Erasure part 2 - Andy Bell

Erasure's success would continue for a long time.

Wild!, their next album, also shot to the top in the UK and produced 4 Top 20 singles, among them two Top 5s. First came Drama:

Then came great Blue Savannah:

Their next album, Chorus (1991) was their third #1 in a row. It produced 3 UK Top 10 singles and we'll listen to the first two. First there was the title track:

That was followed by the excellent Love To Hate You:

In the meantime, their 2nd EP, Am I Right?, made the UK Top 20 and the Top 10 in Ireland. It was their next EP, however, that would be their biggest success internationally: released in 1992 and titled Abba-esque, it made #1 in the UK (for 5 weeks), Ireland, Austria and Sweden, #2 in Germany, #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Belgium and the Netherlands, #13 in Australia and #85 in the US. As the title suggests, it was all about Abba: four of their best songs in very good cover versions. Here's the video for Take A Chance On Me, a full on (and very amusing) Abba parody:

Here they are with Lay All Your Love on Me:

Here's S.O.S.:

Finally, Voulez-Vous:

Also in 1992, a compilation album of hits was released and was yet another #1 in the UK. Their next studio album I Say I Say I Say (1994) also shot to the top, making it 5 #1 UK albums in a row for them. It would however, be their last. Still, it produced 3 big hit singles, the biggest of which was Always:

They kept having Top 20 singles throughout the 90s and the 00s. One of those was a cover of Peter Gabriel's first solo hit, Solsbury Hill:

Their last UK Top 5 came in 2005 and was called Breathe. It also made #1 in the US Club & Dance charts:

Their final UK Top 40 and US #1 Dance came in 2007 and was called Sunday Girl (not the one from Blondie):

Vince has also had a number of collaborations: the latest came this year, a single and an album with Paul Hartnoll from Orbital. He now resides in NY with his wife and son. He has also successfully remixed dozens of songs, certainly some of Andy Bell's solo offerings, as well as ones from former partners Alison Moyet and Depeche Mode. Also songs of many other acts, from the Happy Mondays to Franz Ferdinand and from the Sparks to Dido. Here's one of his remixes, for the song Believer by Goldfrapp:

Andy Bell has also been very active working and singing for charity. He had a longtime partner in Paul M. Hickey, who sadly died in 2012 at the age of 62. Andy himself publicly announced in 2004 that he has been HIV-positive since 1998. He also suffers from non-AIDS related a vascular necrosis, which caused him to have both hips replaced.

His first solo album, Electric Blue came out in 2005. The lead single, Crazy was a Top 40 UK hit and a Top 3 US Dance hit:

His second solo album arrived in 2010 and was called Non-Stop. A single taken from the album was called Call On Me:

His most recent album came out a few weeks ago and is called Torsten the Beautiful Libertine. Here's the lead single My Precious One:

The latest Erasure album was released in 2014 and made the UK Top 20. It was made of original material. I do believe that the duo have more to offer: they both love making music and they get along perfectly with each other. They won't release a new album every year, but they will release new material and quite possibly there's another big hit somewhere in their future.