| Erasure facts | Vince is currently basking in joy over after the arrival of his latest bundle of joy: Baby Oscar Union Street was recorded in the Brooklyn studio of the same name, which is owned by guitarist Steve Walsh In 1985, aged 21, ex-butcher Andy was the 41st candidate that Vince auditioned, but their creative chemistry clicked instantly. To date, Erasure has racking up an incredible 32 consecutive singles in the Top 40, with more than 14 million albums sold (so far). This year, Erasure turn 21…can’t wait for the party!! |
Erasure have been entertaining their loyal troop of fans for over 20 years; an army of admirers ranking from teeny-boppers, their parents, grandparents, as well as their brothers, sisters and all those in-between. Erasure fans are as appreciative and universal as ever. Their latest CD, Union Street, sees the electro-music pioneers explore more down tempo, acoustic material – as hinted at in last yea'rs ‘Nightbird’. Erasure ‘unplugged’ is not exactly an experiment, as all Erasure songs start life as acoustic guitar numbers before they’re amplified and electrified into the high-energy euro tinged dance numbers or melodic torch songs, we know, love and expect.
 | | Erasure: The early days |
Bringing their new collection to the stage is an act of self-assured bravado. The collection of songs showcased on Union Street may not be the ones the fans would have chosen, but with a back catalogue of so many great tunes to choose from, the acoustic makeovers are woven into a set that is as familiar as an Erasure bedroom karaoke-cum-hoedown! I and a colleague, Dr Tony Purvis, (Lecturer in Cultural & Media Studies at Newcastle University), had the rare opportunity of meeting up with Vince and Andy for a pre-gig soiree, to chat about the tour, the future and the cultural pop-politics that make Erasure tick. Erasure: The Interview Yve Ngoo:
I’d like to welcome you, Vince and Andy, to the Sage Gateshead Concert Hall, and another sold out gig. Firstly, what’s been the reaction to your acoustic tour? Vince Clark:
The reaction, so far has been really good. We’ve played five dates so far. I don’t think people really expected to hear us in this light. Obviously, we’ve got the album out, which is Union Street, and it’s acoustic songs. Our set comprises of that album; plus we’ve taken some of the old songs, and we’ve made them into country… Andy Bell:
We’ve countrified them! VC: And people have been very surprised about that. But so far, it’s been very good. Nobody’s asked for their money back. YN: I’d like to suggest that the Union Street tour is a showcase for many things; your voice for instance. You’ve always had a fantastic ‘pop’ voice, but on listening to the new album, I found your voice stronger than ever, and more versatile. The songs are pared down, re-arranged - did you have to prepare for this? AB: To be honest, no. We recorded the album two years ago, but we toured Nightbird last year, and we did sixty shows, so we were exercising our lungs, between flus, it was perfect timing when this tour started - I was really wanted to sing. Because of experiences in your personal life, you can bring them to your performance and read other things into the songs that weren’t necessarily there when you wrote them.
YN: Knowing the songs in one form - then hearing them now, there’s an added clarity and poignancy to the lyrics. Did you ever stop and think about what you were singing? AB: A lot of the time, when we were writing songs, we tended to write split-up songs, or breaking-up songs. However, I’ve been in a steady relationship for twenty years, so you kind of think you’re pretending when you're singing them, and now that something’s happened, it’s as if all these songs have come true – it gives you an impetus to sing them another way. YN: How did you choose what tracks you were going to put on this album? Was it a joint decision, did you argue about it, or did you know instinctively, these were the tracks that would work acoustically? | "Union Street is just an off-shoot. We’re not going to turn into a country band." | | Vince Clark: Erasure |
VC: I think I knew. We were particularly keen to do songs from the album ‘Cowboy’, as I felt that was the pinnacle of our song writing. There were some great songs that were missed by people, that weren’t played on the radio, and then I just went through all the albums we recorded, and chose the songs I felt could play with just an acoustic guitar, you know, so the strongest words, the strongest melodies, were the songs that ended up on the album. YN: So you don’t necessarily sit down and write disco tunes at your synthesiser, everything is done with your guitar and voice, and maybe people don’t realise that when they hear your polished productions and dance numbers, those songs actually started off as an acoustic number – so Union Street isn’t a major change? VC: For our satisfaction, we really wanted to do this tour. It’s the first time we’ve ever played with a band – but at the same time, I love synthesisers, Andy loves synthesisers, and I love the sound of electronic music, so the next record that we write, which we begin, hopefully in June, will be totally electronic. This is just an off-shoot. We’re not going to turn into a country band. AB: But you do go wow! When you have the live instruments on stage, as it’s so totally different, and you’re transformed somewhere else. So it makes me feel like I’m on Broadway or something; but we are electro babies. YN: As with your last solo-outing. Electric Blue, we’re talking about the energy you both have - where do you get your energy from? AB: A lot of it actually comes from frustration – for not having the exposure that we would like. YN: But you do get a lot of exposure!
 | | Erasure Abbaresque |
AB: We do get exposure, but in different ways. It’s not how it used to be, with being on mainstream TV shows, as there aren’t many any more - and it’s all so youth orientated nowadays, so we just feel we want to carry on and keep working. If you disappear for six months, people think you’ve retired or dropped down dead. AB: [Unions Street] – was one of those things that happened by chance – and that was the time to do it. The guy we worked with was just living around the corner, from where I live in London, so I would just go around there in the evening, you know, and Vince was having his baby, and I thought I would just do this, right now and get it out of my system. YN: Is there anyone you haven’t yet worked with – or you’d like to? AB: I’d like to record an album of duets, only with women. Torch songs, so you’d get people like Debbie Harry and Dolly Parton, you know those kinds of women. That’s it really. I’d like to do some Threepenny Opera! Erasure: on the couch with Dr Tony Purvis The kinds of questions I want to think about are to do with the text and the lyrics, and the kind of psychological stuff. Some of the songs from the past, especially Oh L’Amour, Love to Hate you etc, a lot of your output was about a kind of exploration of psychological dramas? AB: I do think that when you’re in entertainment, you’re either showing off or you’re an exhibitionist, or you’re a total recluse; so I think a lot of the songs tend to be going to the farthest edge – as far as you can go – without cracking up – whilst retaining your sanity. VB: I think the best lyrics affect you in a certain way. You sing them some nights at certain concerts and they’re so deep and meaningful, and hopefully, someone in the audience has the same feeling or a similar experience or it affects you in a particular way. If I hear a lyric from another song, and it moves me emotionally, I think ‘that guy knows exactly what I’m going through’. And when you can do the same with one of your own lyrics, that’s the best kind of writing you can do.
 | | Erasure and Dr Tony Purvis |
Dr TP: Linked to that, is how far you think your work responds to, or represents, particular cultural moments. For example; from the late 80s, early 90s, I think your music and performances were consumed in particular identitarian ways – particularly in relation to sexual politics? AB: Well I’ve always loved female singers, which is quite typical, and I’ve always felt from the very first time I heard my voice recorded on a machine, that I sounded like a girl. So when I’m singing, I always feel I want to be a man and a woman – going between the two of them, so it’s almost asexual, bisexual, whatever – so you can’t be pigeonholed. It’s the same as being both black and white. Also, as we do electronic music, we’re not part of lad culture, MTV, guitar culture; we come through clubs and various ways. YN: Though, like the Pet Shops Boys, you have a massive straight following. AB: I get less and less scared when I see ‘laddish types’ having a good time. I don’t feel scared anymore. I see it as, that’s you, that’s fine, and there might be something in there, and I embrace, whatever’s in there. Dr TP: I think it’s going back to what Vince said before about how you imagine one member of the audience may identify with the kind of stuff you’re articulating – as you’re not positioning yourself in a particular macho context. Have you thought about that? VB: Well you don’t want to start preaching to people. The only thing you can do is express your own feelings. You can’t express anybody else’s. And if people can relate to that - and it’s weird, as so many times you talk to people about lyrics that you’ve written, who say ‘that means such and such to me’ – but I didn’t mean that when I wrote it! I’m sure it’s the same when I listen to other people’s lyrics. AB: Well that’s the real reason Vince left Depeche Mode, as he felt it was going towards one way. Then again, songs like ‘Love to Hate You’ are complete nonsense! The gig: from Union Street to Gateshead What an absolute treat, and totally unplugged! The dynamic duo was supported by a collective of musicians and singers to create an authentic Nashville country vibe. Along with the newly arranged tracks such as ‘Spiralling’, (from 1987's second album ‘The Circus’) and ‘Piano Song’ (from 1989's ‘Wild!’), fans were rewarded with fabulously kitsch blue-grass re-workings of ‘Blue Savannah’ – very ‘Dixie Chicks’, followed by a hoe-down fest of similarly countrified classics such as ‘Stop!’, ‘Chains of Love’, ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Oh L’Amour’.
 | | Andy Bell: Unplugged at the Sage |
This year, the Sage Gateshead has played a canny card by scheduling an exciting programme of pop and rock, which has attracted new audiences – many of whom were visiting the Sage for the first time to see Erasure. Comments from the crowd were extremely favourable. What makes the Union Street collection work, more than anything else, is Andy Bell’s voice. Undoubtedly, Andy has one of the best voices in British pop – a unique, almost androgynous delivery that conveys the emotion and drama of the lyrics. Without the synth, Vince can showcase his hidden persona; no longer the po-faced keyboard wizard, but a very human multi-tasking, multi-talented musician (guitar, mandolin, keyboards) who complements Andy’s fresh delivery. After Gateshead, next stop is Europe – then the big-one; an exhaustive, sell out tour of the USA taking in the capital of country, Nashville. | 
