Santa Monica College to brush up on my math skills. I remember this song was all the rage driving from SFV to SM.

  • It was great seeing ABC at Toronto Pride - they sounded great! Martin Fry still has the same hairstyle, wears a suit onstage, and has the same 'sneer' while singing - great stuff!

  • Gosh this songs brings me so many memories!

  • I can't wait for Toronto Pride!

  • Martin Fry sure is talented.

  • At first i thought this video was too weird a shrine of smokey , hahahaha , great video , the 80s music was the best .

  • It boggles the mind to have such a big hit on the Miracle of Motown yet to only have a cheap Velvet painting of him at the end.....Never even tried to put him in the video? Cmon, blokes.

  • Thanks for posting. THis song brings back memories.

  • Where is ABC today?

  • smokey robinsons the man!!

  • Great song

  • Wonderful tune. I haven't heard this song in years.

  • I Was 10 Yrs. old When This Video Was On the Air. ABC ROCKS!

  • loved this song since the first time i heard it.

  • I love Martin Fry's voice, so smooth, & just beautiful.

  • Hey genuis... thats not a guy, it was a chick. Dont you remember the 80's... androgyny anyone? hell I got a super short 80's inspired hair cut now.... so does that a me a dude?

    Not to mention, JESUS there are too many homophobes on youtube.. gtf off my internets...

  • Sorry about that. It sure looked like a man to me. I'm not a genius...if I was, I'd be rich right now!!!! lol!!! No, that does not make you a man having a very short hair cut and yes, I remember those back in the 1980's. I'm 47 yrs old!

  • Ouch..I am sorry I came across as a real bitch... lol im sorry, I just was watching wham vids tho so I guess I was on the defensive...

  • Religious freak!

  • there is nothing wrong with being religious.

  • What a great song.

  • Britain loves them some soul.

  • Nothing wrong with shrines! I think this is such a beautiful, romantic, yearning kind of song!

  • Probably but after 20+ years it might be a little late,,

  • Smokey should put a restraining order against this band

    dude's got a shrine to the man... creepy

    amazing song though haha

  • So right....music does some stange things to others... we're all human.. music and memories, oh wel

  • This is Swave

  • This song sure is a great pick me up.

  • Smooth as silk....

  • I kinda' like the two women in scarfs bangin' each other

  • Miss the 80's and the clothes and the cars my favorite was my mustang.

    These guy are one of the greatest to hear play.

    We need more music like this nice and romantic not that rap crap about murdering each other..

  • I agree, it was around the year that this song came out that to me was the high water mark for 80's style and fashion.

  • Lovely song

  • 1987. God I wanna be there again!!!!!!

  • *sigh* Don't we all...

  • I would too... stress-free & care-free; just sleep, eat, & shit all day!

  • Smokey on American Idol next week from Motown. should be a hoot!

  • thanx 4 the info! we saw smokey live a few years ago, front row. he still has it!

  • why is embedding disabled? thats so fucking gay! i swear, i whats the problem with wanting to embed it on my profile? what you might loose a couple of cents? oh, no God forbid you don't collect! fuckin greed, stupidity, and selfishness just kills the whole idea behind these exceptional songs. now it's gonna make it easier to forget ABC!!! they should be grateful someone even remebers them.

  • I was thinking you are right...but if it is just a "....you might loose a couple of cents...fuckin greed..." THEN YOU ARE THE DOLT. Just pay the couple cents for the song and shut your liberal ass up. If you think they are greedy than what does that make you...oh yea I already told you.

  • evergreen...che nostalgia i mitici 80.

  • cinesparkle, cheers mate, thank you so much! I wish I had your memories, relish them...the sweetest days.

  • I just came back to this after a while....thanks for the moral support. People forget that in the 80's I was there and a part of it. It's hard to get the memory of it across- I guess people are just to soulless to understand it...but I'm glad I had the experience- honestly...I didn't think I'd live this long...many of my old friends did not.

  • Thanks! Yes, you know- the last 15 years have been difficult- in the sense that the 1980's were so amazing from my viewpoint. Now, I live an ordinary life- but it's hard to put those old memories away- I'll never forget those times-and nowadays there aren't many people I can share the memories with-that's life I guess! So- it's fun to sit here and watch videos on You Tube that I worked on so long ago! I'm glad to know there are still people like you who appreciate those days- Cheers!

  • Hehe! My sentiments are exactly the same. Actually I had a Commodore 64....funny!

    But often I have to remind people that humans lived for centuries without all this technology-most of which is useless. And my opinion that most of this digital technology has made are world much more unhappy.

    I left the film business in about 1993-when "digital mania" took over. I knew that digital would be the death knell for people who had creative abilities-so I bowed out early-before things became bad.

  • Television was not reality and relevant dramas. It was the era of sitcoms and prime-time serials. Soaps were still important back then as well. Kids could still be kids and not be expected to be young adults at the age of six. In a nutshell, we hadn't truly reached the apex of PC bullcrap yet.

  • or wrote letters. MTV lived up to its title "Music Television". Cable wasn't as far-ranging as it is today, with a zillion station catering to every taste in mankind. Some cable packages didn't carry channels other packages did. HBO was free on our cable back then and played movies. Original programming was generally light-hearted fare. Nickelodeon was not SpongeBob 24/7, ESPN was not SportsCenter all morning long. Besides me, who else looked forward to AT40 with Casey Kasem?

  • This song came out in one of my favorite years for music--1987. For those of us fortunate to have been old enough to live during that time (I was born in 1975), it was wonderful. Music was great, movies were great, TV was great. Sports were better back then too. We didn't have the internet but many of us did have an Apple or Commodore computer in those days (I had a C-64). We didn't have cell phones or blackberries. If you wanted to communicate with your buds you talked on the telephone

  • I feel sorrry for were we are headed. This country this time is a shithole. I hate living now. I wish I was born back in the day!

  • I had to start another post-

    There are many technical/creative reasons that the old videos are superior.

    I could go into it but it's a long discussion.

    I've been fighting this battles for now about 25 years- and I'm tired! Worn Out!

    But if you want to know more I'll be happy to explain!

  • WOW! I can't believe someone responded to my post. I worked on :

    Genesis: "Invisible Touch"

    "Jesus He knows Me", and I worked on

    a number of the tours during the 1980's

    Michael Jackson-"Bad" world tour, "Dirty Diana" "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Smooth Criminal," "Man in the Mirror"

    U2- "Rattle and Hum," Zoo World Tour,

    David Bowie: "Modern Love" tour," Blue Jean"... others- Don Henley: "End of the Innocence"

    Motley Crue: "Girls,Girls,Girls"

    Guns-N-Roses,INXS, Depeche Mode

  • That's quite an impressive resume! Must've been the greatest time of your life.

  • Well not only was I born in 1965- but I was one of the major Cameramen of the 1980's-I shot many famous videos for MTV- but people don't usually believe me. Still it's true- and I miss those times very much- today the creative soul has been lost!

  • Yeah, the styles used in videos today just aren't as good as they used to be. You never see videos like this anymore that's for sure. What major videos did you film?

  • Yes--they were great times. I was fortunately born in '76 and have many warm, fuzzy recollections of that era, not only the music but the movies, too. Although I can't really describe why here, the '80s were great times because the culture was simply a lot different, more easygoing, more optimistic; and young people just had a lot more confidence and creativity when it came to self-expression (and corporate America wasn't quite as stifling as today) LOL.

  • i was born in 1992 and i listen to 80s music i think its fantastic, the fashion, the music everything about the 80s looks magical i wish i lived in those tyms:(

  • i just love it

  • The 80's had great music and was a wonderful time of life. We had Ronald Regan as the head of the free world and THAT is what helped make it great.

  • I really hope you are being ironic.

  • Well a bit yes. Some of the crap we wore was crap. But the rest nope. R.R. was the best leader of the U.S.A. if not the world of the past 100 years.

  • If you pause the vid at 1.11 - you'll see an ad for one of the greatest nights there ever must have been. Russ Winstanley and Richard Searling at Wigan Casino. As for the tune itself - Always got me going

  • These guys put the GREAT into great music.

    I rmemeber them the first time around and still like them all these years later.

    They are still,hip,cool and face it one heck of a group.

    They don't make a group like this anymore and it is truly sad.

    Miss the clothes and the music and my friends scattered across the globe now by time.

    All the younger people missed one of the best times to live in.

  • oh yes ! this is music

  • "BIG BEN" is the name of the clock not the tower....

  • It's actually the name of the bell.

  • I'm getting closer. lol. Wonder what the hell that was about?

  • another one of those songs.... so nice to hear when you need that get away

  • Man... I wish I grew up during this era.

  • Hi William, I've spoken to u before dude! 80's, weren't anything special. There were no PC's, mobile phones. Music was undoubtably better than nowadays though.

  • Dude, I would trade all those technologies in a heartbeat for a superior culture that the 80s had

  • Nice to hear this song once again, I loved this song when I was kid.

  • Spot the straight person and win a major prize!

  • Saw ABC at Metro in Boston 1982..purrrfect!

  • Among the top of 1987 on NEW MUSIC 89 KCFV - KCFV/Ferguson-St. Louis, and was NUMBER 1 on THE SATURDAY MORNING BALLYHOO show with Buzz Carlson.

  • Of course everybody here has enough knowledge of music to know that this is a tribute to Smokey Robinson, right? And furthermore of course everyone noticed the similarities between the lead lines of this song and Smokey's "Tears of a clown".

  • Yep. And that's why this song is so good. A true tribute song.

  • the saxophonists legs in this are the funniest thing i have ever seen!!

  • I'm not sure, are they gay or just european?

  • I don't care what anybody says.... Thats just freakin' funny!!!

  • How dare some asshole give you the thumbs down

  • what a groovin' piece!..remember this pounding through speakers down at nathan philips square in Toronto while we all were ice-skating on the public rink in front of city hall..man those were fun FUN days!..and wha a great tune to be skating to on a crisp winter's evening..great memories..it was fun to be alive then..

  • I love ABC, I'm 25 and going to see them tomorrow night!!

  • I dig the guy on sax!

  • YES, this vid takes yeeeears to load. I dont know why others on YT also take months to load...

  • Can anyone tell me the names of the two in this music video thanks

  • Martin Fry (the lead singer) and Mark White

  • Thanks

  • Why does this vid take so long to download...none of the others in my favorites list does....anyone else find this???

  • ABC was part of that "Second British Invasion" that started with the Eurythmics and Culture Club, and continued with Johnny Hates Jazz, Wham, Swing Out Sister, The Kane Gang, Crowded House, etc. . . Good stuff!!

  • Hence the term "NEW WAVE" everyone. Just in case you ever wondered! It was coined to describe the (just as m64h has pointed out) 2nd British that dominated the billboard charts, the first being (OF COURSE!) The Beatles, Hermin & the Hermits, etc... of the early and mid 60s. Class dismissed, now go smash some hell with the heaven you bring...

  • I thought Crowded House were from New Zealand...

  • Why am I an idiot for saying they are from New Zealand? You're the idiot for trying to make drama out of nothing. Glad they've grown up, now how about you follow suit.

  • and you are a troll. So well done, it's nearly Christmas, haven't you got better things to do other than flame people on Youtube? Friends to visit? No? Shame.

    Reading back through this post I see a fair few posts by you and all are as