Fingers & Thumbs: Erasure

Posted by: steve | From: November 3, 2004

In these most uncertain and dissapointing times I give you something from the heart.
This is one that I haven't been looking forward to writing. There are some bands that I just feel so intensely about that I could never write about it in an according way. It's so weird. I totally haven't written about my most special bands. Scared to do a dis-service to the band, to my memories, and also worried that my opportunity to get people pumped on something I care about so much would be wasted. What are you gonna do, though? The time has come. Spill your guts, Schrodo.

After a pretty crappy freshman year of high school where I floundered trying to find new friends in my new overwhelming hometown of Los Angeles, I entered my sophmore year with some more confidence. I decided that the drama scene was a much better vibe for me than some of the other scenes I flirted with freshman year (namely football). Those drama dudes were totally nice and didn't mind my incredibly awkward style. This one dude, Brandon, and I had totally being sorta flirting with a good friendship. You know that awesome time when you think you may really enjoy this person's company and then there is like usually one moment or topic or thing that makes you break the outer layers and gets you deep into awesome friendship?? It totally happened for my high school best friend, Brandon and I, because of Erasure. One day after school in the totally weird drama building across the school parking lot with no windows we both found ourselves belting out "Oh Lamour" by Erasure with wild abandon. So freeing and so pure! From that day on we were totally BFF!!! The love for Erasure for us went deep, seriously deep. We had this very awesome fictional band that was completely modeled after Erasure, called Cork where his name was Brandon Bell and I was Vince Schroeder (the members of Erasure are Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) involving us interviewing each other with full on British accents and Erasure rip off songs. Super special.

Vince Clarke has to be the greatest synth man in the history of synth men or women. Clarke was a founding member of Depeche Mode and the principal songwriter for their underappreciated first album Speak and Spell. Clarke then left the Depeche dudes to make two awesome records as Yaz with Alison Moyet. Yaz could certainly use their own GBoAT entry due to their amazing classics like "Only You" and "Don't Go," but we don't have the time for that now. Moyet left to do her solo thing, and Clarke was left without a project. He put adds in the paper looking for a vocalist, and he hit the jackpot with one Andy Bell. Andy Bell has a great voice, is a tad outlandish, and flat out lovable. Bell became one of their first truly visible openly gay performers when Erasure hit the scene in 1986, and therefore Erasure has always been a huge favorite in gay communities. Erasure certainly doesn't need any "angles" or "hooks" to be admired though, as they have been creating the best music that has ever been made. Erasure has been incredibly stable since their inception--no breakups (that we know of), no huge flops, or weird drugs problems(that we know of)--releasing 10 full albums and a mind boggling amount of singles and eps over the years. The album highlights have to be the Mercury award (British grammy) winning '88 release The Innocents, '94's undeniably joyful I Say I Say I Say which is Erasure absolutely perfecting their synth pop formula, and '95s more experiemental in terms of atmospherics and ever so slightly proggy eponymous album Erasure. Clarke and Bell have put out a few albums that weren't really up to snuff but there is always at least a couple songs that are amazing pop songs. It's an incredibly satisfying brand of relationship to have with a band.

Brandon and I saw Erasure perform live in '97 and it was amazing. Vince Clarke has this huge two story structure to house all of the electronics that they use. Clarke for some songs would just sit and stare at the audience away from his bohemoth structure and occasionally get up and walk over to the structure and adjust something. Bell was vibrant and sounded wonderful. The show was at the Universal Ampitheatre in LA (@ Universal Studios), and I have this amazing memory of just basking in the post show glow sitting outside the venue in the weird outdoor mall that surrounds the venue smoking the gayest cigarettes imaginable (Saratoga Menthol 120s). It was a sublime moment. It was maybe the pinnacle of Brandon and I's friendship. I've been away for years. I haven't seen him for a couple years. I miss my old friend, but at least I will always have Erasure, The Greatest Band of All Time.

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