THE HARDEST PART
Released on the 2nd September, WHO NEEDS LOVE LIKE THAT flopped badly, reaching only number 55 in the charts. The record had received almost no airplay whatsoever. Like in the mid 90's, Radio 1 was exclusively interested in playing guitar oriented rock, and considered any music involving synthesizers to be terminally passé. "Radio 1 like to think they're really trendy and if anything sounds a little outdated, they won't play it. But you just keep going, trying to improve your technique as a songwriter. We can't go to Radio 1 and shake the DJs until they play the record." Vince, E & MM 8/86 "Even when Mike Read played the single he said, 'That Vince Clarke, he never gives up, does he?' I just think they're biased against synth music now." Andy, RM 5/86
The TV promotion for the record consisted of one-off appearance on the children's music/game show 'Cheggers Plays Pop'. For their first TV appearance, Vince and Andy were dressed as denim cowboys, strutting stiffly about the stage in a choreographed dance routine as they mimed along to the song. Memorable as it was, it was the performance you might expect of a teenage boy band trying to appeal to kids. Vince and Andy seemed uncomfortable and embarrassed in pretending to be the type of band they were not.
The music press was almost uniformly critical, sniping at Andy's similarity to Alison Moyet and the band's ostensibly outdated sound. This only made the band more indignant and determined to succeed. "In the beginning I think he was a bit upset by all the reviews saying he sounded like Alison Moyet - one or two would have been okay, but when you get it 200 times wherever you go in the world, then you get a bit angry." Vince, SH 12/86 "I really hope the next few gigs change people's minds, because so far people have been really quick to slag us off and what we're doing. People have been saying I sound like Alf, which really gets on my nerves. It just seems to me like they haven't got time to listen and that's just an easy thing to say." Andy, MM 12/85
The only positive review appeared in the Daily Star, of all places: "Hello sailor, you're a hit! I confidently predict that Who Needs Love will be a smash hit. And it couldn't have come too soon for Andy While he was waiting for the results of the audition, Andy decided to join the Royal Navy. He even went for a one day tryout in a submarine... something he had always wanted to do. But it was only when they were at sea and about to submerge that Andy learned the truth about himself -he suffers from claustrophobia. So he changed his mind. ..now he is going to be a star." Daily Star 9/85
The proposed national tour was quickly cancelled, and HEAVENLY ACTON replaced SAY WHAT as the next Erasure release. Perhaps not the most obvious choice for a single, when released on the 11th November 1985 it did even less well than its predecessor and scraped into the top 100 at a miserable number 100. Even the marketing gimmick of giving away free copies of the WHO NEEDS LOVE LIKE THAT Limited Edition 12" with the 12" failed to attract buyers. Eventually the hundreds of unsold copies of the HEAVENLY ACTION Limited Edition 12" were withdrawn from the shops and pulped, making this 12" one of the rarest and most sought-after Erasure releases. "When were doing the photos for the album in an attic we came across some old books, one of which had the story of the tin soldier in it, so we used it for the single. It sort of fitted in with the idea of fairytales which is in the album." Andy, Record Mirror 11/85
The video for HEAVENLY ACTION was a garish science fiction / Wizard Of Oz crossover featuring dozens of children dressed as cupids. Andy had originally intended to appear dressed as Dorothy, but changed into a Thunderbird costume at the last minute because all the children laughed at him. "All the videos we've done are to do with the theme of innocence. For HEAVENLY ACTION the video was set on a sort of Flash Gordon planet, and apart from me and Vince it was nearly all children. Most of them were really nasty while we were doing the filming." Andy, RM 11/85
"Well, some of them were pretty cute, but then so were the dogs." Vince, RM 11/85 "It's been brilliant working with him [Vince]. The only snag is I've had to tone down my dress sense. I wanted to go over the top for our video, HEAVENLY ACTION. Tight dress, suspenders, stilettos - the lot, but Vince wouldn't let me. Still, I did get to wear my red glitter shoes..." Andy, Look Now 2/86
As HEAVENLY ACTION had received a grand total of only one play on Radio 1, and with Mute unable to afford a massive promotional campaign, it became obvious that the only way Erasure could break through would be through touring and building up support from scratch. "I think after the first single wasn't successful everyone started to get a bit nervous. We started to question everything that we did, both from a band point of view - the promotion, everything. Everything Vince had done had been successful, so it was like, 'What's going on here? What's going wrong?' Personally it was really bad, because Vince had brought Mute so much success and I felt very frustrated because I couldn't put my finger on what was going wrong." Daniel Miller, PE "We were getting worried at certain points, but Daniel was always very supportive, and never let us get discouraged about the lack of success. But obviously Mute are on a tight budget, and money is important." Andy, Underground 7/87
"We'd spent a lot on recording, and because our agreement with Mute was an informal one based on friendship, we felt there were obligations and we couldn't just go and make another album." Vince, Radio 1 12/92
The tour that was announced was a deliberately low-key affair, as Erasure would be unlikely to fill even the smallest of venues. Despite the frustration of seeing two singles fail, Vince and Andy were not disheartened and were determined to make the live concerts a success. "It just brings you back to Earth, you know. 'Not everything you do goes in the charts, boy! Take note!' So then you start thinking, 'Well, now I'm gonna really start working,' and you really put your mind to it... We'll be out on the road soon, but there'll be no tapes this time. Andy'll be singing and I'll be on guitar. Mind you, there will be a computer playing the keyboards!" Vince, RM 11/86, The Hit 9/85
"Because I've been slagged off for sounding like other people, and it's, 'Ah, this is Vince's new singer', and because the singles haven't necessarily taken off, I think, 'Is it my fault, and am I up to scratch?' Vince keeps telling me, 'It's all right, this is a secure thing, you're not going to get sacked', but I see the gigs as one field where I can prove myself. One thing that I've always wanted is to perform, just to be on stage and have people watching. Just to give them a show." Andy, NME 6/86, MM 12/85
"After all of Vince's previous success, I did tend to shoulder responsibility, and did think once or twice that my time might be up. I started thinking I'd brought bad luck to Vince... It was depressing when the first singles flopped, but we just thought, 'Forget it' and started gigging." Andy, CTP 87, Underground 7/87
For their first tour, Erasure were joined by Derek Ian and Jim Burkman on backing vocals - Derek and Jim had already appeared with Vince and Andy on their first,live TV performance, singing HEAVENLY ACTION on The Hit presented by Tony Slattery.
The tour manager for the early gigs was Andy Frank; Andrew Mansi was busy with his own band, Twilight. As a favour, Vince had produced the a-side of their first and only single 'Just Me Alone' (inspired by the film 'Company Of Wolves') which was released on Polydor on October 25th.
Erasure had already done a short tour of PA's [Personal Appearances, miming to backing tapes] in Scotland, supporting Tony Cochrane. They had appeared at Brechin Jars on the 19th September, followed by Aberdeen Mr G's, Dundee Buddies and Kirkcaldy Jackie O's. But their first proper gig would be at the Western Star Domino Club in Bristol. The club was on Newfoundland Road, off Bond St, and has since been demolished to make way for a car park. Unfortunately history does not relate the exact date of the concert, the gig being completely ignored by the local press at the time, but it would have been in late November. "It was a place called the Bristol Dominos Club and I think it Flood did the sound. We went up in a van, it was a friend of a friend who owned the club, and there were a few Jamaicans sitting there playing dominos. It was like a proper dominos club, you know, and a few people from Bristol came down. We were incredibly nervous and Andy didn't move from the microphone - it was like he was the mike stand." Vince, Radio 1 9/94 For this concert, Andy was dressed completely in black, whilst Vince wore a horrible check jacket dating from his Yazoo days.
The tour continued with a gig at Loughborough University Students Union (November 23rd) and Heaven in London (December 1st) where Erasure were supported for their third-ever concert by June Bridges and Anne Clarke. Both the Western Star and Heaven gigs were filmed, very roughly, for posterity. A week later, Erasure played at the Limit Club in Sheffield, with the next concert, due to be at the Hacienda in Manchester on December 11th, being postponed to January 23rd of the following year. Erasure's last gigs of 1985 were at the Marquee Club in London (with the concert beginning at 9pm, tickets priced at £3.50) and at the Gold Mine in Canvey Island on December 20th. "It's difficult for me. We walked on stage on Saturday and the first thing someone shouted was 'Where's Alf?' and all the way through they were shouting 'Say something, Vince' and on the encores it was just 'We want Vince, we want Vince." Andy, MM 12/85
In December, Richard Putler wrote a remarkably prescient review of Erasure's first-ever concert for Sounds magazine. His article appeared under the headline 'RUBBER WARE', with the photo caption 'BELL AND CLARK erase the trivia'. It could almost be a review of any concert of Erasure's career:
"...Meanwhile, at a slightly less than salubrious West Country nitespot, Mr Vincent Clark [sic] enters, soft-shoed, backstage. Having prepared, programmed and practiced, he is now about to let his fingers do the talking. What we hear is pop music. Real pop music. Pop music of the purest, most instant and finest kind. All the Vince Clark hallmarks are here. The simple melodies and impassioned lyrics (emotion courtesy of Andrew Bell and two backers-up). The occasional flourish (and Vince playing a silent guitar) and the beat, always the beat. It's precise, it's concise and it's more contagious than a rendezvous in the jacuzzi with Typhoid Mary. Just can't get enough." Richard Butler, Sounds 12/85
Additional research and thanks to:
Katie Bramall, Mike DePaz, Debbie Flook, Swen Greve, Eugenio Lopez Gomez, Jo Mcllwaine, Christian Ondrak, Lloyd Philips, Matti Sarngren, Simon Skinner, Abigail Smith and Mark Isted at the Mute press office.