How to Be a ... Zillionaire!

1985 studio album by ABC

Studio album by ABC

Released

4 October 1985

Recorded

1984–1985

Studio

Jacobs Studios (Farnham, Surrey)

Genre

Length

37:52

Label

Neutron (UK)
Mercury (US)
Vertigo (Canada)

Producer

ABC chronology

Beauty Stab
(1983)

How to Be a ... Zillionaire!
(1985)

Alphabet City
(1987)

Alternative covers

Original CD artwork

Singles from How to Be a ... Zillionaire!

"(How to Be A) Millionaire"
Released: 2 November 1984
"Be Near Me"
Released: 29 March 1985
"Vanity Kills"
Released: 31 May 1985
"Ocean Blue"
Released: 3 January 1986

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Record Mirror
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Smash Hits	8/10
The Village Voice	B−

How to Be a ... Zillionaire! is the third studio album by English pop band ABC. It was originally released in October 1985, on the labels Neutron, Mercury and Vertigo. The album peaked at No. 28 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released from the album, "(How to Be A) Millionaire" (UK singles chart: No. 49; Billboard Hot 100: No. 20), "Be Near Me" (UK: No. 26; US: No. 9), "Vanity Kills" (UK: No. 74; US: No. 91), and "Ocean Blue", (UK: No. 54). It is the group's only album to feature founder members Martin Fry and Mark White flanked by new members Eden and David Yarritu, the latter two credited merely as "performers" with effectively no or limited musical contribution to the album. The four-piece was also presented in a cartoon form for the album's artwork and promotional videos, and wore outrageous costumes and played false instruments for "live" promotional performances.

In 2005, a digitally remastered CD of the album was released with eight bonus tracks.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin Fry and Mark White

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fear of the World"	3:50
2.	"Be Near Me"	3:37
3.	"Vanity Kills"	3:28
4.	"Ocean Blue"	3:36
5.	"15 Storey Halo"	5:36

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"A to Z"	2:49
7.	"(How to Be A) Millionaire"	3:34
8.	"Tower of London"	3:36
9.	"So Hip It Hurts"	4:17
10.	"Between You and Me"	3:16
Total length:		37:52

Additional tracks on initial CD pressing
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Fear of the World" (In CinemaScope)	4:40
12.	"Be Near Me" (Munich Disco mix)	5:27
13.	"(How to Be a) Zillionaire" (Bond Street mix of "(How to Be a) Millionaire")	6:05
14.	"Vanity Kills" (The Abigail's Party mix)	5:08

Additional tracks on 2005 version
No.	Title	Length
11.	"(How to Be a) Trillionaire" (Harajuku mix of "(How to Be a) Millionaire")	3:38
12.	"What's Your Destination?" (B-side to UK version of "Be Near Me" single)	3:38
13.	"Vanity Kills" (USA remix)	5:40
14.	"Vanity Kills" (The Abigail's Party mix)	5:08
15.	"Ocean Blue" (Pacific Mix)	3:40
16.	"Judy's Jewels" (B-side to "Vanity Kills" single)	2:03
17.	"Fear of the World" (in CinemaScope)	4:40
18.	"Tower of London" (instrumental version)	3:38

Personnel

Credits adapted from the original album liner notes.

ABC

Martin Fry – lead and backing vocals
Mark White – E-mu Emulator II, Fairlight CMI programming
Fiona Russell Powell (aka Eden) – vocals, record scratching
David Yarritu – spoken voice

Additional personnel

Gary Moberley – Fairlight CMI programming
Don Snow – acoustic piano, Yamaha DX7, synthesizers
Skip McDonald – guitars on "Tower of London"
David Williams – guitars on "(How to Be a) Millionaire"
Brad Lang – bass guitar
Keith LeBlanc – drums, rhythm beatbox programming
David Palmer – hi-hat
Chris Whitten – additional drums on "15 Storey Halo"
Guy Barker – trumpet on "Vanity Kills"
Alan Carvell – backing vocals
Jackie Challenor – backing vocals
Lorenza Johnson – backing vocals
Mae McKenna – backing vocals
P. P. Arnold – tertiary backing vocals on "Ocean Blue"

Production

Mark White – producer
Martin Fry – producer
Martyn Webster – chief engineer
Julian Mendelsohn – mixing, second engineer
Paul Corkett – assistant engineer
Mike Drake – assistant engineer
Charles Harrowell – assistant engineer
Heff Moraes – assistant engineer
Dietmar Schillinger – assistant engineer
Mark Stent – assistant engineer
Paul Wright – assistant engineer
Ian Cooper – analogue mastering engineer
Daryl Easlea – digital pre-mastering, album sequencing
Gary Moore – digital mastering engineer
Nick Knight – photography
Keith Breeden at Design KB – art direction
Alan Best – animation art
Ted Hall – animation art
Peter Care – dialogue and photo modelling director

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for *How to Be a ... Zillionaire!*
Chart (1985–86)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)	36
European Albums (Music & Media)	48
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	58
UK Albums (OCC)	28
US Billboard 200	30

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for *How to Be a ... Zillionaire!*
Chart (1986)	Position
US Billboard 200	48

References

Strickland, Andy (28 September 1985). "Index: That's Rich". Record Mirror. p. 2. ISSN 0144-5804.
^ Lewis, Justin (2003). "ABC". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
"Music Week" (PDF). p. 28.
"Music Week" (PDF). p. 34.
"ABC singles".
"ABC singles".
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "How to Be a... Zillionaire! – ABC". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
Morton, Roger (12 October 1985). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 16.
Sheffield, Rob (2004). "ABC". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 2. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
Mills, Simon (25 September 1985). "ABC: How to Be a... Zillionaire!". Smash Hits. 7 (19): 59.
Christgau, Robert (3 December 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
"ABC". Official Charts Company.
"How to Be a...Zillionaire! Charts & Awards Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
"Top RPM Albums: Issue 0604". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
"European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 44. 4 November 1985. p. 15. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
"Offiziellecharts.de – ABC – How to Be a... Zillionaire!" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
"Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
"ABC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
"Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1986". Billboard. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.

External links

How to Be a ... Zillionaire! at Discogs (list of releases)
Album page from official ABC site

v t e ABC
Martin Fry Stephen Singleton Mark White Mark Lickley David Robinson David Palmer Fiona Russell Powell David Yarritu
Studio albums	The Lexicon of Love Beauty Stab How to Be a ... Zillionaire! Alphabet City Up Abracadabra Skyscraping Traffic The Lexicon of Love II
Live albums	The Lexicon of Live
Compilation albums	Absolutely Look of Love: The Very Best of ABC The Ultimate Collection
Singles	"Tears Are Not Enough" "Poison Arrow" "The Look of Love (Part One)" "All of My Heart" "That Was Then but This Is Now" "S.O.S." "(How to Be a) Millionaire" "Be Near Me" "Vanity Kills" "Ocean Blue" "When Smokey Sings" "The Night You Murdered Love" "King Without a Crown" "One Better World" "The Real Thing" "The Look of Love (1990 Mix)" "Love Conquers All" "Say It" "Stranger Things" "Skyscraping" "Rolling Sevens"
Related articles	Discography Vice Versa Honeyroot

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