The ABC’S in Retro “Family Entertainment”
Back when MTV was still in its infancy, we were glued to the tube in awe with this new revelation in music and television. Yes, back then MTV played nothing but music videos. This whole concept not only opened up our minds to the way we listened to the tunes we loved, but it allowed the artist to get as creative as possible with their look and because of it, most back then became overnight sensations. In fact, International bands such Men at Work, ABC, and The Human League blew up in America because of their MTV debuts.
I recently hooked up with ABC at The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Boardwalk has really delivered in the past few years with their free family concerts they offer every summer. Last year I enjoyed seeing The Fix there and yes, I did say (FREE!) as in no charge to see the shows. It’s no secret; The Santa Cruz area offers us in The Valley a cool break form the heat and an affordable summer vacation getaway to the beach without breaking the piggybank. Back to Martin Fry from ABC. I was 13 years old, and songs like “The Look of love” and “Poison Arrow” off their LP “The Lexicon of Love” just had to be in my record collection. ABC’s style on The MTV airwaves was unique and their fallowing hit “Be near me” from the LP “How to Be A Zillionaire” flew off the charts and the record department at Gemco on McHenry couldn’t keep the LP’s in stock. (Sold Out) just as ABC’s shows are these days.
On June 14th The Beach Boardwalk truly outdid themselves by kicking off their free concert series with the band ABC. Martin Fry, lead singer and founder from ABC brought The Boardwalk down with an off the hook encore show. As a D.J. I’ve always been partial to European Retro music and I grew up with bands such as Depeche Mode, New Order, The Smiths, OMD and The Pet Shop Boys. Anyway, having been in the music industry since the 80s, I’ve made some friends along the way and if your eating up what I’m serving here, no worries because I’ve recently contacted a few venues in our area with hopes they will bite so you too can enjoy what I’m dishing out without having to travel to San Francisco for a show.
If you can’t wait, ABCs next show will be in San Francisco on the 9/20 at Mezzanine and you can catch Depeche Mode on 9/26 at The Shoreline in Mountain View. For more information on bringing bands such as The Human League, ABC, The English Beat, Berlin and Wang Chung just to name a few to your Modesto venue, drop me an email at thequakedj@hotmail.com or call me at The Quake 209 551-8771
Here is a link to the 2013 FREE summer concerts at The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk http://www.beachboardwalk.com/ www.beachboardwalk.com/concerts<http://www.beachboardwalk.com/concerts>
