Articles

At this time I only have this article. Even though it's an old one, it will always have a place on this site. It is extremely important to me because when I found it, when I was 13, I knew absolutely *nothing* about Erasure [nor what this "Internet" thing was, for that matter. heh]. I didn't even know what they looked like. Even though I owned Wonderland and The Innocents, and called them my favorite band, I feel like this was my official formal introduction to Erasure as actual people. I was just flipping through the paper one day, for no reason at all, and I landed on this page. It was fate.

What's interesting is this picture of Vince and Andy, the first picture I had ever seen of them... I've never seen it anywhere else. I've been looking for 15 years. I lost mine only about a month after cutting it out. The image here was found on a newspaper archive PDF file. I would love a better copy if anyone has any clue where I could get it.

New Album, No Tour For Synth-Pop Duo

By Karen Matthews, The Associated Press
July 1994

NEW YORK - In town to promote their new album, "I Say I Say I Say," Andy Bell and Vince Clarke of Erasure planned to take in postmodem vaudevillians Blue Man Group.

But Bell had a question: "Do they pull people up on stage?"

Apparently the man with one of the most flamboyant acts in popular music wasn't crazy about being smeared with paint and rammed against a canvas for the titillation of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.

For fans of Erasure, the bad news is that the British duo won't be on stage in support of the new album. Singer-lyricist Bell and composer-synthesizer wizard Clarke say they won't tour until after their NEXT album, which they aren't working on yet.

The good news is that "I Say I Say I Say," like all of Erasure's work, is packed with gorgeous vocals and danceable, hummable tunes. Their nine-year career has been highlighted by such songs as "Chains of Love," "A Little Respect," "Blue Savannah" and "Oh L'Amour."

"I Say I Say I Say" debuted at No. 18 on Billboard's album chart and the first single, "Always," broke into the Top 40 at No. 39.

One reviewer said the album could as easily have been called "Bonbons." It's gooey all right, with one song rhyming magical/ madrigal/lyrical/miraclc and another promising, "The man up in the moon is shining sweet love, sweet love."

Bell admitted that he's a cheerful person.

"If I got down in the dumps, you know, and really miserable, then it would be because I'm affected by somebody else," he said.

Bell, 30, and Clarke, 33, spoke in a midtown Manhattan hotel room where they were holed up for a few days giving interviews. Both were gracious but appeared tired from their trans-Atlantic flight the day before. Bell wore a Greenpeace T-shirt, shorts and Bart Simpson socks. His close-cropped hair was bleached platinum blond. Clarke was more subdued in jeans and hiking boots.

In addition to the Blue Man Group outing, their New York visit was to include an appearance at the nightclub Jackie 60 and an on-line news conference with their computer-owning fans. It seemed unsurprising that Clarke, the master of electronically generated soundscapes, is on the Internet himself. Bell is not.

Many though certainly not all of Erasure's most devoted fans are gay; Bell himself is among the still small number of recording artists who are open about their homosexuality. Asked how his candor has affected record sales he said: "I think it has been detrimental, but I think in the long term, people like you to be truthful. I mean, really, what we do is music, and it's up to people to forget their prejudices and enjoy the music."

Bell added that he admires Madonna "because she talks openly about sex." He also likes her music.

The 1992 tour they mounted after releasing the disc was worth the ticket price in costumes alone.

Bell's outfits included cheek-baring blue chaps and a skimpy sequined number that, he confirmed, was based on the one Marilyn Monroe wore in "Bus Stop."

While never exactly in drag - he wore no wigs or falsies - the singer performed in towering heels and a corset.