"(How to Be A) Millionaire" by ABC

Song#:  2585
Date:  01/18/1986
Debut:  81
Peak:  20
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Synthpop



Pop Bits:  The band's third album, How to Be a...Zillionaire!, netted them their first US Top 10 hit with the #9 "Be Near Me." This near-title track was then selected to be that single's follow-up. While it wouldn't get them back in the Top 10, it still did fairly well reaching the Pop Top 20 and making it to #4 on the Dance chart. The album would then make it to #30 and sell many more copies than their previous album, 1983's more rock-oriented Beauty Stab. It would fail to reach the gold-level sales, but it certainly put the band back in the spotlight.

ReduxReview:  This track kicked up the tempo from "Be Near Me" and it worked rather well as a follow-up. It expanded the band's smooth blue-eyed soul sound into something a bit more crunchy via a big 80s synthpop production. While it would not be one of their most memorable chart hits, its Top 20 placement was warranted. It was a great track that sounded good on the radio and it's animated MTV video was pretty cool.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  While ABC was having some of their best success in the US, the band's lead singer/songwriter was fighting a major battle that kept the band from touring. Martin Fry was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a type of lymphatic cancer, around the time the album was released. He had to undergo radiation treatments and chemotherapy along with having his spleen removed. Due to all of this, the band had to turn down an offer to tour the US with Tina Turner, an opportunity that would have certainly capitalized on their first US Top 10 hit. Fry decided to put up a major fight against the disease and he did beat the cancer.

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