Yazoo -

Yazoo (aka Yaz) was an English synthpop duo with (ex-Depeche Mode) keyboardist–songwriter Vince Clarke and soul singer Alison Moyet. They released the 1982–83 albums Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both and charted with “Only You,” “Don’t Go,” “Situation,” and “Nobody’s Diary.” Clarke formed the subsequent synth-duo Erasure.

Members: Vince Clarke (keyboards, synthesizer), Alison Moyet (vocals)

Formation

Yazoo formed in late 1981 when Vince Clarke, fresh off his one-album stint with Depeche Mode, answered a Melody Maker ad placed by fellow Basildon, Essex, resident Alison Moyet.

Clarke and Moyet grew up one grade apart in the same area but met for the first time at Yazoo’s inception. He favored electronic music while her roots laid in soul and R&B. They had a mutual friend in Robert Marlow, a member of the Depeche Mode precursor bands French Look (with Martin Gore) and The Plan (with Clarke).

Vince co-founded Depeche Mode in early 1980 and wrote the bulk of their debut album, Speak & Spell, which charted on the strength of their inauguaral hit “Just Can’t Get Enough.” He left due to workload exhaustion and musical differences.

Alison sang in a sequence of unsigned local punk and pub-rock bands, including The Vandals (with Marlow), The Vicars, and The Little Roosters. After the breakup of her most recent band, The Screamin’ Ab Dabs, she placed the Melody Maker ad. Vince was her sole respondent.

Despite their differences, Vince recognized her vocal prowess and asked her to sing on his recently completed ballad “Only You.” He presented the demo to Depeche Mode’s label Mute Records, which requested a full album. They took their name from the American roots label Yazoo Records.

Upstairs at Eric’s

Yazoo released their debut album, Upstairs at Eric’s, on August 16, 1982, on Mute. They titled the album after the studio space of their producer, Eric Radcliffe.

Upstairs at Eric’s features seven Vince Clarke originals, including “Bad Connection,” “I Before E Except After C,” and the pre-released singles “Only You” and “Don’t Go.” Alison Moyet wrote four songs: “Midnight,” “Winter Kills,” “Bring Your Love Down (Didn’t I),” and “Goodbye 70’s.” Moyet plays piano while Clarke handles all remaining instruments with select input by co-producer Daniel Miller, who added ‘noises’ to “In My Room,” “Too Pieces,” and the three hits.

North American copies replaced “Tuesday” with “Situation,” a European b-side remixed for the US club market.

1. “Don’t Go” (3:08)
2. “Too Pieces” (3:14)
3. “Bad Connection” (3:20)
4. “I Before E Except After C” (4:36) features Moyet and Radcliffe’s mother reading the instruction manual for a studio device.
5. “Midnight” (4:22)
6. “In My Room” (3:52)

7. “Only You” (3:14)
8. “Goodbye 70’s” (2:35)
9. “Tuesday” (3:22)
10. “Winter Kills” (4:06)
11. “Bring Your Love Down (Didn’t I)” (4:40)

Sessions occurred in the spring of 1982 at Blackwing Studio in London, where Yazoo recorded in the morning hours (5–11 am) when the space wasn’t booked by Mute labelmate Frank Tovey (aka Fad Gadget), who concurrently used the studio for his third album, Under the Flag. Radcliffe co-produced both albums amid work on 1982 titles by Colour Box, Depeche Mode, Dome, Weekend, and the Cocteau Twins‘ debut Garlands.

“Only You” first appeared on March 15 backed with “Situation,” a Clarke/Moyet number intended as a b-side.

B. “Situation” (2:22 / 3:44)

As the single climbed into the UK Top 30, Yazoo mimed “Only You” for the April 29 broadcast of the BBC music program Top of the Pops, which also featured in-studio numbers by Hot Chocolate (“Girl Crazy”), Monsoon (“Ever So Lonely”), and Simple Minds (“Promised You a Miracle”). The black-clad duo cut a video (of sorts) with new wave beach extras for the Dutch music program TopPop.

“Only You” reached No. 5 in Ireland, No. 6 in Australia, and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The single’s instant popularity spurred demand for an album (then unprepared), which Yazoo arranged as they went along in the studio.

On July 9, Yazoo issued “Don’t Go” as a second advance single, backed with “Winter Kills.” The video takes place in a haunted mansion where Alison (ivory fur and fedora) visits Vince (head-shaved with bangs), who veers between Dr. Frankenstein and Count Dracula as vampire bats, dancing skeletons, and the Frankenstein monster animate the building.

Yazoo mimed “Don’t Go” with striped, curly backdrops for the July 15 TotP broadcast, which featured in-studios by Cliff Richard (“The Only Way Out”), David Essex (“Me and My Girl (Night-Clubbing)”), Dexys Midnight Runners (“Come On Eileen”), and Leo Sayer (“Heart (Stop Beating In Time)”). They returned amid pink fog and twisty mesh fixtures for the August 12 broadcast, which also featured The Associates (“18 Carat Love Affair”), Fun Boy Three (“Summertime”), Sheena Easton (“Machinery”), and Toto Coelo (“I Eat Cannibals”).

“Don’t Go” reached No. 1 in Belgium an No. 2 in the Netherlands and Switzerland. It peaked in the Top 5 in the UK and France (both No. 3), Ireland and Spain (both No. 4), and Sweden (No. 5). The single also went Top 10 in Austria and Australia (both No. 6), Finland (No. 7), and South Africa (No 9).

In the US, “Don’t Go” topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Disco chart while the video received high rotation on the fledgling cable music network MTV. Meanwhile, New York DJ François Kevorkian remixed the earlier b-side “Situation” for a North American 12″ on Yazoo’s US/Canadian label, Sire. The 12″ featured an extended “Situation” (5:40) and a dub version (5:45). “Situation” topped the US Hot Dance chart and spurred demand in Europe, where it charted in Belgium (No. 7), the Netherlands and Finland (both No. 17).

The “Don’t Go” picture sleeve and Upstairs at Eric’s cover feature pics of mannequins and dolls in assorted form by Joe Lyons, a sleeve photographer for Delta 5 and Siouxsie & The Banshees.

Upstairs at Eric’s topped the UK Indie Charts and reached No. 2 on the main chart. Abroad, the album reached No. 4 in Finland and Spain, No. 9 in the Netherlands and New Zealand, and also went Top 20 in Australia (No. 10), Sweden (No. 11), and Germany (No. 14).

In September 1982, Sire issued Upstairs at Eric’s under the name Yaz in the US, where “Only You” reached No. 38 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and prompted a cover by pop singer Rita Coolidge. In late 1983, the British a cappella group Flying Pickets scored a UK Christmas No. 1 with their cover of “Only You.”

“The Other Side of Love”

On November 26, 1982, Yazoo released a standalone third single: “The Other Side of Love,” a Clarke/Moyet co-write backed with Alison’s “Ode to Boy.” Mute issued the single in standard 7″ and extended 12″ formats. The a-side features backing vocals by Sylvia & The Sapphires, an R&B sister act.

A. “The Other Side of Love” (3:05 / 5:20)
B. “Ode to Boy” (3:37)

In the video to “The Other Side of Love,” Yazoo portray a couple at a formal ballroom dance, where Alison force-tangos the clumsy, narcoleptic Vince, who passes out on the floor. When he awakes, the event has transformed into a costume ball with aliens and cat people.

Yazoo (with the Sapphires) greeted the single with a dark-stage appearance on the 11/25 TotP broadcast, which featured in-studios by A Flock of Seagulls (“Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)”), Culture Club (“Time (Clock of the Heart)”), and Talk Talk (“Talk Talk”), plus videos by Musical Youth (“Youth of Today”) and Ultravox (“Hymn”).

“The Other Side of Love” reached No. 11 in Ireland and No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

You and Me Both

Yazoo released their debut album, You and Me Both, on July 4, 1983, on Mute.

Vince Clark played all the instruments and wrote the five even-numbered tracks, including “Softly Over,” “Unmarked,” and “Walk Away from Love,” which features the Sapphires on backing vocals. He sings on “Happy People.”

Alison Moyet wrote the six odd-numbered tracks, including the earlier b-side “Ode to Boy” and the new a-side “Nobody’s Diary,” plus the deep-cuts “Sweet Thing” and “Anyone.”

1. “Nobody’s Diary” (4:30)
2. “Softly Over” (4:01)
3. “Sweet Thing” (3:41)
4. “Mr. Blue” (3:24)
5. “Good Times” (4:18)

6. “Walk Away from Love” (3:18)
7. “Ode to Boy” (3:35)
8. “Unmarked” (3:34)
9. “Anyone” (3:24)
10. “Happy People” (2:56)
11. “And On” (3:12)

Sessions took place between November 1982 and February 1983 at Blackwing Studios, where Eric Radcliffe co-produced You and Me Both in sequence with titles by The Lines, Red Crayola, and the Wire/Dome-related projects P’o and Duet Emmo. The 4AD design firm Twenty-three Envelope created the cover, which shows two dalmatians camouflaged in snow.

Yazoo preceded the album with “Nobody’s Diary,” released as a May 1983 single with “State Farm,”an exclusive Clarke/Moyet b-side. Mute issued a 7″ edit (3:58) and an extended 12” version (6:07).

B. “State Farm” (3:34 / 6:37)

In the “Nobody’s Diary” video, Yazoo mime on a blue-sky-valley stage set flanked with giant hand-written letters (standing). Vince plays a keytar and sports a quiffed blond avalanche on his otherwise shaved head. The letters correspond to a melancholy candlelight exchange between a 1920s couple, whose scenario turns out to be a theatre performance attended by Vince and Alison. In later scenes, the letters overlay the valley greens.

Yazoo mimed “Nobody’s Diary” amid teal-lit mirror balls and shining zigzag columns for the May 19 TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studios by The Beat (“Can’t Get Used to Losing You”), Joboxers (“Just Got Lucky”), Fun Boy Three (“Our Lips Are Sealed”), and ex-Linx singer David Grant (“Stop and Go”).

“Nobody’s Diary” reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Abroad, the song reached No. 9 in Sweden, No. 10 in Spain, and also achieved Top 20 placements in New Zealand and Italy (both No. 14), Finland (No. 15), Australia (No. 17), West Germany (No. 18), and Belgium (No. 20). In the US, “Nobody’s Diary” topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

You and Me Both reached No. 1 on both the Independent and mainstream UK Albums Charts. Abroad, the album hit No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 4 in Iceland and Sweden. The album also went Top 20 in the Netherlands (No. 11), Germany (No. 15), and Finland (No. 17). In the US, You and Me Both placed in the upper-third of the Billboard 200.

After Yazoo

Alison Moyet launched her solo career with the 1984 CBS release Alf, which spawned the international soul nouveau hit “Invisible.”

Vince Clarke backed his pre-fame music partner Robert Marlow on a pair of 1983 singles: “I Just Want to Dance” (b/w “No Heart”) and “The Face of Dorian Gray.” He produced Marlow’s album, The Peter Pan Effect, which went unreleased for sixteen years.

Clarke formed The Assembly with co-producer Eric Radcliffe. They hired ex-Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey for the 1983 Mute single “Never Never” (b/w “Stop / Start”), which reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. Despite talk of further singles with different singers, Clarke and Radcliffe parted ways after this release.

In 1985, Clarke teamed with Scottish singer Paul Quinn, an associate of Orange Juice mastermind Edwyn Collins and the recent frontman of Jazzateers and Bourgie Bourgie. The Clarke/Quinn liaison produced one Mute single, “One Day” (b/w “Song For”).

Later that year, Clarke place an ad that netted Dogsthorpe native Andy Bell. They formed the synthpop duo Erasure, which debuted with the 1986 Mute release Wonderland and broke big with their 1987 second album, The Circus, which spawned the hits “Sometimes” and “Victim of Love.”

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