ABC - How To Be A Zillionaire (2005)

ABC - How To Be A Zillionaire (Original release 1985)

Tracklist -

01 Fear Of The World
02 Be Near Me
03 Vanity Kills
04 Ocean Blue
05 15 Storey Halo
06 A To Z
07 How To Be A Millionaire
08 Tower Of London
09 So Hip It Hurts
10 Between You And Me
11 How To Be A Trillionaire (Harajuku Mix)
12 What´s Your Destination
13 Vanity Kills - USA Remix
14 Vanity Kills - Abigail's Party Mix
15 Ocean Blue - Single Mix
16 Judy's Jewels
17 Fear Of The World - in Cinemascope
18 Tower of London - instrumental

“

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine ~ Allmusic Moving away from the guitar histrionics of Beauty Stab, Martin Fry reduced ABC to a duo of himself and Mark White for 1985's danceable How to Be a...Zillionaire! Incorporating light hip-hop rhythms, ABC made sure Zillionaire sounded contemporary for mid-'80s dance clubs, and as a result, some of the record sounds stiff and dated. Still, when Fry's sense of melody is on, as on the catchy single "Be Near Me," or when he works in his vicious, cynical wit, as on "How to Be a Millionaire" and "So Hip It Hurts," the record rivals the peaks of Lexicon of Love.

”

“

Amazon customer review This is the definitive reissue, coming with the best sound thus far and a host of additional tracks/remixes - all screaming good value at this budget price. The Fry/White nucleas developed a post-modern notion of a cartoon band, pre-empting Dee-Lite and Gorillaz and in this form created a great pop collection. The original nine-track album is great stuff, the three singles released are all pop chestnuts of the shiniest order: 'Be Near Me' gorgeous pop as lush as anything on 'Lexicon', 'Ocean Blue' another classic which seems odd not to have been a hit, and 'How to Be a Millionaire'- which uses the kind of sampling common to Eno/Byrne over an electro-pop song which declares "I've seen the future - I can't afford it!" - so 'How to Be...' could be seen as a succesor to Heaven 17's 'Penthouse & Pavement' - tapping into the free market zeitgeist amid the reign of Thatcher and her yuppie drones... The bonus tracks extend this collection and it's clear that a lot of dance music owes a debt to this set - I detect pangs of The Avalanches, Milo, Daft Punk, Electroclash, Groovejet, The Go Team, Richard X, late Mantronix ('Got to Have Your Love'), S'Express, Zoot Woman/Les Rhythmes Digitales and Madonna (...then again I might just be saying that to get you to buy it?). 'How to Be...' was the actual peak of ABC's career, 'Alphabet City' was a smooth Chic-inflected pop collection that was hit and miss, while 'Up' sounded irrelevant. One to rediscover I feel!

”

This is the 2005 remastered and extended edition, carefully ripped at 320 kbps with all error checking on and includes the original 1985 covers.