Vanity Kills

Not to be confused with Vanity Kills (Codeine Velvet Club song).

"Vanity Kills"
Single by ABC
from the album How to Be a ... Zillionaire!
B-side"Judy's Jewels"
Released31 May 1985[1]
RecordedDecember 1984
GenreSynth-pop[2]
Length3:28
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Martin Fry
  • Mark White
ABC singles chronology
"Be Near Me"
(1985) 		"Vanity Kills"
(1985) 		"Ocean Blue"
(1986)
Music video
"Vanity Kills" on YouTube

"Vanity Kills" is a song by English pop band ABC, released as the third single from their third studio album, How to Be a ... Zillionaire! (1985).[3] It peaked at No. 70 on the UK Singles Chart and reached No. 91 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[4]

Composition

The song is in a C key and a major mode with a BPM of 125.

Music video

Two music videos were made by the band ABC. The UK video shows the four band members moving against a dark background, using simple stop motion camera tricks.[5]

The US version, directed by Peter Care,[6] has a spoken prologue and epilogue, and presents Martin Fry and Mark White as noir detectives, investigating a variety of shady characters.[7]

Track listing

  • UK 7" Single
  1. "Vanity Kills"
  2. "Judy's Jewels"

Chart performance

Chart (1985) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 70
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 91
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 5

References

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 10.
  2. ^ Phares, Heather. ABC - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best of ABC (2000) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  3. ^ "Vanity Kills". AllMusic.
  4. ^ "ABC Chart History". Billboard.
  5. ^ Vanity Kills UK Video. MTV. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015.
  6. ^ Vanity Kills at IMDb
  7. ^ Vanity Kills US Video. MTV. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015.