''Skyscraping'' is the seventh studio album by English pop band

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, released in March 1997 by Blatant and Deconstruction. The album was produced as a homage to lead singer

Martin Fry Martin David Fry (born 9 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician, and record producer. Fry's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the pop band ...

's several musical heroes, including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...

and

the Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

. It is their first album without founding member, keyboardist and guitarist Mark White, who had up until that point been heavily involved in the composition and production of their work. As the line-up of ABC without White consisted solely of Fry,

Glenn Gregory Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synthpop b ...

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), ...

and Keith Lowndes were brought in as songwriting and performance collaborators. The album was met with positive reviews from critics but little commercial success. Three singles were released: "

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...

", " Skyscraping" and " Rolling Sevens". An expanded 2CD edition of the album was released by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as we ...

on 23 September 2013. In September 2022 the album was finally released on Spotify and other digital platforms.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

, and Keith Lowndes except where indicated.

1997 Blatant/Deconstruction 74321 45653 2/BMG Japan BVCP-6029

" - 5:18 #"Ask a Thousand Times" - 5:13 #" Skyscraping" - 4:20 #"Who Can I Turn To?" - 3:48 #" Rolling Sevens" - 4:31 #"Only The Best Will Do" - 4:19 #"Love Is Its Own Reward" - 4:08 #"Light Years" - 6:40 #"Seven Day Weekend" (John Uriel) - 3:31 #"Heaven Knows" - 3:59 #"Faraway" - 5:20 #"Stranger Things (Acoustic Version)" (Japan only) - 5:09

2013 Cherry Pop Remaster bonus disc

#"The World Spins On" ("Stranger Things" B-side) - 3:44 #"All We Need" ("Stranger Things" B-side) - 4:33 #"Stranger Things" (Acoustic) - 5:09 #"Skydubbing" (dub mix of "Skyscraping") - 7:27 #"Stranger Things" (Live) - 4:55 #"Rolling Sevens" (Radio Edit) - 3:33 #"The Look of Love" (Live) - 3:54 #"All of My Heart" (Live) - 5:53 #"Skyscraping" (Alternate Version) - 4:16

Chart performance

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals Musicians * Keith Lowndes – keyboards, guitars, drum programming *

– additional keyboards (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10) * Paul Rabiger – additional acoustic piano (2), saxophone (2, 4, 8) * Phil 'Snake' Davies – saxophone (7) * Dinah Bemish – cello (1, 3, 4) * Jocelyn Pook – viola (1, 3, 4) * Sally Herbert – violin (1, 3, 4) * Sonia Slany – violin (1) * Jules Singleton – violin (3, 4) *

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song " Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

– backing vocals (2, 5, 10) *

Juliet Roberts Juliet Roberts (born 6 May 1962) is a British jazz, rock, soul and house music singer of Grenadian descent. Career Roberts was born in London, England. She originally recorded as Julie Roberts in 1982, and performed on the 1983 top 10 hit si ...

– backing vocals (3, 4, 11) * Paul 'Tubbs' Williams – backing vocals (3, 4, 11)

Production

* Martin Fry – producer * Glenn Gregory – producer * Keith Lowndes – producer * Danton Supple – recording (1, 3, 7, 11), mixing (1-4, 6, 7, 10, 11) * Paul Rabiger – recording (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), mixing (5, 8, 9) * Farrow Design – art direction, design * Andy Earl – photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 albums ABC (band) albums