{"id":618176,"date":"2026-10-02T06:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618176\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T06:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:08:08","slug":"its-a-deep-soul-connection-erasure-on-how-40-years-of-friendship-got-them-through-grief-and-why-vince-clarke-has-quit-touring-erasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618176\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a deep soul connection\u2019: Erasure on how 40 years of friendship got them through grief \u2013 and why Vince Clarke has quit touring | Erasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Bell is rabbiting away on multiple topics. There\u2019s his farm in Mallorca, where he and his husband Stephen Moss have had a fine year harvesting pomegranates, kiwis and lemons. Then there\u2019s the Erasure<\/a> frontman\u2019s fascination with clowns (\u201cWould the makeup help you avoid facial recognition technology?\u201d), memories of 90s nightclubbing (\u201cYou could do anything and get away with it!\u201d) and a worry that he\u2019s turning into \u201ca fussy old grandpa\u201d. Suddenly, he catches himself: \u201cBut what about you, Vince? You\u2019re being very quiet!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s bandmate, whose only contribution since joining the video chat from his San Diego home has been to say hello, smiles. \u201cNo, no, I just love listening to you, man. I\u2019m really enjoying this.\u201d<\/p>\n

This has always been the pair\u2019s dynamic. Ever since they formed in 1985, Vince Clarke has preferred to remain in the background, unleashing precision-tooled electronic bangers while hidden behind a bank of synths. Bell, meanwhile, spun around centre stage in sequins and angel wings, his vocals adding lovelorn melodrama to the melodies. The combination has served them well. In the 40 years since their debut album Wonderland came out, the band have never split up, gone on hiatus or \u2013 if you take their word for it \u2013 fallen out. \u201cWe\u2019ve never been one of these ego-driven bands bringing their drama to the band every five minutes,\u201d says Bell.<\/p>\n

Andy Bell on stage in Dublin in 2005. Photograph: ShowBizIreland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Recently, their deep friendship has proved its mettle. In January 2024, Clarke\u2019s wife Tracy Hurley Martin died from stomach cancer. A taciturn man at the best of times, Clarke still finds the experience difficult to talk about, but he\u2019s on easier ground praising his bandmate\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was amazing,\u201d says Clarke. \u201cAndy gave me all the love and support I could possibly ever want. I don\u2019t think I could have gotten that from anyone else. Because he\u2019s been through shit as well.\u201d Bell lost his partner Paul Hickey in 2012. \u201cHe\u2019s coming from a similar perspective. So, yeah, I\u2019m truly grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to look after your friend,\u201d says Bell. \u201cIt sounds corny, but we\u2019ve been through so many things together. We all have misgivings when we lose a partner \u2013 that we couldn\u2019t do the best for them when they were here or whatever. But that\u2019s just normal life. So we have to hold each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience of being there for each other has fed into a new Erasure album \u2013 amazingly, their 20th \u2013 called Radio!! Radio!!. The record will accompany an arena tour across the UK and Europe, although with one significant difference: for the first time in the band\u2019s history Clarke won\u2019t be in attendance. Instead, he will serve remotely as the tour\u2019s musical director, leaving keyboard technician Howard Rider to work the synths on the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really panicking last night, Vince, thinking: oh God, I\u2019m going to be on tour on my own,\u201d says Bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not true,\u201d reassures Clark. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the whole crew with you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, but it\u2019s still not gonna be the same though,\u201d says Bell, amusingly off-message. \u201cBut it\u2019s your music and we can\u2019t do it without your music.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I ask if Tracy\u2019s death is the main reason Clarke is stepping back, there\u2019s a long pause before he replies simply: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

How has he been getting on?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m OK,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously everything\u2019s changed but \u2026 yeah \u2026 it is what it is \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Photograph: Travis Shinn<\/p>\n

Bell, realising his friend is struggling, pipes up: \u201cVincent, I have to say, you look amazing. You do!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh thanks,\u201d he says. \u201cI had a shave this morning and everything. I had a bath!\u201d<\/p>\n

Do they consider each other best mates?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much deeper than mates,\u201d says Clarke.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I wouldn\u2019t even say mates,\u201d says Bell. \u201cIt\u2019s more a family thing. A deep soul connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I just say something?\u201d says Clarke. I\u2019m expecting another moving paean to their friendship. \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking in front of that [red feather plate on Bell\u2019s wall] you look just like Ronald McDonald!\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re both laughing now. \u201cWell, I am thinking of putting a Babybel on my nose and going on stage like a clown,\u201d says Bell.<\/p>\n

Radio!! Radio!! acquired its four exclamation marks because Bell wanted a title with a sense of urgency. What\u2019s the emergency he\u2019s warning us about? \u201cI suppose it\u2019s technology, rushing too fast,\u201d he says. \u201cThe album is a call to more peaceful and relaxed times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it hard to write about that without sounding like a bit of a boomer?<\/p>\n

\u201cI am quite surprised by how moral I\u2019ve become!\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be telling young people, \u2018You can\u2019t do this, you can\u2019t do that,\u2019 because I\u2019ve never been like that myself \u2013 especially not on stage. But [as you get older] you do start seeing the world in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps this maturing viewpoint inspired the album\u2019s shift away from the synth sound of 2020\u2019s The Neon and towards piano and guitar. Bell and Moss made it their personal mission to buy a \u201cperfect Spanish guitar\u201d for Clarke before he arrived in Spain for the sessions, chatting to a local instrument shop owner about everything from his specific body measurements to the most common guitar lines used in classic Erasure songs.<\/p>\n

Bell happily admits to an ignorance of technology. He still uses the term \u201cghetto blaster\u201d and his knowledge of Clarke\u2019s synth collection seems to extend to: \u201cDo you still use that one with the little bulbs inside it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Vince\u2019s persona has always been very cool\u2019 \u2026 Clarke and Bell in 1988. Photograph: BSR Entertainment\/Gentle Look\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The pair of them reminisce about the very early days, working on Wonderland, when Clarke would roam the studio asking people to shout out random three-digit numbers. As Bell recalls: \u201cI\u2019d shout, say, 246 and he would input that into his synth and that would create the arpeggio for the song!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was before randomise functions,\u201d smiles Clarke. \u201cI\u2019d go around asking the tape operator, the engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonderland struggled, but soon afterwards the band released the single Sometimes and entered an imperial phase: between 1987 and 1991 their hits included Ship of Fools, Chains of Love, Stop!, Drama! (from their 1989 album Wild! \u2013 they\u2019ve always loved exclamation marks), Blue Savannah, Chorus, Love to Hate You and plenty more. A Little Respect in particular has taken on a life akin to Dancing Queen or Come on Eileen \u2013 a song guaranteed to pack the dancefloor.<\/p>\n

Bell tells me the young people in the village where he lives often ask him if he knew the song was going to be such a hit when they wrote it. \u201cAnd of course, no, we didn\u2019t, we didn\u2019t even think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m chuffed that they\u2019re singing it at football matches \u2013 and rugby too,\u201d says Clarke.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a calling card in your life is amazing,\u201d says Bell. \u201cAnd Vince has three!\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s talking about Clarke\u2019s former life as a founding member of Depeche Mode, and then a partner to Alison Moyet in Yazoo \u2013 during which time he penned the enduring hits Just Can\u2019t Get Enough and Only You. Bell seems just as proud of Clarke\u2019s pre-Erasure smashes as he does the ones they wrote together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of programmes on here in Spain about Vince, about the making of Only You or the breakup of Depeche Mode,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m always like: wow, who is this guy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell was a huge fan when he answered an advert in the music press seeking a singer, so seeing Clarke in the room was an understandably nerve-racking experience. Still, he threw himself into the songs. Clarke liked that he interpreted them in his own style. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like: this is the guy I\u2019m going to be with for 40 years,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was: this is the guy who can sing this one song. We weren\u2019t planning for 10 years ahead, we were planning for what was going to happen next Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performing in Germany in 1986. Photograph: Galuschka\/Ullstein Bild\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite their success \u2013 more than a dozen Top 10 hits, the best British group award at the 1989 Brits \u2013 Erasure were often treated a little suspiciously by critics. \u201cVince\u2019s persona has always been very cool,\u201d says Bell, \u201cbut when I came along I ruined it for him. I\u2019d get him to dress up onstage as a cactus\u201d \u2013 as he did during their 1997 Cowboy tour \u2013 \u201cand then expect us to be taken seriously by the music industry! But to me that\u2019s more punk than punk, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Most famously, the pair recorded the video for their chart-topping Abba cover Take a Chance on Me in drag as Frida and Agnetha. Looking back, was there something subversive about Clarke, a proper working-class geezer, throwing himself into camp abandon like this? \u201cIt was always funny to me,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re dressed as a cactus on stage, people relate to that \u2013 don\u2019t ask me why! I think they just see you and think: ah, he\u2019s a silly bugger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Radio!! Radio!! might have emerged during a traumatic time, but it\u2019s a more positive record than that suggests. \u201cI\u2019m a bit of a doom merchant and a spiraller,\u201d says Bell, \u201cbut I always have this internal optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The song Holy! is a good example. It deals with LGBTQ communities under increasing attack, from the perspective of showing up as a friend: \u201cWhen you\u2019re falling \/ I will shield you.\u201d Bell was one of the few out gay pop stars in the 1980s, and has lived through decades of social progress. Is he shocked at the way things have fallen backwards over the last decade?<\/p>\n

\u201cI am, but I shouldn\u2019t be, because politicians always pick the supposedly \u2018weakest\u2019 group to attack,\u201d he says. \u201cReally, it\u2019s because they\u2019re the strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does it compare to the 1980s? Was there more acceptance then in some ways? \u201cI don\u2019t think there was more, it was just different. Back then was the first time things were sort of laid out. We were just showing people there\u2019s nothing to be scared of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, says Bell, whether it\u2019s gay rights, a friend\u2019s grief or performing a huge pop show without your trusted partner, the solution is always the same: \u201cAll you need to do is put your arms around people,\u201d he says. \u201cYou bring them all in \u2013 and that\u2019s what music does best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Radio!! Radio!! is released via Mute on 12 March 2027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Bell is rabbiting away on multiple topics. There\u2019s his farm in Mallorca, where he and his husband…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-618176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}