British bands in the early 1980s had a leg up on American bands. The reason was that MTV was changing the musical landscape, and the Brits already had built-in videos to show. Top of the Pops, the British live television show at the time, allowed for videos to be made for chart-toppers if the bands were on tour.
Bands like ABC, Duran Duran, the Police, and others were well ahead of what American audiences were ready for. It wouldn't take long for bands in the United States to make their mark on MTV, too, but while Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" dominated in the late 1980s due to an erroneous voting process, New Wave bands were the real masters of the early part of the decade.
Besides excellent videos, however, the reason the Brits had a second American invasion was that many of the songs were elite. Sometimes, so good that Americans didn't get them as well as they should have. Such is the case with ABC's The Lexicon of Love from 1982.
ABC's The Lexicon of Love did not get the attention it deserved in the United States
The album reached No. 1 in the UK, as it rightly should have, but just 24 on the US Billboard charts. The record was even No. 1 in New Zealand, so Kiwis were ready for the new sounds more than their American cousins were.
The highest-charting single from the record in the US was the delicious "The Look of Love," a track that feeds off disco, R&B, and pop brilliantly, and was worthy of reaching No. 1, just as it did in Canada. In the UK, the tune reached No. 4, but was just one of three songs from the album to hit the top 10.
That last part is key. While many Americans of that era might know "The Look of Love" if they heard the track on the radio, they might not know the excellent depth of the record. "Poison Arrow" and "All of My Heart" also charted in the top 10 in the UK, and the former reached No. 4 in Austria.
But the singles success was all about sales. Every song on the album is elite. Campy, sure, but that was the intent. Great camp is difficult to create, but ABC seemingly did so with ease. The album is also timeless, still extremely listenable more than 40 years later.
To make matters worse, the two biggest hits by ABC in the United States were "Be Near Me," which hit No. 9 in 1985, and "When Smokey Sings," a No. 5 hit in 1987. Neither of those songs ranked among the best on The Lexicon of Love, both seemingly homages to what that album delivered.
The 50-week run of ABC's The Lexicon of Love on the charts in the UK should further embarrass Americans who had a chance to listen to the record but chose not to. The British understood greatness then and still do. The best part, however, it's not too late for a US audience to find the album and keep it on heavy rotation.
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