Erasure's new single will be on Radio 2's 'C' list from next week, and will be on the 'B' list in the week beginning 6th January.
Erasure's new single, 'Solsbury Hill', is meeting with some resistance in the shops. Retailers are not convinced that this is a major release with a chance of getting into the top twenty.
They are, of course, wrong. But there is only one way to convince them of this.
We need more fans to get to pre-order the single. It makes a huge difference; if a shop gets several pre-orders for a single, they'll order in extra stock, which will mean more shelf space. And the more copies are on sale, the more copies the single will shift. And it's also a fact that if people don't order the single in advance then the shops may not have any copies in stock. And because it's only on sale for one week, there won't be another opportunity to order it.
Retailers think that people don't care about Erasure. But we can prove them wrong. All it needs is for Erasure's fans to play their part.
RealAudio clips of two more tracks from the forthcoming 'Other People's Songs' CD are now exclusively available at this site.
The tracks are 'When Will I See You Again', a hit for The Three Degress, and 'Walking In The Rain', a Phil Spector wall-of-sound production for The Ronettes.
RealAudio clips of two more tracks from the forthcoming 'Other People's Songs' CD are now exclusively available at this site.
The tracks are 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)', originally a hit for Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, and 'Everyday', originally by Buddy Holly.
In addition, a Vince Clarke track exclusive to the Erasure Information Service has been added to the 'Releases' section, 'What A Wonderful World'. The track, originally a hit for Louis Armstrong, is something of a precursor to Vince's work on 'Other People's Songs'.
From 12th December, you can pre-order Erasure's new album 'Other People's Songs' from amazon.com' and have the entire album in your personal digital jukebox before it is released.
Those in the UK should note that sales through amazon.com do not count towards the UK charts, whereas sales through amazon.co.uk (to UK addresses) do count.
The release of 'Solsbury Hill' in the USA and Canada has been brought forward and is now scheduled for 14th January. The CD, released by Mute North America single brings together all of the tracks from the three UK CD releases.
The Rainbow Network and Top Of The Pops 2 websites are both currently holding competitions to win tickets to the Christmas Concert this Friday.
Those who already have tickets, or are collecting them from the venue box office, should note that the box office will be open from 6pm, and that the doors open at 7pm. If you are collecting tickets you will need to present your booking confirmation number and the credit card with which the booking was made.
We will be selling a variety of exclusive and fabulous Erasure t-shirts at the event. On the night, we will only be accepting payment made in cash, but all of the merchandise will also be available by mail order from this website in the new year.
A new interview with Andy Bell can be found on the dance music web site, 'tranzfusion'.
The interview covers the new album and Erasure's career, as well as some cautionary advice on drug use.
Two brand new publicity photos are now available in the 'gallery' section.
It seems that many people have not yet received their tickets for the Christmas Concert on December 13th.
If (and only if) you have booked tickets but not received them, you should email ticketmaster.co.uk
To make processing your enquiry as easy as possible, try to include as many relevant details as possible, including your booking confirmation number and your name and address.
Please do not use the above email address for other ticket or Erasure enquiries, as they will not be able to help you.
Hopefully this means people in the UK will start to receive their tickets through the post shortly, and those outside the UK can be reassured that they will be able to attend the show; they will collect their tickets on the night before the doors open/whilst they queue/as they enter the venue.
RealAudio clips of two of the remixes from the forthcoming 'Solsbury Hill' CD are now exclusively available at this site.
The tracks are 'Solsbury Hill (manhattan clique extended remix)', a mix which utilises certain elements from previous Erasure remixes, and 'Solsbury Hill (radio mix)', mixed by Kylie Minogue producer Mike Spencer.
The remaining tracks from the 3 CD singles will be uploaded in Feburary, so if you want to hear them before then, you'll have to buy the singles.
RealAudio clips of two tracks from the forthcoming 'Other People's Songs' CD are now exclusively available at this site.
The tracks are 'Solsbury Hill', the forthcoming new single, and 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime'.
Due to overwhelming demand, Erasure will now play two nights at the London Astoria with an extra date added on 22nd February.
February 2003:
- Sun 9 Feb - Norwich UEA (01603 508 050)
- Mon 10 Feb - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall (01303 253 193)
- Wed 12 Feb - Grimsby Auditorium (01472 311 311)
- Thu 13 Feb - Preston Guildhall (01772 258 858)
- Fri 14 Feb - Middlesbrough Town Hall (01642 242 561)
- Sun 16 Feb - Glasgow Barrowland (0141 332 4400)
- Mon 17 Feb - York Barbican (01904 656 688)
- Tue 18 Feb - Derby Assembly Rooms (SOLD OUT)
- Fri 21 Feb - London Astoria (SOLD OUT)
- Sat 22 Feb - London Astoria (020 7344 0044)
Tickets for all shows are £18.00, except London which are £20.00. Tickets are available from venues and all the usual agents (subject to a booking fee), by credit card hotline (0870 400 0688) and online.
Andy Bell and his partner Paul Hickey are interviewed in the current issue of 'Gay Times', cover date December 2002 (Graham Norton on the cover). The interview discusses their relationship, Paul's illness two years ago and his subsequent recovery.
The magazine is available from all good UK newsagents, and can also be ordered online.
In the next month, we will be sending out a free Erasure gift to everyone in the UK on our postal mailing list, and, being generous souls, we would naturally like the gift to go out to as many Erasure fans as possible. So if you are currently living in the UK, we would appreciate it if you could send us your current address details, using the 'Join' option on the main menu.
To make sure you receive the free gift, please send your details no later than 1st December 2002.
We will be making provision for the free gift to be made available to fans outside the UK in the new year. However, we would appreciate it if we only received address details from fans within the UK at the moment.
RealAudio clips of two tracks from the forthcoming 'Solsbury Hill' CD are now exclusively available at this site.
The tracks are 'Tell It To Me', an upbeat disco number, initially written for possible inclusion in a US release of 'Loveboat', and 'Ave Maria', recorded during the sessions for 'Other People's Songs'.
A brand new publicity photo is also now available in the 'Gallery' section.
The Erasure Information Service exclusively brings you the first official announcement of Erasure's first UK tour for over 5 years.
Erasure plus special guests - The Other Tour
February 2003:
- Sun 9 Feb - Norwich UEA (01603 508 050)
- Mon 10 Feb - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall (01303 253 193)
- Wed 12 Feb - Grimsby Auditorium (01472 311 311)
- Thu 13 Feb - Preston Guildhall (01772 258 858)
- Fri 14 Feb - Middlesbrough Town Hall (01642 242 561)
- Sun 16 Feb - Glasgow Barrowland (0141 332 4400)
- Mon 17 Feb - York Barbican (01904 656 688)
- Tue 18 Feb - Derby Assembly Rooms (SOLD OUT)
- Fri 21 Feb - London Astoria (020 7344 0044)
Tickets for all shows are £18, except London which are £20.00. Tickets are available from venues and all the usual agents (subject to a booking fee), by credit card hotline (0870 400 0688) and online.
Tickets are no longer available for this years' Erasure Christmas Concert.
For those attending, doors open at 7pm, with the concert followed by an Erasure-based club night at the same venue running until 2am. In addition, there will be video presentations, competitions, merchandise stalls and playbacks of the new album. The whole event is included in the admission fee. There is not a support band.
Admission is strictly by ticket only. Tickets will be sent out shortly.
The artwork for the new album 'Other People's Songs' is shown here.
We want Erasure to get the highest possible chart placing with 'Solsbury Hill'. That's why it is being deleted from sale after one week; we want everyone to buy the single, in all three formats, in one week.
The only way to guarantee you get all three formats of this release will be by pre-ordering all three formats of the single at your local record shop.
We want to create a sense of excitement about this new single. You can help make this happen. Erasure's fans are their greatest asset.
When you pre-order the single, talk to the shop assistant. Ask them about the new single. Ask them about the different formats. Ask them if it is true it is only going to be on sale for one week.
If a shop assistant has three or four different people asking about the new Erasure single in one day, they will remember it. They will realise that there are a lot of Erasure fans out there. They will realise how excited people are about this release.
This will make a real difference.
Following it's UK release on the 6th January 2003, the brand new Erasure single, 'Solsbury Hill' will be released by Mute North America on the 14th January 2003.
Released on a single CD, the release will bring together the 8 tracks from the UK releases, including mixes of 'Solsbury Hill' by Dave Bascombe, Kylie Minogue producer Mike Spencer and Gareth Jones, an exclusive version of 'Ave Maria', two exclusive new Erasure-penned tracks and a cover of the Buggles hit, 'Video Killed The Radio Star' mixed by Gareth Jones, plus a short film directed by Vince Clarke and starring Andy Bell as a homicidal transvestite.
CD:
- Solsbury Hill (Radio Mix)
- Solsbury Hill (Dave Bascombe Mix)
- Tell It To Me
- Searching
- Video Killed The Radio Star (37b Mix)
- Solsbury Hill (37b Mix)
- Solsbury Hill (Manhattan Clique Extended Remix)
- Ave Maria
- Short Film: Dr Jeckyll And Mistress Hyde (CD ROM)
'Solsbury Hill', a version of the Peter Gabriel classic, is the first single to be lifted from Erasure's new album, 'Other People's Songs'.
Released on 2 CDs and DVD and available for one week only from the 6th January 2003, the release includes two exclusive new Erasure-penned tracks, 'Tell It To Me' and 'Searching', an exlusive version of 'Ave Maria', remixes of 'Solsbury Hill' by Gareth Jones, Manhattan Clique and Mike Spencer, plus a short DVD film directed by Vince Clarke and starring Andy Bell as a homicidal transvestite.
CD MUTE 275:
- Solsbury Hill (Dave Bascombe Mix)
- Tell It To Me
- Searching
LCD MUTE 275:
- Solsbury Hill (37b mix)
- Solsbury Hill (Manhattan Clique Extended Remix)
- Ave Maria
DVD MUTE 275:
- Solsbury Hill (Radio Mix)
- Video Killed The Radio Star (37b Mix)
- Short Film: Dr Jeckyll And Mistress Hyde
If you're in the UK, you may like to pre-order the single from your local record shop to be sure of getting a copy on the day of release.
Vince and Andy will be appearing on the following radio stations over the next week.
If you're served by one of these radio stations, and would like to hear the new single, 'Solsbury Hill', we recommend you call up the station and politely request it.
4th November
- Real Radio (Glasgow)
- Clyde One (Glasgow)
- Forth One (Edinburgh)
- Metro (Newcastle)
5th November
- Aire FM (Leeds)
- Pulse (Bradford)
- Galaxy 102 (Manchester)
- Key 103 (Manchester) *
- Channel M TV (Manchester)
6th November
- Signal One (Stoke-On-Trent)
- Heart 100.7 (Birmingham)
- Mercia (Coventry)
- BBC Wales (Cardiff)
7th November
- Red Dragon FM (Cardiff)
- Real Radio (Cardiff) *
- Star (Bristol)
- 2Ten (Reading)
8th November
- Southern FM (Brighton)
- Wave 105 (Fareham)
- Power FM (Fareham)
- 2CR (Bournemouth) *
* Appearances are still to be confirmed
Erasure's tenth studio album, Other People's Songs will be released worldwide through Mute and its licensees on 27th January 2003.
The album will be released in the USA and Canada on 28th January 2003 by Mute North America; this is their first Erasure release
Vince Clarke and Martyn Ware's music production company, The Illustrious Company, have been commissioned to compose surround sound music for an 'Immersion Cinema' at the Sellafield Visitor Centre, which is currently being re-vamped by the Science Museum.
At the cinema, each viewer will have their own touch-screen console, enabling them to interact with the giant screen. The film takes the form of a review of existing energy sources, the pros and cons of nuclear power and a non-partisan discourse on the future options available, using game technology and state-of-the-art computer graphics.
This is the latest in a long line of Illustrious Company projects, which have included the 'Music For Multiple Dimensions' auditorium at the (ill-fated) National Centre for Popular Music, the CDs 'Pretentious' and 'Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle', music for launch parties for Leonardo and Sony Playstation 2, music for theatrical productions, TV shows and a ballet, and series of collaborations with young artists at Oxford University.
For more details on the Illustrious Company and their multifarious projects, visit their web page.
Vince's remix of the Simple Minds' track 'Homosapien' has finally been scheduled for release after it failed to turn up on the 'Homosapien' single.
It will now be included as a bonus track on their forthcoming single, 'Cry', due out in the UK on March 18th. The CD single comes in two formats; Vince's remix appears on the one with the bronze cover. Reportedly the remix is very much a traditional Vince's bleeps-and-bloops piece, in a style reminiscent of his work with Yazoo.
Simple Minds - 'Cry' (single)
Release date: 18th March 2002
Catalogue number: Eagle EAGXA218
Formats: CD
- Cry
- Lead The Blind
- Homosapien (Vince Clarke Remix
In addition, in a rather surprising development, there will be a new Vince Clarke composition appearing on the new Simple Minds album (also entitled 'Cry'). The track is called 'The Floating World' and described by Simple Minds' frontman Jim Kerr thus: 'Coming from the heart of Boy Wonder, haunted by the smiling ghost of Billy McKenzie…; goldfish swimming in blue pools… and the world is moving on'. The album will be released in the UK on April 1st.
Simple Minds - 'Cry' (album)
Release date: 1st April 2002
Catalogue number: Eagle EAGCD196
Formats: CD
- 1-11: Simple Minds tracks
- 12: The Floating World
For more details on Simple Minds, visit this rather good web page.
Vince recently went on a walking trek through Nepal to raise money for the charity Scope. The trek was a great success, raising a total of over £250,000, enough to run the Scope helpline for a whole year.
Vince's diary can be found in the Features section.
Vince and Andy are due to return to their respective home studios in the next couple of weeks to continue work on their new album of cover versions. So far they have recorded about 12 songs, of which about 5 or 6 will be included on the final album. Over the next two months they will be recording some more covers and re-working some of the material that has already been recorded. They are, unfortunately, not doing requests!
The album is currently being recorded at Vince's home studio, 37B, and at Andy's home studio. It is being put together as a 'collective' project with producer/creative collaborator Gareth Jones, rather than the album's recording being directed and financed by the record company.
The album should hopefully be ready to be mixed in the spring, for a release in mid-autumn 2002. Until the album is completed it is very difficult to say when exactly, as these things have a habit of taking longer than you expect. As usual, the album will be preceded by a single; again, the choice about which track will be this single will not be made until the album is finished.
Similarly, Maverick Records will not be in a position to make a decision as to whether they will release the album in the USA until they've had a chance to hear the finished article.
Erasure have not ruled out the possibility of touring to promote the album around the time of its release. However, they haven't actually ruled it in, either, though the signs are more encouraging than they have been for a long time. Whether they tour in the USA or not depends largely on whether or not they will have an album being released there to promote.
More details about the album can be found in a recent interview with the Dutch synthesizer magazine Interface (issue 56), reproduced in English at the homepage of the album's producer Gareth Jones.
The interview mentions four tracks which have been recorded (three covers - 'Solsbury Hill' by Peter Gabriel, 'When Will I See You Again' by The Three Degrees, 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling' by The Righteous Brothers, and a 'reworking' of an un-named Vince Clarke/Erasure song).
However, at this stage it is by no means certain that all of these songs will be included in the finished album, as Erasure are still in the process of selecting and recording more songs. The plan has always been to record more songs than required, so that the band, Daniel Miller and producer Gareth Jones can choose only the best tracks for the album.
Until the album's tracklisting has been compiled, I've been sworn to secrecy as to which songs Erasure have recorded so far and are considering for inclusion.
Absolutely nothing should be inferred from the album's joke working title, 'R.I.P.'. There is no serious intention that the album will be Erasure's last; both Vince and Andy are already looking forward to new recording projects, both individually and together as Erasure.
The new (cover dated March) issue of 'Future Music' magazine features a 5-page interview with Vince, concentrating on his vast collection of vintage synthesizers.
For more details on the magazine, visit their website.
Andy Bell has been interviewed for a documentary on the group ABBA due to be broadcast this evening (8th January), on BBC Radio 2, at 8.30 pm. It's a three-part series, with the following parts at the same time each week.
For more details on the documentary, visit the Radio 2 ABBA page.
For those of you not in the UK, you can listen to BBC Radio 2 via their website using Realplayer.