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Alison Moyet And Vince Clarke Announce 4-Disc Vinyl Box Set

  • Published in News

Yazoo (Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke) have announced details of Four Pieces, a remastered, four-piece box set, out on October 26. Four Pieces will see four vinyl discs, packaged in a premium hardback-book format, alongside four art prints, six pocket-sized photos and a reproduction double-sided poster. The new box set features both of the band’s remarkable album releases – 1982’s Upstairs at Eric’s and 1983’s You and Me Both – alongside a disc of remixes and a fourth disc featuring both of the band’s highly sought-after BBC Sessions in their entirety. Both recorded in 1982, courtesy of John Peel and David Jensen, these two outstanding sessions are collected here for the first time on vinyl.

Remixes featured on the 38-track box set include an unreleased remix of ‘Winter Kills’ by Minute Taker and rare reworkings of tracks from Richard X and Todd Terry, alongside extended versions and the orchestral mix of ‘Only You’ which featured on a recent Boots television advert.

Yazoo formed in 1982 and, over an intense 18-month period, released two albums, four iconic hit singles and toured only once before they stopped creating music together. In that time, Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet created a sonic legacy and style which sent shockwaves through the charts that still resonate. Their boundary-breaking music merged cutting-edge electronica with heartfelt, impassioned vocals. Yazoo are name-checked by artists worldwide, including LCD Soundsystem and Antony and the Johnsons, as musical inspirations.

Disbanding 35 years ago, on the eve of the release of You and Me Both, which reached Number 1 in the UK chart, Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet continued to have successful careers in their own right, Vince with Erasure and Alison as a solo performer. Both artists have recently released Top 20 albums, Moyet with her 2017 album, Other, and Clarke with 2017’s World Be Gone.

36 years after they first presented Mute’s Daniel Miller with their first track, the heart-stopping electronic ballad, 'Only You', the impact of Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet’s unique songwriting is as it was in 1982 and, in the words of Record Mirror at the time, “Whoever said synthesiser music has no feeling can start eating their hearts out now”.

FOUR PIECES TRACKLISTING

LP1 – Upstairs At Eric’s

Side A

1. Don't Go

2. Too Pieces

3. Bad Connection

4. I Before E Except After C

5. Midnight

6. In My Room

 

Side B

1. Only You

2. Goodbye 70's

3. Tuesday

4. Winter Kills

5. Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)

 

LP2 - You And Me Both

Side A

1. Nobody's Diary

2. Softly Over

3. Sweet Thing

4. Mr Blue

5. Good Times

 

Side B

1. Walk Away from Love

2. Ode to Boy

3. Unmarked

4. Anyone

5. Happy People

6. And On

 

LP3 - Eight Remixes

Side A

1. Nobody's Diary - Extended Version

2. Situation - Richard X Remix

3. Don't Go - Remix

4. Only You - Orchestral Mix

 

Side B

1. Situation - The Aggressive Attitude Mix

2. Don't Go - Tee's TNT Radio Mix

3. State Farm - Madhouse Mix Edit

4. Winter Kills - Minute Taker Remix*

 

LP4 - Two BBC Sessions

Side A – John Peel, June 1982

1. Don't Go*

2. Midnight*

3. In My Room*

4. Winter Kills*

 

Side B – David Jensen, September 1982

1. Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)

2. In My Room

3. Situation*

4. Too Pieces*

 

* Previously unreleased.

 

 

 

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Erasure, Olympia Theatre, Dublin

  • Published in Live

 

It’s Erasure, so we’ll skip the introductions, right?! Tonight is the first of three dates in Dame Street’s grand old lady, The Olympia Theatre. It’s a real treat to see them play a series of shows in a smaller, more elegant venue, rather than another gig in the arena down the road. The original run was postponed when Andy Bell took ill in January, but they are back and getting ready for an American tour. The audience sing along enthusiastically with the warm up tape of The Human League and Eurythmics. Their fellow Londoners, Ekkoes, are the ideal support act for the venerable popsters. The quartet are young, attractive, and heavily influenced by tonight’s main act, as well as by Vince Clarke’s former comrades in Depeche Mode, and ‘80s electropop in general.

The theme tune from Tales Of The Unexpected comes over the tannoy and Clarke and Bell emerge onto the fluorescent framed stage; the backing singers on risers either side of the pair. ‘Oh L’Amour’ elicits a rapturous response and Bell apologises for the delay, “A couple of hours is diva behaviour but three weeks is pushing it”. The set spans their entire career: from their debut single, ‘Who Needs Love Like That’, right up to their latest offering, the Brexit and Trump inspired 'World Be Gone'. Their songwriting is remarkably consistent and new tracks like ‘Sweet Summer Loving’ sit seamlessly alongside ‘Blue Savannah’ and ‘Victim Of Love’.

Clarke remains inscrutable as he punches in sounds, and strums a guitar, on a platform two metres above the flamboyant focal point that is Andy Bell. Bell’s voice isn’t as spectacular as it was when he was a young man but he has written the new songs to suit how he sounds now, and the backing singers bolster the ‘80s and ‘90s tunes when needed.

A cover of Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ signals a change of gear and the crowd rise as one in acknowledgement of both the New York discopunks and the legendary pop stars in front of us. As Bell strips down to a skintight onesie, (it’s reassuring to see him strut around confidently with a paunch), ‘Stop!’ sees the energy hit a new high. ‘Love You To The Sky’ and ‘Always’ raise the temperature to summertime levels.

 

‘Sometimes’ hasn’t aged a day since its initial release in 1986, and raises the roof before the band leave the stage. When they return for the encore of ‘A Little Respect’, it’s on an equal footing, with the quartet at the lip of the stage; Clarke holding his acoustic guitar. In just over 90 minutes, they have raced through over three decades of hits. It’s a noticeably older crowd, many keep their coats on throughout, but the power of the performance, and undeniable genius of the tunes, has everyone out of their seats, singing and dancing. It’s a masterclass in how to be a pop band.

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