This time I actually have my sister D to thank for getting me into Erasure. When we were kids she used to listen to them and due to weird circumstances I wont get into her boyfriend was staying at our home and I had to share a room with him and he used to play a tape which had Ship Of Fools on it. Before the days of the internet and lyrics.com I used to play a track over and over and write down the lyrics myself and Ship Of Fools was one of the early ones I remember doing it for.
Erasure are an English synth pop duo who formed in 1985 and consist of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke. They had most of their success during the late 1980's and early 1990's with 24 consecutive #1 singles in the UK chart and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Erasure actually formed after Vince Clarke (who co-founded Depeche Mode and Yazoo) advertised for a vocalist and auditioned Andy Bell who was the 43rd to be auditioned.
Saw Band
Erasure's debut album Wonderland was released in 1986 and Vince Clarke had initially planned on having different singers appear on each track but due to "musical chemistry" differences, Andy Bell worked on each track and after this they made the Erasure duo permanent. The album didn't do as well as planned initially but is now appreciated as the beginning stages of synth pop in the UK. Two of the most successful singles from the album were Who Needs Love (Like That) and Oh L'Amour.
When The Circus was released in 1987 it was a huge success which is mainly due to the song Sometimes which went into the charts at #2. The album also had more hits which were: It Doesn't Have To Be, Victim of Love and The Circus. The Innocents was released in 1988 and catapulted Erasure into the public eye with the singles A Little Respect, Ship Of Fools, When I Needed You and River Deep, Mountain High. The album was their first #1 album in the UK and saw them break into the US top 40 where the album turned Platinum.
Wild! (released in 1989) is considered one of their best albums by Erasure's fans and contains some classics like Blue Savannah, Piano Song, Drama! and Star. The album was Erasure's second #1 in the UK and had four #1 singles and was also a massive hit in Germany. Chorus was released in 1991 and was another #1 hit in the UK and also had four #1 hits.
I Say I Say I Say is their sixth studio album and was released in 1994 and their fifth consecutive #1 album in the UK. The single Always was a massive hit in the US along with Run To The Sun which was a huge club hit. The self titled Erasure album released in 1995 didn't perform as well commercially as their previous albums but was still a great album with the singles Rock Me Gently, Fingers And Thumbs, and Angel on it.
The 1997 release of Cowboy saw Erasure return to the UK top 10 and the single In My Arms is a classic song which was a huge hit in UK, Germany and the US where the album was altered slightly to include a cover of the Blondie song Rapture. Loveboat was released in 2000 and contained more use of acoustic guitars than some of their previous albums.
Other People's Songs was released in 2003 and is a purely cover album and contains some classics like Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime (The Korgis), True Love Ways (Buddy Holly), Video Killed the Radio Star (Buggles) and You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (The Righteous Brothers). The album saw another rise in popularity for Erasure.
Nightbird is Erasure's eleventh studio album which was released in 2005 and the single Breathe entered the UK chart at #4. Many fans and critics saw the album as a return to the older style like the albums Wonderland and Chorus. To promote the album Erasure embarked on a massive tour of the US, UK and most of Europe.
The Union Street album which was released in 2006 is a compilation album of songs from previous albums but recorded in a country and western or acoustic style. Their latest album released in 2007 is Light At The End Of The World and the tour to promote the album started in Tampa, Florida and went through to the UK, Ireland, Germany and ended in Denmark in October.
It is reported that Erasure are working on new material to be released this year and news is that there is going to be some association with nursery rhymes.
My Top 10 Erasure Songs are:
01. Sometimes
02. It Doesn't Have To Be
03. Ship Of Fools
04. Always
05. Victim Of Love
06. Oh L'Amour
07. In My Arms
08. Yahoo!
09. When I Needed You
10. Love Is The Rage