This is one of my favorite all-time songs from the 1980’s. It’s the kind of song that makes me start singing, belting out the lyrics, and dancing around the apartment when it comes out. Since I grew up in America, Erasure was the kind of band that some of us new about, but was never a giant breakthrough band like they were in Europe and elsewhere. My friends and I were fond of them including other hit songs of theirs that made it onto our underground radio stations, "Ship of Fools", and "Chains of Love".
Vince Clarke (keyboards) was in the early line-up of Depeche Mode. He wrote their first three hit singles including their smash "Just Can’t Get Enough". In 1981 he left to form Yazoo (known as Yaz in the United States) with singer Alison Moyet. After releasing 2 albums with Yazoo, Moyet went solo, and Clarke formed a short-lived duo with Feargal Sharkey called The Assembly which had a U.K. #4 hit song with "Never Never". In 1985 Clarke placed an ad in a British music newspaper, Melody Maker, to find a singer and teamed up with Andy Bell to form a new synth-pop duo called Erasure.
While Clarke was the quiet synthesizer wiz who stayed in the background, Bell was front-and-center, very flamboyant and one of the first pop singers to be openly gay. He was also one of the first singers not to change the gender to "she or her" when he sang songs, instead staying true to himself by saying "he or him". Their live shows were always outrageous, with Bell sometimes dressing in drag as Tammy Wynette or Judy Garland. The music they created together was some of the most danceable songs of the 1980’s.
In June 1986 Erasure released their first album, Wonderland, did well in Germany (charting in the Top 20 there), but elsewhere was a commercial flop. In fact, the album only charted at #71 in their home country (Clarke is from London, and Bell is from Peterborough, England).
Their next album, March 1987’s Circus did much better, charting at #6 on the U.K. charts. Their single "Sometimes" from this album finally garnered some interest, peaking at #2 in the U.K., and was the first in a series of big hits for them there.
The band released a hit single called "Ship of Fools" prior to the release of their third album in April 1988, called The Innocents. This album really broke through. It topped the U.K. charts, and the two singles from the album, "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect" even charted in the United States (#12 and #14 respectively).
Bell has been quoted in Spin Magazine saying that because he was so openly gay Erasure had a very hard time being accepted as anything other than a band of underground status in the United States. Clarke was told by their record company that Bell’s openly gay sexuality affected their U.S. sales. In October 2011 Bell said in Pink News, "…as a result of me being open we were kind of pigeonholed, especially in America. Would I rather have stayed in the closet and sold twice as many albums though? No, I couldn’t have done that. I wanted to take a stand." Erasure had no such problems in the U.K. and elsewhere where they were considered a mainstream band, charting time and again with many hit songs. The Innocents was the first of five consecutive #1 albums the band had in the U.K. (the others included 1989’s Wild, 1991’s Chorus, a 1992 compilation album of their first 20 U.K. hits called Pop! The First 20 Hits, and 1994’s I Say I Say I Say – the song "Always" from this album was their only other song to hit the Top 40. ).
In 1990 Erasure contributed a cover of "Too Darn Hot" for the Cole Porter tribute album, Red Hot & Blue, one of a series of fundraising albums for the Red Hot Organization.
Erasure also released an ABBA-tribute album in 1992 called Abba-esque. All the songs on the album were originally recorded by ABBA. On the video for "Take a Chance on Me" Clarke and Bell dressed up in ABBA outfits:
Erasure’s self-titled 1995 album was more experimental and introspective and less like their other synth-pop released up until that time. It did well in the U.K. and spawned two Top 20 singles "Stay With Me" and "Fingers & Thumbs", but in 1997 they returned to their tried and true formula with the album Cowboy. Even so, it did not do as well as previous albums had. It hit #10 in the U.K., but was a flash-in-the-pan only stayed in the U.K. Top 40 for 2 weeks.
Other albums released over the years include:
In June 2010 Bell released a solo album (his second) called Non-Stop, and in October 2011 Erasure released Tomorrow’s World. The opposing quiet and loud personalities of Clarke and Bell were apparently well suited to each other. Clarke has stated that the two have never had an argument, and the band continues to record and tour together and Erasure has had
Vince Clarke (keyboards) was in the early line-up of Depeche Mode. He wrote their first three hit singles including their smash "Just Can’t Get Enough". In 1981 he left to form Yazoo (known as Yaz in the United States) with singer Alison Moyet. After releasing 2 albums with Yazoo, Moyet went solo, and Clarke formed a short-lived duo with Feargal Sharkey called The Assembly which had a U.K. #4 hit song with "Never Never". In 1985 Clarke placed an ad in a British music newspaper, Melody Maker, to find a singer and teamed up with Andy Bell to form a new synth-pop duo called Erasure.
While Clarke was the quiet synthesizer wiz who stayed in the background, Bell was front-and-center, very flamboyant and one of the first pop singers to be openly gay. He was also one of the first singers not to change the gender to "she or her" when he sang songs, instead staying true to himself by saying "he or him". Their live shows were always outrageous, with Bell sometimes dressing in drag as Tammy Wynette or Judy Garland. The music they created together was some of the most danceable songs of the 1980’s.
In June 1986 Erasure released their first album, Wonderland, did well in Germany (charting in the Top 20 there), but elsewhere was a commercial flop. In fact, the album only charted at #71 in their home country (Clarke is from London, and Bell is from Peterborough, England).
Their next album, March 1987’s Circus did much better, charting at #6 on the U.K. charts. Their single "Sometimes" from this album finally garnered some interest, peaking at #2 in the U.K., and was the first in a series of big hits for them there.
The band released a hit single called "Ship of Fools" prior to the release of their third album in April 1988, called The Innocents. This album really broke through. It topped the U.K. charts, and the two singles from the album, "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect" even charted in the United States (#12 and #14 respectively).
Bell has been quoted in Spin Magazine saying that because he was so openly gay Erasure had a very hard time being accepted as anything other than a band of underground status in the United States. Clarke was told by their record company that Bell’s openly gay sexuality affected their U.S. sales. In October 2011 Bell said in Pink News, "…as a result of me being open we were kind of pigeonholed, especially in America. Would I rather have stayed in the closet and sold twice as many albums though? No, I couldn’t have done that. I wanted to take a stand." Erasure had no such problems in the U.K. and elsewhere where they were considered a mainstream band, charting time and again with many hit songs. The Innocents was the first of five consecutive #1 albums the band had in the U.K. (the others included 1989’s Wild, 1991’s Chorus, a 1992 compilation album of their first 20 U.K. hits called Pop! The First 20 Hits, and 1994’s I Say I Say I Say – the song "Always" from this album was their only other song to hit the Top 40. ).
In 1990 Erasure contributed a cover of "Too Darn Hot" for the Cole Porter tribute album, Red Hot & Blue, one of a series of fundraising albums for the Red Hot Organization.
Erasure also released an ABBA-tribute album in 1992 called Abba-esque. All the songs on the album were originally recorded by ABBA. On the video for "Take a Chance on Me" Clarke and Bell dressed up in ABBA outfits:
Erasure’s self-titled 1995 album was more experimental and introspective and less like their other synth-pop released up until that time. It did well in the U.K. and spawned two Top 20 singles "Stay With Me" and "Fingers & Thumbs", but in 1997 they returned to their tried and true formula with the album Cowboy. Even so, it did not do as well as previous albums had. It hit #10 in the U.K., but was a flash-in-the-pan only stayed in the U.K. Top 40 for 2 weeks.
Other albums released over the years include:
- Loveboat
- Other People’s Songs (2003) – a collection of cover songs including Peter Gabriel’s "Solsbury Hill"; "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) by Steve Harley, "Walking in the Rain" by The Ronettes; The Three Degree’s "When Will I See You Again", The Buggles "Video Killed the Radio Star" and The Righteous Brother’s "You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, among others.
- Nightbird
- Union Street
- Light at the End of the World
- Total Pop! – the First 40 Hits
- Erasure Club (2009) – a six song EP of classic remixes (2009)(2007)(2006) – a collection of previous Erasure songs recorded acoustically and in country & western style. (2005) – which spawned a #4 hit in the U.K. called "Breathe" and hit #1 on the U.S. dance music charts(2000)
In June 2010 Bell released a solo album (his second) called Non-Stop, and in October 2011 Erasure released Tomorrow’s World. The opposing quiet and loud personalities of Clarke and Bell were apparently well suited to each other. Clarke has stated that the two have never had an argument, and the band continues to record and tour together and Erasure has had
Lyrics:
I try to discover
A little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
Why you're making me work so hard
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
And if I should falter
Would you open your arms out to me
We can make love not war
And live at peace with our hearts
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason
Could drive a man to forsake his lover
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
You know you're making me work so hard
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
A little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
Why you're making me work so hard
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
And if I should falter
Would you open your arms out to me
We can make love not war
And live at peace with our hearts
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason
Could drive a man to forsake his lover
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
You know you're making me work so hard
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
That you give me no
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
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