ABC

ABC were one of the foremost British synth-pop bands that appeared in the early 1980s, following on from the earlier successes of bands such as Roxy Music and David Bowie. The band was formed under strange circumstances, when Martin Fry, then a music journalist, interviewed the band Vice Versa who, after the interview, asked Fry to join the band as lead vocalist. Fry agreed and changed the name to ABC and also changed the style of the band to lead them in a much more pop and synth orientated direction. Their first album, Lexicon of Love, went to Number 1 in the UK album charts to critical acclaim and their single All My Heart, broke into the Top 10 singles chart soon after. By 1984 ABC had cracked America, gaining two Top 25 single hits in the spring of 1983, thanks in no small part to the MTV Network, who gave their singles' videos significant airplay. Subsequent albums, following line-up changes, moved away from synth-pop towards a more rockier outlook to cope with the shifting of the music industry, but this alienated many fans and ABC soon found it hard to break into the Top 10 on either side of the Atlantic. In recent years, the band has experienced something of a comeback and still tour regularly alongside other Eighties artists such as Spandau Ballet.