★ ☆ Erasure ⇌ POP! poll! they made some hit songs! ☆ ★

A song like "Yahoo!" is totally Christian rock. In a way.

I really loved the singles from Wild and Chorus. I'm voting Star.

voted "a little respect," that whole album is excellent

real tough this actually. 'Sometimes' i guess at the end of the day but could easily have been 'Breath Of Life' or 'Ship Of Fools'. breaks my synthpop heart how little critical hype these guys get. at their best they were as good as Depeche and Human League imo.

they have several moments that really are breathtaking to me, love love love 'oh l'amour', 'a little respect', 'chorus', 'always' (not up there but but always a tempting bridge too far for me at karaoke), and esp 'chains of love', the only hit of theirs i hear on oldies or adult contemporary radio. they have other moments where i begin to understand the hate they draw on ilx. still amazing to me that an act this gay could score as many hits as they did in reagan's america, it's hard to imagine anything this queer (as opposed to queer friendly like gaga etc) getting much play on radio today. voted 'a little respect'.

I spent a good 2 years in HS listening to this one the bus every single day.

SO HARD.

. . .

Stop!

drama!

love love love it

balls is right: this album has breathtaking moments ("Oh L'Amour," "Chains of Love," "Chorus," "Love To Hate You," a couple of others). But the colorlessness of Bell's vocals and the roteness of many of Clarke's slick synth tricks is a real drag.

still amazing to me that an act this gay could score as many hits as they did in reagan's america

To be clear, they only scored one Top 40 hit in Reagan's America ("Chains of Love"), and one in Bush's ("A Little Respect"). For poor Bill Clinton's sake they gave us "Always."

lolll I love the idea that "Always" was specially crafted for the Clinton administratioN!

I remember the first time I listened to this best of, at 16, I thought that is where all these songs come from. Like I never heard them too much on radio but they were always around? On muzak or whatever? Almost all of them were super familiar.

One of my sister's absolute favorite bands in middle school. I think I heard "Sometimes" blasting out in her room about a million times back in 1987.

(In context and knowing what we all know now I wonder what the hell my parents would have thought. "Yeah Dad she's listening to a song about gay lust and love while you're out defending the nation...")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um-sJGgGWSU

this video blows my mind so hard

"A Little Respect" was and continues to be amazing to me. Like, the very existence of the song and its awesomeness blows my mind. I don't even much care for electronic music OR dance music, but that song is just a jam. Their "Take A Chance On Me" cover would be my second-place vote.

For whatever reason The Innocents has been my go-to album every time I move into a new place -- I set up the stereo, put that on and start unpacking. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I might have done that when I first left home for UCLA.

Despite my cavils above, "Chains of Love" hasn't dated a fraction of an inch. The high notes in the chorus ("to-GETH-er with me and my BAY-by...") are wondrous.

You know what blows my mind? Vince Clarke lives in Maine!

When I saw them in 2005, I noted the outpouring of affection from the audience. As many straight couples as gay ones too.

I know this thread is meant for the Pop! era, yet can't feel any thread to discuss their greatness should never neglect the wonderment that is Fingers & Thumbs, their finest song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcNFLSPxf-o

As for their greatest achievement during THIS era, I found it very hard, but had to plump for CHORUS, what a fine speciment of lyrics/melody/pop genius/video that has aged so wonderfully.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epvADV9Vr2s

Colin Newman remixed "Fingers and Thumbs" into trance delight.

Oh L'Amour

They had a lot of good remixes, really. I've been semi-convinced for a while they decided to do "Chorus" -- thematically/lyrically at least -- after they covered Cerrone for a B-side, then had William Orbit do one of his secret best remixes anywhere EVER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E75XFB3xmC4

I love this compilation and it always seemed like it's all you really need from them. Am I missing out on some great albums?
My choice on this is between "Drama!" and "Blue Savannah" but they're all great songs.

'Stay With Me' is one of the most beautiful pop songs imaginable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxpQOpzJKOc

...and the likewise 1995 classic 'Rock Me Gently'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCXQRwe3TNg

Both songs from after the 'Pop!' period.

Essential.

I can't find the Newman remix of "Fingers & Thumbs" -- not even on YouTube. Help!

I read the wiki entry on these dudes the other day and was like 'lol seriously wikipedia' at this detail: In February and March 2010, the song "Always" enjoyed an unexpected peak of popularity among flash-game players for its prominent role as the soundtrack of the Adult Swim game Robot Unicorn Attack. But then a friend & I ended up talking about them over the phone and she said, "I was playing a lot of robot unicorn attack so of course I got super into Erasure."

The album version of 'Rock Me Gently', that floors the single edit with added percussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw9RAwy6NAw

Can't decide between "Chains of Love" and "Ship of Fools"

I had to vote "A Little Respect" but will feel guilty if "Blue Savannah" ends up voteless.

oh man this would be so much easier if "piano song" was on this.

prob going to vote for "i love to hate you" tho

That's an awful thing to say about Dan in this, of all threads. For we know just how much he treasures them.

obv for dan they are no placebo, but you cant have 2 favorite all time groups so i suppose he just had to close his eyes and pick one

Fave from the peak period:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o4FGb-CYAI

Hats off to Morcheeba for the Fingers n Thumbs link. My mate Paul is in that video!

Voted "Breath Of Life". It was actually around the end of this compilation (and a few years onwards) that they would get really good.

voting for "A Little Respect" but wish I could sock up and vote for "Sometimes" and "Chorus" too

That "one and one were two" line is soooo irritating, for me.

You know what blows my mind? Vince Clarke lives in Maine!

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

What? This is mind blowing.

I read the wiki entry on these dudes the other day and was like 'lol seriously wikipedia' at this detail: In February and March 2010, the song "Always" enjoyed an unexpected peak of popularity among flash-game players for its prominent role as the soundtrack of the Adult Swim game Robot Unicorn Attack. But then a friend & I ended up talking about them over the phone and she said, "I was playing a lot of robot unicorn attack so of course I got super into Erasure."

Haha, just a few days ago I was watching the video for "Always" on Youtube, and I was wondering, why are there so many comments about unicorns on the comments section? Was there a unicorn in the video that I hadn't noticed? I guess this explains it.

Was there a unicorn in the video that I hadn't noticed?

One of life's great questions.

I voted for Breath Of Life but it could have been Ship Of Fools, Chorus or Sometimes. This is one of the best singles collections I can think of.

Nice to see some love for Fingers & Thumbs, they made some great singles after Pop. Always and In My Arms are also pretty classic.

Their 2005 album Nightbird is possibly their best album, the lead single Breathe was so good and their first top 5 hit in 11 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJjPdiw3ne8

No love for The Circus?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6-qziiA-6g

It's not my favourite, but I bought it at the time and really liked it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkfSc2wJbjc

Video clearly the inspiration for the iOS game The Incident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QES-eQ4lR5U
'Love To Hate You', as much for the video as the song.

I do love "Love to Hate You".

Sort of surprised at how little <3 Stop! is getting. That said, I could easily have voted for any of the following:

Oh L'Amour
Sometimes
A Little Respect
Star
Take a Chance on Me
Who Needs Love (Like That)

or at least two others

<3

Is Erasure without a question the peppiest band to be produced by Flood?

I feel like you're trying to trick us by asking that question. If you have to ask, it can't be 'without a question'.

I made it about 30 seconds into that Blue Savannah video.

I don't like the video much. Worse is the video for 'A Little Respect', like Salvador Dali crossed with Pan's People.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i love Erasure, but comparing them to Depeche Mode just seems...not right. It's about darkness.

My single of "Chains of Love" is so worn. Wow.

I don't know if it's true but I remember reading that Jim and William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain are one of the yob's chorus on 'Drama'.

the fishes in the sea have gone to sleep.

most head-explodiest of polls tbh

I don't know if it's true but I remember reading that Jim and William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain are one of the yob's chorus on 'Drama'.

Yup. They were down the hall or something recording Automatic.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Aw, sad "Victim of Love" got no votes.

Pretty understandable. Nice to see "Drama!" in third.

i love Erasure, but comparing them to Depeche Mode just seems...not right.

They were always on the same label, and the first two Depeche Mode albums (also the one without Clarke) had a lot in common with what Erasure would become.

Btw. "A Little Respect" is one of my least favourite Erasure tracks. Didn't sound synthpop enough.

They were generally at their best in the early 90s, when they returned to all-analogue synths and sounded like no musical nor technological development of any kind had happened since 1982.

nice showing for Breath Of Life. shame about Ship Of Fools mind.

The other line that always bothered me:

Do people actually go round telling other people to Stop, before they make a fool out of love?

"Naah mate, you should stop, really. You're just making a fool out of love, really. And that bothers me."

"Am I Right?" shoulda got some love. amirite?

shame about Ship Of Fools mind

It's not that people don't like it, it's just one of those second or third favourites.

"Am I Right?" shoulda got some love. amirite?

Sure. The entire "Chorus" album is crowded with highlights though, actually "Chorus" and "Love To Hate You" are among the weakest tracks on that album. Absolutely love, love, love "Siren Song" and "Home".

How did I miss this poll?

In an album of pop monsters, "Chains of Love" is mightiest of all. The incredible INSISTENCY with which the title line is delivered... it shivers me!

Would have put "Stop!" #2, but my love for this is less principled; I like its goofiness.

Andy Bell was once very cute in an English public school sort of way.

one time when I was dj'ing (1996ish) I got kicked off the decks by the next dj when I played the Orb remix of Ship of Fools. he scowled about me playing 'faggot shit' and literally elbowed me off the decks. i tried to reason with him that it was an Orb remix but it didn't work. really love Ship of Fools. i think i have a 3" cd single for that.

so... wheetus poll next then?

I don’t listen to them often but sometimes, like tonight, they’re exactly what I want to hear. I’m not a big fan of “Blue Savannah” the song, but the EP b-sides featuring the Cerrone and Gina X covers, are right up my alley.

No “Senseless”?!?!?

(Oh, it wasn’t a single. Sire Records whiffed that one!)

"Blue Savannah" is one of my karaoke go-to's

it is the best karaoke song, scientifically speaking

I’ve rarely done karaoke but wouldn’t have thought there would be many Erasure songs available in the US? They were so much bigger in the UK.

I've sung "Chains of Love," "Chorus," "Love to Hate You," "Oh L'Amour" -- my bar has'em all.

Those are all gems/jams … my personal karaoke favorites: Victim of Love, Drama, and the cover of Take a Chance on Me

I forgot about Star! … that one and Stop both lend themselves to grand hand gestures

they all do!

Liked even loved a bunch of their singles growing up yet to this day even in the streaming age I don't think I've ever sat and listened to even one of their albums start to end but probably a big factor in that is how they've been 'dormant' so long. So would be curious to know people's favourite deep cuts.

Probably my actual fave musical group of all time in terms of how much I've lsitened to them over the course of the last 35 years.

I absolutely love Star and hate Blue Savannah.

Saw them in Boston in 2017 and it was the most fun I've ever had at a concert. Ever. They were amazing.

Yes! Saw them in 2005.

I had waited so long and I was so excited but they honestly exceeded anything I could have hoped for. It was just the best and I want to see them again. I hope I get the chance. Also, seeing them live made me love Drama more than I ever had.

I love blue savannah

A lot of people do! I've always hated it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was ambivalent towards Erasure until I saw them live and it supercharged my interest.

I have trouble mainlining a bunch of erasure songs in a row. "A Little Respect" is hard for me to listen to just cuz of its 80s hits overplay. I heard "Blue Savannah" in an amazing DJ mix a couple years ago and it hit the right midpoint of a kind of disjointed romanticism that I feel like they don't always quite nail for me. but maybe im a fake fan. sometimes it feels like there's too much going on and i'd prefer a little more space, that the vocals lay it on "a little thick," but then when it works it's still like that but it just works somehow

I also have a suspicion though if I hear certain songs in the right context they will open up for me a bit

They're an act for whom the greatest-hits is the ideal distillation and context, and Pop! is just perfect.

I've never karaoke'd Blue Savannah but I have sung along to it as though I was. Sometimes it's my favourite of theirs.

in the very early days of winamp and warez group filesharing, i got my hands on a copy of Erasure's 1991 Wild! album, which had 12 tracks and ended with an odd little song called 12_erasure_wild_mvstar.mp3. i listened to it over and over. it wasn't exactly good, but it was catchy. also, it didn't sound like erasure, so i figured it was a kitchy one-off or a farce or a demo or something. but it was essentially erasure, to me. some time around 2000 i became friends with this Erasure megafan named benny, who told me i'd be bamboozled, that Wild! only had 11 tracks. for years i couldn't figure out the hell mvstar was. it was this, which, honestly, i'd love to hear erasure cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV0pcIRgcOk

No “Senseless”?!?!?

Baffling, right?!?!? Mute also whiffed that one. I think it was on an NME tape? A priori I was kinda not that interested in the idea of second/third-choice Depeche Mode / Yazoo thing, but I LOVED "Senseless" when I heard it there.

They're an act for whom the greatest-hits is the ideal distillation and context, and Pop! is just perfect.

― boners for bombs (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Pop is perfect as it is, but there's so much great stuff that came after. We got my daughter the updated Pop with the next 20 hits added as she was hooked on the videos when she was about three. The second half starts really strong with the three singles from I Say I Say I Say (Always is my daughter's favourite). Then even when their commercial peak started coming to an end, there's brilliant singles like Fingers & Thumbs and In My Arms. There's an obvious dip with Freedom which is a low point of their career and the covers album was such a cop-out.

As I've probably said on various Erasure threads on here, I always want to shout out their 2005 album, Nightbird. It was so cool seeing them get one last top five single with Breathe which is probably in my top ten Erasure songs along with No Doubt from the same album. I Broke It All In Two, I Bet You're Mad At Me and Here I Go Impossible Again are all killer songs. The synths sound really fresh and the songwriting is incredibly strong and poignant. It's a shame it didn't really sell as no-one was really checking for a new Erasure album in 2005 beyond the hardcore fan-base. I think it just beats out Chorus as their best. It was kind of their last hurrah despite the odd great moment since.

A priori I was kinda not that interested in the idea of second/third-choice Depeche Mode / Yazoo thing, but I LOVED "Senseless" when I heard it there.

Yeah, the lower register in the verses makes it sound almost more like an Alison Moyet vocal part, plus those brittle synths. I might prefer their remix version.

(Oh, and thanks for recommending the later albums, kitchen person - still gotta check those out)

I like several post-Pop! moments: "Fingers and Thumbs," especially the Colin Newman remix; "Here I Go Impossible Again"; "Breathe." I appreciate "In My Arms" as gesture more than song.