Erasure Pop!: The First 20 Hits

Performer: Erasure
Artist: M.C. Kinky
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Erasure: Andy Bell (vocals); Vince Clarke (various instruments). Additional personnel: M.C. Kinky (rap vocals); Maurice Michael (guitar); Guy Barker (trumpet). Producers includes: Stephen Hague, Erasure, Gareth Jones, Mark Saunders, Martyn Phillips. Engineers include: Dave Bascombe, Bob Kraushaar, Dave Jacob. A handy 20-track singles compilation covering Erasure's first five albums plus the EPs CRACKERS INTERNATIONAL and ABBA-ESQUE and the remix album THE TWO RING CIRCUS, this is a near-perfect way to get acquainted with the duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. Running in basically chronological order from 1986's "Who Needs Love Like That?" to 1992's "Take a Chance on Me," the collection includes such classic Erasure hits as "Stop!" "Chains of Love," and "Oh L'Amour," in their original single mixes, which are occasionally somewhat different from the album or extended club versions. While this collection is essential for neophytes, it contains no new songs or mixes, and hardcore Erasure fans may find it most useful as a failsafe party album or mix-tape substitute. Later Erasure albums are more melancholy in tone; in retrospect, POP! feels like the closing of a chapter.

Entertainment Weekly (1/8/93, p.54) - "...a tuneful, exuberant show of force..." - Rating: B+ Q (12/92, p.146) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...A more straightforward and foolproof package would be hard to imagine....great stuff..." Alternative Press (4/93, p.88) - "...nobody does rinky-dink better [than Erasure]....that there's no escape from the synthi-dink works to [Andy Bell's] favor or detriment--depending on your favorite childhood toys..."

After founding seminal synth-pop outfits Depeche Mode and Yaz, Vince Clarke joined forces with singer Andy Bell in the mid-1980s to form Erasure, combining Clarke's melodic electro-pop pedigree with a more danceable approach. The duo scored numerous hits throughout the second half of the '80s. Though their chart presence diminished somewhat in the '90s, the pair continued tenaciously into the 21st century. Latter-day releases found Erasure saluting their influences, with an EP of Abba tunes in '92 and a covers album, OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS, in 2003.

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