Andy Bell
and Vince Clarke - San Francisco, May 1986 = Photo by Nancy J Price
Background information
Origin
England
Genre(s)
Synthpop,
Pop
rock, Alternative rock
Years active
1985–present
Label(s)
Mute
Records
Website
http://erasureinfo.com
Members
Vince
Clarke
Andy Bell
Erasure is an English synth pop duo
band consisting of keyboardist Vince
Clarke and singer Andy Bell.
Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love (Like That)"
(see 1985
in music). Getting recognition at late 1986 with the release of their
single "Sometimes", Erasure
established themselves on the British charts and became one of
the most successful artists of the late 1980s and early '90s.
From 1986 to 1997, Erasure achieved twenty-four consecutive
Top 20 hits. By 2007, 34 of their 40 singles have made the UK Top 40,
with 17 climbing into the Top 10. The duo has recorded worldwide album
sales of over 25 million.
Albums such as The
Circus, The
Innocents, Wild!,
Chorus,
I Say I Say I Say,
Erasure, Loveboat
and Nightbird
demonstrated a further diversity of sound.
As pop craftsmen, the pair's work bears comparison with that
of Depeche
Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics,
Orchestral
Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), a-ha, Roxette, Tears
for Fears, The Lightning Seeds,
and other pop songwriters from the same generation.
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 True
Colors
- 3 Discography
- 4 Compare
to
- 5 See
also
- 6 External
links
- 7 References
|
History
Vince Clarke was a founding member of Depeche
Mode and after leaving the band in 1981, had a successful
career with the duo Yazoo (known as Yaz
in the U.S.). After two hit albums in as many years, he split with
Yazoo partner Alison Moyet and briefly formed The
Assembly with producer Eric Radcliffe. The project spawned a
UK number four hit single, "Never Never," featuring Feargal
Sharkey on vocals. Clarke then released another single with
vocalist Paul Quinn, "One Day." It flopped, leading Clarke to place an advertisement
in Melody Maker
looking for a vocalist for a new musical project. He selected Andy
Bell, who was the 41st to audition (and whose voice would often be
compared to Moyet's).
From the start, Erasure's success was founded upon their
songwriting skills: Clarke's talent for writing melodic, catchy pop
songs was evident from his years with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, and
Bell's gifts as a lyricist and melodist added depth and character to
Clarke's style. Bell was openly gay, and he reflected this in his outfits on
stage, at a time when Western society as a whole was less accepting of
homosexuality than it is today — making Erasure's success all the more
notable.
Their three initial singles were commercial failures in UK,
although the single "Oh L'amour" chartered well in some
European countries (especially in France, where it became Erasure's first — and
only — hit).
Their second album, 1987's The
Circus, went platinum in the UK, staying on the
charts for over a year, but Erasure's real breakthrough came with The
Innocents, released in 1988. Featuring three
hit singles, "Ship of Fools", "Chains of Love" and "A
Little Respect", the album hit number one in the UK upon its initial
release, then returned to the summit a year later. It would eventually
go triple platinum in the UK and also turn platinum in the U.S.,
generating two Top 20 hits. The Innocents was the
first of five consecutive number-one albums for Erasure in the UK
(followed by Wild!
in 1989 and Chorus
in 1991).
In 1992, Erasure's Abba-esque EP
became the band's first number one in the UK
Singles Chart and a singles compilation, Pop! - the First 20 Hits,
also hit number one and went triple platinum.
In 1994, Erasure released I
Say I Say I Say, their fifth consecutive
number-one in the UK Albums Chart. Its first single "Always"
became the band's third Top 20 hit in the United States.
Following this success, Erasure went through a difficult
period of re-evaluation and re-invention. The 1995 release of Erasure
marked a determined shift away from their signature three minute
synth-pop to a more introspective and less accessible sound, with many
of the album's tracks clocking in at over five minutes. Although this
new direction would be critically well received, it did not translate
into sales, and Erasure's days of mass commercial appeal and guaranteed
number one albums appeared over.
In spite of a return to three-minute pop songs, the 1997 album
Cowboy did
not restore the success of their 1986-1994 era. Cowboy
enjoyed a short-lived success, peaking at number ten in the UK but
vanished from the UK top 40 after only two weeks.
In 2000, peaking at number 45, the album Loveboat
passed unnoticed from the general public and is often regarded as the
lowest point of Erasure's career.
However, Erasure's commercial fortunes reversed in 2003 with
an album of cover versions, Other
People's Songs. Showing a return to the pop
sound that had catapulted them to stardom, the first single from the
album, "Solsbury Hill", was a cover of Peter
Gabriel's song and reached number ten in the UK Singles
Chart. Erasure were invited to perform on Top
of the Pops for the first time since they
performed in March 1997.
Erasure's comeback continued in 2005 with the album Nightbird
whose first single, "Breathe", reached number four
in the UK charts (their first Top 5 hit in more than a decade) and
achieved the number one position on the U.S.
Dance Chart, eighteen years after their first chart-topper. Erasure
followed up this success with "Don't
Say You Love Me," and enabled fans to configure and buy their own
remixes of the single through the band's website. Each variant of the
song was limited to a single download.
2006 saw the release of the album Union
Street, which featured a collection of
previously released album tracks that the band reinterpreted in an
acoustic/country & western style. The album was named after the
recording studio in Brooklyn where it was recorded.
The duo completed an album of new material that is a more
'dance oriented' effort than some of their more recent work. Titled Light at the End of
the World, the album was produced by Gareth Jones and was
released on 21
May 2007 in
the UK, and in North America the following day. The album was preceded
by its first single "I Could Fall in Love
with You" in April and the second single, "Sunday
Girl" is out now in the UK, Europe and the U.S..
The Light at the End of the World Tour
kicked off in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa
Performing Arts Center where they spent the week prior rehearsing for
the tour, which will cover most of North America as well as the UK,
Ireland, Germany and Denmark by 7 October 2007. Up to this point
Erasure has focused on playing nearly all of Light at the End
of the World live, minus the album track "Darlene". The rest
of the set is peppered with extensive hits of Erasure back catalogue.
Vince Clarke and Andy Bell have found a new energy in both
writing and creating new music and are very keen after this tour to hit
the studios to record some new material for 2008. Vince Clarke has been
heard in recent radio interviews as saying that they really want to
complete the concept album of nursery rhymes that they have been
working on for some time.
Both are also keen on doing another pop record soon.
True Colors
During the summer of 2007 Erasure was a part of the
multi-artist True Colors Tour
, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The
tour, sponsored by the Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007.
Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi
Lauper, the tour also included Debbie Harry, The
Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The
Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Rosie
O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks
and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human
Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard
Foundation.
Erasure notably performed alongside many of the other guests
for the encore
song, "True Colors" with lead singer
Bell taking on almost duet-level vocals with Lauper, as the others
performed mainly back-up and harmonies.
Bell frequently wore shirts or jackets that supported
co-headliner Deborah Harry.
Discography
-
Main articles: Erasure
discography and List of
Erasure B-sides and non-album songs
Compare to
See also
- List
of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List
of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
References
| v • d • e Erasure |
| Vince Clarke | Andy Bell |
| Erasure
discography | B-sides
and non-album songs |
Albums/EPs: Wonderland
| The Circus
| The Innocents
| Crackers International
Wild!
| Chorus
| Abba-esque
| I Say I Say I Say
| Erasure | Cowboy
| Loveboat
| Other People's Songs
| Nightbird
| Union Street
| Light at the End of
the World
Compilations: The
Two Ring Circus | Pop! - the First 20 Hits
| Hits!
The Very Best of Erasure
Live album: Acoustic
Live
Box Sets: EBX 1
| EBX 2 | EBX 3
| EBX 4
Singles: Who Needs Love Like That | Heavenly
Action | Oh
L'amour | Sometimes | It
Doesn't Have To Be | Victim of Love | The
Circus | Ship of Fools | Chains of Love | A
Little Respect | Stop! | Drama! | You
Surround Me | Blue Savannah | Star
| Chorus | Love
to Hate You | Am I Right? | Breath
of Life | Take
a Chance on Me | Who Needs Love Like That
(remix) | Always | Run
to the Sun | I Love Saturday | Stay
With Me | Fingers
& Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) | Rock
Me Gently | In My Arms | Don't Say Your
Love Is Killing Me | Rain | Freedom | Moon
& the Sky | Solsbury Hill | Make Me Smile
(Come Up and See Me) | Oh L'amour (remix) | Breathe | Don't
Say You Love Me | Here I Go Impossible
Again | All This
Time Still Falling Out of Love | Boy
| I Could Fall in Love
with You | Sunday Girl | When a Lover Leaves You
Video/DVD: Sanctuary
- the EIS Christmas Concert 2002 | Hits!
the Videos | The
Tank, the Swan and the Balloon | Great
Hits Live - Live at Great Woods | The Erasure Show
- Live in Cologne | On the
Road to Nashville
|
