WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Yazoo

Vince Clarke. Alison Moyet. It could only be Yazoo. Hey, don’t go!

Vincent Martin (b.1960) aka ‘Vince Clarke’ and Geneviève Ballard (b.1961) aka ‘Alison Moyet‘, both from Essex, met at Sunday school and after Clarke had co-founded the group Depeche Mode, they were reintroduced through a magazine ad searching for members of a new band. As Vince was the only one to reply to Geneviève, they formed a duo and called themselves Yazoo, taken from the small independent record label Yazoo. Ballard changed her name to Alison Moyet and the pair began working on new material together, eventually writing “Only You” in 1981. They were signed to Mute Records on the strength of this and a track Clarke has previously written called “Don’t Go” and in March 1982, “Only You” was selected as their first single.

The track became a huge hit peaking at No.2 in the UK and made the top ten across Europe. It would later break the US singles chart and peak at No.67, although the pair were known as ‘Yaz’ there to avoid any confusion with the milky drink! With “Don’t Go” already in the bag, the song became their second single in July 1982 and would go to number one in parts of Europe and reach No.3 in the UK. It would later top the US Dance chart. Yazoo released their debut album, “Upstairs At Eric’s”, the following month, which would collect Platinum and Gold discs around the world. A third and final single came in late 1982, but was split with international markets getting “The Other Side Of Love” and America getting “Situation”, a second US Dance chart number one. By now Vince and Alison has begun work on a follow up and in the Spring of 1983, delivered “Nobody’s Diary”, giving them a third UK top three smash and a third US Dance chart number one.

Sadly, this was to be it as after the release of their second album, “You And Me Both” in June 1983, the pair split up, citing “communication problems” as the reason. “You And Me Both” was a number one album in the UK and peaked at No.69 in the US, much higher than their first had achieved. So it seemed that was it for the short lived Yazoo. One consolation was a new version of “Only You” from British vocal group The Flying Pickets which was released in December 1983 and became the Christmas number one! The song has been covered a number of times since. Alison Moyet went on to forge a hugely successful career as a solo artist following the break up, releasing two transatlantic Platinum albums, “Alf” in 1984 and “Raindancing” in 1987, and continued to record material into the 1990’s and beyond, winning numerous Brit awards and others for her work. Vince Clarke, never a man to rest, moved onto his next project and advertised for a new musical partner…

…that came in 1984 when he met singer Andy Bell. Together they formed the synth-pop duo Erasure and nearly 40 years on, the pair are still going strong as one of the two biggest and most enduringly successful acts of their genre. They achieved five consecutive number one albums in the UK between 1988 and 1994 as well as dozens of top ten hits around the world. In 2023, Clarke recorded and released the orchestral album, “Songs Of Silence”, focusing on his music and with no vocals. But it wasn’t over for Yazoo. Late 1990 finally saw the UK and international release of “Situation” and it went top twenty on home soil. A best of “Only Yazoo: The Best Of” was released in 1999 and this proved a hit, along with re-releases of “Only You”, “Don’t Go” and “Situation”, the latter going back to the top of the US Dance chart, seventeen years after it had first done so!

And there was a reconciliation for Vince and Alison, even though it took 25 years! The pair came together in 2008 and played a series of live gigs much to the delight of fans, which also coinsided with re-issues of both their studio albums. Three years later, Moyet turned up at an Erasure gig and performed three songs for the audience in London while 2010 saw the release of “Reconnected Live”, taken from their 2008 shows. Who knows if it will ever happen again. Both Vince and Alison have left the door wide open this time. For as the lyrics go “Can’t stop now, don’t you know I ain’t never gonna let you go, don’t go…”!