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Pop - The First 20 Hits - Erasure
by cha97mw
I've recently been trying to listen to music more often through the day when everyone else is out the house, so it has given me chance to revisit some of the music I loved in my younger days. Erasure pop used to be one of my favourite albums when I was a teenager. My dad and I ended up having a row when I left home as he was convinced ... this was his, but no way would I part with it, so I ended up buying him his own copy to make up for me taking it. In all honesty, I am surprised that this CD still plays, as I first got this copy when I was around 13, and I am now 33. Admittedly I don't often play my CDs these days, but I think that this is pretty good going.
My interest in Erasure came from a family holiday we took in the summer of 1992 when I was aged 13,
just getting more into music, and Erasure were going through their 'Abba-esque' period, and the Abba covers that they did were in the top ten of the charts and playing quite a lot. With my parents loving Abba, me and my Dad loved this phase, and I was not surprised to get a copy of Pop for the Christmas of that year.
Erasure are a pop duo consisting of Andy Bell as main vocalist and songwriter, and Vince Clarke on keyboard. They have been around since 1985, and their music has a very distinctive sound as it has a very electric feel to it and prominent use of a synthesizer in the tracks. It is very reminiscent of another of my Dad's favourite groups, The Human Leaugue, who also used this musical technique and as my early childhood saw me subjected to my parents musical choices, I was fond of this band as well.
This particular album was released in 1992, and as the title suggests, it is the band's first 20 hits, so it is full of their best tracks. I find that although they all have a similar electronic sound, each track has also got a unique feel that I really love to listen to, and as soon as the CD is put on, I start singing along and I feel really happy. I probably sound awful trying to harmonise with the male voices but I don't really care. The lyrics mean a lot to me, and I find my mood is really uplifted.
Art wise, this CD is not that particularly iconic or striking. The front cover features the word erasure printed many times in the background, with pop in and explosive bubble. Its pretty simple and says what it is. The back cover has two small birds sat on a branch set against a blue sky background. It doesn't strike me as being that distinctive - it could be a CD of birdsong looking at the back cover, but don't let if fool you. This is a proper pop album.
The CD starts strongly with their debut song from 1985, 'Who Needs Love (Like That) which is a song describing how devastating a love affair can be.I think that it has a strong feel of the 1980s about it. It is quite upbeat considering the sombre content of the lyrics, like 'love can turn you upside down, and leave you cold. It's plain to see your losing all control.'
The band follow their hits chronologically on the CD. 'Heavenly Action' is also from 1985. It is a song about falling in love, and although it is littered with cliches about firing arrows into your heart, and Angels from heaven, I find it also has a certain amount of catchiness to it and it is more uplifting than track one. I can't believe this only made 100 in the pop charts when it was first released.
'Oh L'amour' is track 3 and their 3rd single from 1986.. This starts of a bit choral at first, but then takes on a strong beat more reminiscent of a dance track. The synthesizer is very evident in the chorus section where there are no vocals. The song describes someone who is in love, but their love is unrequited leaving them feeling broken hearted.
'Sometimes' is one of my favourite tracks on the album, This one was their first single that could actually be classed as a proper hit, as it reached number 2 in the UK chart in 1986. The lyrics are a bit more risque with talk about 'it's not the way you lead me by the hand into the bedroom, ... it's not my sense of emptiness you fill with your desire'. I particularly like the saxophone solo in this and the harmonising of just voices making an 'ah' sound over the vocals.
'It doesn't have to be' was a 1987 release and has a bit more of a sombre feel with the stronger keyboard sound over the top of the vocals. The song is a lament about the way a relationship has turned out. In the middle there is a portion sung in a foreign language which is apparently Kiswahili which still appears to be sung by Bell, and it gives the song a totally different almost tribal feel in that section, which is carried on till the end of the track for me.
'Victim of Love' is another really catchy 1987 song and another of my favourites. It describes not wanting to 'look like some kind of fool' when entering into a new relationship, locking away your feelings away and building a wall around yourself to keep yourself protected. Again, this is all done with such an uptempo beat that seems to not match the topic of the song, but works very well.
Track 7 is from 1987 too, and has the same name as their 2nd album, 'The Circus'. Here the song still has quite a strong beat, but there is a completely different feel to the track compared to the earlier tracks. It is sadder, more melancholy, and more in keeping with the lyrics 'pulling back the pieces of the broken dream.' 'There once was a future, for the working man, there was once a lifetime for the skillful hands.' It touches more on social issues rather than personal ones, looking at workers who can no longer rely on their skill in this new world that has more advanced technology. It is certainly a lot darker than earlier work done by the duo.
'Ship of Fools' continues on the same melancholy note, talking about someone being 'the baby of the class you know, you didn't even know one and one were two and two and two were four. ' It is a song about loss, and the cruelty of life.
'Chains of Love' is also from 1988. The opening with Bell's voice is quite dramatic 'how can I explain when there are few words I can choose, how can I explain when words get broken?' The song is about the prejudices surrounding love, particularly in homosexual relationships. The duo return to the more 'poppy' sound and I love Bell's use of falsetto to describe his relationship. I love the sentiment of 'together we'll break these chains of love, don't give up, don't give up.' It is strange to think that there was so much prejudice such a short time ago that bands felt they needed to sing about it.
The CD then takes a strong pop approach with the very catchy tenth track 'A Little Respect'. The song again features Bell singing in falsetto in the chorus in perfect harmony with Clark. They return back to what they do best, singing about love, asking for their lover to show them 'A Little Respect'.
'Stop' starts with a strong synthesised beat very different to earlier work - much pacier, and in contrast with the lyrics of wanting their lover to stop before they go to far and make a fool out of love.
Drama! is from 1989 and again takes a turn for the more sombre and theatrical. It describes someone who is over the top in how they react to everyday things that we all just get on with. I love the lyrics to this one. Your shame is never ending - just one pyschological drama after another. It is a lot of fun to sing along to.
The 13th track is also from 1989, and the duo return to sombre with this ballad called 'You surround Me'. This is a true love song, 'I love you more than the joy of living, till the lights go down in New York City.' There is something quite sensuous of this song with its deep voices caressing the ears as you listen to it. It describes someone being lost in love.
'Blue Savannah' is the first track from 1990, and although the sound is still synthpop, it also seemed to have a lot more harmony than other tracks for me, and more acoustic like performed in a big hall. It is a beutiful love song about home being where the heart is and someone missing their lover when they are apart. The chorus to this sounds a bit a cappella to me, and it is shows to me they are moving into the new decade but still trying to retain their original sound. My only criticism on this one is that one of the instrumental sections reminds me of the theme tune to the TV show Baywatch when it first aired, though that could just be a connotation I have.
'Star' is pure pop with a strong disco beat throughout. The vocals are fast paced, don't seem to make quite as much sense to me as some of their other tracks, but their is still something quite magical about it, about looking within yourself to find that shining star.
'Chorus' starts very synthetic with machinery type noises before the tune and lyrics start. It is more similar to their earliest work, and the lyrics are very poetic. 'And they covered up the Sun, till the birds have flown away, and the fishes in the sea have gone to sleep'. I really like all the random noises that appear in the chorus that remind me of a ships radar beeping away. Here we hear about memories forming a chorus.
'Love To Hate You' is round about where the band started grabbing my attention. This track is from 1991, and has a strong disco beat throughout. Bell sticks to his normal voice in this one. This was one of their most popular tracks, and the first to reach number one from this CD. As the track progresses, there is a lot of synthetic bell type noises that really complement the repetition of the lyric 'I love to hate you' well making it quite a statement.
'Am I right?' takes a return to the slower tempo, and is again a ballad. It describes someone wandering round the city looking at the sights as they contemplate a relationship trying to decide which way to take - to carry on or end. Life carries on regardless. I find this a beautiful song if you concentrate on the lyrics as there is so much detail of what the person is seeing as if they are looking round almost as if for the first time. It is full of beautiful descriptions. 'Am I right, am I wrong, or just dreaming?'
'Breath of Life' is from 1992, and we see another uptempo pop track to someone who is newly single and starting to make their own choices in life. It feels a very positive way of looking on life after a split. Again, there are really beautiful descriptions of the persons thoughts. 'I never had a point of view, cos my mind was always somewhere else' 'Take me I'm yours, now I'm coming up for air.'
'Take a Chance on Me' is probably their most famous and popular track, adding a synthesized twist to this famous Abba song. The time it was released saw a big Abba revival in pop culture with films like Muriels wedding, and the video that accompanied this track was amazing with the duo wearing sparkly jumpsuits and feather boas to recreate the look from the original version. The little rap section performed by a female vocalist in the middle gave it another little unique twist, and this made them look a lot of fun to a wider audience.
This CD finishes with a more electronic sounding version of Who Needs Love Like That, which is a lovely way to finish as it makes you feel like you have come through full circle while listening to the CD and its a strong follow on to Take a Chance on Me.
This CD is one of the most uniqe I own. The synthesized sound is done well, and although there is a strong sense of cohesion through the CD in that all tracks definitely have an 'Erasure' sound that can only be attributable to them, but at the same time every song sounds like a work of art in its own right. The lyrics they create are beautiful, and a refreshing change to some of the other artists work through the 90s in particular.
Erasure are still about and producing their own material and although the synthpop sound does date the work a little, I think the sound is pretty incredible still and I remain a loyal fan. I feel this is a pretty comprehensive collection of their work between 1985 and 1992, although I should perhaps get myself a copy of pop 40 which covers later work.
It is a CD that reminds me of being a young teenager, and I am enjoying giving it an airing. If only I could persuade my family to enjoy it as much as me.
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