Lay All Your Love On Me, Rapture, Supernature,
Heart of Glass, Magic Moments, the entire Other People's
Songs album to name just a few. Erasure
have recorded many cover fine versions throughout their career, none more
popular than the number one EP ABBA-esque that sold over 400,000
copies in the UK back in 1992. But what of those Erasure
songs that have themselves been covered? Other artists have recorded cover
versions of Andy and Vince classics with a varying degree of success and
here you will find details and sound clips of such Erasure
covers. This page does not reflect cover versions by tribute bands or
fans, but rather the one-off covers by music contract-wielding professionals.
Where applicable, click on an artist's name to read their response to
my review.
After seeing The Flying
Pickets get to number one with a cover of Only You a year
after the Yazoo original only reached number 2, Vince must
have felt more than a small sense of déjà-vu when in 1987 Dollar
obtained a top ten hit with a cover of Oh L'amour. This classic
track only managed a pitiful chart highest of #85 under Erasure,
yet less than two years after its release, the Dollar cover
version reached number 7 in the UK. The band had previously had a
few hits under their belts between 79-82, but it was only after they
reformed in 1986 that they obtained their final top 10 chart position
with O l'amour (the 'h' inexplicably was removed from the song's
title). Dollar's version musically was not a radical departure
from Vince's arrangement, but the poor vocals from Thereze Bazaar
and David Van Day result in painful listening. The band split again
in 1988, although they have sadly now reformed and play minor 80s
revival tours after their one week appearance on ITV1's music TV show
Reborn in The USA.
[Clip]
Just months after the success
of Abba-esque, where Erasure
modernised some classic Abba songs in their typically dancey
manner, Australian Abba tribute band Björn Again decided
to reverse the effect and make two Erasure
tracks sound like they were written in the 70s by the Swedish quartet.
Under the title of Erasure-ish, A Little Respect and
Stop! were stripped back to basics as Björn Again proceeded
to destroy the essence of these great songs. Even the sleeve (pictured
right) was a blatant rip-off as Björn Again tried to cash
in on Erasure's recent chart
success. Sung awfully (with Swedish accents) it was amazing that this
single reached the dizzy heights of #26 back in October 1992. This
was only one of two releases that charted for the Aussies, with the
band now relegated to performances around the globe as simple
Abba impersonates. [Clip
1]
[Clip 2]
The relatively unknown
Portuguese band Silence 4 also chose to cover A Little
Respect in an attempt to boost their own reputation. The acoustic
cover version was included on their Silence Becomes It album
and was later released as a single in its own right, where it reached
the top 10 in Portugal. This acoustic cover is unspectacular and does
not adapt the original much. One noticeable difference is in the lyrics,
where the bridge is sung as "that you give me no, that you
give no, will you give no, no you give no" before venturing
into the chorus. Once more the singing is simply awful, with Silence
4 vocalists David Fonseca and Sofia Lisboa failing miserably to
have the vocal range to combat a song as lyrically demanding as this.
Mercifully, this was unreleased in the UK, but had it been there is
absolutely no way it would have bettered the original's 1988 UK chart
position of #4.
[Clip]
In 1996,
American unknowns Deitiphobia decided to cover the
Christmas classic She Won't Be Home, which was originally
on Erasure's massively
successful Crackers International EP back in 1988. Initially
released on a various artists Christmas In Heaven festive
album, the cover version was resurrected four years later to be included
on Deitiphobia'sViviphobia - medium.rare
compilation CD in 2000. They really should have left this track well
alone as the Texan based band disgracefully transformed this charming
song into a form of aural torture, which is devoid of emotion or discerning
musical quality. Although primarily a synth band, Deitiphobia
chose to make this track sound like a pseudo-punk ear bleeder, with
rock guitar screeching, cymbal smashing and heavy bass. This sounds
undoubtedly dire, but singer Sheri
Shaw really should hang her head in shame at her gravelly vocal
rendition, which is cringeworthy throughout. Let's hope Deitiphobia
steer well clear of Erasure
tracks in the future. [Clip]
2000 saw Spellbound featuring
Deejé release a five-track EP titled Oh L'amour (see left)
which unsurprisingly featured a cover of Erasure's
song by the same name. The EP includes covers of No More "I
Love You's" (famed by Annie Lennox), This House by
Alison Moyet and You're the Inspiration by Chicago, as well
as an original track, but it is the 14 minute Majimix of Oh L'amour
which is of most interest here. This extended mix includes a four
minute slow ballad intro before venturing into a typically nondescript
dance song mix. The sombre intro to the cover isn't all that bad,
and does at least allow the emotive qualities of the original to shine,
albeit in a tarnished manner. However as soon as the song comes to
life, the excruciatingly bad arrangement utterly destroys this sublime
Erasure track, and despite claims
that Deejéis a talented singer, there is
no evidence of that here. The mix is stupidly too long, instantly
forgettable and just leaves the listener aching to hear the original
Erasure version again. [Clip]
Having enjoyed worldwide
success with their debut single Teenage Dirtbag, Manhattan
band Wheatus (pictured right) decided to release a cover of
Erasure's very own A Little Respect on the unsuspecting
public. With a huge following gathered from the popularity of Teenage
Dirtbag and generous play from MTV, Wheatus reached #3
in the UK charts in July 2001. The cover version, which is very popular
among Wheatus fans, is an unusual choice of a cover by a band
whose other tracks have titles like Humpem' n' Dumpem', Love
Is a Mutt from Hell, Punk Assed Bitch and Wannabe Gangster.
Never-the-less the New Yorkers' cover version is surprisingly adequate,
with the band refraining from too much heavy metal guitar playing
to allow the softer sentiment of the song to come through. Lyrically
the song is performed tolerably by the feminine sounding Brendan B.
Brown, although it goes without saying Andy's vocals are far superior.
The cover can be found on Wheatus's debut eponymous album.
[Clip]
UK basedRecord
label Almighty records specialise in pop/dance music, with a huge
proportion of their releases being cover versions of popular songs
from yesteryear. In 2001, A Little Respect was given a make-over
by the label, having recruited singer Lee to perform the vocals on
this demanding track. Released under the mantel of Almighty Allstars
featuring Lee the cover failed to light up the charts, which is
certainly for the best. Musically, Vince's arrangement is more prominent
than in many covers of Erasure's music, with the backing being
semi-faithful to the original, but with a strong dance feel. This
is just about tolerable. But once again it is vocally where this track
falls flat on its face. Lee's voice simply isn't good enough to tackle
this song, and despite his best efforts, it's hard not to grimace
whilst listening to his vocal rendition. Yet again another artist
has attempted a song that is beyond their ability and although this
isn't the worst Erasure cover you'll ever hear, it is certainly
nowhere near being the best. [Clip]
2001 was quite a year
for covering A Little Respect, as unknown dance act Chekmate
decided to give the track a beat-heavy club-friendly make-over. Details
of the cover's chart or club success are scant, but the Eurodance
Hits website laughably claim the vocals are so good you could hardly
tell they are not performed by Andy Bell himself. What utter nonsense.
Vocalist Jono
admittedly gives his best, but he is not anywhere near being in Andy's
league. The dance beat musical backdrop is relatively uninspired and
is hardly the 'transformation' of the song Eurodance claim it to be.
Apparently Chekmate's cover promises to "work well for
both the NRG/Pop crowd and the more adventurous House jocks"
(I'm not entirely sure what a House jock is!), whereas the truth
is this is a weedy re-working of the Erasure classic which
rightfully disappeared without trace shortly after release. [Clip]
Having been dubbed
by critics as Australia's answer to Erasure, it came
as little surprise to fans of synth-duo Neuropa to
find a cover of an Andy and Vince track on 2001's Beyond The Here
And Now album (pictured left). Formed in 1992 under the initial
name of Aura, Neuropa duo Jason Last and
Albert Martinez took nine years before deciding to cover a version
of Stay With Me b-side True Love Wars. Albert Martinez's
arrangement is certainly a departure with a notably heavier beat and
extended climax which shows a degree of invention, yet it still lacks
the intrigue of Vince's original arrangement. Vocalist Jason
Last reminds more of Marc Almond than of Andy Bell and seems competent
enough throughout Neuropa's cover, but once again
an element of flair is noticeably lacking. This cover is by no means
dreadful at all, and it would appear that the Australian duo are a
reasonably talented pair, but the band lack the conviction to make
their version particularly exciting, resulting in a largely forgettable
and disposable listening experience. [Clip]
It would seem that A Little
Respect is the overwhelmingly popular choice for any discerning
band looking to cover one of Andy and Vince's masterpieces, so it
won't raise many eyebrows to learn that UK duo Cassette
launched their career with such a cover of the classic song in 2005.
Their premise was simple; to emphasis the melodic quality of the
song through a laid back electronic soundscape. And the good news
is that it works surprisingly well. Oli Freke's arrangement is the
real star here, becoming more layered and intriguing as the song
progresses. Lucy Bugiel's vocals are competent throughout, although
they are perhaps a little too restrained and do not develop and
grow in a similar vein to musical backdrop. Indeed the understated
nature of the backing vocals slightly hinders the song, but after
a slow start this track really does blossom into an interesting,
imaginative and enjoyable Erasure cover version.
[Clip]
If you know of any other Erasure covers, please Contact
me.
All Clips are 30 seconds long, about 400KB in size and are encoded in
Real Audio format.
