2 languages
Yazoo
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Yazoo was an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, in Essex. The keyboard player Vince Clarke and the singer Alison Moyet started it at the end of 1981, shortly after Clarke had left Depeche Mode. Moyet had placed an advertisement in a music paper: she was looking for musicians for a blues band. The only reply came from Clarke, who was looking for someone to record his new song Only You with. They came from the same town, but barely knew each other. They borrowed the name from the blues record label Yazoo Records. In America they were called Yaz, because the name was already taken there.
Music and breakthrough
The two had very different tastes. Moyet liked blues and punk, Clarke electronic music such as that of OMD. It was precisely that combination that made Yazoo special: Clarke's cool, tight synthesizer patterns beneath Moyet's warm, powerful soul voice. Only You became a big hit in Britain in 1982, as did Don't Go. The debut album Upstairs at Eric's (1982) was named after the studio owner Eric Radcliffe, who co-produced it. In New York the DJ François Kevorkian made a club remix of Situation, which caught on in the dance clubs.
Influence
The duo worked mainly alongside each other, not with each other. For the second album, You and Me Both (1983), they were rarely in the studio at the same time, and shortly afterwards they split up. Moyet began a successful solo career, Clarke went on with The Assembly and Erasure. In 2008 they came together one more time for a tour. Yazoo helped to shape synth-pop and had a great influence on the house music of the 1980s.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 1: The Origins of Pop MusicNL Reader
- Mixtape 7: The 1980sNL Reader