Poll 2003-04

For the second time running, the male fans outnumber the female fans by almost 4 to 1. Are the majority of Erasure fans really male, or is it that females have better things to do than online polls?!

No change in the age group that most Erasure fans fall into, with 40% being aged between 21 and 30. There has been a significant increase (12%) in fans over 40 from the previous poll results. Perhaps this is due to more people in that age group becoming more competent with using the internet. Sadly there are still very few Erasure fans under the age of 16, although this comes as little surprise.

The point of this new question was to silence the homophobes who seem to think only gay people like Erasure. With nearly 2 thirds being heterosexual it shows how ignorant some people can be. Statistics state that around 1 in 10 people are homosexual, which implies that that Erasure have a higher than average gay following. This is of course to be expected.

A very close race was finally won by the Erasure album by a single vote from Chorus, which received a fifth of the total vote. Previous winner The Innocents dropped to third place with I Say I Say I Say coming forth. The Two Ring Circus failed to receive a single vote and for the second time comes bottom of the class.

All change at the summit as the sublime Always rockets to the top of the chart. Rock Me Gently, a song that didn't even make it onto the chart last time, comes in second place to secure the runners-up spot. Previous winner A Little Respect plummets down the table to finish in joint fifth place. The biggest decline goes to Chorus, which finished in joint fifth place last time, but now fails to even make the top 15. Also rans in this category include Sometimes, Stop!, Breath Of Life and All Through The Years.

The brilliant Don't Suppose retains it's crown and remains the most popular Erasure b-side. Six other songs find themselves back on the chart, with the overrated Tenderest Moments climbing to second place to replace Over The Rainbow which falls to 9th place. Tell It To Me is the highest new entry, deservedly finding itself in the Top 5. Generally speaking, Erasure's better b-sides are represented here, but I would have liked to have seen the awesome Tragic finish a little higher than 10th place. True Love Wars, Supernature and First Contact just failed to make the Top 10.

For the second successive time, I Say I Say I Say dominated to become a very worthy runaway winner. I am a little surprised that the sleeves from that album's associated singles didn't perform better. Perhaps not enough people have seen them. I also don't see what warrants The Innocents coming in at joint second place. Sleeves that just failed to make the table above are I Love Saturday (both standard and EP) and Abba-esque EP.

Well, it couldn't have been much tighter! A three way tie for first place on 24 votes, with a further two videos on 23 votes. A Little Respect and Make Me Smile (Come Up & See Me) are both great videos, and although the Am I Right? video beautifully captures the spirit of the song, I don't feel it is really worthy of coming joint first in this category. Blue Savannah got more votes than it deserves down in 7th place, but mercifully the appalling Star video didn't register a single vote.

The release of the Other People's Song album has transformed this category, with Solsbury Hill now the new favourite cover version. All four Abba-esque EP covers still make it into the Top 10 in a similar order to how they charted in the last poll. Also rans included Magic Moments, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', River Deep Mountain High and Supernature.

This is the first time this category has been in the poll, with the first winner being the Mircobots Trance Dance Mix of Always. The sheer number of remixes out there meant a wide variety of votes, which resulted in the winner only requiring seven votes to come out on top. Criminally the Little Louis Vega Mix of Hideaway and The Grid Mix of Am I Right? only scraped into the Top 10, when I feel these are easily the best Erasure remixes out there. Many of you didn't place a vote stating a dislike for remixes in general.

This new category saw Loveboat win the unenviable honour of being voted the least popular Erasure album. Wonderland comes an undeserved second place with covers album Other People's Songs coming third. It is interesting to note that although The Two Ring Circus failed to get a single vote in the Favourite Album category, it wasn't voted the least favourite album.

Unlike in the previous poll, votes for 'none' were ignored which resulted in La Gloria being voted the least popular Erasure song. Drama! and Freedom are the only singles to make it into the Top 10. I am surprised to see Joan coming joint fifth, as I think it is a fine song. The likes of 2000 Miles, Like Zsa Zsa Zsa Gabor, Piano Song - Instrumental, Pistol, Star and Video Killed The Radio Star all got 4 votes each.

Despite flopping in the charts upon it's original release in 1985, it seems Oh L'amour did indeed make many life long Erasure fans. Most of Erasure's hit singles are found here, but sadly since 1994's Always, it seems that Erasure's singles have failed to win over many new fans. Victim Of Love and Drama! just failed to make the grade.

Yet again Phantom Bride scopes the award of being the best single that never was. Rumour has it this song was scheduled to be released as a single, but these plans were later shelved. Alien would certainly have been a good single as too would have been likes of Save Me Darling and Waiting For The Day. Also rans include All Through The Years, Catch 22, Heart Of Stone and Love Is The Rage.

The Top three remain unchanged and come as little surprise. The usual suspects are all in there, with the following artists also gaining a significant number of votes: Tori Amos, The Smiths, The Human League, George Michael, Alphaville, Radiohead, Abba, Moby, Mike Oldfield, The Lightning Seeds, Björk and Alison Moyet.