Vince Clarke finally found his perfect foil in Andy Bell, an over the top vocalist with a body that screamed rough trade as loudly as his mouth screamed, "GIRRRRRRRL!". After two and a half years of serving up perfect techno pop singles as though it were just another day at the bakery, they hit the big time with their third album, "The Innocents", and its trio of singles which included "Chains Of Love".
Bell's ideas of romance where always darker than those he had of sex and the message of "Chains of Love" was open to interpretation but, looking back on the world in which is was released, it is hard for me not to hear it as a call to act up against the indifference that was allowing the world we knew to die around us. By avoiding the pitfalls of pop preaching, the details of the message received was on a need to know basis but, after watching a pack of forty-somethings from all walks of life storm the dance floor when it hit the turntable, it is clear that the theme of unity did not fall on deaf ears then and continues to ring true now.
The good folks at Rhino have just released an expanded version of the 1992 singles collection, "Pop", which brings Erasures singular story up to date. Now is a good time to catch up.
No comments:
Post a Comment