Andy Bell, singer songwriter with Synth pop duo Erasure, was born 25th April 1964 in Peterborough. He formed Erasure, with Vince Clarke after Clarke left Depeche Mode in 1981 and Yazoo and advertised for a vocalist in Melody Maker. He selected Andy Bell. The origins of the band’s name stem from tHe word “erasure” which was erroneously written on a demo tape for “Who Needs Love Like That. At the time, the duo still hadn’t thought of a name, and upon rescuing the tape, they decided upon Erasure. their debut single “Who Needs Love Like That” was released in 1985, Followed by Oh L’amour. Their debut album, Wonderland, was released in June and their fourth single, “Sometimes”, was released in 1986 beginning a string of major hits for the duo. From 1986 to 1997, including “A Little Respect“, “Chains of Love” and “Always“. Erasure’s next album, The Circus, was released in March 1987 and reached number six and turned platinum in the UK with three additional hit singles: “It Doesn’t Have To Be”, “Victim of Love” and “The Circus”. The album remained on the charts for over a year. Erasure’s third album, The Innocents, was released in April 1988. containing the singles “Ship of Fools”, “Chains of Love” and “A Little Respect”. This was followed In November 1988, by the Crackers International EP, led by the song “Stop!”, hit number two in the UK singles chart. The albums Wild! (1989) and Chorus (1991) both contained four Top 20 singles and were major sellers.
in 1992 Erasure released another EP, Abba-esque, covering four ABBA hits, which became Erasure’s first (and to date only) number one in the UK Singles Chart. It featured a memorable video of the duo dressed in ABBA outfits, and contributed to the ABBA revival scene in the 1990s. Also in 1990, Erasure contributed the song “Too Darn Hot” to the Cole Porter tribute album “Red Hot + Blue” produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1992, a singles compilation, Pop! – the First 20 Hits, also hit number one and went triple platinum, featuring all the band’s singles released from 1985 to 1992. In 1994, Erasure released I Say I Say I Say, their fifth consecutive number one in the UK Albums Chart. Its first single, “Always”, became the band’s third Top 20 hit in the United States, next its second single, “Run to the Sun” was released in July and became their final UK Top 10 hit until 2003. Its third and final single, “I Love Saturday” was released in November. The October 1995 release of the album Erasure marked a determined shift away from Erasure’s signature three-minute synthpop to a more introspective and experimental sound. Nevertheless, it made the UK Top 15 and spawned two UK Top 20 singles, “Stay With Me” and “Fingers & Thumbs”. A remixed version of “Rock Me Gently” was released only in Germany as third single. sadly, the 1997 album Cowboy did not restore the success of their 1986–1994 era. Cowboy enjoyed a short-lived success, The first single “In My Arms” reached number 13 in the UK and entered the Top 2 in the U.S. Dance chart. The second single “Don’t Say Your Love Is Killing Me” made number 23 in the UK. The third single “Rain” was also only released in Germany and Czech Republic.
In October 2000, Erasure released their ninth studio album Loveboat, containing the single “Freedom”,In 2001 the released a limited EP “Moon & the Sky” which contained new versions of the title song, a cover of the song “Baby Love” and some acoustic versions of Loveboat songs. The 2003 release Other People’s Songs was a collection of cover versions. Including a cover of Peter Gabriel’s song “Solsbury Hill” and a cover of Steve Harley’s “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me). In 2003 a new best-of compilation was released, called Hits! The Very Best of Erasure. Included was a new version of the 1986 song “Oh L’amour” . Erasure’s 2005 album Nightbird’s contained the single, “Breathe”. The next single, “Don’t Say You Love Me”, enabled purchasers to configure their own remixes of the single through the band’s website, with each variant of the song limited to a single download. The third single was a double A-side, features new versions of “Here I Go Impossible Again”/”All This Time Still Falling Out of Love”.
Union Street was a 2006 side-project which featured a collection of previously released album tracks that the band reinterpreted in an acoustic/country & western style. The duo then released a more ‘dance-oriented’ album Titled Light at the End of the World, containing the single “I Could Fall in Love with You”, “Sunday Girl”, and The Storm Chaser EP which included an exclusive B-side “Early Bird”, a duet with Cyndi Lauper. In 2009 they released Total Pop! – the First 40 Hits, a collection of Erasure’s first 40 hits plus a new remix of “Always” by Jeremy Wheatley, Erasure also released a six-track EP of classic remixes entitled Erasure.Club andTo celebrate 21 years since its release, the album The Innocents was remastered and re-released on 26 October 2009. Erasure’s next album Tomorrow’s World contained the singles When I Start To (Break It All Down)”, “Be with You” and “Fill Us with Fire, Erasure also toured internationally in 2011. In 2013, Erasure released their first holiday album, Snow Globe featuring a cover of the 1973 Steeleye Span track “Gaudete”. Erasure’ Have also released the career spanning retrospective “Always – The Very Best of”. Andy Bell has also released the solo album Electric Blue.
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