Yazoo (known as Yaz in the US) were formed in early 1982 when former "Depeche Mode" songwriter Vince Clarke (synthesizers) and English singer Alison Moyet (vocals) meshed their wicked talents together for a brief collaboration that became legendary.
Their debut single “Only You” was released in March of 1982 and rose to number 2 on the UK charts. They also released two studio albums “Upstairs at Eric’s” in 1982 and “You and Me Both” in 1983. Shortly after the release of the second album Moyet and Clarke decided to break up. Moyet pursued a solo career while Clarke first founded “The Assembly” followed by the quite successful “Erasure”. I'm amazed that Vince Clarke had an input with Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure. Wow!
The album "Upstairs At Eric's" by Yaz is a timeless unique masterpiece in my opinion. I'm not someone that usually listens to albums from start to finish, but this album is definitely one of the exceptions. Yaz is totally 80's. My favs are "Only You", "Situations", "Don't Go", & "Nobody's Diary" which is from their other album, but so worth checking out.
I once went to a club in Chicago that was called "Upstairs At Eric's" which turned out to be an incredible technodance bar. That was one fun night as you can imagine.
Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet reunited in 2008 touring Europe and the United States as Yazoo for the first time in twenty-five years. Also in 2008 their record company issued a 4-disc box set called “In Your Room”, containing remastered editions of both of their original albums, a disc of b-sides and remixes.
I started a thread awhile back about an 80's movie called "The Chocolate War" which featured several Yazoo tunes, but my fav use of a Yazoo tune is "Only You" in the 1998 flick "Can't Hardly Wait".
[ 10. October 2010, 11:51: Message edited by: Valley ]
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
Good thread, Val. Vince Clarke was something of a titan of synthpop in the early 80's; launching Depeche Mode; moving straight into Yazoo; then just a single song as 'The Assembly' - the classic 'Never Never'; then on to his 'home' of Erasure.
'Only You' is one of the best songs of that era - covered by acapella group 'The Flying Pickets' just one year after it first came out it reached # 1 for 5 weeks at Christmas. For those that don't know it:
I have often pondered over this exact question...Yazoo or Yaz?!?! Seriously, these kinds of things keep me up at night...well, not really .
I love the cover of Upstairs At Eric's...I mean, anything with mannequins, you can't go wrong! Lol!! And the song from The Chocolate War, "In My Room.", while at first I thought it was weird, I grew to like it..."The walls are white and in the night the room is lit by electric LIGHT!"
Here's a question though, perhaps Valley will know, in the song "Situation," there's a sample of a woman laughing that sounds ALOT like Madonna...what's the deal there? Anyone? Anyone?..
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
The flipside to Yazoo's first hit, “Only You”, had the original “Situation” which lasted only two and a half minutes, but Francois Kevorkian doubled up the track’s length by boosting the rhythm, repeating the strong synth melody, and inserting a great break. As well as highlighting Alison Moyet’s soulful vocals.. it also included her laughter which is now considered a classic Electro moment that Cindy Mancini pointed out.
And Cindy.. so you can sleep tonight... Yazoo were renamed Yaz in the US to avoid legal issues with the established blues reissue label of the same name.
Posted by Devolution (Member # 1731) on :
Devolution here,
Cindy and Valley, Am I the only person that didn't know whether the song was "Don't Go" or "Situation" until the chorus. Kind of like 38 Special with "Hold On Loosely" and "Caught Up In You"
WE are DEVO
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
I called a venue one time about some 'Yazoo' tickets, and the girl on the other end had no idea what I was talking about. It took us a minute to get it straightened out that I was after some 'Yaz' tickets
Vince Clarke has made the world a better place through synthesizer.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Devo .. I've never had that issue with regard to Yaz, but I'm totally on board with .38 Special. I'm more of a fan of "Hold On Loosely", but I'm not sure that is the song playing yet. ha
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:And Cindy.. so you can sleep tonight... Yazoo were renamed Yaz in the US to avoid legal issues with the established blues reissue label of the same name.
Ironically, a few years later we in the UK had our very own 'Yazz':
hey valley, speaking of yazoo.. what do you think of alison moyet's version of 'weak in the presence of beauty?'
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Ronnie.. I actually think it is quite excellent, but nothing can beat the Floy Joy version in my opinion. The trumpet was a bit much for me in Moyet's remake. Maybe if I only knew of Alison Moyet's version I would think differently??
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