ABC are an English pop band which formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1980, evolving from the earlier electronic band Vice Versa. They are best known as pioneers of the new pop and sophisti-pop movements, blending synth-pop with orchestral and jazz influences. The band achieved mainstream success with their debut studio album, The Lexicon of Love (1982), which featured the hit singles "Poison Arrow", "All of My Heart" and "The Look of Love" and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Fronted by Stockport-raised Martin Fry, the band's only constant member, the band's classic formation featured Fry as the lead vocalist, Mark White on guitar and keyboards, Stephen Singleton on saxophone, and David Palmer on drums. ABC achieved ten UK and five US top 40 hit singles from 1981 to 1990. Their debut studio album, The Lexicon of Love (1982), was a UK number one. Their early-1980s success in the US saw them associated with the Second British Invasion. ABC continued to release music throughout the 1980s, with notable studio albums such as Beauty Stab (1983) and How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985), the latter producing hits in both the UK and the US.

Although their commercial success declined after the 1980s, ABC have remained active through live performances, reissues, and occasional new material. In 2016, Fry released The Lexicon of Love II, a sequel to their debut studio album, which was well received by both critics and fans.

ABC have their roots in Vice Versa, a Sheffield electronic band formed in 1977 by synthesiser players Stephen Singleton and Mark White, with the latter on lead vocals. Their debut gig was as an opening act for the post-punk band Wire at the Outlook Club in Doncaster. They founded their own label, Neutron Records, releasing the extended play (EP) Music 4. Martin Fry, who wrote the fanzine Modern Drugs, interviewed Vice Versa and shortly afterwards they asked him to join as synthesizer player. Fry accepted and by late 1980 the band had evolved into ABC, with Fry becoming their lead vocalist. The band's last day as Vice Versa was at the Futurama 2 Festival in Leeds in September 1980; from then on they performed as ABC, with Singleton playing saxophone and White on guitar and keyboards. In the new year, Singleton and White were joined by Mark Lickley on bass guitar and David Robinson on drums.

The band's first single, "Tears Are Not Enough", made the UK top 20 in 1981. Soon afterwards, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer; Lickley departed shortly thereafter and was not replaced. In June 1982, the band released their debut studio album The Lexicon of Love, which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Produced by Trevor Horn, it often featured in UK critics' lists of favourite albums: it ranked 42nd in The Observer Music Monthly's "Top 100 British Albums" (June 2004) and 40th in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums" (June 2000). The band had three top 10 hits during 1982: the singles "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" (both of which were recorded whilst Mark Lickley was still a member of the band) and "All of My Heart". Several high concept music videos were made, including the long-form spy pastiche Mantrap by Julien Temple.

Following the culmination of the Lexicon of Love tour, Palmer joined the Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) for a series of tour dates; shortly thereafter Fry, White and Singleton decided to reconvene in order to commence work on their next studio album, leading Palmer to depart ABC in order to honour his commitments to Yellow Magic Orchestra's tour. The remaining members found it difficult to follow up on the success of their debut. Their second studio album, Beauty Stab, was released in November 1983, produced by Gary Langan who was the engineer on The Lexicon of Love. It performed poorly in comparison to its predecessor, peaking at No. 12. The first single from the album, "That Was Then but This Is Now", briefly appeared in the UK top 20, followed by a top 40 showing for "S.O.S.". The band eschewed remixes for the project and so the 12" single for "That Was Then but This Is Now" featured the disclaimer "This record is exactly the same as the 7" version. The choice is yours."

Singleton left the band shortly after the release of Beauty Stab as a result of Fry and White's reluctance to spend much time touring the band's material. Fry and White then enlisted the services of Fiona Russell Powell (under the name "Eden") and David Yarritu in the band's new line-up. Powell had been a member of the original line-up of the pre-ABC band, Vice Versa. According to an article published on 7 March 1997, she 'chickened out' of Vice Versa's first live gig, and the job as frontman went to Fry. The Fry-White-Powell-Yarritu line-up recorded the studio album How to Be a ... Zillionaire!, released in October 1985. The band's chart success dwindled further in the UK with this album, but they did score their first US top 10 hit with "Be Near Me", which also made the UK top 30. The album also featured the singles "(How to Be A) Millionaire", "Vanity Kills" and "Ocean Blue". Inspiration for the album's cartoons of the band members was taken from a photo shoot by David Levine whose work featured on many of the sleeves for singles released from this album. Keith LeBlanc later of Tackhead programmed much of the drum machines for the album.

After a hiatus, during which Fry was being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma (an uncommon cancer), he and White reconvened ABC as a duo, releasing their fourth studio album Alphabet City in 1987. The album returned them to the UK Top 10 for the first time in five years, peaking at No. 7. It featured "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to the American R&B and soul singer Smokey Robinson, which narrowly missed the UK Top 10. The song did give the duo their biggest hit in the US, where it peaked at number 5 in September. The album also spawned "The Night You Murdered Love" (UK No. 31) and "King Without a Crown" (UK No. 44) as singles.