Information AboutErasure |
Erasure is an English Synth Pop Duo band consisting of Keyboardist Vince Clarke and Singer Andy Bell . Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single " Who Needs Love (Like That) " (see 1985 In Music ). They established themselves on the British Charts and became one of the most successful artists of the late 1980s and early 1990s . From 1986 to 1997 , Erasure achieved twenty-four consecutive Top 20 hits in the UK. By 2007 , 34 of their 40 singles have made the Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10. Although most popular in their native UK, the duo has also achieved success in Europe, the US and South America. To date, Erasure has recorded worldwide album sales of over 25 million. From the start, Erasure's success was founded upon their songwriting skills. Vince Clarke's talent for writing melodic and catchy pop songs was evident from his years with Depeche Mode and Yazoo . As a lyricist and melodist, the singer Andy Bell added depth and character to Clarke's electronic style. Albums such as '' The Circus '', '' The Innocents '', '' Wild! '', '' Chorus '', '' I Say I Say I Say '', '' Erasure '', '' Loveboat '' and '' Nightbird '' demonstrated a further diversity of sound. As pop craftsmen, the pair's work bears comparison with that of Depeche Mode , Pet Shop Boys , Eurythmics , Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD), A-ha , Roxette , Tears For Fears , The Lightning Seeds , and other enduring pop songwriters originating from the 1980s . The duo's singer, Andy Bell , is openly Gay and has often reflected this through his outfits and gestures on stage, at a time when Western society as a whole was less accepting of homosexuality than it is today — making Erasure's success all the more notable. HISTORY Vince Clarke was a founding member of Depeche Mode and after leaving the band in 1981, had a successful career with the duo Yazoo (known as ''Yaz'' in the U.S.). After two hit albums in as many years, he split with Yazoo partner Alison Moyet and briefly formed The Assembly with producer Eric Radcliffe . The project spawned a UK number four hit single, "Never Never," featuring Feargal Sharkey on vocals. Clarke then released another single with vocalist Paul Quinn, "One Day." It flopped, leading Clarke to place an Advertisement in '' Melody Maker '' looking for a vocalist for a new musical project. He selected Andy Bell, who was the 41st to audition (and whose voice would often be compared to Moyet's). Their three initial singles were commercial failures in the UK, although the third single, " Oh L'amour ", charted well in Australia and some European countries (especially in France , where it still remains Erasure's only hit to date). It was with the release of their fourth single, "Sometimes" , that Erasure finally received recognition in the UK in late 1986. This song peaked at number 2 and spent many weeks in the UK Top 40. It marked the beginning of a long string of hits for the band. "Sometimes" 's parent album, '' The Circus '', went platinum in the UK, staying on the charts for over a year, but Erasure's real breakthrough came with '' The Innocents '', released in 1988 . Featuring three hit singles, " Ship Of Fools ", " Chains Of Love " and " A Little Respect ", the album hit number one in the UK upon its initial release, then returned to the summit a year later. It would eventually go triple platinum in the UK and also turn platinum in the U.S., generating two Top 20 hits. ''The Innocents'' was the first of five consecutive number-one albums for Erasure in the UK (followed by '' Wild! '' in 1989 and '' Chorus '' in 1991 ). This achievement was unmatched by any of Erasure's contemporaries listed above. In 1992 , Erasure's '' Abba-esque '' EP, covering four ABBA hits, became the band's first number one in the UK Singles Chart . Later that year, a singles compilation, '' Pop! - The First 20 Hits '', also hit number one and went triple platinum. In 1994 , Erasure released '' I Say I Say I Say '', their fifth consecutive number-one in the UK Albums Chart . Its first single " Always " became the band's third Top 20 hit in the United States. Following this success, Erasure went through a difficult period of re-evaluation and re-invention. The 1995 release of the album '' Erasure '' marked a determined shift away from their signature three minute synth-pop to a more introspective and less accessible sound, with many of the album's tracks clocking in at over five minutes. Although this new direction would be critically well received, it did not translate into sales, and Erasure's days of mass commercial appeal and guaranteed number one albums appeared over. In spite of a return to three-minute pop songs, the 1997 album '' Cowboy '' did not restore the success of their 1986-1994 era. ''Cowboy'' enjoyed a short-lived success, peaking at number ten in the UK but vanished from the UK top 40 after only two weeks. In 2000 , peaking at number 45, the album '' Loveboat '' passed unnoticed from the general public and is often regarded as the lowest point of Erasure's career. However, Erasure's commercial fortunes reversed in 2003 with an album of Cover Version s, '' Other People's Songs ''. Showing a return to the pop sound that had catapulted them to stardom, the first single from the album, " Solsbury Hill ", was a cover of Peter Gabriel 's song and reached number ten in the UK Singles Chart. Erasure were invited to perform on '' Top Of The Pops '' for the first time since they performed in March 1997. Erasure's comeback continued in 2005 with the album '' Nightbird '' whose first single, " Breathe ", reached number four in the UK charts (their first Top 5 hit in more than a decade) and achieved the number one position on the U.S. Dance Chart , eighteen years after their first chart-topper. Erasure followed up this success with " Don't Say You Love Me ," and enabled fans to configure and buy their own remixes of the single through the band's website. Each variant of the song was limited to a single download. 2006 saw the release of the album '' Union Street '', a side-project which featured a collection of previously released album tracks that the band reinterpreted in an acoustic/country & western style. The album was named after the recording studio in Brooklyn where it was recorded. The duo completed an album of new material that is a more 'dance oriented' effort than some of their more recent work. Titled '' Light At The End Of The World '', the album was produced by Gareth Jones and was released on 21 May 2007 in the UK, and in North America the following day. The album was preceded by its first single " I Could Fall In Love With You " in April and the second single, " Sunday Girl " is out now in the UK, Europe and the U.S. New Erasure single "Sunday Girl" out now . The ''Light at the End of the World'' Tour kicked off in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Performing Arts Center where they spent the week prior rehearsing for the tour, which will cover most of North America as well as the UK, Ireland, Germany and Denmark by 7 October 2007. Up to this point Erasure has focused on playing nearly all of ''Light at the End of the World'' live, minus the album track "Darlene". The rest of the set is peppered with extensive hits of Erasure back catalogue. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell have found a new energy in both writing and creating new music and are very keen after this tour to hit the studios to record some new material for 2008 . Vince Clarke has been heard in recent radio interviews as saying that they really want to complete the concept album of nursery rhymes that they have been working on for some time. Both are also keen on doing another pop record soon. TRUE COLOURS During the summer of 2007 Erasure was a part of the multi-artist channel, began on June 8 , 2007. Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper , the tour also included Debbie Harry , The Gossip , Rufus Wainwright , The Dresden Dolls , The MisShapes , Rosie O'Donnell , Indigo Girls , The Cliks and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation . Erasure notably performed alongside many of the other guests for the Encore song, " True Colors " with lead singer Bell taking on almost duet-level vocals with Lauper, as the others performed mainly back-up and harmonies. Bell frequently wore shirts or jackets that supported co-headliner Deborah Harry. DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Erasure discography List of Erasure B-sides and non-album songs COMPARE TO
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