   
The Diva And The Pop Midas
Vince Clarke, the mild-mannered reclusive
electronics genius, and bluesy vocalist Alison Moyet ('Alf')
hardly seem the likeliest duo to assail the pop charts, but as Yazoo
that's exactly what they did, albeit briefly. They blended inventive
electronic pop with gorgeously soulful vocals, creating an instantly
recognisable breed of synth music with a human emotion hitherto
not heard before.
In 1982, Clarke had left Depeche Mode following
a spat over how successful the band were becoming; meanwhile, Moyet
was singing lead in the Screaming Abdabs and getting bored, so she
advertised for a band in which she would sing. Vince, recalling
Moyet from his Southend Tech College days, responded to the ad and
despite being totally different from what Moyet had envisioned,
Yazoo was born. They took their name from an old US blues label,
hence why in the States their name was abbreviated to Yaz. As Yazoo,
the pair produced two of the Mute label's earliest successful
albums - Upstairs At Eric's and You And Me Both, before
promptly splitting over musical and personal differences. Their
two albums were pop gems, strokes of electro-blues genius that shouldn't
have worked given their respective musical backgrounds, but yet
undoubtedly did. On their debut, more experimental compositions
were presented alongside more obvious pop tracks, and yet still
it worked sublimely.
Their body of work also included four sensational
singles, several of which pop up from time to time on eighties comps,
including the sensational B-side 'Situation' which was remixed for
the States by François Kevorkian. They also toured, and even
recorded a TV theme.
After their by all accounts acrimonious split, Alison
quickly left Mute Records and found success as a solo artist, a
career which has continued to date and included a memorable performance
at the original Live Aid concert. More recently, Alison's honey-coated
jazz / blues vocals were to be heard on stage again, as Mamma Morton
in the UK production of Chicago.
Vince, on the other hand, faltered. He set up Reset
Records with Yazoo producer Eric Radcliffe, the output from
which has never fully appeared on CD. He also recorded with Radcliffe
for Mute as The Assembly, which yielded one highly successful
single with Undertones front man, Feargal Sharkey. His subsequent
single, with Paul Quinn, bombed. In 1984 he advertised for a new
vocalist, and after a broadly unnoticed debut, the new duo - Erasure
- went on to become one of electronic music's most successful acts.
|
