1. “Oh L’Amour” – Erasure: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Oh L’Amour” – Erasure

(From the album Wonderland)

1986

Not many artists can claim to have started three different groups that were successful hitmakers, but Vince Clarke can. Clarke formed Depeche Mode and was their primary songwriter for their first album Speak & Spell before creative tensions within the band caused him to leave. From there Clarke formed Yaz with singer Alison Moyet and scored several more hits before a clash of personalities caused Clarke and Moyet to part ways as well. Clarke then hooked up with Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones as The Assembly for the one-off single “Never, Never” before once again moving on to look for a new permanent musical partner. Clarke placed an ad in Melody Maker looking for a singer for a new musical partnership and Andy Bell answered the ad. After a successful audition Clarke chose Bell and Erasure was born. The new duo went to the studio to begin work on their debut album Wonderland which, because of Clarke’s past as a successful hitmaker, came with relatively high expectations. However, when Wonderland was released in June of 1986 it underwhelmed both commercially and critically. The first two singles – “Who Needs Love Like That” and “Heavenly Action” – both peaked well outside the UK Top 40 and the Wonderland album only hit #71 in Britain. These were surprisingly poor showings for a new project from the man behind UK hits like “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Only You”. Things were a little less bleak outside of the UK though. Wonderland did significantly better in Germany and Sweden and its two singles, somewhat surprisingly, both hit #8 on the US dance charts. While Erasure certainly were not burning up the charts and were finding very little success at home in Britain, there was just enough success for their record label to greenlight the release of a third single, “Oh L’Amour”. “Oh L’Amour” would not be a major hit either, peaking at a very disappointing #85 in the UK. However, the song did solidify Erasure as hitmakers in the American club scene as the song went all the way to #3 on the US dance charts and even earned a little crossover success on American modern rock radio. Maybe more importantly though, “Oh L’Amour” established the blueprint for Erasure’s future success. On “Oh L’Amour” Vince Clarke uses analog synthesizers to create music that combines big pop hooks with pulsing, electronic dance beats, and a sweeping flair that is missing from most of Clarke’s earlier work. The music on “Oh L’Amour” is similar to Clarke’s work with Yaz and Depeche Mode but is softer and less futurist and edgy than his earlier work. Andy Bell contributes vocals that take advantage of his impressive range and he moves from a low croon to a higher register that is more jubilant and fey; creating a sense of romanticism that feels like it comes from a bygone era. While “Oh L’Amour” was not a big hit it did serve as a model for what Erasure would do moving forward and ultimately became one of the band’s classic songs.

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