ABC

"How To Be A Zillionaire"

(Mercury)

The look of the Mark I ABC fooled Anglophobes into dismissing the music as fashion-plated pandering even though it was as politically suggestive as U. S. Anglophilia gets. So don�t let the look of the Mark II ABC fool you into hoping the music is outrageous, or even campy except in a Bryan Ferry twice-removed way. Sure �Be Near You�, is catchier than anything on the underrated superflop Beauty Stab, but when Martin Fry is on his game the hooks that make ABC sell coexist with the glossy electrofunk and dense wordplay that make (or made) them sparkle. As a great romantic he�s just trying for a comeback. B -

KURTIS BLOW �America�

(Mercury)

Blow�s pop credibility soared when he finally got one of his precious femme choruses on the radio, ruining the otherwise serviceable �Basketball� rap. There�s nothing quite so intrusive here, and Blow�s singing has come up some—in fact, he�s now just what the world needed, another serviceable funk loverboy. Fortunately, he can still talk that talk, and his reunion with Davy DMK makes a lot of noise. B

THE BOOGIE BOYS �City Life�

(Capitol)