You'll walk in the room with my heart"
ABC
Spotify - spoti.fi/38Mx1ZX
YouTube - bit.ly/3hvJipy
1
I've become addicted to Siggi's coffee yogurt.
Those playing the home game know that for years, decades in fact, I was addicted to Dannon coffee yogurt. But in the race to Greekify all yogurt in the wake of the success of Chobani, Dannon, caught flat-footed, remade their entire yogurt line and the old standbys, like coffee, became either completely unavailable or rarely. I'd comb the shelves, hustling from supermarket to supermarket in search of my drug. Eventually I'd order it, by the caseload, twelve per flat. But then availability nearly flattened and I decided to break my addiction, especially since Dannon coffee yogurt contained so much sugar.
I switched to Siggi's skyr, after dabbling in the aforementioned Chobani, and Fage. But Siggi's was occasionally bitter. But then I discovered the previously mentioned triple cream (bit.ly/38GyeBS) and I'd possibly found nirvana, yogurt akin to ice cream, but triple cream is more of a snack, for later in the day. Then I discovered the flat containers of Siggi's whole milk yogurt. I know, I know, dieters prefer non-fat or low-fat, but that's like eating cardboard, you've got to live a little, and I'll never forget the dearly departed Continental whole milk yogurt available in Southern California grocery stores in the seventies, scrumptious.
There weren't that many flavors available, but I was down with mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and blueberry. And when I had too much of those, I switched to vanilla. And then, after years, they introduced coffee.
Now I've tried every coffee yogurt out there, they're pale imitations of the Dannon original, mostly inedible. So I was wary of Siggi's coffee. And I must admit, upon initial consumption, I was disappointed. It was not sweet, it tasted more like coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, never was, however I like coffee flavored products, so I was on the fence with Siggi's. I ordered it intermittently. And then I got hooked.
How many can you get at one time? I'd order fourteen from Instacart, but they'd deliver four, maybe six. And sometimes none. And today, it was completely unavailable, I've only got one left in the fridge, I anticipate jonesing, but I need something to get me started in the morning so I switched the order to mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and vanilla, four of each, and now I'm waiting to see if the shopper can even find those. And in the throes of my anxiety about availability, Felice said "she'd pray on it."
2
Disco died and took corporate rock with it. At the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, the music industry was in the dumper.
And then came MTV.
It wasn't widely available at first. And upon its advent it was filled mostly with clips by classic acts made for the Continent, when European radio stations were locked up with local repertoire and it was hard to break through via the aural airwaves and the best way to reach your audience was via TV play of clips.
Americans were caught flat-footed. Sure, Blondie had made an album of videos, but the U.S. was still running on the old paradigm. Meanwhile, MTV was gaining traction, expanding its footprint, and in 1982 a slew of new English groups arrived to fill the vacuum of programming. And they were HUGE! Some were one hit wonders, some, like Culture Club, became legends, but one thing is for sure, the music scene was completely reinvigorated. And then came the CD and the modern music business was born, the one with so much dough, the one that the powers-that-be tried to protect from Napster, the one old cronies from the last century are still trying to bring back, decrying streaming all the while.
We don't have a concomitant sound in the streaming era. Usually new technology changes the art, but if that's so, we're still waiting for it. What we have right now is cacophony. The last gasp of what used to be, pop and the evolution of eighties hip-hop, and sure, Latin is growing, but there's no new sound capturing the hearts of the entire western world. We do have niches applauded greatly, but when you check them out... Phoebe Bridgers, this is all we can come up with? There's something there, but it's not even close to Suzanne Vega, who was blown up by MTV, having made her mark on the landscape before that, with a haunting debut album, but where is something universal?
Like "Thriller."
Michael Jackson's breakthrough was "Off the Wall." Many around in those days still prefer that first Quincy Jones LP. But "Off the Wall" came out in 1979, as disco was dying, so not enough people heard the incredible "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You." Those who did not reject the dance floor, African-Americans, they embraced "Off the Wall," but it took years to seep into the ears of mainstream America. But then came "Thriller." And along with the Motown 25th anniversary special and the moonwalk Michael Jackson threw off his boy band history and became the world's biggest star. Because of MTV. But the English new wave bands came first.
3
Now despite the overstated footprint of the evangelicals, the pandering to religious zealots by politicians, there are many of us who joke about religion. As a matter of fact, atheism is on the rise, especially amongst the young 'uns, the Jesus freak wave that began nearly half a century ago is dying, not that most people are aware of this, getting info from their own biased silos. If America knew the truth we'd live in a whole different country. But one of the staples of the believers is the phrase "I'll pray on it." Ripe for mockery, right? Well, at least in my world. And when Felice declared her intention to pray for my Siggi's ABC's "All of My Heart" immediately took over my brain...yes, I hoped and I prayed, that maybe someday, there'd be enough Siggi's coffee for me and those who desired it. And I could not get this ABC song out of my head.
MTV was akin to the internet. In that everybody was fascinated by it. Oldsters and youngsters. You could go to somebody's house and spend an entire evening watching the channel. Can you imagine that today? Especially in 1982, when MTV was not yet available everywhere and the English new wave was pitching fastballs again and again and again. Amongst the successes were Eurythmics, Modern English, Kajagoogoo, Madness, A Flock of Seagulls, Tears For Fears...and ABC.
ABC had already broken in the U.K. by time Americans were exposed to the band on MTV. "Tears Are Not Enough" was a hit and the act's initial LP, "The Lexicon of Love," entered the U.K. chart at number one. But the first exposure most Americans got was with "Poison Arrow."
"Shoot that poison arrow
Shoot that poison arrow to my heart"
One listen told you this was not Jefferson Starship, not even Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Poison Arrow" was not seventies, it was purely EIGHTIES!
The eighties. In retrospect, it was the beginning of the end, the lowering of taxes and the start of income inequality, not that we knew that at the time. Instead, the seventies were done, with their hangover from the sixties, Iran...we were optimistic, we were happy, even if 1984 was looming.
"No rhythm in cymbals, no tempo in drums
Love on arrival, she comes when she comes"
Where were the guitars? Instead we got synths. And not only was the music shiny, so were the clothes. America was still ruled by bell bottoms, everybody was dressing down, but all these English acts had a look, clothing was part of the sell, it helped define the image, and so many of the acts dressed UP! Albeit with a twist. This is when fashion truly fused with music, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Now we were lucky in Los Angeles to have KROQ, which featured all these numbers when not only the rest of the FM band in the city, but throughout the country, was still invested in classic rock. KROQ was a clubhouse and what kept you inside, tuned-in, was all this "experimental" stuff that came from the U.K.
And if you were a dedicated follower of music, and fashion, you divined who was real and who was not, who was a one hit wonder and who was not, and if word was the band was worthwhile, had cred, you purchased the album. And since you paid, you went deep. And you became hooked on songs that never got airplay, at least in the U.S., like "All of My Heart."
This was back when there were still two sides. Oftentimes not even forty minutes of music total. Whereas once CDs truly went big nearly a decade later, albums only had one side and could be as long as seventy minutes, in most cases they were unfathomable. But with the old two-sided albums... You played one side and then the other, and the one you cottoned to first, the one that impressed you most, you'd play over and over again waiting for it to reveal itself, and when it ultimately did, you flipped the record, or the cassette, to the other side.
4
I'm not sure why I liked the second side of "Lexicon of Love" more, maybe it was its opening cut, "The Look of Love." But the second side is the one I played most, and that's how I discovered "All of My Heart."
The intro was magical, ethereal, more akin to classical music than rock. But then the track took a swift turn into a jaunt.
"Once upon a time when we were friends
I gave you my heart, the story ends
No happy ever after, now we're friends"
This was the beginning of the modern paradigm, where boys and girls are friends, hang in groups. The seventies were more solitary, you stayed at home, you smoked dope, but in the eighties you wanted to go OUT!
"Wish upon a star if that might help
The stars collide if you decide
Wish upon a star if that might help"
What is this...PETER PAN? There was no wishing upon a star in classic rock, just like there's no crying in baseball. But it was not only the lyrics that were different, but Martin Fry's delivery too, he was going up and down the scale, emoting.
"What's it like to have loved and to lose her touch
What's it like to have loved and to lose that much"
A PRE-CHORUS! Never mind melody. This is the antithesis of today's rhythm-based music. Today's music roots you to the ground, ABC lifted you into the stratosphere.
But then comes the piece-de-resistance:
"Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart"
The music changes, there's a new hook, the "strings" swoop in the background and Fry pleads like he's in a forties movie. It's a clean break from what we'd heard before, the Brits were changing the paradigm.
"Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back"
This is the opposite of the macho of what came before and established itself after. The singer was subservient! He was on the losing end. The woman was in control, it was her choice, she had the power, he's PLEADING!
"Remembering, surrendering
Remembering that part
All of my heart"
The lead is taken over by the background singers, but then Martin comes back, with all of his heart.
And then, after the aural denouement, we're back into the jaunty verse.
And then the formula is repeated for over five minutes, you luxuriate in this sound. It's akin to Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, but less affected, more rooted in reality. "All of My Heart" looks forward and backward at the same time. It's a new sound, with modern instrumentation, but it hearkens back to the pre-Beatle era, to the pre-rock era, to the forties, but it was the eighties.
I liked "All of My Heart" so much I bought the second album, "Beauty Stab," without hearing it first. It was a disappointment, both in my ears and commercially. I stopped buying but ABC kept playing. The third LP, "How to Be a...Zillionaire," had success with "Be Near Me" and "Vanity Kills," and I liked them, but neither was "All of My Heart." The big surprise was 1987's "When Smokey Sings," from the fourth album "Alphabet City." A huge smash, it was out of time, not just in sound, but the scene had moved on, MTV had become somewhat calcified, now it was about seeing the dollars on screen, dancing, whereas in 1982 it was more DIY, conception ruled, the rest of the world had caught up with the English new wave. And although Guns N' Roses were breaking, it was also the heyday of the hair bands and ultimately their ballads, which would be wiped from the map by grunge and then hip-hop and pop, but back in '82, it was all very cutting edge and exciting.
5
No one's going out to a club. We're all watching different shows, on demand, on streaming television. And it's TV that's the cutting edge medium, music has become a diversion, a second-class citizen, at least recorded music, all the innovation and excitement is happening live. But never underestimate the magic of a perfectly executed track. And the ones we remember most are the breakthroughs, that take what came before and twist those elements along with new ones into a new appealing concoction. Like ABC and "All of My Heart."
The Eighties were the last hurrah, the last heyday, when all eyes were focused on the sounds made by musicians. After all, Live Aid was in '85, can you name an equivalent event subsequently?
Not that there are not great records thereafter. Of course we had Nirvana, and then Alanis Morissette gained the world's attention with her music and personal, direct lyrics. But Kurt Cobain killed himself. And Alanis could never follow up "Jagged Little Pill." And then came the internet, and even though distribution has been figured out, streaming won, there are still pockets of performers who refuse to accept this, and the scene is run as if it were still the pre-internet era.
Of course, one cannot discount the rise of hip-hop. But once the era of sampling ended, when you could no longer steal without consequence, when artists no longer wanted to share publishing revenue, it evolved into an era of beats, melody was mostly gone. And at this point, hip-hop has had a lifespan almost as long as rock. So it's no longer new. That's what we're awaiting, innovators. And occasionally we get someone, like Lil Nas X, but then he sold out to the majors and the audience no longer owned "Old Town Road" and Sony couldn't stop pushing it and its success down our throats to the point that we've got a sour taste in our mouths. Then again something is definitely happening on TikTok, music is the core of that service, and the great thing is it's out of the control of the usual suspects, so innovation can take place, not a moment too soon.
That is the battle of today, the establishment versus the upstarts. Unfortunately, upstarts like Facebook and Google have become the establishment. Remember when Google's motto was to do no harm? Ain't that a laugh. But, the tools of creation are in the hands of the proletariat, and people are intertwining what once was and what still is into new forms. The establishment doesn't like this, but this is where creativity is happening. Sure, there's too much of a money mentality amongst creators online, but not all of them are in it for the bucks.
But back in '82, MTV reinvigorated a moribund music business. Suddenly you could market worldwide and sell overpriced CDs all over the globe and no one wants change. But only by going forward, with everything up for grabs, can we recapture the cultural zeitgeist.
I remember when ABC had all of my heart.
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