Erasure are comprised of synthesizer
genius Vincent Clarke and majestic vocalist Andrew Bell, who formed
in 1985. After success with Depeche Mode, Yazoo and The Assembly,
Vince decided to form another pop duo and placed an advert in British
music newspaper Melody Maker. Peterborough born Andy Bell
was the 42nd auditionee and thanks to a distinct lack of previous
talent, Andy landed the job. Andy had little previous experience in
the industry but this did not deter Vince, even after their debut
album Wonderland flopped miserably in the UK charts. These
were testing times, particularly for Andy, who feared his career working
with Vince would be short lived after Vince had enjoyed hit after
hit with his previous bands. But as soon as the distinctive woahs
of Sometimes hit the airwaves Erasure exploded into the charts
– and the band never looked back.
1988 saw the release of Erasure's third
original album The Innocents which went double-platinum in
the UK and spawned a string of hits, including Chains of Love
and A Little Respect which both reached the top 20 in
the US singles chart. This was followed by the UK success of the Crackers
International EP which established Erasure as
one of the 1980s most successful and prolific acts. Their following
album Wild! went straight to number one in the album charts
and was also home to the single Blue Savannah which won an
Ivor Norvello award as well as peaking in the top 5 of the UK charts.
The early nineties were Erasure's
golden era. Chorus was Andy and Vince's third successive
#1 album and finally the boys landed a coveted number one single with
their Abba-esque EP. The following Phantasmagoriacal Tour
was a sell out with one concert being broadcast live on BBC Radio
1. Shortly afterwards, their first greatest hits compilation Pop!
- The First Twenty Hits was released and sold by the bucket load.
1994 saw the release of I Say I Say I Say which was home
to (probably) Erasure's last significant chart hit
Always, which was a top 5 success in the UK and a top 20
hit in the States.
As the decade progressed, and with the airwaves of the
time being dominated by Britpop trash, Erasure increasingly
found themselves struggling to emulate their previous chart successes.
Albums Erasure and Cowboy both flopped despite being
typically excellent Erasure releases and after the
Loveboat album sank without trace shortly after its release
in 2000 the writing looked on the wall for Andy and Vince. Indeed
some parties were encouraging the band to cut their loses and call
it a day all together.
Vince took time out working on many side-projects outside
Erasure, whilst Andy relaxed in Spain after nursing
his boyfriend through a stroke. It looked as if the doom mongers could
be right after all. But Erasure were not to be consigned
to history just yet and returned to their rightful place in the top
10 in 2003 with their Solsbury Hill single. Then followed
a mini Erasure revival, with the band enjoying a
successful international tour and renewed media attention which prompted
Mute to release another greatest hits package called Hits! –
The Very Best Of Erasure to celebrate this fact.
Erasure started their twentieth year
together with the release of a brand new album entitled Nightbird
which preceded a transatlantic tour. Despite their highs and lows,
Andy and Vince are committed to keep on doing what they do better
than anyone else: writing timeless, awe-inspiring pop music. Vince
is keen to keep this going and concedes that Erasure
will never split up. Indeed it would seem that the band is like a
puppy – for life. And for the sake of all that’s good
in today's stagnant music industry, let’s just hope Vince keeps
his promise.
