Album · ABC
Beauty Stab by ABC
Beauty Stab is an album by ABC, released in 1983. 1 song from it has charted on rock radio countdowns, with 2 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “That Was Then But This Is Now”, on 2 lists with a best position of #1441.
Beauty Stab, ABC's second album, arrived on 14 November 1983 on Vertigo, Neutron and Mercury, and it tore up the blueprint of The Lexicon of Love. Out went the glossy, stylised pop of the debut; in came loud guitars and harder edges, Martin Fry pushing his voice against a wall of noise. The band produced it themselves with Gary Langan, who had engineered the first record, working at Sarm East and West, the Townhouse and Abbey Road, and they brought in drummer Andy Newmark and bassist Alan Spenner, fresh from recording and touring with Roxy Music.
Most critics hated it, and in 1995 Simon Reynolds filed it among pop's classic acts of career self-destruction. It still went gold and reached 12 in the UK, with "That Was Then but This Is Now" as its calling card. Saxophonist Stephen Singleton quit once the promotion wound down, and Fry later conceded that a sequel might have been the smarter move.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Beauty Stab on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That Was Then But This Is Now | 2 | #1441 | – | 2002–2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.