Yazoo

Way back in 1981, Depeche Mode released their first album, and although most people think of songwriter Martin Gore when they think of Depeche, on this first release, Martin only penned two of eleven songs. Their main songwriter at the time was Vince Clarke, who almost immediately after the release of the first album left the group. He's on the far right on the picture below. Considering how dark the group became after he left, it's funny how he's the only one without a silly smile on his face.
As time went by, Vince would eventually find a musical home with the duo Erasure, who released their first album, "Wonderland", in 1985 and are still going strong today. After 23 years and hundreds of songs, they are still listed in the top 40 most successful UK bands of all time.
However, in-between Depeche and Erasure, Vince spent about a year and a half in another successful duo called "Yazoo." Actually, at some point in that two years, he released songs under the name "The Assembly" as well, but I'm going to ignore that because it's already a confusing timeline!

Yazoo was the team of Vince and vocalist Alison Moyet. You might remember her from her mid-1980s hit "Invisible." It's a pretty good song, but unfortunately, she never caught on in the US like she did in the UK. Yazoo, whose fame in the United States was pretty much limited to dance clubs, was huge in England. They had tons of hits and were beloved by many, even to this day. Their first album, "Upstairs at Erics", was a huge success, as was their follow-up, "You and Me Both", even though, by the time of its release they had already broken up.
I was into Erasure first. I discovered Depeche in 1985, bought all their albums, and found out about Vince by listening to "Speak and Spell", their debut. From there I followed him to the initial Erasure album, and decided that he was my second favorite songwriter after Martin Gore. Reading about his history led me to Yazoo (called "Yaz" in the US), unfortunately a couple years too late.

Both of the Yazoo albums are full of classic techno-pop with a soulful edge, courtesy of Alison's wonderful vocals. I embraced both of their releases as fantastic pieces of pop-music's past, never imagining that I would be able to see them live.

Fast forward to 2008, twenty-five years after the disbanding of Yazoo. Erasure vocalist Andy Bell takes a two year break from the group to work on a solo release and Vince finds himself with a summer off. Instead of resting on his laurels, he and Alison decide to do something no one anywhere saw coming and they reform Yazoo!!

Their plan to play 6 or 7 shows, due to incredible demand, becomes a two-month, world-wide tour, including some television appearances. I'll be seeing them tonight in DC. Tomorrow night will be my penultimate post in the 30-Day blog challenge, so you will be able to read my review of this exciting concert.

As we wrap this thing up, you won't want to miss a single post. Stick around!!