EMMA Johnson talks to ABC frontman Martin Fry about the pop pairing that was unimaginable in the 1980s.
WHEN Robbie Williams was on the hunt for an opening act for his mammoth 2001 stadium tour he didn't bother with wannabes or budding boybands.
Instead the entertainer turned to a showman of yesteryear he knew could deliver - Martin Fry the flamboyant frontman of 80s pop purveyors ABC.
It was inspired casting. Fry of the blond flick and gold lame suit must have cut quite a formidable figure, more than a match for young Robbie and his Freddie Mercury-esque posturing.
So what if the screaming fans would not even have been born when ABC was riding high in the charts with such pieces of shameless pop music as Poison Arrow and The Look of Love?
The audiences lapped up Martin's energy and charisma and a star was re-born. "Robbie could have had dogs playing football for his opening act but he chose us," Martin said at the time. "It was great playing to this audience who did not know us but who were so receptive."
The Robbie gigs were the biggest concerts ABC had ever done and a fitting way to celebrate the group's 20 years in the music industry albeit Martin is now the only original member.
Formed in 1981 ABC's earliest incarnation featured Manchester-born Martin and guitarist Mark White and saxophonist Stephen Singleton along with Mark Lickley on bass and drummer David Palmer.
While the group's first track that year Tears Are Not Enough which just made the Top 20 hardly set the music world alight by the time 1982 had breathed its last the group had become one of the UK's most successful pop acts.
Three top 10 singles back to back - the forceful Poison Arrow, the moving All of My Heart and national treasure The Look of Love cemented ABC's reputation for crafting catchy, poignant lyrics and bouncy tunes.
The group's debut album The Lexicon of Love produced by master studio man Trevor Horn reached number one and made the US Top 30.
