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Published on Thursday 12 July 2012 11:18

Hear those tunes and you’ll be straight back to the early 80s. That’s the great power that music wields.

Martin Fry is delighted to be heading for this year’s GuilFest with ABC, a band that seems to sum up so much of that decade.

“ABC emerged from the mists of time at the beginning of the 80s”, Martin laughs. “I think since then the 80s have become a bit of a Disneyland for people in this country. It used to be just another decade, but now it is a place where people like to go!”

The point is that it was fun and it was flamboyant: “There is a lot of nostalgia even now for the food and for the movies from that time, particularly in the past five years or so.”

And for the music, the nostalgia is even stronger.

“It’s an escapism really, back to a time of big shoulder pads and big hair. I think it represents a bit of a devil-may-care attitude. It was a very original time. There was a freedom that a lot of people feel nostalgic for.”

And it was a time of ambitions. As Martin says, his generation – bands such as Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode, not to mention ABC themselves – were bands with wide horizons: “We were all internationalists. We all wanted to take music further than it had ever been before.”

It helped that ABC took shape in Sheffield: “And to this day Sheffield is still a brilliant homeland for music. It was a great place because no one stumbled into town. Very few A&R men turned up, and there was a brilliant music scene. That meant that you could develop away from their eyes. We had a real conception when we wanted to make our first album, and it was very audacious really. We were just four or five guys on the dole.”

GuilFest – the award-winning family festival - celebrates its 21st anniversary from July 13-15 ABC are among those performing on the first day, alongside Jools Holland with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, The Straits, The Doors Alive, The South, and cult punk band Buzzcocks.

Pop star and former ABC singer Martin Fry will be made an honorary Doctor of Music at the University of Sheffield before his daughter takes to the stage to receive her own degree this month (16-20 July 2012).

ABC singer Martin FryABC singer Martin Fry

More than 30 years after the legendary songwriter graduated from the University with a degree in English Literature, Martin Fry will receive the award for his contribution to music on Thursday 19 July 2012 at noon.

The Look of Love and Poison Arrow singer will be joined by his family, including his Sheffield born wife Julie, in the University’s Octagon Centre before returning the following day as a proud father to watch his daughter Nancy receive her degree from the Department of Sociological Studies.

Stockport born Martin formed ABC in Sheffield in the 1970s when he joined a rock band called Vice Versa - who he met while writing his own city cultural scene fanzine - said: “It’s a great honour, this is very special to me.

“It really came out of the blue, I wasn’t expecting anything like this at all and I’ll carry it with me everywhere I go. The memories and experiences of my time at the University come with me too. I was recently at a radio station in Berlin and they had a paternoster which reminded of Sheffield. I would love to play on top of the Arts Tower.

“Being at the University was a big inspiration and 33 years on it’s great to see the shape the University is in, it’s gone from strength to strength and remains so active in the community. For me to come back is very exciting and I’m very proud of my daughter too, she’s done all the hard work.”