Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That". Following the release of their fourth single "Sometimes", the duo established themselves on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the most successful artists of the late-1980s and early-1990s.

From 1986 to 1997, Erasure achieved twenty-four consecutive Top 20 hits in the UK, while they only had 3 Top 20 hits in the USA (on the Billboard Hot 100) : "A Little Respect", "Chains of Love" and "Always". By 2009, 34 of their 45 singles & EPs (of which 8 out of the 45 were not chart eligible in the UK) had made the UK Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10.

Labeled "the definitive synthpop superstars",[1] the duo is most popular in their native UK and Mainland Europe (especially Germany, Denmark and Sweden) and also in South America (especially in Argentina, Chile and Peru). To date, Erasure has sold over 25 million albums worldwide.[2]

The band is also popular within the LGBT community for which the openly gay singer Andy Bell has become a gay icon.

Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	New Wave, synthpop
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Mute, Sire
Associated acts	Andy Bell Yazoo The Assembly Depeche Mode
Website	http://erasureinfo.com
Members
Vince Clarke Andy Bell

Beginnings and international success: 1985-1994 :

Erasure's first three singles were commercial failures in the UK, although the third, "Oh L'amour", charted well in Australia and a few European countries (especially in France, where it still remains Erasure's only hit to date). Their debut album, Wonderland, was mostly recorded in 1985 and released in June 1986. Although it only made the UK Top 75, it made a sizable impact in Germany, making the Top 20.

It was with the release of their fourth single, "Sometimes", that Erasure finally received recognition in the UK in late 1986. The song peaked at number two and spent many weeks in the UK Top 40, marking the beginning of a long string of major hits for the duo.

The single's parent album, The Circus, was released in March 1987 and reached number six and turned platinum in the UK with three additional hit singles: "It Doesn't Have To Be", "Victim of Love" and "The Circus". The album remained on the charts for over a year.

Erasure's third album, The Innocents, was released in April 1988. Preceded by the Top 10 single "Ship of Fools", the album hit number one in the UK on its initial release and returned to the summit a year later, eventually going triple platinum. It also turned platinum in the U.S., generating two Top 20 hits in "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect".

Bell has said being so open about his sexuality meant they only remained an underground dance act in the US telling Spin magazine, "If I'd never said I was gay I think Erasure would've taken off years ago in America." Clarke explained to Kirk of Melody Maker magazine, "It came back to us that people in the record company in New York were saying it was really bad that Andy was making it plain he was gay because they were worried 'it would affect our sales.'"

In the UK they remained a mainstream pop act. The Innocents was the first of five consecutive number one albums for Erasure in the UK, including the greatest hits compilation Pop! The First 20 Hits. In November 1988, the Crackers International EP, led by the song "Stop!", hit number two in the UK singles chart. The albums Wild! (1989) and Chorus (1991) both contained four Top 20 singles and were major sellers.

Crackers International was bettered in 1992 by another EP, Abba-esque, covering four ABBA hits, which became Erasure's first (and to date only) number one in the UK Singles Chart. It featured a memorable video of the duo dressed in ABBA outfits, and was one of the principal drivers of the ABBA revival scene in the 1990s.

Also in 1990, Erasure contributed the song "Too Darn Hot" to the Cole Porter tribute album "Red Hot + Blue" produced by the Red Hot Organization. Later that year, a singles compilation, Pop! - the First 20 Hits, also hit number one and went triple platinum, featuring all the band's singles released from 1985 to 1992.

In 1994, Erasure released I Say I Say I Say, their fifth consecutive number one in the UK Albums Chart. Its first single, "Always", became the band's third Top 20 hit in the United States and became their final UK Top 5 hit until 2005.