ABC - Be Near Me (Phonogram)

This sounds like a B side. They've never been the same without Trevor Horn and they're no good at producing themselves. The song is weak and I don't like this four-piece line-up. Pleasant enough, I suppose, but I don't think it'll be a hit. It doesn't sound glamorous enough. Thumbs down! (Curt Smith, Record Mirror, March 30, 1985)

Rose: Lots of nice sounds. The main melody is dead good but I can't get very excited by the song. Jill: This is much more like the ABC of old. I thought it was weak at first but I really like it now. There's a good toy piano on it. I feel a bit cheeky saying this but I wish they didn't look so daft. (Strawberry Switchblade, Smash Hits, March 28, 1985)

ABC - How To Be A Millionaire (Phonogram)

ABC's Beauty Stab was, for me, one of the albums of '83. Precise, socially-aware lyrics beefed up into a heady rock mixture, - Here Martin Fry and Mark White - with two new members aboard - take the fashionable and logical next step. They throw their weight behind pounding electro rhythms in an ironic, scathing attack on money politics. Radical dance music of the first order. File next to "Fascist Groove Thang". (Martin Townsend, No1, November 3, 1984)

PH: There's a melody line in there which is very similar to Shannon's "Let The Music Play". It's the kind of fractured rhythm that you wish would settle down. AM: Sounded like a production in search of a song. I wanted to like that one, what have you done? (Andy & Paul of OMD, Record Mirror, November 3, 1984)

Why ABC should want to make a weak New York dance record is beyond me. Nevertheless, here we have Martin Fry crooning over a reasonable imitation of one of Shannon's backing tracks. There's no originality or feeling - ABC are just desperately apeing an already over-imitated sound. Obvious proof of a lack of material and a crisis of confidence and direction within their ranks. (Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, November 8, 1984)

ABC - All Of My Heart (Phonogram)

Ever since The Lexicon Of Love made its appearance, it's been obvious that this particular tune was its pride and joy and a natural monster hit. A stately arrangement full of elegant flourishes and studded with truly memorable detail encases Fry's courtly vocal and simply compels you to play it again and again. This record is going to number one. Not least because I have money on it. (David Hepworth, Smash Hits, September 2, 1982)

ABC - S.O.S. (Phonogram)

ABC lost a fair number of admirers with the new 'heavy' style of their Beauty Stab LP. But if they did get a little bit too raunchy at times, this lush ballad is not an offender. As ever Martin Fry's preoccupied with love and all the problems it brings, but the lyrics aren't as clever clever as they have been in the past. The apple crumble saga, for instance, is not continued. I like it. So there. (Karen Swayne, No 1, January 14, 1984)

It's always a bit sad when the best part of a record is the fade. The song is slight and Martin Fry sounds as if he'd rather be anywhere but in front of a microphone. Then after a cosy sax solo from Steve Singleton the singalong fade begins. But even with Frankie Goes To Hollywood on backing vocals, it isn't quite epic enough. Shame. (Ian Birch, Smash Hits, January 5, 1984)

It really is a waste of time asking me to review this. If this type of music has any merit then it completely escapes me. They call heavy metal moronic. This makes it sound like Sibelius. (Lemmy, Record Mirror, January 14, 1984)

ABC - Look Of Love (Phonogram)

A hit, beyond doubt. But even Martin Fry's best vocal performance yet over a Trevor Horn production so rich you could probably grow your tomatoes in it, can't disguise the fact that this is a pretty thin song. Meanwhile, can anyone, be they man, beast or Fry, explain to me the line: 'If you judge the book by the cover/Then you judge the look by the lover'? I throw down the gauntlet. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, May 13, 1982)

ABC - Vanity Kills (Phonogram)

Musically, a little more like the old ABC that most know and love, with a middle bit sounding like David Bowie's "Fame" thrown in as well. But the lyrics - considering that they're by Martin Fry, who has written some corkers in his time - are a real disappointment. A case of one step forward, three steps back, I'm afraid. (Maureen Rice, Smash Hits, June 5, 1985)

Not a patch on "Be Near Me", which wasn't a patch on "How To Be A Millionaire", which wasn't a patch on anything on their Lexicon Of Love LP. Sorry Martin, I know how you hate comparisons, but "Vanity Kills" is duff. A weak tune isn't helped by meaningless lyrics. Pull your finger out mate. (Anne Lambert, No 1, June 15, 1985)

ABC - That Was Then But This Is Now (Neutron)

This is a far cry from "The Lexicon Of Love" - the sound is much harder while the song is comparatively weak. But apart from the lousy chorus I think it's one of the most exciting things they've done. Fast and furious, the song still manages to retain a stylish feeling of grandeur that is the hallmark of ABC's work - even though Fry tries to rhyme "grumble" with "apple crumble"! Single Of The Fortnight. (Peter Martin, Smash Hits, October 27, 1983)

Out of the rhinestone suits and into some heavy duty leather duds, yesterday's wet-eyed romantics have honed themselves to a revolutionary harder edge There's a hint of those old misty keyboards before thunderous drums and an altogether sparser approach. Good to see this isn't a re-hash of what has gone before and Fry's voice remains magnificent. (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, October 29, 1983)

ABC - Poison Arrow (Phonogram)

Beautiful arrangement and production, and some clever lines in the song; the singer wavers between Spandau Ballet, Tony Bennett and the Osmonds when they did "Love Me For A Reason". When he figures out the right approach, he will probably have a number one, but not yet, not with this one. (Charlie Gillett, Smash Hits, February 4, 1982)