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album // Pop! The First 20 Hits
I first heard that Erasure
were planning a singles collection in the Mirror, the red-top
newspaper of choice in my parents' house. Simon Bates wrote a column
covering all things pop and for a while post-Chorus and
post-ABBA-esque, Vince Clarke and Andy
Bell were rarely not mentioned by Bates in his music news
articles. Sometime in 1992, Bates wrote that he predicted Erasure
would top the UK album charts with a greatest hits compilation,
and that would indeed prove to be true. Prior to the release of
what would ultimately be named Pop! The First 20 Hits,
a CD-only ERAS promo did the rounds, at that point containing just
the twenty singles and not Vince's Hamburg Mix of 'Who Needs Love
Like That' that was added to the end of the compilation.
At this point, Erasure were enjoying a period of
much-deserved ascendancy. Each of their albums from The Circus
to Chorus had found its way to the top of the UK charts
and their singles had always charted pretty well, though only ABBA-esque
had made it to the top spot. Laid end to end, Erasure's first twenty
singles show an impressive body of work, from the relatively naive
pop of their first three singles, through to the worldly concsiousness
of the Wild! singles, and on into the deliciously strange
analogue complexities of the Chorus releases. There are
some towering highlights in the form of 'Sometimes', 'Stop!', 'A
Little Respect' and many others, and overall one is left with the
impression that there should have been far more than a solitary
number one single - and a covers EP to boot - to Erasure's name
in 1992. In spite of their being two further compilations (Hits!
in 2003 and Total Pop! in 2009), I still listen to Pop!
the most.
Following Pop! and the simultaneous Phantasmagorical
Entertainment tour, Erasure would return in 1994 with the stellar
'Always' single, preceding their sixth studio album I Say, I
Say, I Say. Unfairly, despite the quality of that album and
its follow ups, it started a sort of decline in popularity for Erasure
which would only be arrested by the 2003 cover of 'Solsbury Hill'.
Pop!'s artwork, like every Erasure release
from The Circus and up to this point, was put together
by ME Company. Stylistically similar to Chorus's odd seemingly
unconnected inlay photos, Pop!'s sleeve included a baffling
photo of two love birds, the only reason for which I imagine is
because it illustrates Vince Clarke and Andy Bell's longstanding
partnership (at this point just seven years old). It also includes
chart positions for all the singles, some notes on each including
their chart positions, and a historic list of synths used by Vince.
And who wouldn't want that?
Other editions
There are numerous other versions of Pop!
that were released either in 1992 or after. While all broadly similar,
certain editions have slightly different track listings; the Japanese
EMI/Toshiba re-release includes a second disc containing the extra
singles and B-sides that Erasure had released by that time; a French
and Russian edition scrapped the track listing and included a clutch
of non-Erasure Vince Clarke tracks; finally, in 2009 Mute
released a remastered edition of the album as a companion to the
Total Pop! career-spanning compilation. The remaster retains
the track listing of the original release, only with a new sleeve
design. For full details of the various releases, please click here
visit the Erasure Information Service page for this album.
lp/cd/c/md/dcc/cdx:
1. Who Needs Love Like That
2. Heavenly Action
3. Oh L'Amour (Single Mix)
4. Sometimes (Single Mix)
5. It Doesn't Have To Be (Single Mix)
6. Victim Of Love (Single Mix)
7. The Circus (Single Mix)
8. Ship Of Fools
9. Chains Of Love
10. A Little Respect
11. Stop!
12. Drama!
13. You Surround Me
14. Blue Savannah (Single Mix)
15. Star (Single Mix)
16. Chorus
17. Love To Hate You
18. Am I Right?
19. Breath Of Life (Single Mix)
20. Take A Chance On Me
21. Who Needs Love Like That (Hamburg Mix)
single // Who Needs Love Like That (Hamburg Mix)
Flush from the success of Chorus and the
ABBA-esque EP, Mute thought the time was
right for an Erasure compilation (the optimistically-titled
Pop! The First 20 Hits) which was preceded by a new version
of 'Who Needs Love Like That'.
In some newspaper clippings I had from the time,
Vince Clarke commented that he was disappointed
that the original 1985 version of this track, the song that Andy
Bell sang as part of his original audition with Clarke
and what would be Erasure's debut single, didn't sell well. In fact
it didn't even register in the charts, which must have been a sore
point for Vince who had been so successful with earlier bands. To
redress that frustration, Vince and Dave Bascombe set about remixing
this fan favourite into a style closer to the version played live
on the fantastically over-the-top Phantasmagorical Entertainment
tour. The Hamburg Mix has a vaguely country feel (it featured in
the 'Western' section of the concerts, with Vince dressed as Mae
West, of course) and also a much more chunky, metallic, analogue
sound. It has the effect of updating what was already a classic
sound into the retro style that Vince had sculpted around the time
of Chorus.
The release was augmented by some old B-sides ('The
Soldiers Return' from 1986's 'Victim Of Love' which the duo again
performed live on the Phantasmgorical Entertainment tour,
'Don't Say No' from 1985's 'Heavenly Action') and the Gladiator
Mix of 'The Circus'.
Also included on the second CD is a new remix of
'Who Needs Love Like That' by Phil Kelsey. Kelsey had previously
remixed 'Breath Of Life' and 'Take A Chance On Me' from ABBA-esque
and, though good, his mix here is little different to the latter
- long, trancey and with barely any trace elements of the Erasure
original beyond some looped vocals and a bit of percussion. To round
off the package, remixes of 'Sometimes' by veteran dance music DJ
Danny Rampling and 'Ship Of Fools' by ambient house masters The
Orb. Both of these were previously included on rare 1990 ERAS 12"
promos ('Sometimes' on ERAS3; 'Ship Of Fools' on ERAS2) and therefore
not officially released outside the murky world of nightclubs. Rampling's
take on 'Sometimes' is typically housey and deeply funky (if a little
muffled), with added soulful female vocals, while the 'Ship Of Fools'
remix - roundly detested by Erasure fans - is a brilliant example
of The Orb's ability to take a track, take it apart and wash it
away under a slowly-evolving web of absorbing samples, breaks, dub
effects and reverb. I've always loved it, but then again I've always
been an Orb fan. I often think that the fans' generally negative
and short-sighted reaction to 1996's beautiful Erasure,
produced by sometime Orb collaborator Thomas Fehlmann
was mainly because fans hated this mix; it was (unfairly, I think)
voted the worst Erasure remix in 1992's end of year EIS poll. I
voted it my favourite. The Sire US 12" includes an edited version
of the Rampling mix of 'Sometimes'.
7"/c:
A. / 1. Who Needs Love Like That (Hamburg Mix)
B. / 2. Who Needs Love Like That
12":
A. Who Needs Love Like That (Phil Kelsey Mix)
B1. Ship Of Fools (Orbital Southsea Isles Of Holy Beats Mix)
B2. Sometimes (Danny Rampling Mix)
cd:
1. Who Needs Love Like That (Hamburg Mix)
2. The Soldier's Return
3. Don't Say No
4. The Circus (Gladiator Mix)
lcd:
1. Who Needs Love Like That (Phil Kelsey Mix)
2. Ship Of Fools (Orbital Southsea Isles Of Holy Beats Mix)
3. Sometimes (Danny Rampling Mix)
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