New Wave Outpost Forum

To me, the lead singers of Yaz and Erasure sound remarkably similar, if not dead ringers for one another, yet they’re different people - it’s writer/musician (Vince Clarke) who is the common denominator between the two bands. Even more interesting since one of the singers is a woman (Allison Moyet of Yaz) and the other is a man (Andy Bell of Erasure). If Clarke was so happy with that voice, why/how did he let Moyet get away? Or was she singing

Move out, don’t mess around
Move out, you bring me down
Move out, how you get about
Don’t make a sound just move out

to him?!? (i.e., she decided she was better off going solo) If it was her decision, then was Clarke blatantly searching for an identical replacement? If so, then why not continue to use the name Yazoo/Yaz (well, maybe the hyphen is a clue [;)])?

Am I the only one that thinks the voices sound the same? Anybody know the story? Me confused.

BTW Yaz’s “Upstairs at Eric’s” should be required listening for any fan of new wave, IMHO

They are indeed very similar. If you listen to Erasures first album Wonderland, the resemblence is even more startling. I beleive Andy answered an ad placed by Vince. He was probably looking for a similar voice to Alison...or maybe he told Andy to sing in

Yaz split on friendly terms. It was a shaky proposition to begin with as Moyet was a jazz/blues/R&B vocalist.

Yaz was well-known for the hybrid of cold stark electronics and warm souldful voices. I'm sure that the similarity between Andy Bell and Ali

Not so sure they split on friendly terms... I have a quote form Vince after the split giving the reason for Yazoo's split as "We just didn't get along, really". Bell and Moyet definately shared a similar sound, I think Bell sounds totally like Moyet on "V

[quote]Originally posted by Dave
[br]To me, the lead singers of Yaz and Erasure sound remarkably similar, if not dead ringers for on

I've listened to both groups since they first hit and any similarities in their voices were lost on me, but now that you mention it...

The big difference to me was in their songs: Yazoo's songs semed darker musically (not necessarily lyrically) - the

This is my first post so be gentle with me please.
I suppose she sounds a bit like Andy when he is singing low but not when he is singing falsetto.
How about Ms Moyet guesting on an album with Erasure?

Prior to Yaz Alf was in a band called Little Rooster with a guy name Gary Lamin. They were influenced by 60's Motown R&B and old blues. Yaz' orignal name, Yazoo, was taken from an obscure US blues label called Yazoo Records.

I think Vince had all of those earliest Erasure songs (Who Needs Love Like That, Oh Lamour)kicking around when Yazoo were still together & he, no doubt, planned to use them on a 3rd Yazoo collection. It's not so much that Alison & Andy sound alike, it's