Yazoo: Ode to boy

Today news are making the rounds that Yazoo (or Yaz as they were called in the USA, for reasons still unknown to me) are releasing a 4-disc Box Set. Not bad for a band that was active for only 18 months and released just two albums during this time!
The Box will be called "In your room" and a UK tour will acompany the release. This is quite a surprise, since Alison Moyet is active as a solo artist and Vince Clarke is still part of Erasure.

I don´t know anybody who didn´t like Yazoo, but I do know lots of people (me included) who could never get into Erasure.
I still remember that "Alf" and Vince ended their collaboration because they didn´t get along too well. Maybe this was exactly the key to Yazoo´s fantastic sound. The toylike sounds of Clarke combined with the dark, overpowering soul voice of Moyet, who dressed up like a cleaning woman.

"Only you" is one of the most covered pop-songs ever and her dirty laugh on "Situation" can be heard as a sample in hundreds of dance songs, after the song became an influential electro/breakdance hit in the early 80s.

A huge part of their ballad "Midnight" was sampled by Mute records based dance/electronic duo Fortran 5 as "Midnight" (ahem) in 1991.

Here is my favourite, the minimal and haunting, Moyet penned "Ode to Boy". It was a b-side to "The other side of love" and remains a timeless classic in my collection. Despite Alisons later attempts to destroy it with a rock version during her solo career.
Looking back at their records, its really their torch songs and ballads that stood the test of time, because the almost experimental arrangements always stayed clear of sappiness and kitsch.