King And Queen Of Electropop
It almost didn't happen at all. In 1985, Vince
Clarke was at something of a critical juncture. He had
already found success with the first incarnation of Depeche
Mode, and followed this with Alison Moyet
in Yazoo. With the exception of a UK top 3 single
with Eric Radcliffe and former Undertones frontman
Feargal Sharkey as The Assembly,
the supposed Midas Touch appeared to have worn off. Clarke and Radcliffe
had attempted to realise The Assembly into a full-scale project
with a rotating bank of singers, but ended-up setting up their own
record label (Reset Records) outside of Mute.
Reset didn't work out either, leaving Clarke stranded. He recorded
the track 'One Day' with Paul Quinn, again as the
start of a series of projects where Clarke would write all of the
songs, but utilise different vocalists. The single flopped.
Meanwhile, while the single with Quinn was getting
packaged for release by Mute, Vince decided to pursue one of the
only options left - him doing the writing, but this time with a
permanent vocalist. Responding to an ad in the Melody Maker,
that permanent vocalist turned out to be the last singer to audition,
Andrew 'Dinger' Bell from the less-than-auspicious
town of Peterborough.
Bell had been a massive fan of Vince for several
years, and had adopted a vocal style similar to Alison Moyet. Under
the moniker Dinger, Andy had released a now sought-after 7"
single, but had failed to catch the eye of the music business. Vince,
however, was convinced of Andy's abilities as a singer, and the
duo instantly clicked. They became known as Erasure.
Vince was enthused in a way that he hadn't felt for years, and at
Mute's request, the pair began writing together for what would become
their debut album, 1986's Wonderland.
On face value, the combination of the shy and retiring
Clarke and the openly homosexual Bell seemed unworkable. Indeed,
their first three singles failed to enter the top 40. But they didn't
give up, and gigged extensively, often to crowds of just a handful.
This gave them the foundations of a solid fanbase that has stuck
by them through the years.
Their patience and hard work was to be rewarded
in 1986, when 'Sometimes', the first single from their second album
- The Circus - became a massive hit, narrowly missing out
on the top spot. Vince and Andy's fortunes had at last reversed,
and they went on to became Britain's second biggest synthpop duo
after the Pet Shop Boys.
1988's The Innocents was a bigger hit still,
with its glossy Stephen Hague (PSB, New Order)
production, and trio of lasting pop singles - 'Ship Of Fools', 'Chains
Of Love' and 'A Little Respect'. The duo also embarked on an arena
tour to promote the album, which saw them play to sell-out crowds
- a far cry from their early gigs.
The eighties saw synthpop go digital, and Erasure
were no exception. However. the Christmas number one that never
was - their Crackers International EP - saw them start
to lean toward the analogue synths of Vince's early career, with
lead track 'Stop!' buzzing with squelchy arpeggios. The subsequent
album, 1989's Wild! found the duo mixing samplers with
Moogs, but Vince's unique retro meticulousness was only to be realised
on 1991's critical high-point, Chorus, a fully analogue
pop classic unlike anything else around at the time, and singlehandedly
responsible for the resurgence of interest in analogue kit. Shortly
after, Mute realised their first and to date only number one single
with the Abba-esque covers EP. It seemed like nothing could
stop Andy and Vince, who were producing some of the finest electronic
pop soul ever to grace the charts, and thousands witnessed their
camp theatricality on the ensuing Phantasmagorical Entertainment
tour.
1994's follow-up I Say I Say I Say failed
to match the success of Chorus, despite yielding a gorgeous
hit in the first single 'Always'. Andy failed to talk Vince into
touring, and instead the duo recruited Orb's Thomas Fehlmann
to produce their beautiful, albeit unloved 'ambient' double album,
the eponymously-titled Erasure.
The duo's following albums, Cowboy, and
their first album of the twenty-first century (Loveboat)
received mixed reviews despite containing innumerable classic Clarke
/ Bell compositions. Ironically it took an album of covers - 2003's
Other People's Songs - a comparatively-huge small venue
tour and massive fan-led single with Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury
Hill', to restart Erasure's fortunes.
Erasure most recent album - Nightbird (2005)-
was recorded in New York, with Vince moving toward software synths
rather than analogue, and yielded the top 4 hit 'Breathe'. In the
time that it had taken to be recorded, Vince married his long-term
girlfriend Tracey and upped sticks from Chertsey to New York, and
Andy revealed - 6 years after being diagnosed - that he was carrying
HIV. The album was released on 24 January 2005, and was followed
by an international tour.
In 2005 Andy fulfilled a long-standing ambition,
and recorded a solo album with Manhattan Clique (who supported
the duo on the tour following Other People's Songs). His
first solo single, 'Crazy', is released by Sanctuary on 26 September
2005, followed by Electric Blue which features collaborations
with Propaganda's Claudia Brucken and Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears.
Both Andy and Vince have also contributed to NYC electroclash guru
Larry Tee's forthcoming debut album. 2006 sees the release of Union
Street, an acoustic album which sees Erasure revisiting tracks
from their 20 year career.
   
   
   
 
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