Songoftheday 5/14/19 - When it's cold outside am I here in vain? Hold on to the night there will be no shame...
from the album I Say! I Say! I Say! (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15
Today's song of the day comes from the British synth-pop duo Erasure, who had broken through in America big in the late 1980s with their album The Innocents, which spun off two top-20 pop hits with "Chains Of Love" and "A Little Respect" in 1988 and 1989 respectively. They also released an EP, Crackers International, which sent the single "Stop!" on to the American pop chart at #97, while the EP itself as a whole peaked at #2 on the British singles chart. The duo returned in the fall of 1989 with their second British #1 album, Wild! The record landed the pair four top-20 hits in the UK, including "Drama!", which climbed to #11 on Billboard magazine's Modern Rock chart, and "Star", which made it to #4 on the American dance chart. However none of the tracks made it on to the U.S. pop Hot 100. Their next set, Chorus, did a little better, sending "Chorus (Fishes To The Sea)" to #83 on the pop chart, and #4 on the Modern Rock list in 1991. The following year, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke put out another EP called ABBA-esque, this time of only cover songs of ABBA, which topped the British singles chart and made the Pop Airplay chart at #51 with "Take A Chance On Me".
It took three long years from the release of Chorus - which spun off three top ten hits in Britain - and their sixth full-length studio album I Say! I Say! I Say!. Their sound had evolved during that time to be less club bangers and more chances with their pop music formula. That was evident in the first single "Always". A midtempo love song with a simple synth background and greeting-card lyrics, it was something even my mother got into (she bought the cassette single on her own). The turn away from new wave pastiche allowed them to grab American radio's attention again, and they got yet another big hit...
"Always" became Erasure's third and so far most recent top-40 pop hit in August of 1994. The song climbed to #8 on Billboard's Modern Rock radio chart, while the remixes of the song helped it go to #6 on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the single peaked at #2 in Sweden and Austria, and made the top ten in Finland (#3), the UK (#4), and Germany (#5). The second single from the album, the frenetic "Run To The Sun", missed the pop chart here in the States, but did climb to #6 in the UK, #19 in Sweden, and #14 on the American Dance Club Play chart. The same went for the third release, "I Love Saturday", which got to #20 in the UK, #34 in Sweden, and #20 on the Dance Club Play list in the U.S.
In 1995, Vince and Andy came back with an even more experimental album, Erasure, which strayed far from the clubs (though "Fingers & Thumbs" was a top ten dance hit at #10). The ethereal lead track "Stay With Me" got to #15 in the UK. The pair went back to their short, poppy radio-friendly songs on their next disc, Cowboy, and first single "In My Arms" got them their sole hit on Billboard's Adult Top-40 format list at #39, while the remixes helped it rise to #2 for a week on the dance chart. The start of the new millenium saw Erasure release possibly the "flop" of their career with Loveboat, and a much better received covers album in Other People's Songs, which granted them another top ten hit in the UK with a take on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" (UK #10). After a longer breather, Vince and Andy came back hard in 2005 with both a new Erasure album in Nightbird, which spun off a #1 dance hit in America and #4 pop hit in the UK with "Breathe", but also an Andy Bell solo album, Electric Blue. From it lead track "Crazy" got to #3 on the American dance chart and #35 in Britain. Two years later, the duo had their most recent mainstream success in the UK with a pair of top-40 hits in their album Light At The End Of The World, with "I Could Fall In Love With You" hitting #21 (and #7 on the American dance chart) and "Sunday Girl" stopping at #33. In 2010, Andy released a second solo set, Non-Stop, while Erasure have released a few more albums since. Their 2014 set Violet Flame scored three top ten dance hits including "Elevation" (#3 Dance). Erasure's most recent studio album, World Be Gone, arrived in 2017, climbing to #137 on the American albums chart, and returned them to the top ten in England at #6.
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Here's the "Cappella Club Mix" that helped the song rise to #6 on the Dance Chart...
Next up is Andy singing live (to track) on Top Of The Pops...
and live on tour...
Back to German television in 2017...
and finallly, live in Denmark on their 2017 tour...
Up tomorrow: Georgian camp rockers go prehistoric.
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