Upstairs at Eric's

Product Information

Matrix / Runout (A side runout, etched. Variant 8): STUMM-7- A-1 MT-1 JA TAPE ONE ADDITIONAL PROGRAMING D.A.D. In 1982, we already knew about Vince Clarke. He'd been in Depeche Mode when they'd released the singles 'New Life' and 'Just Can't Get Enough'. The tough Human League lads at school thought Depeche Mode were too weedy but I (again) quietly liked them. In November 1981, Clarke had quit the Mode citing a combination of touring boredom and a disdain for pop stars' goldfish bowl existence. However, he'd written a new song and wanted to find someone to record the vocals. As celebrated as Vince Clarke has been throughout his career as a vital founding member of both Depeche Mode and Erasure, for me the most compelling member of Yazoo was Clarke's bandmate Alison Moyet. A far superior vocalist to anyone else fronting a Synthpop act at the time outside of Sparks' Russell Mael. Moyet also had the type of stage presence which could not be taught. While Yazoo enhanced Clarke's reputation, it made Moyet a star. Upstairs at Eric's was Yazoo's debut, and Moyet's vocals aside, it was pretty standard synth pop stuff. "Don't Go" and "Only You" were the big hits - both hitting the top 3 and cementing the band's reputation here in the UK. Sure, they both sound pure 1982, but they're still strong pop singles regardless, and Moyet's voice lift both above other synth-heavy stuff that was charting at the time. Contrasting the band's big hits, "I Before E Except After C" is a real love it / hate it number, and I'm afraid the experimental cut-up vocal stuff just doesn't work for me. In fact, outside of the two big hits, "Goodbye Seventies", "Winter Kills", and Moyet's voice, there's not a lot on Upstairs at Eric's that would encourage me to return to it on even an irregular basis.

The Top 100 Albums of the Decade". Record Mirror. London, England: United Newspapers. 25 November 1989. pp.28–29. The Allied "a" logo' is machine stamped can only be described as looking like a 'Q' or a lower case "a" (the type without a 'top') and is the Allied Record Company logo. a b "British album certifications – Yazoo – Upstairs at Eric's". British Phonographic Industry. 18 March 1983 . Retrieved 29 May 2022.Review Summary: Catchy and concise yet innovating and influential, it's quite possibly Vince Clarke's finest hour.

a b c d e f "British certifications – Yazoo". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 2 August 2022. Type Yazoo in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter. All except noted: "Yazoo | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 6 June 2016. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. I like how the synths go both minimal and full flavour in the same mix, niftey details and solid delivery

a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1sted.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. B-#####" secondary matrix numbers (# being a number), along with the known relationship between this label and the manufacturer/pressing plant, indicate that this record was pressed at Allied Record Company. a b Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos 1959–2012 (in Spanish) (1sted.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-866-2.

Offiziellecharts.de – Yazoo – Upstairs at Eric's" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 May 2022. Yaz Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018 . Retrieved 2 August 2022. The original UK CD release of Upstairs at Eric's in 1986 featured a close-up of part of the original album cover. Another photograph from the same session was used as the cover for the Yazoo box set In Your Room in 2008. I'd just shot some furniture for a furniture designer, and got paid with the furniture. I chose dummies and started work—a fortuitous series of events. I felt that the hi-tech furniture worked really well with the rough look of the room, and I put the cake—which was actually the top of my wedding cake—as a focus on the table." [6] Other charted songs [ edit ] List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

The highlight of the debut disc is the evergreen ballad "Only You." A sad lament set to a timeless melody. One of those songs that you have to be tone deaf to not be even remotely charmed by. Heard in supermarkets worldwide.

There are some weak spots on the album, especially “Bad Connection,” which might have been better used as a non-LP b-side. And the final song, “Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I),” seems to be a pastiche of several of the other songs. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 LPs: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp.44–45. ISBN 0-906154-04-9. On the 30th anniversary of Upstairs at Eric's in 2012 Clarke told The Quietus that there had been no grand plan for the album's creation: Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1sted.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5. Lazell, Barry (1997). "Yazoo". Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums). Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-95172-069-4. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008 . Retrieved 29 May 2022.Compilation albums [ edit ] List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions and certifications Clarke's compositions "I Before E Except After C" and "In My Room" explore the use of cut-up vocals, including his own spoken word voice. "I Before E Except After C" features both Moyet and the mother of producer Eric Radcliffe separately reading out the instruction manual for one of the pieces of studio equipment, with Moyet struggling to keep herself from laughing. You and Me Both: "RPM 100 Albums". RPM. Vol.39, no.4. 24 September 1983. p.8. ISSN 0033-7064– via Library and Archives Canada.