| Yazoo |
An illustration
of Yazoo
|
| Background information |
| Also known as |
Yaz |
| Origin |
 Basildon, England |
| Genre(s) |
Dance
New wave
Synth
pop |
| Years active |
1982 — July 1983 |
| Label(s) |
Mute
Sire
Reprise |
Associated
acts |
Erasure
Depeche Mode |
| Former members |
Alison
Moyet
Vince Clarke |
Yazoo (known as Yaz in
the U.S.)
was a short-lived but highly successful English synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex
that had a number of top ten hits in the British
charts in the early 1980s.
Heavily influenced by earlier bands like Kraftwerk,
Yazoo expanded upon the synthpop formula by juxtaposing Alison
Moyet's bluesy and emotional vocals with Vince
Clarke's clinical electronic hooks. Its sound referenced disco but added a
more disaffected attitude that disco lacked. Their second album saw
greater songwriting input from Moyet, adding a rather more mature and
soulful flavour, particularly on the hit single "Nobody's Diary."
|
Contents
- 1 Overview
and history
- 2 Discography
- 3 Awards
- 4 References
- 5 Trivia
- 6 See
also
- 7 External
links
|
Overview and history
The group was formed in 1981, using a moniker that Alison Moyet, veteran of a
number of southeast Essex
based punk
and rock
bands, had seen on the labels of old blues albums: Yazoo,
although Clarke would later confess that this came from mis-hearing the
name of the mouth instrument Kazoo which was popular in the late 1970's. Clarke had
been the main songwriter in Depeche Mode, who at that
point had recorded one album and three singles for Mute
Records, including the hits "New Life" and "Just
Can't Get Enough". Clarke surprised many by quitting Depeche Mode just
as they were beginning to reap success, claiming that they "just
weren't getting on, really", forming Yazoo with the then relatively
unknown Moyet. Mute Records continued to release the output of this new
Clarke project. The band was licensed to Sire
Records in the United States.
Its debut single "Only You" backed with "Situation," was
released in April 1982 and rose to number two in the UK. Clarke had
offered the song as a parting gift to his former bandmates in Depeche
Mode, but they declined. Yazoo quickly scored another hit with the next
single, "Don't Go," which hit number three, and became popular on MTV in the United
States thanks to a Frankenstein-themed video. They
continued their successful streak with their first album, Upstairs
at Eric's, which went platinum in Britain. The
band received favourable reviews for their pioneering sound. Clarke and
Moyet toured briefly, while releasing a stopgap single, "The Other Side
of Love."
The duo's second and last album, You
and Me Both, yielded more success, hitting the
top of the UK charts, and spinning off one
single. The album's success was tainted by Clarke and Moyet deciding to
go their separate ways.
Moyet decided to venture off on a solo career, signing to Columbia
Records, where she would enjoy a great deal of early success. Vince
Clarke recorded a single with producer Eric
Radcliffe (the same "Eric" from the title of Yazoo's
debut album) and Undertones singer Feargal
Sharkey as The Assembly, and another
with vocalist Paul Quinn. Clarke then founded the highly successful pop
group Erasure
with vocalist Andy Bell.
Mute Records released a remixed version of "Situation" as a
single in 1990 to moderate success. In 1999, a compilation was
released, entitled Only Yazoo - The Best of and was
preceded by a re-release of Yazoo's debut single, "Only You", featuring
a new remix
of the title track and several more of "Don't Go". The band's output
was bookended with yet another release of "Situation", accompanied by
many remixes.
Clarke was tapped to remix Moyet's 1994 single, "Whispering
Your Name" and with Erasure, Clarke and Moyet tried to record her
single "This House" as a duet. This project never came to surface,
because Sony Music Entertainment
would not permit it.
The band's songs have appeared in a number of films and
television shows. "Only You" was used in the Napoleon
Dynamite, the BBC television series The Office,
and the film Can't Hardly Wait;
a cover version of "Only You" by Joshua Radin was used in 2007 in a JC
Penney commercial; "Don't Go" appeared in the BBC series I'm
Alan Partridge, was used in the movie Tango
and Cash, and can be heard in the video game Grand Theft
Auto: Vice City Stories; the song "Situation"
was used in the 1990 tv movie "Exile" and was also used in a Nintendo
commercial highlighting the classic edition of the Game Boy Advance SP
and the classic NES games ported to it.
Discography
Albums
| Year |
Album |
UK |
GER |
US |
| 1982 |
Upstairs
at Eric's |
2 |
14 |
92 |
| 1983 |
You
and Me Both |
1 |
15 |
69 |
| 1999 |
Only
Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo |
22 |
- |
- |
Singles
| Year |
Song |
UK
singles |
GER |
US
Hot 100 |
US Dance |
Australia |
Album |
| 1982 |
"Only
You" |
2 |
72 |
67 |
- |
7 |
Upstairs
At Eric's |
| 1982 |
"Don't Go" |
3 |
4 |
- |
1 |
6 |
Upstairs
At Eric's |
| 1982 |
"Situation" 1 |
NR |
NR |
73 |
1 |
NR |
Upstairs
At Eric's |
| 1982 |
"The Other Side
of Love" |
13 |
35 |
- |
- |
- |
Upstairs
At Eric's (Re-Release) |
| 1983 |
"Nobody's Diary" |
3 |
18 |
- |
1 |
17 |
You
and Me Both |
| 1990 |
"Situation" (1990
remix) |
14 |
36 |
- |
46 |
- |
- |
| 1999 |
"Only
You" (1999 Mix) |
38 |
- |
NR |
NR |
NR |
Only
Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo |
| 1999 |
"Don't
Go"/"Situation" (new remix)1 |
NR |
NR |
- |
1 |
NR |
Only
Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo |
| 1999 |
"Situation" (new
remix)*2 |
- |
- |
NR |
NR |
- |
Only
Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo |
- 1 US-only single
- 2 Ineligible for UK singles chart
- NR - Not released in that country
Awards
- 1983 BRIT Awards - Best British breakthrough
act
References
LCD Soundsystem, the musical project of producer James
Murphy, in "Losing My Edge," the first track on the second disc of his
self-titled album LCD Soundsystem,
references Yazoo in the following manner:
"I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator, and
are throwing your computer out the window because you want to make
something real. You want to make a Yaz record."
The Bayside Boys remix of Los Del Rio's "Macarena"
samples the laughter of Alison Moyet from Yazoo's 1982 single "Situation." The laughter
has been sampled in dozens of tracks over the years.
Trivia
- Smash Hits did an
interview with Yazoo on May 13, 1982. The interview was conducted by Neil
Tennant, who would later make it big as half of the Pet
Shop Boys four years later.
See also
- List
of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List
of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
