ABC isn’t one of the better-known New Wave bands (at least not to me) but they are one of the most critically-acclaimed. Their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon of Love, received heaps of praise and a spot on many publications’ year-end lists.
‘The Look of Love’ was the album’s biggest hit, reaching the top five in the U.K. and the top 20 in the U.S. Though I’m hard-pressed to name any songs by ABC, this one sounds instantly familiar. And wonderful.
In fact, after listening to a few clips and reading the praise for this album, I went ahead and downloaded it from Amazon.
And gravity won’t pull you through
You know you’re missing out on something
Well that something depends on you
All I’m saying, it takes a lot to love you
All I’m doing, you know it’s true
All I mean now, there’s one thing
Yes one thing that turns this grey sky to blue
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
When your girl has left you out on the pavement (Goodbye)
Then your dreams fall apart at the seams
Your reason for living’s your reason for leaving
Don’t ask me what it means
Who’s got the look? I don’t know the answer to that question
Where’s the look? If I knew I would tell you
What’s the look? Look for your information
Yes there’s one thing, the one thing that still holds true (What’s that?)
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
If you judge a book by the cover
Then you’d judge the look by the lover
I hope you’ll soon recover
Me I go from one extreme to another
And though my friends just might ask me
They say “Martin maybe one day you’ll find true love”
I say “Maybe, there must be a solution
To the one thing, the one thing, we can’t find”
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
That’s the look, that’s the look
The Look of love
Meet Me In Montauk 
Boy, you are really delving into British new wave pop! Here’s another song I couldn’t stand back in the 80’s, mostly because of the vocal performance. I admit it’s catchy, but like an insipid fungus.
Insipid Fungus LOL I kinda like it 🙂