“It all happened very fast and because we hadn’t been in a band for years, playing in clubs, it was very much just a working relationship—we never had the chance to bond. We never really knew each other. Not really … The fact that we never talked, never socialised together, meant that when problems came up we didn’t know how to communicate and sort things out.”
Vince Clarke
Introduction
Yazoo or Yaz as they were known in the USA were a new wave 80’s synth band made up of Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. With Vince on keyboards and Alison on vocals, they produced a unique sound that encapsulated the music of the early 1980s Two people who grew up in Basildon, Essex, went to school together and came together as a band when Moyet placed an advert in a British music magazine. Although their partnership was short-lived, together for only 18 months between 1981 and 1983, their music, a mix of synthesized sounds and soul-influenced vocals went down a storm on the British music scene with three of their four singles reaching the top three in the charts.
The Sound
Growing up in Basildon, Clarke and Moyet both attended the same Saturday music school when they were 11. It was during these years that Clarke defined his unique synth sound, highly influenced by the music of OMD. Moyet who came from the punk scene placed an advert in Melody Maker in 1981 asking for band members to form a rootsy blues band following the breakup of her band, the Screamin’ Ab Dabs. Clarke answered the advert. Despite crossing paths in early life, the two didn’t know each other, although Clarke had seen Moyet perform a few times in her punk band.
Clarke made the brave decision to leave Depeche Mode and take a gamble with Alison. Putting his record deal at risk with Mute Records, Vince used the demo that he had written “Only You” as their trump card, calling Alison to seal the deal. Although they came from opposing ends of music with completely different tastes in music, the fusion worked. It would lead to the release of two albums Upstairs at Eric’s in 1982 and You and Me Both in 1983 with iconic singles like “Only You”, “Situation”, “Don’t Go” and “Nobody’s Diary” and “The Other Side of Love”. Songs that became hits on the New York club scene. Although they faired less favourably in the US charts.
The Split
The band’s split was a culmination of several factors. The band’s name came into trouble when it clashed with the existing Yazoo Records, slapped with £3.5 million lawsuit and had to change their name in the USA as the band already existed with an American rock band using the same name. Coupled with this, was that Moyet couldn’t cope with her meteoric rise to fame. Clarke leaving her to deal with fame pressure while he promoted the band. The two would often record their music apart with instrumental and vocal parts mixed together in the studio. The strain became too much for the 21-year-old Moyet and the band announced their split days after the release of the single “Nobody’s Diary” in May 1983. A split that was blamed on a lack of communication. A strain where different personalities just went in separate directions. Clarke went on to form the Assembly with Eric Radcliffe and then joined Andy Bell to form Erasure. Moyet had a highly successful solo career with highly successful singles like “All Cried Out”, “Is This Love” and “Invisible”. The pair settled their differences and in 2008 toured together on a Reconnected tour. A reunion came about after Alison plucked up the courage and emailed Vince with the idea. The two hadn’t met since a friend’s wedding in the 1990s, but they reunited at a press-attended event at a private members’ club in Covent Garden in April 2008. The pair also came together again in May 2011 on an Erasure set at the Roundhouse in Camden where the two performed three Yahoo tracks, “Nobody’s Diary”, “Ode to Boy” and “Don’t Go”. After performing together, Moyet said she 9was 99.9% sure that would be the last time.
