Full of Strange Arrangements

“The Look of Love (Part One)” by ABC from the album The Lexicon of Love
Second week of October, 1982

It takes but one listen to “The Look of Love (Part One)” to realize that this ABC is entirely different from the early-90s pre-teen pop group Another Bad Creation (singers of “Iesha”). This was probably the first time that I’ve heard this song since 1982, but it has that “this sounds familiar but I can’t exactly figure out where from” kind of vibe. The kind of vibe you get when you drive through South Florida and you feel like you’ve been there before, even though it’s your first time in Miami. And then you realize why. Just like South Florida looks the same because it’s an endless strip of mini-malls, this group was a synth/beat/pop (whatever word you prefer) British band. And as such, they did what most of the British bands of this era did. They took some from Depeche Mode, some from Joy Division and they mixed it all together. The end result sounds something like Howard Jones meets New Order. It’s not a bad song, though it does get old after a little while. There are songs that I’d listen to 100 times in a row if the person sitting next to me would allow it, but this isn’t one of them. In the end, it’s the air of familiarity more than anything else that makes this song worth listening to.

Best moment: “That’s the look, that’s the look … the look of love.” (various times)

—G.W.