Erasure

Erasure (/ɪˈreɪʒə/) is an English synthpop duo, consisting of singer and songwriter Andy Bell and songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke. They formed in London in 1985 as part of the club scene. Their debut single was 'Who Needs Love Like That'. With their fourth single, 'Sometimes', the duo established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful artists of the late 1980s to mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, Erasure achieved 24 consecutive Top 40 hits in the UK. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.Their highest charting US single (on the Billboard Hot 100) was their 1988 single 'Chains of Love', which hit #12 on the chart. They also had Top 20 US hits with the songs 'A Little Respect', and 'Always'. The duo is most popular in their native UK and mainland Europe (especially Germany, Denmark, and Sweden) and also in South America (especially Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru). The band is also popular within the LGBT community, for whom the openly gay Bell has become an icon. Erasure have penned over 200 songs and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide. As a teenager, Vince Clarke was inspired to make electronic music after hearing Wirral synth band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (an influence on Erasure's work). He became a founding member of Depeche Mode and the sole writer of their first three singles, including the breakthrough Top 10 hit 'Just Can't Get Enough'. After leaving the band in late 1981, Clarke forged a similarly notable career with the duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the United States). After two hit 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 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. Peterborough-born Andy Bell phoned and got a call back a few days later. Bell practiced for the audition listening to Alison Moyet, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Communards. It went well, and he was chosen. Clarke had been his hero. Erasure's first three singles were commercial failures in the UK, although the third, 'Oh L'amour', charted well in Australia 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 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. It was with the release of their fourth single, 'Sometimes', that Erasure finally received recognition in the UK in late 1986. The song peaked at number 2 in the UK and Germany and spent many weeks in the UK Top 40, marking the beginning of a long string of major hits for the duo. The single's parent album, The Circus, was released in March 1987 and reached number 6 and turned platinum in the UK with three additional hit singles: 'It Doesn't Have To Be', 'Victim of Love' and 'The Circus'. The album remained on the charts for over a year.