Erasure (duo)
Erasure (duo)
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Erasure (duo)

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Erasure (duo)

Erasure (/əˈrʒər/ ə-RAY-zhər) are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell and songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, the latter previously a co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top 40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.

Erasure released their debut album Wonderland in 1986. It did not perform well chart-wise, although one song from the album, "Oh l'amour", later became one of their biggest hits when reissued in 2003 to promote the Hits! The Very Best of Erasure compilation album. With their second album, 1987's The Circus, came major success, the album reaching UK number 6 and spawning four top 20 singles with "Sometimes", "It Doesn't Have to Be", "Victim of Love", and "The Circus". Their third album, 1988's The Innocents, was a number 1, and produced further hit singles with "Ship of Fools", "Chains of Love", and "A Little Respect". It was followed the same year by the Christmas EP Crackers International, which peaked at number 2 and included another of their most popular songs, "Stop!" . The Innocents was the first of five consecutive UK number 1 albums, followed by Wild! (1989), the Mercury Prize nominated Chorus (1991), the compilation 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 singles 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.

From 1995, the commercial success of Erasure began to fade with the atmospheric album Erasure (1995), then with the mixed success of Cowboy (1997), until the album Loveboat (2000) which almost passed unnoticed. A little later in the 2000s, the duo achieved a commercial rebound in a few European countries thanks to their cover of a Peter Gabriel song, "Solsbury Hill", taken from the covers album Other People's Songs (2003), as well as the single "Breathe" on the album Nightbird (2005). Subsequently, Erasure began a new commercial decline accentuated by the record crisis: the group's new albums still ranked briefly in the charts, but no new singles reached the rankings. However, a solid international fanbase allows Erasure to maintain its activity by relying on tours, online sales, as well as the copyrights attached to their catalog of past successes.

Overall in their career, Erasure have written over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide.

As a teenager, Vince Clarke was inspired to make electronic music after hearing Wirral synth band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). He was a founding member of Depeche Mode and the sole writer of their first three singles, including the breakthrough top 10 single "Just Can't Get Enough". Following their first album Speak & Spell, on which Clarke wrote nine of the eleven songs, he left Depeche Mode at the end of 1981, going on to form another successful act, the synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the United States).

After two successful studio albums in as many years (1982–1983), he split with Yazoo partner Alison Moyet and formed the short-lived project the Assembly with producer Eric Radcliffe. The project spawned a UK number-four single, "Never Never", featuring Feargal Sharkey on lead vocals. After more than a year out of the spotlight, Clarke placed an advertisement in Melody Maker looking for a vocalist for a new musical project. Peterborough-born Andy Bell phoned and got a call back a few days later. Bell practiced for the audition listening to Alison Moyet and Siouxsie and the Banshees. It went well, and he was chosen. Around the same time Clarke released a single with vocalist Paul Quinn, "One Day". It flopped, leading Clarke to form Erasure. According to Bell, Clarke had been his "hero".

Erasure's influences include OMD, Kraftwerk, Gloria Gaynor and ABBA.

Erasure's first three singles were commercial failures in the UK, although the third, "Oh l'amour", charted well in Australia, South Africa and a few European countries (especially in France, where it still remains Erasure's only hit to date, and Germany where it was a Top 16 success). Their debut studio album, Wonderland, was mostly recorded in 1985 and released in June 1986. Although it only made the UK top 75, it made a sizeable mark in Germany, making the top 20.

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