Friday, August 17, 2007


Erasure is an English synth pop duo band consisting of keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell.
Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love (Like That)" (see 1985 in music). They established themselves on the British charts and became one of the most successful artists of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
From 1986 to 1997, Erasure achieved twenty-four consecutive Top 20 hits. By 2007, 34 of their 40 singles have made the UK Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10. The duo has recorded worldwide album sales of over 25 million.
From the start, Erasure's success was founded upon their songwriting skills. Vince Clarke's talent for writing melodic and catchy pop songs was evident from his years with Depeche Mode and Yazoo. As a lyricist and melodist, the singer Andy Bell added depth and character to Clarke's electronic style.
Albums such as The Circus, The Innocents, Wild!, Chorus, I Say I Say I Say, Erasure, Loveboat and Nightbird demonstrated a further diversity of sound.
As pop craftsmen, the pair's work bears comparison with that of Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), a-ha, Roxette, Tears for Fears, The Lightning Seeds, and other pop songwriters from the same generation.
Andy Bell is openly gay, and he has often reflected this throught his outfits and gesture on stage, at a time when Western society as a whole was less accepting of homosexuality than it is today — making Erasure's success all the more notable.

Erasure History
During the summer of 2007 Erasure was a part of the multi-artist True Colors Tour , which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007. Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included Debbie Harry, The Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation.
Erasure notably performed alongside many of the other guests for the encore song, "True Colors" with lead singer Bell taking on almost duet-level vocals with Lauper, as the others performed mainly back-up and harmonies.
Bell frequently wore shirts or jackets that supported co-headliner Deborah Harry.

Erasure True Colors

Main articles: Erasure discography and List of Erasure B-sides and non-album songs