A Closer Look at… YAZ

35 years ago this month, Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke of Yazoo – or Yaz if you’re in America or Canada – announced that they were calling it quits. To honor this admittedly depressing anniversary, we’re taking a look back at the duo’s back catalog, but don’t worry, it won’t take long. After all, they only released two albums.

UPSTAIRS AT ERIC’S (1982): Get it at - iTunes || Amazon
Co-produced by Clarke and E.C. Radcliffe, who bookended his work on this album with production duties on Depeche Mode’s SPEAK & SPELL and A BROKEN FRAME, this was one of the great synthpop albums of the ‘80s, thanks to tracks like “Only You,” “Don’t Go,” and “Situation.” “Part of the charm of that album is a naivety,” Clarke told The Quietus in 2012. “There really wasn't a profound concept that was running through the recording. I didn't really know what I was doing in the studio and Alison hadn't much experience of being in a recording studio, so everything was new. We'd make one sound and we'd think it was great and just stop there and wouldn't make any more sounds.”

YOU AND ME BOTH (1983): Get it at - ITunes || Amazon
Just as quickly as Moyet and Clarke found their groove as Yazoo, the duo suddenly found themselves struggling to work together. Part of the problem was that Clarke hadn’t really planned on making Yazoo anything more than a one-off project, but having started up with Moyet on the heels of leaving Depeche Mode after only one album, he was advised by his publisher to perhaps not throw away another perfectly good group so quickly. Moyet took a shot at getting Clarke to do a third album, but he wasn’t having it. Still, the album did provide the duo with one of the biggest hits of their brief career: “Nobody’s Diary."