ABC S.O.S. Albert Hall 8th April 2009

[spacecricket]

I met Martin Fry when he came to Dallas, Texas back in 2004. He was such a gentleman, and very tall.

[Ravin0sk]

Love this band 10 out of ten

[worldcitizen1797]

Beauty stab is in my all time top 10

[krugerfuchs]

thanks for this you've got fabulous taste in music

[krugerfuchs]

thanks for this man 

[suichi98]

one of my fave songs... hi mr. Singleton, how's ben? getting to be a big boy now, isnt he? :)

[kataka64]

Always loved this one from Beauty Stab .. great that they did at this concert. Is there an official DVD avialable?

[UpMyOwn]

I don't think so. The BBC recorded the concert which was played back on Radio 2 a couple of weeks later.  I recorded it so have an .mp3 of the whole concert. I would be pleased to send you a copy.....

[danaofcamden]

great absolutely great

[funkeebassman]

Mark's chankin guitars,David's nailed beats and Steve's sultry sax along with those beautifully crafted songs,haven't been matched since....not even close!

[soniakiwi]

Listening to this live performance it's like having the skies part and having an angel sing in front of my PC. Thank you ABC! SOS is one of my favorite songs from the band.

[UpMyOwn]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it. We aim to please!

[soniakiwi]

I want to thank people like you who share your talents and music with us online for free or pennies. There have been many occasions where I've seen concerts, videos and other performances that I wasn't able to record and it wasn't available on DVD. The only thing that I had going for me was my memory and hoping that in time that performance would be released again.

[ar4216]

Martin Fry still sounds great.

[fitzjust]

Everyone google wolfgangs vault. There is a brilliant full ABC concert from 1982. Dont miss it!!!!!

[falanjee]

@ukKidA- I completely disagree with your comment about the saxophonist, and for me, it was the best part of the night. From the front row, the sound was amazing and as a highly experienced saxophonist myself, I personally think that the saxophonist did incredibly well. And anyway, what's wrong with a bit of "flashyness"? Congratulations!

But that was an amazing night! ABC were awesome and I wish them all the best. :]

[UpMyOwn]

I wanted to get the best seats in the house and paid top price for the loggia box seats. I wasn't impressed at all. It was too far back from the stage and there was no leg room for the front seats. Next time I will go for stalls. As regards the sax performance, when reproducing a classic song, I think it may be more important to play it the same as the original rather than put your own interpretation on it. If everyone in the band did that it may sound good but it wouldn't be Lexicon!

[whizzkid69]

I would have loved to have been there but was unable to make it.

I trekked with Martin in Venezuela in 2006 he is a top bloke.

I know he is extremely proud of Lexicon and so should EVERYBODY who was involved with it.

[fitzjust]

I agree Beauty Stab is still my favorite ABC album, a raw edge i loved. Steves sax brought a whole synegy to the ABC sound which they never regained after Beauty Stab.

[Guenniistes]

I think, St. Singleton and M.White should not not necessarily asked to play with, because it s a quite a long time since they left the band, but at least they should have been invited as guests and even mentionend in the end; Anne Dudley, Gary Lagan, Treveor Horn, David Palmer, S.S. and M.W.

[ukKidA]

To be fair, Stephen and Mark were both acknowledged in Trevor Horn's speech. But I agree, they should at least have been invited along.

[Guenniistes]

oh, I didn`t know, well then I think that `s ok; both had to be mentioned. And if TH did that, its ok.

to my mind ABC are not as good as MW left the band ( retiring) I loved the real last ABC CD Abracadabra, very stylish and timeless.

[ukKidA]

This is, was and always will be my favourite ABC song (incidently from my favourite ABC album)... but the over-flashy saxophanist messed up Stephen's gorgeous solo.....grrrr!!

[UpMyOwn]

I must agree with you about the sax solo

[zillionairemark]

It baffles me how/why ABC have been so underrated since Lexicon?..for those who've stuck with Martin & co (myself included),we've been the lucky ones..people don't know what they've missed.

[stephensingleton]

thanks for that x

[ukKidA]

Stephen why didn't you do the gig?

[stephensingleton]

i wasn't asked

[ukKidA]

That's shocking. I assume Mark wasn't asked either then?

Stephen- can I ask you why you left the band after Beauty Stab? I would have thought the Zillionaire direction would have been one you would have enjoyed..

[stephensingleton]

I'd had enough of A.B.C , and re the Albert Hall concert . it's Martin's baby now , nothing to do with me anymore , I would have liked to meet up with Trevor ,Gary , Anne again . and I imagine that to do something with the original line up and Lexicon production team would be great , but that will never happen . I still think Lexicon is a fantastic album and I' m very proud to have been a part of the original A.B.C .

[ukKidA]

Lexicon is an outstanding piece of pop art. Also, the neutron label and Vice Versa were both fantastic concepts. But my favourite single(ton) moment would have to be Beauty Stab. Thanks for all the above Stephen.

Aaron

[bigmojocat]

Lexicon is the most beautiful album I have ever heard - my all time favourite, it's totally flawless. What you all produced back then still sounds fab today. I only wish I could have been at the concert to hear it live.

[BC1000stars]

Can't believe you weren't even asked, Stephen. Or Mark. You would think the first people to be invited were those who actually were in the band at the time and played on the album...

[MisterKamikazi]

Stephen, do you know if Luis Jardim was at this performance. He worked closely with ABC during your stint with them.

[stephensingleton]

no idea i wasn't there .

[smallsoph]

thanks xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[petesut1967]

Great song from a great album. Unfortunately it was TOO different from The Lexicon, people just didn't get it. If ABC had released Skyscraping after The Lexicon, they would have been huge.

[BC1000stars]

Beautiful song off such an underrated and misunderstood album Beauty Stab. Everybody wanted Lexicon volume 2 and Martin Fry said, "I'm not looking backwards, we're going in a different direction now". Even the name 'Beauty Stab' indicated that it would not be like Lexicon. Gutsy move, great rocking album too, got typically slagged off in the music press at the time, Martin Fry, you are a legend. Thanks for posting this :-)