Erasure ( / ə ˈ r eɪ ʒ ər / ə- RAY -zhər ) is an English synth-pop group from London that formed in 1985. The group consists of Andy Bell, the lead singer and songwriter, and Vince Clarke, who is also a songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Vince Clarke was previously a member of the band Depeche Mode and the synth-pop group Yazoo. Erasure became well-known in the UK after their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), which helped them reach the UK Singles Chart. They were one of the most successful music groups from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Between 1986 and 2007, Erasure had 24 songs in a row that reached the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 songs and EPs that were eligible for the UK charts had reached the top 40, with 17 of them reaching the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Erasure released their first album, Wonderland, in 1986. The album did not perform well at first, but one song, "Oh l'amour," later became one of their biggest hits when it was re-released in 2003 to promote the compilation album Hits! The Very Best of Erasure. Their second album, The Circus (1987), was a major success. It reached number 6 on the UK charts and included four songs that reached the top 20: "Sometimes," "It Doesn't Have to Be," "Victim of Love," and "The Circus." Their third album, The Innocents (1988), reached number 1 on the UK charts and produced additional hit songs, including "Ship of Fools," "Chains of Love," and "A Little Respect." The same year, they released the Christmas EP Crackers International, which peaked at number 2 and included the popular song "Stop!" The Innocents was the first of five consecutive UK number 1 albums, followed by Wild! (1989), Chorus (1991), which was nominated for the Mercury Prize, Pop! The First 20 Hits (1992), and I Say I Say I Say (1994). Their ABBA tribute EP, Abba-esque (1992), also reached number 1 in the UK. Hit songs from these albums included "Drama!," "Blue Savannah," and "Star" from Wild!, "Chorus," "Love to Hate You," and "Breath of Life" from Chorus, and "Always" and "Run to the Sun" from I Say I Say I Say.
Starting in 1995, Erasure's commercial success began to decrease with the release of the atmospheric album Erasure (1995), and later with the mixed success of Cowboy (1997). Their album Loveboat (2000) received little attention. In the early 2000s, the group experienced a slight return to popularity in some European countries due to their cover of Peter Gabriel's song "Solsbury Hill," included on the covers album Other People's Songs (2003), and the UK Top 5 single "Breathe" from the album Nightbird (2005). However, Erasure's popularity declined again later, partly because of the record industry's challenges. Their new albums occasionally reached the charts but did not achieve the same level of success.
Throughout their career, Erasure has written more than 200 songs and sold over 28 million albums worldwide.
History
When Vince Clarke was a teenager, he was inspired to create electronic music after hearing the Wirral synth band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). He was one of the founders of Depeche Mode and wrote all the lyrics for their first three singles, including the popular top 10 single "Just Can't Get Enough." After their first album, Speak & Spell, on which Clarke wrote nine of the eleven songs, he left Depeche Mode at the end of 1981. He then formed the successful synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the United States).
After two successful studio albums in 1982 and 1983, Clarke separated from his Yazoo partner, Alison Moyet, and created a short-lived project called the Assembly with producer Eric Radcliffe. This project produced a UK number-four single, "Never Never," featuring Feargal Sharkey on lead vocals. After more than a year away from the music scene, Clarke placed an advertisement in Melody Maker looking for a vocalist for a new project. Andy Bell from Peterborough called and was invited for an audition. He practiced by listening to Alison Moyet and Siouxsie and the Banshees. His audition was successful, and he was chosen. Around the same time, Clarke released a single with vocalist Paul Quinn, "One Day," which did not succeed, leading Clarke to form Erasure. According to Bell, Clarke had been his "hero."
Erasure's musical influences include OMD, Kraftwerk, Gloria Gaynor, and ABBA.
Erasure's first three singles were not successful in the UK, although the third, "Oh l'amour," performed well in Australia, South Africa, and several European countries, especially in France, where it remains Erasure's only hit to date, and in Germany, where it reached the top 16. Their debut studio album, Wonderland, was mostly recorded in 1985 and released in June 1986. It did not reach the UK top 75 but had a strong impact in Germany, reaching the top 20.
Their fourth single, "Sometimes," was released in late 1986 and finally gained recognition in the UK. It reached number 2 in the UK and Germany and spent many weeks in the UK top 40, marking the start of a long series of major hits for the duo. The single's parent album, The Circus, was released in March 1987 and reached number 6 in the UK, turning platinum. It included three additional hit singles: "It Doesn't Have To Be," "Victim of Love," and "The Circus." The album stayed on the charts for over a year.
Erasure's third studio album, The Innocents, was released in April 1988. It was preceded by the top 10 single "Ship of Fools" and reached number 1 in the UK on its initial release. It returned to the top later and eventually achieved double platinum status in the UK and platinum in the U.S., with two top 20 hits: "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect."
The Innocents was the first of five consecutive number one albums for Erasure in the UK, including the greatest hits compilation Pop! The First 20 Hits. In November 1988, the Crackers International EP reached number 2 in the UK. The albums Wild! (1989) and Chorus (1991) each contained four top 20 singles and were major commercial successes.
Crackers International was surpassed in 1992 by the Abba-esque EP, which covered four ABBA songs. It became Erasure's first (and to date only) number one on the UK Singles Chart. The EP included a music video of the duo dressed in ABBA outfits and helped spark the ABBA revival scene in the 1990s.
In 1990, Erasure contributed the song "Too Darn Hot" to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue, produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1992, the singles compilation Pop! The First 20 Hits reached number one and went triple platinum, featuring all the band's singles released from 1985 to 1992.
In 1994, Erasure released I Say I Say I Say, their fifth consecutive number one on the UK Albums Chart. Its first single, "Always," became the band's third top 20 hit in the United States. A second single, "Run to the Sun," was released in July and became their final UK top 10 hit until 2003. A third single, "I Love Saturday," was released in November.
The October 1995 release of the studio album Erasure marked a shift away from the band's signature three-minute synth-pop style toward a more introspective and experimental sound. The album reached the UK top 15 and produced two UK top 20 singles: "Stay with Me" and "Fingers & Thumbs." A remixed version of "Rock Me Gently" was released only in Germany and the Czech Republic as the third single.
Despite returning to three-minute pop songs, the 1997 studio album Cowboy did not restore the success of their 1986–1994 era. Cowboy had limited success, peaking at number 10 in the UK but lasting only two weeks in the UK top 40. In the U.S., it was one of their most successful records. The first single, "In My Arms," reached number 13 in the UK and entered the top 2 on the U.S. Dance chart. The second single, "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me," reached number 23 in the UK. The third single, "Rain," was released only in Germany and the Czech Republic.
In October 2000, Erasure released their ninth studio album, Loveboat, co-produced with Flood. It peaked at number 45 on the UK charts. The first single, "Freedom," briefly entered the UK top 30. In 2001, they released a limited EP, Moon & the Sky, containing new versions of the title song, a cover of the Supremes' "Baby Love," and acoustic versions of Loveboat songs.
The 2003 release Other People's Songs was a collection of cover versions. Its first single, a cover of Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill," reached the UK top 10, and Erasure performed on Top of the Pops for the first time since 1997. The second single, a cover of Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)," reached number 14 in the UK. In 2003, a new "best of
Musical style
Erasure's music is often called electropop, synth-pop, dance-pop, hi-NRG, disco, and new wave. According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, the group's style, similar to Vince Clarke's earlier groups Depeche Mode and Yazoo, is "synth-based music that focuses more on dance rhythms, especially house music, and includes clear and catchy pop songs." The Washington Post wrote that Erasure's music "combines synth-pop, disco, cabaret-style performances, light opera, and sounds similar to a choir of young English boys." In a 1991 article for NME, Stuart Maconie described their music as "very lively and flamboyant disco pop."