FEATURE:
Only You
Yazoo’s Upstairs at Eric’s at Forty
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WHEN a classic album…
comes up to a big anniversary, I do like to write about it. In the case of Yazoo’s amazing debut, Upstairs at Eric, it is forty on 20th August (23rd in the U.S.). Vincent Clarke and Alison Moyet created something truly timeless and breathtakingly beautiful. Know for the two huge hits, Only You and Don’t Go, Upstairs at Eric’s succeeds and endures because all its consistency. Most of the songs were written by Clarke. But a couple of the highlights, Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I) and Midnight, were written by Moyet. With Clarke’s innovative and remarkable instrumentation and songwriting alongside Moyet’s staggering and uniquely brilliant vocals (and her amazing songwriting), Yazoo’s debut sounds like nothing else that was released in 1982. The fact that Only You and Don’t Go sound completely different yet both sound completely natural on Upstairs at Eric’s is testament to its genius. From the iconic and perfect cover to the fact the album never drops a step, a lot of people will discuss Upstairs at Eric’s ahead of its fortieth anniversary. I want to highlight a couple of reviews in order to give you a critic’s-eye view of a 1982 diamond. In their feature from 2012, The Quietus took a look back at an undeniable classic. I have selected parts from the feature that especially caught my eye:
“In 1982, at my rundown grammar school in a grey suburb of Manchester, musical battle lines had been drawn - you either liked Japan or The Human League. You couldn't like both and had to display an allegiance. It was akin to Bloods versus Crips or Montagues versus Capulets but with a penchant for Roland synths and lots of floppy hair. I loved both bands but in an early display of shameful social fence-sitting, I hid this decadent truth and publicly sided with Japan.
Very little united us: Soft Cell were a tad too edgy and The Smiths were still a few months away. As pre-pubescent 12-year-old boys, we defended our choices with a bullish swagger and a vast ocean of ignorance. Then, in the springtime, a single was released that comfortably straddled the great divide. Every last one of us loved 'Only You' by Yazoo. While the electronics were familiar, the stark ballad offered something very different – soul.
Yazoo were a duo from Basildon, comprising of synth-king Vince Clarke and singer Alison Moyet. They quickly followed 'Only You' with a storming second single – 'Don't Go' was a belting synth-pop anthem which showcased a bouncing Clarke melody and Moyet's rich and glorious voice. Then, in August of 1982, the pair released their debut album Upstairs At Eric's; a record that married a number of strikingly simple melodies to dark lyrics and Moyet's extraordinary vocal range.
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.
Weeks later, Clarke responded to a Melody Maker advert looking for someone to form a "rootsy blues band”. The ad had been placed by fellow Basildon resident Alison Moyet, who he knew from the local post-punk pub circuit. The new song was 'Only You' and when the pair agreed to meet up, Moyet instantly nailed the vocal and Yazoo were up and running. They quickly wrote a batch of songs and recorded them on the first floor of Blackwing Studios in London with engineer Eric Radcliffe – hence the album title Upstairs At Eric's.
Three decades on, Upstairs At Eric's remains a fascinating listen. Packaged in Joe Lyon's iconic cover photography, there is a simplicity in the compositions – perhaps born out of Clarke and Moyet's technical naivety at that time – which swathes the record in an uncluttered charm.
What were your first impressions of Alison?
Vince Clarke: By the time Alison and I started working together I did kind of know her. I'd seen her perform in a couple of local R&B bands and a punk band [The Vandals], so I knew she had a great voice. When I finally got to meet her I found her to be incredibly shy, which was opposite to her personality in this particular punk band.
What was it about Alison that made you want to work with her?
VC: Well, I only had one song, 'Only You', which I wanted to demo and that was the sole purpose of hooking up in the first place. I knew that she could sing with a lot of emotion and this particular track was a love ballad. I was looking for someone who could put that across.
What's your favourite song on Upstairs At Eric's?
VC: It's probably 'Only You' just because it was the first song that was written and I remember the song coming together really easily. Other than that, my favourite would be 'Midnight', a song that Alison wrote. She had it already and at the time I thought it was a real challenge to orchestrate and write music for. I didn't appreciate it at the time, and I certainly didn't appreciate her vocal performance on that track. Now I do.
Do you think Upstairs At Eric's has aged well?
VC: The sound of the album has stood up well, even if some songs have aged better than others. When we did the recent [2008] tour, I hadn't played that stuff for 20 years or even listened to it. When I started analysing the tracks I was amazed at how simple they were and how straightforward the arrangements were. There wasn't anything complicated going on; it was just the singing and the tune”.
Seen as one of the best albums of 1982 and one of the finest from the decade, Upstairs at Eric’s reached number two in the U.K. Although Yazoo’s second and final studio album, You and Me Both, was released a year later and hit number one in the U.K., I still feel their debut is their peak and crowning glory. I knew about Yazoo as a child and, as a fan of theirs, I was especially interested in Alison Moyet’s solo career. There is nobody in music quite like her. The same goes for Vincent Clarke. An amazing duo who released a wonderous debut album, it is no wonder so many critics lined up to give it praise at the time. Since its release, Upstairs at Eric’s has gained a lot of respect and inspection. This is what AllMusic said in their assessment:
“Vince Clarke can claim involvement in two stunning debuts in only two years: Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell and Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's. While Speak and Spell is, by far, the more consistent record, Upstairs at Eric's is wholly more satisfying, beating the Depeche record on substance and ambition, and is light years ahead in emotion. "Don't Go" and "Situation" are absolutely killer with Clarke's bubbling synth and singer Alison Moyet's bluesy and powerful delivery. They're both rightful dance floor staples, and have since undergone numerous remixes, both official and bootleg. "Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)" is just as good a thumper, adding a wonderful mumbled bridge that shows how much Clarke enjoyed messing with pop music. The softer "Only You" would have sounded silly and robotic if it had appeared on Speak and Spell, but Moyet's vocals makes it bittersweet and engaging. The clumsier experimental tracks make most people head for the hits collection, but to do so would be to miss the album's great twist. The loony tape loop of "I Before E Except After C," the skeletal "Winter Kills," and a disruptive phone call in the middle of the naïve "Bad Connection" offer up more complex and intimate moments. Like its curious cover, Upstairs at Eric's presents a fractured, well-lit, and paranoid urban landscape”.
I am going to end by sourcing Sputnikmusic’s impassioned take on Upstairs at Eric’s. They labelled it a classic in their review from back in 2011:
“Vince Clarke was never one for remaining static for very long, shifting from immediate success with Depeche Mode's first album (Speak & Spell) in 1981, to Yazoo (or 'Yaz' as the duo is known in the US, due to legal reasons), to a short lived project called 'The Assembly', before ultimately settling with Andy Bell to form 'Erasure' in 1985. Whichever formation garners the most pleasure from listeners is a matter of subjectivity, but when regarding objectivity, i.e. which of his projects, in hindsight, has produced the highest level of innovation and influence, Yazoo's debut (Upstairs at Eric's, 1982) makes for a very strong contender.
The Basildon boy with an obsession for analogue synthesisers made important groundwork with innovating Depeche singles like 'Just Can't Get Enough' and 'New Life', but for the most part 'Speak & Spell' sounded like a clumsy sonic experiment, ending in mixed results. Clarke's early toying around with synths finally came into full fruition on 'Upstairs at Eric's', and he managed to grow from rather awkward, misguided efforts like 'Boys Say Go!', into touching and observed, synth-pop ballads like 'Only You'.
'Only You' is a perfect summation of why 'Upstairs at Eric's' remains so acclaimed and adored, as it showcases the curious blend of danceable synth-pop and powerful, bluesy vocals the duo is remembered for. Alison Moyet's consistently sublime purr gives Clarke's robotic beats and rhythms a human touch, providing listeners with songs that are as equally danceable as they are heartfelt. On paper it doesn’t work, but in reality it's most definitely satisfying. Take, for example, the iconic opener 'Don't Go', beginning with what has to be one of the most memorable and infectious synth riffs of all time, it finds its sprightly electronic melody getting warmed up by Moyet's aggressive, emotional delivery.
There's an abundance of other concise, synth-pop classics on the album, including (on most versions) 'Situation' with its low, bubbling melody and 'Bad Connection' with its undeniably cheesy, but utterly charming chorus, "Can you hear me? Can you hear me at all? Gotta get the operator, make a telephone call" - it's just one of several instances of pure, synth-pop perfection to be heard on 'Upstairs at Eric's'. Clarke's love of experimenting with early synth technology finds it's home on the instrumental 'I Before E Except After C', whose 4 minutes and 43 seconds length is comprised of a repeated loop of a voice reading out the same 3 or 4 sentences, spliced with scarce blips and beeps in the background. 'Winter Kills' (one of Moyet's few lyrical efforts, the others being; the soulful 'Midnight', the energetic 'Goodbye 70's', and the anthem that should’ve been, 'Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)') changes the flavour, with an icy cold piano melody and airy wailing, floating behind Moyet's deliberate vocals.
Yazoo have influenced many in the years subsequent their 1983 break-up, evidenced by the astonishing amount of times tracks like 'Don’t Go' and 'Situation' have been remixed or referenced as an influence. After listening to 'Upstairs at Eric's' it's not difficult to understand why. Each track just nailed what it needed to achieve, producing songs that were perfectly accessible and hooky, whilst simultaneously managing to be contemporaneously groundbreaking and innovating. Yazoo would sadly call it a day a year later, and although it's expected (seeing as the restless Vince Clarke was at the helm) it's part of what makes this record so special. If Yaz carried on they'd inevitably become tiresome, but the point is they didn't. The duo only released 2 albums so they never had a chance to lose momentum, and Clarke's ideas and energy didn't get a chance to rest and become stale, leaving fans with an immediate blast of uncluttered and catchy synth-pop classics”.
On 20th August, Upstairs at Eric’s turns forty. A classic 1980s record, it has this amazing legacy and stands alongside some of the greatest albums ever! I know that there will be a lot of love for this album on its anniversary. There is no doubt that Upstairs at Eric’s affected me greatly when I first heard it as a child. There is also no doubt that is…
MOVES me still.