AT YOUR LOCAL ABC
If ABC activity appears to have been on the wane of late, it’s not because they’ve gone into retirement. The four-piece have been touring their stage spectacular through Europe, Japan and America where “Lexicon Of Love” is doing very nicely. Characteristically, that’s not all they’ve been up to. Julien Temple, who directed The Sex Pistols in their barn-storming movie The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, has been filming the group in concert as the basis of an hour-long feature called Mantrap that should appear at the end of April or early May as a video, TV special or cinema release (or maybe all three!) Wrapped around the live footage is an extremely weird tale which involved James Villiers, an actor who specialises in playing the typical, upper class toff. The story goes something like this: Villiers tricks Martin Fry into forming a band and becoming its singer. This make-believe ABC play in Paris, Rome and Prague where evil forces kidnap Martin and replace him with a Russian secret agent. From then on, as Julien wickedly quips, ABC’s music is “controlled by the Kremlin”. Temple also made the band’s “Poison Arrow” video and “the poison lady” who appeared in that item has a major role in Mantrap. Her name? Lisa Vanderpumpe.