Yazoo (band)
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| Yazoo | ||
|---|---|---|
 An illustration of Yazoo
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| Background information | ||
| Also known as | Yaz | |
| Origin | Basildon, England | |
| Genre(s) | Dance New wave Synth pop |
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| Years active | 1982 — July 1983 | |
| Label(s) | Mute Records | |
| Associated acts |
Erasure Depeche Mode |
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| Former members | ||
| Alison Moyet Vince Clarke |
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Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.) were a short-lived but highly successful English synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex that had a number of top ten hits in the British charts in the early 1980s.
Heavily influenced by earlier bands like Kraftwerk, Yazoo expanded upon the synthpop formula by juxtaposing Alison Moyet's bluesy emotional vocals with Vince Clarke's clinical electronic hooks. Their sound referenced disco but added a more disaffected attitude that disco lacked. Their second album saw greater songwriting input from Moyet, adding a rather more mature and soulful flavour, particularly on the hit single "Nobody's Diary".
Contents |
[edit] Overview and history
The group was formed in 1981, using a moniker that Alison Moyet, veteran of a number of southeast Essex based punk and rock bands, had seen on the labels of old blues albums: 'Yazoo'. Clarke had been the main songwriter in Depeche Mode, who at that point had recorded one album and three singles for Mute Records, including the hits "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Clarke surprised many by quitting Depeche Mode just as they were beginning to reap success, claiming that they "just weren't getting on, really", forming Yazoo with the then relatively unknown Moyet. Mute Records continued to release the output of this new Clarke project.
Their debut single "Only You" backed with "Situation," was released in April 1982, and rose to number two in the UK. Clarke had offered the song as a parting gift to his former bandmates in Depeche Mode, but they declined. Yazoo quickly scored another hit with the next single, "Don't Go," which hit number three, and became popular on MTV in the United States thanks to a Frankenstein-themed video. They continued their successful streak with their first album, Upstairs at Eric's, which went platinum in Britain. The band received favourable reviews for their pioneering sound. Clarke and Moyet toured briefly, while releasing a stopgap single, "The Other Side of Love".
The duo's second album, You and Me Both, yielded more success, hitting the top of the UK charts, and spinning off one single. The album's success was tainted by Clarke and Moyet deciding to go their separate ways.
Moyet decided to venture off on a solo career, signing to Columbia Records, where she would enjoy a great deal of early success. Vince Clarke recorded a single with producer Eric Radcliffe (the same "Eric" from the title of Yazoo's debut album) and Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey as The Assembly, and another with vocalist Paul Quinn. Clarke then founded the highly successful pop group Erasure with vocalist Andy Bell.
Mute Records released a remixed version of "Situation" as a single in 1990 to moderate success. In 1999, a compilation was released, entitled Only Yazoo - The Best of and was preceded by a re-release of Yazoo's debut single, "Only You", featuring a new remix of the title track and several more of "Don't Go". The band's output was bookended with yet another release of "Situation", accompanied by many remixes.
Clarke was tapped to remix Moyet's 1994 single, "Whispering Your Name" and with Erasure, Clarke and Moyet tried to record her single "This House" as a duet. This project never came to surface, because Sony Records would not permit it.
The band's songs have appeared in a number of films and television shows. "Only You" was recently been used in the Napoleon Dynamite, the BBC television series The Office and the film Can't Hardly Wait. "Don't Go" was used in the movie Tango and Cash, and can be heard in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The song "Situation" was also used in a Nintendo commercial highlighting the Classic edition of the Gameboy Advance SP and the classic NES games ported to it.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Upstairs at Eric's | 2 | 92 |
| 1983 | You and Me Both | 1 | 69 |
| 1999 | Only Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo | 22 | - |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | US Dance | Australia | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "Only You" | 2 | 67 | - | 7 | Upstairs At Eric's |
| 1982 | "Don't Go" | 3 | - | 1 | 6 | Upstairs At Eric's |
| 1982 | "Situation" (US-only) | - | 73 | 1 | - | Upstairs At Eric's |
| 1982 | "The Other Side of Love" | 13 | - | - | - | Upstairs At Eric's (Re-Release) |
| 1983 | "Nobody's Diary" | 3 | - | 1 | 17 | You and Me Both |
| 1990 | "Situation" (new remix) | 14 | - | 46 | - | - |
| 1999 | "Only You" (new remix) | 38 | - | - | - | Only Yazoo - The Best of Yazoo |
| 1999 | "Don't Go" (new remix) | - | - | 16 | - | - |
| 1999 | "Situation" (new remix) | - | - | 1 | - | - |
[edit] Awards
- 1983 BRIT Awards - Best British breakthrough act
[edit] Trivia
- Smash Hits did an interview with Yazoo on May 13, 1982. The interview was conducted by Neil Tennant, who would later make it big as half of the Pet Shop Boys four years later.
[edit] See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
