Fabulous indeed! Now Shoat has voted I may even do the results...

:yahoo:

 

So I'm actually going to do the results of this thing then! None more shocked than I.

 

Before I count down the top 40, here are the songs that failed to make the chart and their averages:

 

48 Moon and the Sky • 2.4

47 When I Start To (Break It All Down) • 2.6

46 Boy • 3.0

45 Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) • 3.0

44 Sunday Girl • 3.2

43 Fill Us With Fire • 3.4

42 Storm In a Teacup • 4.0

41 Freedom • 4.0

 

Nothing particularly surprising exiting here then, essentially a lot of their later material as expected. The only one I even vaguely care about is Storm In a Teacup which I find to be one of the better of their later singles, a reasonably lovely track about a boy struggling to cope with his mum's alcohol problem. Sunday Girl is okay I guess too, although sadly not anything to do with the Blondie classic of the same name. I say sadly, however keeping in the mind the utterly horrendous things they did to mankind in the form of their covers album, perhaps the word joyously should have been used instead (see #45 here which is truly a crime against music, deservedly receiving two -1s in the rate).

 

Edited January 17, 201510 yr by مدهش*

http://www.onges-erasure-page.co.uk/wp-content/images/oep/heavenly-action-12.jpg

 

40 • Heavenly Action • 4.166

UK Chart • DNC

 

So we begin the top 40 with Erasure's second single, Heavenly Action. The single failed to chart in the UK and, unlike other singles from this era, they never tried to make it a hit in later years after becoming successful. You can understand why to be honest as it's hardly their finest moment, a rather saccharine track that really hasn't aged at all well with an even more saccharine video which includes Vince dressed head to toe in Pink as the commander of the cupids. Urgh. Watch below if you dare (and haven't eaten recently).

 

 

 

 

http://img.wax.fm/releases/116022/erasure-rain-plus-750316.jpeg

 

39 // Rain • 4.200

UK Chart • DNC

 

So here's the first one that I've never really paid that much attention to before. Listening to it now it's a typical example of why they disappeared into obscurity after the 'Erasure' album, nondescript lyrics being warbled over a tinny sound that just didn't cut it any longer - I've always wondered why they never seemed to have ANY bass on most of their tracks... listen to this now and it sounds like you're playing it via something with the musical capacity of an early Nokia ring tone.

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/2005/06/erasure-here-i-go-impossible-again-560x493.jpg

38 • All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love • 4.2

37 • Here I Go Impossible Again • 4.6

UK Chart • 25-63

 

Next up it's both sides of the AA released in 2005 as the third single from the 'Nightbird' album, seen by many as a comparative return to form for the group. Certainly the thought of enjoying a third straight top 40 single would have seemed night on an impossibility after the form of their output in the previous few years. Buzzjack has decided that it's Here I Go Impossible Again that is the better of the two tracks and listening to them now I think I agree as the latter is a decent stab at recreating the Erasure-ballad sound that they made successful in 2004. The other side is more of a dance-lite track that they insisted on trying to produce around this era, not bad but felt more like them trying to recreate a younger style that wasn't particularly suited to them at this point in their career.

 

 

Edited January 18, 201510 yr by مدهش*

a bunch of tracks that have left no impression on me sadly, though i obviously must have heard some of them at the time. We must be getting into the ones I know soon... :dance:

http://www.erasure.se/Word/wp-content/uploads/phantomframsida.jpeg

 

36 • Phantom Bride • 4.80

UK Chart • DNC

 

Next up is Phantom Bride, an album track taken from 'The Innocents' that was always deemed by fans as being the fourth single that never was... until 2009 when the track was released to celebrate the release of the 20th anniversary edition of it's parent album. It's very typical of the sound that they first produced on 'The Circus' and whilst perhaps not an essential track, it's a nice enough addition to their singles discography.

 

 

 

 

http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/imagesnew/tracks/thumb/Erasure-Be-With-You.png

 

35 • Be With You • 5.00

UK Chart • DNC

 

Now there has to come a time when Andy Bell should no longer appear in their videos. This is clearly after that time. Aside from that, I generally find this one to be typical of everything they released during this period, ie largely forgettable retreads of former glories and I'm surprised it managed to finish ahead of Phantom Bride.

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1996/02/erasure-rock-me-gently-mute180-560x560.jpg

34 • Rock Me Gently • 5.00

UK Chart • DNC

 

Next to fall is the final single from their self titled album, an album which to my mind contained so many great tracks that would have worked so well as a single. Rock Me Gently was never going to be a commercial success as a single but what it does achieve is a representation of the unusually daring approach that Erasure had decided to take for their self titled album... here we have a track that is not too far removed from the material on their 'I Say I Say I Say' album but it's been severed in half and received a 7 minute almost ambient piece of electronica inserted into it's heart to produce something that is rather experimental for a band renowned for their 3 minute pop songs. The track did receive a radio edit and slight remix (in the form of an unnecessary beat) for it's single release across Europe - both versions are below for you to listen to...

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1992/06/erasure-abba-esque-mf18-560x560.jpg

 

33 • SOS • 5.2

UK Chart • 1-1-1-1-1-4-9-12-21-37-48-73

 

Well I guess rating the individual tracks of the ABBA-Esque EP is one way of making it look like they had four number one singles. The first track to fall from the EP is SOS, it perhaps would have fared slightly better if AnthonyT had rated it as I know it's one of the tracks he likes. The EP was released at the absolute height of my Erasure obsession as a child and I couldn't even begin to imagine just how many times I played it, it was a rare EP in so much as the individual tracks actually managed to achieve (variable levels of) airplay in their own right... SOS and Voulez Vous probably fared worst in that respect and understandably the former is the first track out, it's probably the one that Erasure didn't really make their own (hello X Factor judges) and it seemed to have the least hype around it at the time.

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/erasure-i-could-fall-in-love-560x560.jpg

32 • I Could Fall In Love With You • 5.20

UK Chart • 21-60

 

The first single to be lifted from 'Light At The End Of The World' is the only one to manage to crack the top 40 of the rate. I quite enjoyed this one at the time if I remember correctly, considering it somewhat of a return to form. Maybe that's pushing it a little bit but I'd still say it wouldn't sound completely out of place for the standard of their best of. I always used to listen to the James Aparicio version of the track but, as that's not available, here's the original video - which clearly was a HUGE influence on Clean Bandit's video for Real Love :kink:

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/2005/03/erasure-dont-say-you-love-me-560x560.jpg

 

31 • Don't Say You Love Me • 5.20

UK Chart • 15-47-61

 

Just missing out on our top 30 is the band's final top 20 hit in the UK. Don't Say You Love Me was the second single to be lifted from Nightbird and took full advantage of the 2005 sales climate to make it as high as #15. Another bizarre video from them too, Andy's face imposed on the inside of a cartoon spaceman's helmet - although I guess they have always been a little left of field when it came to their visuals... difficult to argue that this wasn't quite good enough to make the top 30, the section where their tracks do start to get slightly more memorable - honestly!

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1996/02/erasure-rock-me-gently-mute180-560x560.jpg

34 • Rock Me Gently • 5.00

UK Chart • DNC

 

Next to fall is the final single from their self titled album, an album which to my mind contained so many great tracks that would have worked so well as a single. Rock Me Gently was never going to be a commercial success as a single but what it does achieve is a representation of the unusually daring approach that Erasure had decided to take for their self titled album... here we have a track that is not too far removed from the material on their 'I Say I Say I Say' album but it's been severed in half and received a 7 minute almost ambient piece of electronica inserted into it's heart to produce something that is rather experimental for a band renowned for their 3 minute pop songs. The track did receive a radio edit and slight remix (in the form of an unnecessary beat) for it's single release across Europe - both versions are below for you to listen to...

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1992/06/erasure-abba-esque-mf18-560x560.jpg

 

33 • SOS • 5.2

UK Chart • 1-1-1-1-1-4-9-12-21-37-48-73

 

Well I guess rating the individual tracks of the ABBA-Esque EP is one way of making it look like they had four number one singles. The first track to fall from the EP is SOS, it perhaps would have fared slightly better if AnthonyT had rated it as I know it's one of the tracks he likes. The EP was released at the absolute height of my Erasure obsession as a child and I couldn't even begin to imagine just how many times I played it, it was a rare EP in so much as the individual tracks actually managed to achieve (variable levels of) airplay in their own right... SOS and Voulez Vous probably fared worst in that respect and understandably the former is the first track out, it's probably the one that Erasure didn't really make their own (hello X Factor judges) and it seemed to have the least hype around it at the time.

 

 

 

Lordy lord.....I never went back to rate the whole EP. :(.

 

SOS represents some of Vinces finest syth work. I would have given it a 10.

Edited January 18, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe

I really like 'Don't Say You Love Me', although the lyrics are pretty questionable to say the least.

http://newmusicunited.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/erasure.jpg

30 • Solsbury Hill • 5.286

UK Chart • 10-25-43

 

Sneaking into the top 30 is Solsbury Hill, the first dreadful single to be lifted from their dreadful album of dreadful cover versions. To think this looked like it would be remembered as their final top 10 single. On the plus side, at least it's not (Come Up And See Me) Make Me Smile.

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/02/erasure-dont-say-your-love-is-killing-me-560x560.jpg

 

29 • Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me • 5.833

UK Chart • 23-42

 

The second single to be taken from the Cowboy album was the last Erasure CD single I bought, I'd heard a good review of it on the radio and was a bit underwhelmed when I listened and found it was a pretty standard synth tune - especially disappointing as I'd secretly enjoyed In My Arms among my trendy indie music listening. Still, the chorus winds around in a pretty tuneful fashion and it made for a comparatively successful second single. This time yet another bizarre video features Andy being pulled around on a rug, no budget spared.

 

http://www.musicya.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Erasure-Abba-Esque-the-Remixes.jpg

28 • Voulez Vous • 6.167

UK Chart • 1-1-1-1-1-4-9-12-21-37-48-73

 

The second track to fall from the ABBA-Esque EP is Voulez Vous. Not really too surprising given the remaining two tracks were the two that were primarily used on radio and video channels. Well, I say channels, what I mean in 1992 is of course video TV shows. They released a video EP to accompany the main single and I was always quite taken with the Voulez Vous one, an early take on a theme that has been used many times since where cameras on runs circle the band as they perform. The cover used above is for the remix EP which was released separately later in 1992, although it failed to chart in the UK.

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1995/09/erasure-stay-with-me-mute174-560x560.jpg

 

27 • Stay With Me • 6.167

UK Chart • 15-21-38-54

 

At number 27 we get to the first single from the album that appeared to kill their career stone dead. Stay With Me was everything that the public would not expect from a lead Erasure single, it was a strangely structured ballad with hooks that took their time to take hold rather than jump out and slap you across the face. I remember being gutted when the single entered at number 15, midweeks weren't available back then but surely everyone must have expected a new Erasure single to at least debut in the top 10. Worse still, the album limped in at number 14 - a huge disaster after their previous four albums had all reached number one. I've often wondered why the public just turned so suddenly with them, was this really that offputting as a lead single? Or was it just a really ill timed move at a time when the public were naturally moving away from synth based pop acts? Or was it that their fans loved the 3 minute pop gems so much that an album reported to be full of 6 minute plus tracks was offputting to a fanbase more fickle than the group had expected? Either way, if you were one of those who were put off Erasure at this point, I really would strongly recommend picking up the 'Erasure' album should you see it somewhere for 99p as it's right up there with their best material.

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1985/09/erasure-who-needs-love-like-that-600px-560x560.jpghttp://www.onges-erasure-page.co.uk/wp-content/images/oep/who-needs-love-hamburg-7.jpg

26 • Who Needs Love (Like That) • 6.285

UK Chart • 55-60 (1985) 10-10-19-49 (1992)

 

So after the song that I would argue killed their career, it's the song that began it all the way back in 1985. In truth most people wouldn't remember this from the first time around as it limped into the chart at #55, I wonder if Vince wondered whether leaving Depeche Mode was the right thing to do after the first few singles all failed? The track was re-released in 1992 as a single to celebrate the release of their singles collection, 'Pop! The First 20 Hits' which went on to be a #1 album for them and (as Shoat correctly states in his rate) is a near perfect singles collection as it lines up a really impressive collection in release date order with no faffing or over-complicating. The accompanying video suggests some of the horrors to come after as the track is portrayed in a comedic western setting.

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/01/erasure-in-my-arms-mute190-560x560.jpg

 

25 • In My Arms • 6.400

UK Chart • 13-28-50-73

 

I mentioned in my comments earlier that I always had a soft spot for this track and I still do... the first single from the Cowboy album is essentially a retread of 'Always', possibly a reactionary move to attempt to recapture fans lost from the previous era, but it does work as a single for me. It even features a key change as they really go all guns blazing to rope people back on board!

 

http://www.poplife.info/bilder/104884.jpg

24 • It Doesn't Have To Be • 6.857

UK Chart • 28-20-17-15-12-19-29-50-60

 

To many people this is probably regarded as their second single as it followed their breakthrough single, peaking a bit lower though as it settled for #12 in the UK. I wasn't overly keen on this when I bought The Circus but it proved to be a bit of a grower and in retrospect probably is one of the better tracks on the album. 24th feels about right for this actually, it's good but I still find it slightly below the standard of most of their output from the 80s and 90s.

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1994/07/erasure-run-to-the-sun-mute153-560x560.jpg

 

23 • Run To The Sun • 6.857

UK Chart • 6-15-28-45-58

 

We get to #23 on the countdown and it's the first time I can say that I really do like every track from here on in... starting off the section I shall name 'Pop! The Greatest 23 Hits' is Run To The Sun, the second single to be lifted from I Say I Say I Say. It's not really overly representative of the album as a whole, I remember listening to it for the first time and thinking it was definitely going to be the obvious choice for a single and it was duly released and comfortably made the top 10. That said, I wish now that they had released either 'Take Me Back' or 'All Through The Years' as they are two of the best album tracks they have in their cannon.

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1992/03/erasure-breath-of-life-mute142-560x560.jpg

22 • Breath Of Life • 7.000

UK Chart • 12-8-11-18-34-58

 

Missing out on the top 20 are two of my favourite Erasure singles, both from 'Chorus'. Up first is the fourth single to be lifted from the album, 'Breath Of Life', and it's the first time we break the 7 mark as an average score. The track was remixed slightly for the single release, losing the wonderful intro but gaining a slightly harder beat and (presumably given the cover) a sample of a dolphin splashing into water. 'Chorus' was the first CD I ever owned so everything on it holds a special place in my memories, I'm particularly keen on the breakdown in this track. This era also boasts my favourite version of the Erasure logo, as a kid I used to think it was so clever how they had merged the letters into something that flowed so nicely.[/sad]

 

 

 

 

http://mute.com/wp-content/uploads/1991/11/erasure-am-i-right-mute134-560x560.jpg

 

21 • Am I Right? • 7.125

UK Chart • 15-18-31-36-37-73

 

The other song from Chorus appearing now is the third single, 'Am I Right?'. Another song I adore, it's a bleak and rather wintery sounding effort and one that sounded rather different to the singles that they had recorded before. The lyrics were full of abstract imagery and much harder to decipher than their normal songs and the video mirrored this having Andy wander around Amsterdam in black and white, all very arty for them. The track also had a remix EP which charted at number 22 at the beginning of January 1992, the song itself only had one remix included which was the one by dance act The Grid and it's a rather good version which alas I can't find on youtube to share with y'all.

 

Edited January 18, 201510 yr by مدهش*

So, in alphabetical order, these are the singles that have made your top 20:

 

A Little Respect

Always

Blue Savannah

Breathe

Chains Of Love

Chorus

Drama!

Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)

I Love Saturday

Lay All Your Love On Me

Love To Hate You

Oh L'amour

Ship Of Fools

Sometimes

Star

Stop!

Take A Chance On Me

The Circus

Victim Of Love

You Surround Me

enjoying the rundown, and the comments, and pretty much the top 25 contains all the best stuff, so I'm happy enough. Now, is Blue Savannah going to be number one or am I going to have to start moaning (as usual) :lol:

 

 

Well I won't give too much away but it's not #20... glad you're reading though, naturally I know many people won't be but I kinda don't mind as it's quite the trip back to my childhood with some of these tracks. ^_^

Great reviews Dandy. I've listened to Chorus a lot this week. One of the most constant pop album I've heard. Nothing is skippable for me.

 

I'm disapointed the overtly camp Take a Chance on Me has done so well considering SOS and Voulez Vous are two of my favourite covers by anyone.

 

I'm hoping for a high placing for Fingers and Thumbs and I Love Saturday...neither of which I will see. :(

nearly a thousand hits overall, so sounds like quite a few are tuning in :dance:

 

It's great people can revisit old faves, be nice if others did some rates before I get to the quickie rates (I won't do Erasure as they've been thoroughly done here) but I'm contemplating a sort of The Voice-inspired battle of the bands, of say 2 acts of similar vintage who were great but didn't have enough hits to have their own rate - and then see which songs (and which act) comes out on top B-)