Intuitive Music

Yazoo

Yazoo is one of the most influencial British synth pop bands from the 80’s, formed by multi-instrumentist and producer Vince Clarke and vocalist Alison Moyet.

Born Vincent Martin in 1960, South Woodford, Essex, Vincent Clarke raised in nearby Basildon and started studying violin and piano during his childhood. In the late 70’s, Clarke formed the band No Romance in China with a schoolmate. In 1979, he met Martin Gore to form the band French Look which later would become Depeche Mode.

Born Genevieve Alison Moyet in 1961 in Basildon, Essex, Alison Moyet was involved during the late 70’s and early 80’s in different rock, rock and blues bands in the South East Essex area, including The Vandals and the Screamin’ Ab Dabs, The Vicars and The Little Roosters.

Yazoo was formed in London in 1982 when Vince Clarke was looking for a partner after his departure from legendary synth pop band Depeche Mode. Yazoo became immensely popular with their peculiar mixture of synth pop and blues, featuring Vince on the synths and programming and Alison’s unique vocals.

Influenced by early synth pop bands like Kraftwerk, Yazoo released their first album “Upstairs at Eric’s” in 1982, which was a great success and provided several hits in the UK charts including “Only You”, “Don’t Go” and “The Other Side Of Love”. In 1983, the duo released their second studio album, “The You And Me Both”, which featured more presence on Alison Moyet’s vocals and an emotional soulful flavour.

However, by 1983, they decided to split due to constant tensions. Vince Clark recorded a single with Paul Quinn, and collaborated on The Assembly project with Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey. He later formed the popular synth pop band Erasure.

Alison embarked on a solo career, releasing the soul and blues oriented albums “Alf” (1984), “Hoodoo” (1991) and “Hometime” (2002).