Martin Fry an English singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and founding member of ABC, chats with Kevin Cooper about working with Trevor Horn, having sandwiches on his live rider, playing at Sheffield City Hall and their latest album Lexicon Of Love Live due for release on 19th May 2023.

Martin Fry is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. With a career spanning more than forty years he came to prominence in the early 1980’s as co-founder and lead singer of the pop band ABC.

In 1978 Fry edited a fanzine titled Modern Drugs which is when he met future ABC band members, Mark White and Stephen Singleton whilst interviewing them for the fanzine. At the time they were fronting an electronic band called Vicer Versa and they invited Fry to join them.

With Fry in place as lead singer and lyricist, they changed their name to ABC. Between 1982 and 1991 they recorded six studio albums, The Lexicon Of Love, Beauty Stab, How To Be A…Zillionaire! Alphabet City, Up, and Abracadabra, and released a greatest hits album called Absolutely.

ABC disbanded in 1991 and Fry continued to work with EMI but left the label before he could release any of his solo work. The band was resurrected in 1997 and in 2008 they released a new ABC album titled Traffic.

In April 2009, Fry and original drummer David Palmer performed The Lexicon Of Love album live at The Royal Albert Hall. The band was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Anne Dudley of Art of Noise fame, who arranged and played keyboards on the original album, conducted the performance.

In April 2016 a single with a music video, Viva Love, was released as a teaser for The Lexicon Of Love II album. It entered the UK albums chart at number five, the band’s highest chart position since 1982 and first top ten entry since 1990.

In 2012 he received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Sheffield for his contribution of more than thirty years to music.

Whilst busy promoting the release of the Lexicon Of Love Live album which is due for release on 19^th May, Fry took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Martin, good afternoon, how are you today?

Hello Kevin, I’ve been expecting your call, and yes, all is good thank you. In fact all is very good indeed.

Before we move on let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

No, thank you, it’s not a problem. In fact it’s always a pleasure whenever we get to chat and attempt to put the world to rights (laughter).

I have to ask, just how is life treating you at this moment in time?

It’s not too bad but it’s so cold isn’t it. We really do need some sunshine (laughter). I suppose that I shouldn’t complain really as I have just returned from South Beach in Miami, and then I moved onto Orlando where I have been playing some shows out there.

You quite obviously like your sunshine as the last time that you and I spoke you had just returned from Marrakesh.

Yes, I remember that well (laughter). Now that really is a nice part of the world. You really should get yourself over there as soon as you can.

We will talk about that later, but in the meantime, I want to ask you how did you manage to keep yourself active and sane during lockdown?

That’s easy; it was all down to my family, my family most definitely. I have got a shed at the end of the garden and believe it or not, I kept re-painting it all different colours, and I have to say, it really does look fantastic. I also have a small allotment where I used to grow cucumbers and stuff; that really is sad isn’t it (laughter). My garden played a huge part in keeping me sane as it encouraged me to get out into the open and to take in some fresh air. Some days were worse than others for everybody. In a way it was good to be able to get back to nature and I personally feel that some of that has got to go on, you can feel it.

We have to talk about the new live album but before we do, if I may, I would like to take you back some forty years to the release of the original Lexicon Of Love album. Just where the hell did those years go?

(Laughter) I know, four whole decades which could contain a whole adventure, and let me tell you that a hell of a lot has happened during those forty years (laughter). It was the fortieth anniversary of the original album being released so we wanted to document just what it was that we had been doing live on stage during the past few years, especially the stuff that we had been doing with the orchestra, with The Southbank Symphonia and with Anne Dudley. So, we recorded the show at The City Hall in Sheffield. So I guess that makes the original studio album our demo for the new live album (laughter). Forty years ago, I wrote a few songs, and we recorded a whole load of different songs, and I have to say that it is really great to be able to run the Lexicon stuff together, in sequence.

When you first wrote and recorded the album, could you ever envisage that here we are some forty years later, and the songs are still so popular?

Not at all, no way, fifteen minutes is a long time, fifteen milliseconds is a long time in pop music. I can still remember driving back to Chesterfield in the van, listening to the monito mixes of Poison Arrow. We had been down to the Sarm East Recording Studios in Whitechapel, London, where Bohemian Rhapsody was recorded. We had been working with Trevor (Horn) who gave us a cassette of the mix halfway through the recording session, and we must have played that cassette until it fell apart. It was great listening to it.

You have mentioned Trevor. What was it like working with him for the first time?

What can I say, Trevor is great. He has got a really good sense of humour. Let me put it this way; there are two things about Trevor that you cannot help but like. Firstly, he has got a very mischievous sense of humour and secondly, he has got a very low boredom threshold. So, as long as he is laughing and you are all having a really good laugh, then you will always get things done. But if he isn’t, he is kind of like a coach, like I would imagine Eric Ten Hag would be at Manchester United. If an idea wasn’t working, he would just kind of drift off. However, if it was working then we would have a wonderful time recording it. It really was a lot of fun working with Trevor.

I have to tell you that I played the original album earlier today and I have to say that I personally feel that it sounds as good today as it did some forty years ago now. Would you agree with that?

It’s quite surreal really isn’t it? I have to say that forty years is a hell of a long time. In answer to your question, I don’t really know as I feel that the album has a life of its own. As soon as you finish something it’s done, it becomes public property and it’s out there. It then becomes down to the audience, they own it, I no longer own it, I merely perform it. I will agree with you and say yes, sometimes it does feel fresh. It is really hard for me to describe that, because a lot of music has come and gone since, a lot of trends come and go, and I can hear a lot of influences of eighties stuff in a lot of today’s productions, even Taylor Swift or The Weeknd. A lot of Max Martins productions today have an element of those shiny pop records from back in the eighties.

There were five hit singles on the album. Did you at the time realise that you had recorded something special?

(Laughter) looking back, we were really Gung Ho about trying to make our debut album catch people’s imaginations, so we worked really hard on that. Everybody who collaborated on the record really did try to do that including all the guys in the band. We all spent a lot of time trying to make it the best that we possibly could. But I don’t know really. I know that I wanted the album to find itself in a few record collections, but I had no idea that some forty years later we would still be playing it.

Coming right up to date, whose idea was it to put it out as a live album?

I suppose that would have been mine. I had listened to Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! by The Rolling Stones and also Live At Leeds by The Who and it was those live albums that introduced me to those bands as a young lad growing up in the seventies. I thought that it would be nice to showcase the legacy of what it is that we are doing now with the orchestra. Some of the orchestral parts are so beautiful. Some of the work that Anne Dudley has put into it, and the way that the band were playing, I really did want to capture that, and that is why it felt right for us to put out a live recording. Sometimes, people will put out acoustic versions of their songs, whereas we went in the other direction. We went out and actually made more complex versions of our songs; symphonic versions of our songs. That was the way in which I wanted to do it really.

You have briefly mentioned the Sheffield City Hall. Once the decision had been made to release a live album there was only one show that it could be, wasn’t there?

Yes, there was, and I have to say that it really was irresistible. I didn’t want to record twenty shows and edit them together, like people used to do years ago. I simply wanted to capture the magic of that one night, and whatever went on during that one night at the City Hall. Whenever we play Sheffield, it is always emotional, but I knew that if it was the fortieth anniversary then it had to be the show at Sheffield City Hall. The band hadn’t played the orchestral show for a while, so I knew that it was going to be an emotional evening for everybody, and it was. Having said that, we played the Royal Albert Hall the following night and I have to say that was a killer show as was the Bridgewater Hall the night before, but as you rightly say, it just had to be Sheffield (laughter).

I have to be totally honest with you and say that the album really did surprise me because back in the day live albums were either great or a train crash.

I totally agree with you, there really were a lot of terrible live albums out there (laughter). I wanted to do something that showed that we really are a live band. We don’t use any sequencing, nor do we use any vari-tuning or stuff like that, and that is how the band has evolved over the years. That’s one of the reasons why we augmented so well with the orchestra. It was the live stage that we wanted to capture, that’s all really. We really did want to do the songs justice.

Obviously, people have heard The Lexicon Of Love but the live album is like The Lexicon Of Love on steroids almost, with even more musicians on stage (laughter). I think that I soon realised that I couldn’t take it any bigger, so it was the time for us to record it as a document for what we have been doing. I sometimes play those songs just on an acoustic guitar, and strip it right back, which is really popular now, isn’t it?

Yes, it is.

For example, Mad World, a classic Tears For Fears track being performed by a young singer acoustically but what we have done is a totally different approach.

The only way to record a live show back in the day was to use The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio, but thankfully technology has since moved on (laughter).

(Laughter) yes, that’s right. Those buggers must have made a fortune from their mobile recording studio (laughter). The art of recording now days is, thankfully, a lot more refined; you can even do it on your mobile phone. I have to tell you that whenever we play live, we have two sound desks, we have evolved the show over a long period of time and we now have two guys on two desks because it was far too much for one guy to do. There was a hell of a lot to balance.

You have got six Cellos, four Violas, six Violins, a drummer behind perspex, a bass player, and the percussionists, so there really was a hell of a lot to balance and so that was one of the main reasons as to why I wanted to record it really, seeing just how hard it was for them.

You have mentioned that The Albert Hall gig was a blast. Having now listened to the Sheffield City Hall gig, are you happy with it or are there parts that you perhaps feel could have gone better?

I just like it; in fact, I love it. You can almost taste the excitement on the record. I honestly do not think that it could have gone better. Sometimes, there are a few moments over a two-hour show that will get fluffed, but I personally feel that simply adds to the authenticity of it all and I am so pleased; it really was a great show in Sheffield.

I think that the live album takes the original studio album to another level. Would you agree with that?

Yes, we wanted to try and do that in a way, yes because forty years had gone by. I wanted the live album to sit next to the original, proudly alongside the original recording. That is what ABC are all about. As you know I am a perfectionist and there are a couple of moments when I fluffed a line or two and I thought, ‘I could go back into the studio and re-record those parts’, but I just thought, ‘no, its fine’ (laughter). I wanted to capture exactly what had happened throughout the whole show. In a show it builds up to a climax, then it drops and builds back up again, and I also realised when I was mixing the album that the crowd have a lot of influence on just how we play.

That was the very first time that I had realised that. The way that they respond to stuff; it’s quite hard because it got really loud in every intro. Whenever people hear the beginning of a song and they recognise it, they start cheering (laughter). I was going to leave that out, but I thought, ‘no, leave it in; it’s the excitement of the night’.

I actually wrote down when I was listening to the album that it captures everything that is good about ABC.

That’s good, thank you for saying that. It is really good to hear you say that so thank you.

In my opinion your voice is sounding better than ever. Is there anything in particular that you do to help keep it in shape?

Thanks very much, I really do enjoy singing, and I have to say that in my opinion it is a two-way street. I personally feel that the more you sing the more warmed up you get. I have toured a hell of a lot and have climbed inside those songs, but I am lucky because sometimes people’s voices just go, so I really don’t know what to say (laughter). It’s like a football player running a hundred metres, whilst you can do it, it feels great, and that is currently where I am at. To be totally honest with you, I’m terrible.

I warm up a little before a show; some singers have a very elaborate process and preparation prior to a show but I just wander around chatting to everybody, waiting to get myself on stage (laughter). Some guys will get up in the morning and not speak to anyone until its show time, but that’s not me. What is good for me is to have played a couple of shows during that week; I find that oils my voice.

It’s good to see that you haven’t adopted the Mick Hucknall method of staying healthy. I’ve heard that whenever he walks down the corridors at the Arena the staff have to turn their back to him and face the wall (laughter).

Is that how it works (laughter). I’ve never tried that, but Phil (Oakey) tried it once. Phil and I were stood on the stairs at The Hammersmith Odeon once when he tried it. He has never tried it again (hysterical laughter). Maybe, if someone looks at you it depletes your charisma; I don’t know what happens (laughter). What I will say is that there is no hiding place whenever you get on stage; once you are out there on stage you are totally naked. It’s not just remembering the words and singing the songs in tune and in time, you are also carrying the weight of people’s expectations too. It was my birthday recently and let me tell you, I’m not getting any younger (laughter). To me, it always feels like a great privilege whenever I get on stage to sing those songs.

Will you tour again with the Sinfonia?

Yes, I think we will. The Southbank Sinfonia are a very young orchestra, and I have to say that Anne Dudley is incredible. Her experience with orchestras is phenomenal. Somebody once said to me, “what was it like working with Anne, working with a female conductor” and quite honestly, I had never thought about Anne in that way. In a man’s world, where most orchestra conductors are men, there is Anne, a woman. I have to say of course that is the case, but I had never really thought that through. She is an incredible talent and that is just the way that it is. I have known Anne for years, so the chance for us to work together really was great.

We will most probably tour again with Anne and the Southbank Sinfonia sometime in January or February next year. As I said, the Southbank Sinfonia is a very young orchestra and it is an orchestra where people come in order to play in their first orchestra, so there is a lot of energy there which is great. We did a SKY TV Arts programme, and they filmed us playing at the Palladium, when we performed eleven songs there, so that’s due to be released sometime soon too. We did that in order to compliment the live album, and to show people just what we are like on stage.

Did you have any problems sourcing vinyl or cardboard in order to get the album pressed?

I have to say that I think that it is a lot easier than it was a couple of years ago. Isn’t it a shame that they shut down all of those vinyl factories in the UK. Somebody was not thinking straight when they did that (laughter). I know that people still cut vinyl in Slovakia and various places now. I would love to own a vinyl factory; I would love that job (laughter).

The last time that you and I spoke, you told me that you had written six new songs for a new album. How is that coming along?

(Laughter) well, what can I say, there are always new songs being written. For us to do the live record and to celebrate the fortieth anniversary, it clears the deck so in the future I would love to do another record; another new album with all new songs. As you know, I am always writing; writing for me is now like a hobby.

I see that you are playing the 80s Mix Tape 2023 Weekender at Darley Park Derby on Saturday 26^th August. Are you playing anymore?

Yes, we are, there are quite a few dates coming up this year, I really must get my Bandsintown App working. I am currently having a few problems with it. Whenever you book a show, it then goes directly onto your website, so yes, we do have a number of shows coming up this summer. So, what can I say except watch this space (laughter). One show that I am really excited about playing is the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, on Saturday 20^th May. Also on the bill are Siouxsie, Iggy Pop, and Billy Idol, to name but a few. I really am excited about playing there, I can’t wait.

What is on Martin Fry’s live rider?

My rider, (hysterical laughter). I think that my rider is one of the easiest riders going really partly because I stopped drinking when I reached forty. That really has shrunk my rider considerably (laughter). At a recent convention gig over in Orlando, they gave me a gift bag which contained a pair of those incredible MAC headphones and stuff like that (laughter). I should really put electronic goods on my rider. But to answer your question, it is basically a packet of mints, some non-alcoholic beers; I have just discovered Zero Guinness, the zero alcohol in a can and let me tell you, it’s a work of art (laughter).

I think I might have to change the rider. The thing that I always insist are on my rider are sandwiches, I’m a bit of a sandwich geek. You arrive at the gig, you arrive at the theatre, and you eat sandwiches, but I did have to take off all things chocolate (laughter). Other than that, it really wasn’t very decadent at all (laughter). My wife said to me, “you really must try to eat healthily” (laughter).

On that note Martin, let me once again thank you for your time, it’s always great whenever you and I get to catch up.

Likewise Kevin, you take care, and I will see you at a gig this summer. Make sure that you come over and say hello.

Martin Fry, singer songwriter with ABC chats with Kevin Cooper about his dodgy dress sense, August Darnell of Kid Creole & The Coconuts, a new studio album next year and his forthcoming tour of the UK

Martin Fry is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer whose career spans more than 30 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980’s as the lead singer of the new wave band ABC.

Their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon Of Love was a UK number one and they achieved ten UK and five US top forty hit singles between 1981 and 1990. He is the only member who has been with ABC throughout its entire history and is currently its only original member. He continues to tour as ABC and in 2016 released his ninth studio album, The Lexicon Of Love II.

Last year he toured that album with the Southbank Symphonia Orchestra which was conducted by Anne Dudley, when he played too sold out venues.

Touring later in the year with special guests Kid Creole & The Coconuts, he took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Martin how are you?

I’m very well Kevin thanks for asking. How are you?

I’m good thank you and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

It’s a pleasure as always.

And just how is life treating you today?

Life is very good, life is precious but I have got to say it’s a good thing.

Before we talk about your forthcoming tour I have to ask, The Lexicon Of Love II were you pleased with just how well the album was received?

Yes, I was in fact I was overjoyed really. The response to the album was phenomenal. I have to say that making the record was a challenge because I hadn’t made anything for a very long time. I didn’t really know how people would respond to new material and in particular The Lexicon Of Love II in 2016 when it came out. But the response has been fantastic. It feels good playing The Flames Of Desire and Viva Love alongside The Look Of Love, Poison Arrow and When Smokey Sings; the older hits.

You toured the album with the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra who were conducted by Anne Dudley. Were you please with how well everything fitted together?

Yes I was. We recently played our final gig of the tour at the Royal Albert Hall which concluded a whole bunch of touring that we had done with the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra with Anne Dudley conducting and I have to say that yes, it worked really well. It really did work well.

Will the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra be with you on the forthcoming tour?

No they won’t because we have redesigned the whole show completely. Yes there will be violins and cellos but there won’t be a full orchestra. It’s going to be more like Roxy Music on steroids (laughter). The whole show is going to be polished.

And I hear that you will have a certain Mr August Darnell opening for you won’t you?

(Laughter) yes that’s right, we have invited Kid Creole & The Coconuts to open for us on this tour. As you rightly point out, Mr August Darnell who I believe lived not too far from you Kevin for a while (laughter).

That’s correct he did indeed (laughter).

I first fell in love with August’s work when I heard him singing with Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, the band that he had way back and also when he was joined by The Coconuts throughout the 80s. I have run into August a number of times over the years and he truly is a brilliant lyricist and a great songwriter.

And like your good self he also wears a fine line in clothing.

(Laughter) that’s very kind of you to say. And yes you are perfectly correct, August really does have a few nice suits and he is always impeccably dressed whenever I have met him in recent years. To me it really does feel like a good fit. I will be bringing my tuxedo and I think that it is going to be a pretty elegant affair when we all go out on tour together on the XYZ Tour.

So what was it that drew you to Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band?

Back in the day I felt that they were a fusion of disco and new wave I think that you would call it back then. I have worked with some brilliant acts and artists on a number of stages but it will be a lot of fun with August and the guys.

You will be bringing the XYZ Tour to the Royal Concert Hall here in Nottingham on Sunday 12^th November, just what can we expect?

It will give me the opportunity to put the spotlight on the ABC back catalogue in order to open things up. Playing with an orchestra is different to playing with a band. We are going to augment with some violins and cellos and play a really rocking show. It is going to be a really upbeat affair. It’s a fantastic venue and I always really do have a great time whenever we play there.

Will it cover the whole ABC back catalogue?

It’s going to be pretty jam packed yes. There will also be some new songs in there too, but believe me it is always a pleasure for me to get up onto the stage and sing All Of My Heart, Poison Arrow, Look Of Love and When Smokey Sings.

Will there be any surprises, any reinterpretations of old songs?

That’s what this tour gives us the chance to do really, to go back. The confidence that we have got from the reaction to The Lexicon Of Love II means that we can now push things forward most definitely.

You must be pleased with just how well the tickets are selling for the forthcoming tour?

It’s been fantastic having the momentum of touring, following on from last year’s tour that we did, building our reputation I suppose. Playing live is something that you never quite perfect but you do get better at it as the years roll by. I always want to put on a show that entertains. When you are on stage it has nothing to do with the past, it is all about that moment there and then, so I want to put on a great show for our audiences which is what I always try to do.

I have taken a look this morning and I have to tell you that the Royal Concert Hall is already fifty percent sold out for this year’s tour.

Oh is it, that’s great because the tickets for Nottingham only went on sale a few days ago now. That’s really great, that’s brilliant. I like playing live because it gives me the time and opportunity to sell more merchandise. Last year it was a handkerchief so this year I will have to think of something else just as sartorial (laughter). Let’s be honest, I have got Kid Creole breathing down my neck so I think that I have got to get myself down Saville Row haven’t I (laughter).

Is the Kid still wearing his hats?

Yes he is, in fact the last time that I saw him he was wearing a boater. However, we were in Henley by the river.

Is he trying to outdo your look when in the video for The Look Of Love you were wearing a boater and a striped blazer (laughter).

(Laughter) that’s right. The style police used to come round to my house back in the 90s and try to arrest me for crimes against fashion but I weathered the storm (laughter). Whenever you were making those videos you could pretty much wear whatever you wanted to wear. You are right; in the Look Of Love video I am wearing a candy-striped blazer and a boater. I also worked with puppets, animals and children and those are no-go areas for anyone in show business (laughter). What can I say but I survived, I survived those years (hysterical laughter). Let’s just put it down to being the MTV Years.

When we last spoke you mentioned that you were about to start working on a new studio album. At what stage are you at with that?

Well I have written six songs so I am currently writing and collaborating with a number of people. We have a couple of songs called Look Good Tonight and The Life And Times Of A Troubadour together with a few autobiographical songs which will be on the album. It is actually all starting to come together. I didn’t want to leave it ten years until the next album (laughter). I was actually trying to be a little more realistic this time.

Do you have a release date in mind?

It will most probably be released sometime in the early part of next year.

When did you feel most musically satisfied?

Thursday night at the Royal Albert Hall. We peaked when we played Flames Of Desire alongside The Look Of Love; that felt really good I have to say.

Whenever you perform at the Royal Albert Hall do you ever get nervous thinking of all the great acts that have played there before you?

It’s funny, at the Royal Albert Hall there are pictures of (Frank) Sinatra, David Bowie and The Beatles all over the walls of the dressing rooms. No it doesn’t make you nervous, in fact it makes you raise your game.

Who has musically inspired you?

In recent times I would have to say that Anne Dudley has been an inspiration. In the past it would have been Bowie, Roxy Music, Prince, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. I do like a lot of old Motown. To be honest with you I am inspired all of the time by music. I really do love music.

What was the first record that you bought?

That was Voodoo Child (Slight Return) by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. That is still an incredible piece of music. It cost me a whole six shillings (laughter). Because it is a really long track they had to split it into parts one and two over Side A and Side B.

Who did you first see performing live in concert?

Funnily enough I can remember it vividly. It was Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel but opening up for them was a band called Sailor. I am going to be doing a show this summer with Steve Harley and I am hoping to be able to take a selfie of me with Steve. And let me tell you I intend to bore him with the story of my first ever live gig when I see him (laughter). So Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel were the first band that I ever saw but technically it was the support act Sailor. Its brilliant when you first go to a show, you sit down and spend the whole evening looking at the PA System and the dry ice thinking ‘wow, those speakers are big’ (laughter). It’s the best feeling ever. Of course a thousand shows later you tend to get a bit cynical but I just remember how exciting it was sitting in a theatre for your first gig.

What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?

That was Automaton by Jamiroquai. I really do love that record.

On that note Martin let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me. It’s been a pleasure once again and I will see you here in Nottingham.

Thanks Kevin you take care and The Kid and I will see you when we get to Nottingham. Bye for now.

Martin Fry, singer songwriter of ABC fame chats with Kevin Cooper about his recent holiday in Marrakech, being awarded an honorary Doctor of Music Degree from The University of Sheffield, the release of his latest album The Lexicon Of Love II and his forthcoming tour of the UK

Martin Fry is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer whose music career spans more than 30 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980’s as the lead singer of the new wave band ABC.

Their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon Of Love was a UK number one and they achieved ten UK and five US top forty hit singles between 1981 and 1990. He is the only member who has been with ABC throughout its entire history and is currently its only member. He continues to tour as ABC and in 2016 released his ninth studio album, The Lexicon Of Love II.

Whilst busy working on some new scores with Anne Dudley for the London Southbank Symphonia, he took the time to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Martin how are you?

Hi Kevin, I’m very well indeed thanks for asking. How are things up there in Nottingham?

To be honest with you it is sunny and warm today.

That’s good then. All is well in Nottingham (laughter).

I was going to thank you for finally taking the time to speak to me. The last time that we had an interview arranged you left me hanging and flew out to Marrakech you naughty man (laughter).

(Laughter) well I thought that the interview was for The Marrakech Times (laughter).

I have to say that looking at your pictures on Twitter it really did look very nice.

I love Marrakech, it really is fantastic. It is really very quiet at this time of year as everybody moves out because it is so hot.

I love Egypt but obviously it is a no-go area now.

I find Marrakech to be far more relaxed than Egypt. I have been to Sharm El Sheikh a couple of times now but I always find it to be hard core especially when you compare it to Marrakech. You should go Kevin, it is totally different over there in Morocco and I am sure that you would love it. It is much more relaxed than Egypt.

I just might give it a try. Now back to this interview; I have to ask just how is life treating you?

Life is good. The sun is out, the new album is out so all in all life in general is all very good. I am particularly looking forward to touring with the London Southbank Symphonia. I am currently working on some new scores with Anne Dudley for the orchestra, for some of the songs off the new album, the Lexicon Of Love II.

I have to mention your voice. I have seen you now a couple of times in recent months and I personally think that your voice is getting better. Would you agree with that?

Thank you very much, it’s so kind of you to say that. I do try to look after the voice and if I receive comments like that then I must be doing something right.

I recently spoke to your old sparring partner Tony Hadley and he persisted in calling you Saint Martin. Just what is that all about?

Oh he does does he (laughter). He has never called me that to my face. Tony is currently recording over in Italy at the moment but I will be having words with him when he gets back to the UK (laughter).

You are obviously very good friends?

It’s funny but me and Tony are very different but also very similar in many ways. During all of these years of singing our journeys have been very similar. Tony is just like me in the fact that he loves performing on stage, now more than ever before. Part of me is like that too plus we are both over six feet tall (laughter).

Do you still enjoy touring?

Yes I do, in fact I feel that it is a great honour for me to get up on stage in 2016 and play the hits and perform them so that they mean something today to the audience. They really do have to mean a lot to the audience or why bother.

When you recorded The Lexicon Of Love back in 1982 did you realise that you had recorded something special?

We had a hit with Tears Are Not Enough and then we went over to work with Trevor Horn at the Sarm East Studios which were based on Osborne Street at the southern end of Brick Lane in East London. And let me tell you that it was a lot less bohemian and trendy as it is today (laughter). It really was a rough old part of town. I think that Poison Arrow was really the indication that things were working out really well. The times were very exciting but no, I didn’t think that the album was special at all, not really. I had initially wanted to have made a twelve track album. I wanted us to be like The Ramones but we finally made a ten track album with a reprise (laughter).

Could you ever have envisaged that the album would still be as popular today as it was back then?

No, not at all. I never thought that people would be listening to the music all these years later.

Coming right up to date with The Lexicon Of Love II, I have to ask you why now after thirty-four years?

Throughout the years people have constantly been asking me to make a follow up album and it was only recently that I was playing a show and I had gathered up a bunch of songs that I had written and it was at that point that I thought that it was time for me to make a very lavish orchestral album. Peoples memory of The Lexicon Of Love is of it being very polished, sharp, funky and I was ready to make an album like that but which reflected today, 2016. So with songs like Confessions Of A Fool, Flames Of Desire, Ten Below Zero and Viva Love, I felt that it was the right time for me to put out the record.

What was the inspiration for the album?

At the time I had been watching a lot of Netflix and I particularly like watching thirty-six episodes of the same programme and so I thought that a follow-up album wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. I felt that it would give the people out there the opportunity to find out what had happened to the characters on the original album and to see just how we have all grown up.

I have to say that, in my opinion, you have done it marvellously well because half of the tracks that you have mentioned could have, in fact come from the original album back in 1982.

I really did want to write a whole bunch of brand new music because I play a lot of shows and a lot of the artists that I meet are very nostalgic, and they just tend to live in the past but I don’t really. I want to get myself up on stage and try to cook it up a bit; making it as exciting as possible in 2016. I wanted to make a record that reminded my audience, the ABC audience of our glorious past but also bought us smack bang up into the present day. So that is why the album is called The Lexicon Of Love II, it is a continuation. However, I have to say that I didn’t want to make a record that could have been made in 1982. It is a very modern sounding record with the orchestra and a very polished sound.

Are you happy with just how well the album has been received?

Yes I am, very happy. It was a big challenge to go back into the studio and make it but people who had worked on the original, fans and people who have got the original seem to really like this and have accepted it as being another piece of the story.

I recently read that you had forty tracks to pick from. Was there ever any danger of it becoming a double album?

(Laughter) to be honest with you I did in fact discuss that with the label but in the current climate albums have gone back to having ten or eleven tracks on them haven’t they. For a while, back in the days of the great double albums, it was eighteen songs but it can get a little bit tedious especially by the time you get to side four (laughter). Personally, I love The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia together with Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde but after those I can’t think of many more great double albums.

So what will happen to the songs that failed to make it onto The Lexicon Of Love II?

Well I do have quite a few songs left don’t I, so it would be really nice for me to make another record that is very different again from The Lexicon Of Love I and II (laughter).

Are you looking forward to the tour and getting the album out there live?

For me to be able to get back out on the road and to perform with the London Southbank Symphonia and Anne Dudley is absolutely great. It brings the whole thing up to the scale and size of the record. We have played a few shows in the past, although we have never played in Nottingham, so that will be a first for us.

You have to be pleased with just how quickly the tour is selling out?

Yes I am very pleased, the whole tour is selling out really quickly. Nottingham was the last date that we added to the tour and all in all it is selling really well.

You co-produced the album, was that something that you enjoyed?

I took the album over to Gary Stevenson who is a really good old-school producer. Gary has worked with people such as Rick Astley, Go West and thousands of other artists who you have probably never heard of. From my point of view it felt good for me to get back into the studio with Gary. Gary made it sound really special with the strings, together with the light instrumentation and I have to say that, in my opinion, it worked out really well working with Gary.

On 19^th July 2012 you received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Sheffield. Was that a special moment for you?

Yes it was, very much so. It was a great feeling for me to go back to Sheffield. What made it extra special was that my daughter Nancy received her degree from the Department of Sociological Studies from Sheffield University on the same day. She keeps telling me that I didn’t have to do any work for my degree (laughter). I suppose that she is both right and wrong at the same time. I had written a speech for the students and Nancy was great, she helped me through it because all of my reference points were from back in 1982 (laughter). She told me that all of the bars and the names had changed on most of the streets and so she helped me rewrite my speech so that it made sense to an audience of twenty-one year olds (laughter).

Being back at Sheffield University did it bring back happy memories?

Yes it did it really did because that it where we started really.

Why has Sheffield always produced great bands?

That’s easy, they always used to put something into the Ladybower Reservoir (laughter). To be honest with you it was a golden period when I lived there because there were so many killer bands like The Human League, Def Leppard, Cabaret Voltaire, Pulp and dozens more. It’s hard to say but Sheffield was a very creative place, in fact it still is with today’s bands from The Artic Monkeys onwards.

Who has influenced you along the way?

When I was first starting out I was heavily influenced by David Bowie and Bryan ferry. But these days I am influenced by a lot of the contemporary records that come through. There are some really good songwriters out there. What inspires me is that I am able to go into a studio today and come up with something brand new. That is still a magical thing for me.

After the tour what next for Martin Fry, just how far ahead are you planning?

Well I am going to go over to America and play some shows over there and also play a few throughout Europe. After that it would be nice to make a brand new album.

I will be shooting the show here in Nottingham but I will be watching the show over at The Birmingham Symphony Hall because I personally feel that it lends itself to what you are trying to do with the tour.

That sounds great and please do come and say hello.

On that note Martin let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me and I look forward to seeing you in Birmingham and Nottingham.

Thanks very much Kevin. I hope to see you soon. You take care and bye for now.

Midge Ure, Bananarama, Martin Fry (ABC) and Tony Hadley performing at The Newark Riverside Festival on Saturday 18th June 2016.

Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Over 5,000 people at The Newark Festival armed with chairs, blankets and not needed brollies cheered when the former Ultravox frontman, Midge Ure commenced the nights proceedings. Setting the bar very high he treated this crowd to a trip down memory lane, where they remained for the entire evening.

Opening with Hymn, he was quickly into the swing of things with the delightful Fade To Grey and the moving No Regrets. One Small Day, If I Was and Loves Greatest Adventure got this crowd going before the greatest song which never topped the charts, Vienna, resounded around this delightful riverside setting. Finishing his set with crowd favourite, Dancing With Tears In Your Eyes, there weren’t many not singing along with him.

Up next was Bananarama, one of the most successful bands in the world having sold over 30 million records. Since 1992 there have only been the two of them, but they still knew how to whip this crowd up. Cruel Summer showed what they were about, as did Nathan Jones and Shy Boy. Stock, Aitken & Waterman’s I Want You Back upped the tempo, whilst their slight technical difficulties did not stop the crowd from dancing to Love In The First Degree and set closer Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).

Gone was the gold lamé but now more subtlety attired in an Ozwald Boateng suit, Martin Fry took to the stage. Having trekked through the rainforest ten years ago to the top of Mount Roraima with Richard Drummie (Go West) and Tony Hadley, it was not any surprise to find him on the same bill as his ‘old mucker’ Tony.

Showing that he has still got the voice and the moves, he was rapturously received by this crowd. Opening with Show Me, his set just got better and better. There were a couple of new songs from his latest album, The Lexicon Of Love II, in the form of Viva Love and Ten Below Zero, which were very well received. But it was Fry’s well-loved oldies that delighted this crowd. Favourites like Tears Are Not Enough, When Smokey Sings and The Look Of Love had this nostalgic crowd dancing and singing as though time had stood still.

Bringing a fabulous evening of nostalgic overload to a climax was Spandau Ballet frontman, Tony Hadley, who delivers exactly what it says on the tin; great music, amusing banter and a killer voice. Opening with slow number Feeling Good, he soon had the crowd on their feet with To Cut A Long Story Short and Highly Strung. But it was huge 80’s hits Gold and True that this crowd had come to hear and he did not disappoint. Too soon this enjoyable evening ended, and as this crowd made their way home, there weren’t many not singing their favourite song.