How to Be a ... Zillionaire!

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.^[10][11] 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 the fourth was "Ocean Blue", (UK: No. 54). It is the group's first and 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.

How to Be a ... Zillionaire!
Studio album by ABC
Released	4 October 1985^[1]
Recorded	1984–1985
Studio	Jacobs Studios (Farnham, Surrey)
Length	37:52
Label	Neutron (UK) Mercury (US) Vertigo (Canada)
Producer	Mark White Martin Fry
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: 26 October 1984 (UK) "Be Near Me" Released: 1 April 1985 (UK) "Vanity Kills" Released: June 1985 (UK) ^[2] "Ocean Blue" Released: 3 January 1986 ^[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[5]
Record Mirror	^[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[7]
Smash Hits	8/10^[8]
The Village Voice	B−^[9]

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)^[12] 36 European Albums (Music & Media)^[13] 48 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[14] 58 UK Albums (OCC)^[15] 28 US Billboard 200^[16] 30

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for How to Be a ... Zillionaire! Chart (1986) Position US Billboard 200^[17] 48

References

1. Strickland, Andy (28 September 1985). "Index: That's Rich". Record Mirror. p. 2. ISSN 0144-5804.
2. "ABC singles".
3. "ABC singles".
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "How to Be a... Zillionaire! – ABC". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
5. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
6. Morton, Roger (12 October 1985). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 16.
7. 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.
8. Mills, Simon (25 September 1985). "ABC: How to Be a... Zillionaire!". Smash Hits. 7 (19): 59.
9. Christgau, Robert (3 December 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
10. "ABC". Officialcharts.com.
11. "How to Be a...Zillionaire! Charts & Awards Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0604". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
13. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 44. 4 November 1985. p. 15. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – ABC – How to Be a... Zillionaire!" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
16. "ABC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
17. . 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