Erasure are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Yazoo were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine, although the pair had known each other since their school days.
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo, but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
Vincent John Martin, known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
Wonderland is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 1 May 1986 by Sire Records in the United States and on 2 June 1986 by Mute Records in the United Kingdom and Germany. Not an immediate success, the three singles released from it failed to crack the top 40 in the UK. "Who Needs Love Like That" would eventually make the UK top 10 in 1992, and "Oh L'amour" reached the UK top 20 in 2003, both in remixed form promoting their Pop! The First 20 Hits and Hits! compilations respectively. However, the album fared better in both Germany and Sweden, where it charted within the top 20.
The Assembly were a British synth-pop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England, by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.
Upstairs at Eric's is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo. It was released on 16 August 1982 by Mute Records. It was produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe, with assistance from Mute label boss Daniel Miller on some of the tracks. Named after producer Radcliffe's Blackwing Studios where the album was recorded, Upstairs at Eric's was preceded by two UK top-three singles, the ballad "Only You" and the more uptempo "Don't Go". The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
You and Me Both is the second and final studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo, released on 4 July 1983 in the United Kingdom by Mute Records and in North America by Sire Records. The album's title was an ironic reference to the fact that the duo had grown estranged from each other and recorded much of the album separately; they announced their split a few weeks before the album's release.
"Only You" is a song by English synth-pop duo Yazoo. It was written by member Vince Clarke, while he was still with Depeche Mode, but recorded in 1982 after he formed Yazoo with Alison Moyet. It was released as Yazoo's first single on 15 March 1982 in the United Kingdom, taken from their first album, Upstairs at Eric's (1982), and became an instant success on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number two on 16 May 1982. It would also reach the top 10 in neighbouring Ireland as well as Australia. In the US, "Only You" was released as the band's second single in November 1982 and charted at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also made the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Alf is the debut solo studio album by English singer Alison Moyet, released on 9 November 1984 by CBS Records. The album launched Moyet's solo career following the disbanding of synth-pop duo Yazoo. The album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and features the singles "Love Resurrection", "All Cried Out", "Invisible" and "For You Only".
Raindancing is the second solo studio album by English singer Alison Moyet, released on 6 April 1987 by CBS Records. It reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and features the singles "Is This Love?", "Weak in the Presence of Beauty", "Ordinary Girl" and "Sleep Like Breathing". In the United States, Raindancing was released by Columbia Records with a different cover art and a reordered track listing.
Singles is the first greatest hits album by English singer Alison Moyet, released on 22 May 1995 by Columbia Records. The album includes two previously unreleased tracks, Moyet's version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Solid Wood", as well as a number of hits from the singer's stint in 1980s synth-pop duo Yazoo.
In Your Room is a box set by British synth-pop duo Yazoo, also known in North America as Yaz. It is the first Yazoo release since Only Yazoo, a 1999 greatest hits compilation album.
"Nobody's Diary" is a song recorded by British synthpop band Yazoo. It was released in May 1983 as the first and only single from their second and last album, You and Me Both (1983). The song was written by Alison Moyet and produced by Yazoo, Eric Radcliffe and Daniel Miller. "Nobody's Diary" peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Go" is a song by British synth-pop band Yazoo. It was released in 1982 as the second single from their debut album, Upstairs at Eric's. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Yazoo's second top 5 hit. In the US, where the band was known as Yaz, the song was their second big hit on the American dance chart, where it spent two weeks at number one in October 1982. Their first American dance chart hit was "Situation", which had also gone to number one on this chart earlier the same year. The music video for the song features band members Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke in a sort of haunted mansion with Clarke cast in the role of Victor Frankenstein. The song re-entered the UK Dance Chart on 13 December 2009 at number 30, peaking at number 15 on 2 January 2010.
"The Other Side of Love" is a song by the British synth-pop band Yazoo, released in 1982 as their fourth single. The single peaked at #13 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's least successful single and the only one of their four singles to miss the top three in the UK. The track was written by band members Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, and was originally not included on either of the band's albums. It featured Stiff Records' all-female band Sylvia and the Sapphires on backing vocals following a chance meeting on the B.A. Robertson show.
"Whispering Your Name" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jules Shear. It was originally performed by Ignatius Jones in 1983, however Shear also recorded the song, which was issued as a single within months of Jones' recording and included on his 1983 album Watch Dog. It has been covered numerous times, including a charting version by Alison Moyet in 1994.
Tomorrow's World is the fourteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released by Mute Records in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2011 and in North America on 11 October 2011. As with their previous album, Light at the End of the World (2007), Tomorrow's World reached number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Ode to Boy" is a song by British synthpop duo Yazoo. Originally the B-side to their 1982 hit "The Other Side of Love", it was later included on their second and final studio album You and Me Both in 1983. Whereas Yazoo's version is a sparse atmospheric track with synths and percussion, vocalist Alison Moyet later recorded her own version of the song in an uptempo indie-rock style for her 1994 album Essex.
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