Don't Go

This was written by Vince Clarke, who was the non-singing half of Yazoo, which he formed after leaving Depeche Mode in 1982. Yazoo, who were known in America as Yaz, lasted just two albums, with Clarke and vocalist Alison Moyet each contributing songs, but writing separately. In our 2010 interview with Vince Clarke, he said: "I think the problem that Yazoo had was that we never really had the foundation of a relationship. We made a single ('Only You'), and the record company said, 'Well, why don't you make a record?' So we made an album, and then we made another album. And so there was no real foundation or history to the band. We kind of fell apart, and I don't regret that happening. It was sad, but I don't think we could have continued working together without probably strangling each other."

Electronic music did well in the UK in the early '80s, but in America it was mostly appreciated in the club scene, and this song went to #1 on the US dance charts while being ignored by radio stations. Clarke would enjoy similar success with his next project, which was the band Erasure, which he formed with Andy Bell.

In 2008, Clarke and Moyet toured again as Yaz, and discovered an unexpected American following. Clarke told us: "The whole thing was a bit of a surprise to me, really. Because when we decided that we'd actually do the tour, neither of us had any idea if anybody out there would remember us. Particularly when we came to the States it was quite amazing. In fact, when people came up to us afterwards and said, 'Oh, that record, Upstairs At Eric's, that was the one that we played to death when we were in college,' that was quite amazing; I had no idea that was going on. Because we didn't chart with it in the States, but I guess the thing was underground and got played on college radio a lot of times. That was very gratifying."