Buy Abba-esque here (Amazon UK)
More Erasure retrospectives:The Circus - 30th AnniversaryWild! - 25th anniversaryChorus - 25th anniversaryErasure - 20th anniversaryBy the time 1992 rolled around, amazing synth-pop duo,
Erasure, were on a creative and commercial high. Each successive album seemed to take them to dizzying new successes, whilst their ability to pick exactly the right song at the right time meant that they were as constantly prevalent in the singles charts as the entire Stock Aitken and Waterman stable of acts. Their latest album campaign, Chorus, had ended just a few months earlier in March 1992 with the top ten fourth and final single, Breath Of Life. With a plethora of 16 top twenty hits under their belts, it was clear to all that a greatest hits was on the horizon. Erasure, however, were seemingly not content to wait for the obligatory Christmas season to release such a collection - their genius juices were flowing, so rather than wait around they plugged the gap by releasing their second EP (following on from Crackers International) and re-introduced
ABBA to the world. Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
ABBA-esque was born.
Now, I grew up in a household where ABBA was pretty much on the cassette deck in my mum's car, 24-7. I am confident ABBA is in my blood (metaphorically) as Waterloo was number one in the UK the day I was born (don't do the math). I twirled around at an early age to songs like Dancing Queen and Voulez Vous. I learned piano, inspired by tracks like The Winner Takes It All and One Of Us. Their music is what drew me to acts like Erasure - there was the architecture of music such as SOS and Knowing Me Knowing You in earlier compositions such as Sometimes and It Doesn't Have To Be. Later, they seemed to be influenced by the theatricality of Summer Night City and As Good As New on songs like Drama and Love To Hate You. For me, it seemed a logical and absolutely thrilling step that they undertake a full EP of some of ABBA's most resplendent songs. My anticipation was heightened by the fact that Erasure had already covered
Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) on the b-side of should-have-been-massive song Oh L'Amour (note, I had already spent a considerable amount of money tracking down the 12" and limited edition 12" vinyl of this release sometime in 1989 just to secure this song, and its remix). It may sound trivial now, but back then it was super important to me to have someone like Andy Bell sing those immortal lyrics. Not only did it bestow the song with a man's perspective (and I was pretty much fully in love with Andy at that stage, my teenage crush on what would now be called a 'woke bae') alongside an intense, thrilling instrumental but it also gave words and meanings to my deepest, most forbidden closeted secrets. As soon as Abba-esque was released, this being the days before Spotify playlists, I made my own mixtape of the four new EP covers and added Gimme Gimme Gimme to the mix. It fit perfectly.
So, you may be asking yourself, what did Erasure bring to these ABBA songs so ingrained in the public psyche that you couldn't get from the ABBA recordings themselves? It is a valid question to ask yourself. For answers on that you may want to get the Classic Pop Presents ABBA special which features in an in-depth interview with Andy talking extensively about the project. For me, however, it was more how the duo reverently recreated these indelible songs from the blueprints, rebuilding in such a fashion that the ABBA words and melodies were still joyously present - yet produced as if they were always meant to be viewed through the kaleidoscope of Andy and Vince's singular vision. Just prior to the release, radio gravitated to the dark, tawdry seduction of
Lay All Your Love On Me. In hindsight, this wasn't a great surprise. Any ABBA song is, of course, blessed with radio ready hooks but this was one of their lesser known songs (peaking at 7 in the UK in 1981). Andy was in his element as the seductive provocateur, stalking his prey and ready to pounce at any time. I love that it gave the song a frisson of danger that comes with the excitement of the unknown. Every beat, note and synth riff represented that to the nth degree. Meanwhile, over on video shows (such as CD:UK and Top Of The Pops) the choice had never been more clear - Andy and Vince dressed as Agnetha and Anni-frid singing
Take A Chance On Me simply had to go into heavy rotation. The video was a hoot and a half, but it was the addition of MC Kinky and her rapid-fire rap (that I can still do word perfect after hours of my A-level revision time wasted on learning every single word) that permeated the middle 8 and bought the song back up to date. Based on these two songs alone, it was no surprise that the duo finally got a UK chart topper...
...I was absolutely glued to the radio that afternoon as the charts were counted down. You could rely on Erasure for a high new entry but as the numbers dwindled I was giddy that this was actually going to put them in the chart topping history books for eternity. While I believe many of their number two hits were robbed of the top spot, there was a certain satisfaction to Erasure brazenly bringing ABBA back into the spotlight at a time when indie-pop and US grunge was on the rise. And there was so much more to the EP than just the double-A side worthy songs that radio and TV focused on. As soon as the number one status was confirmed, I called every one I had ever met to regale them with the exciting news and how I knew this moment was coming. And it just kept coming - a total of five weeks atop the charts. Plenty of time for radio to extend its favour to
SOS and TV to flirt with
Voulez Vous. Both tracks kept the heart of the originals whilst adding intriguing new synth riffs and interloping drum beats that coalesced to craft intoxicating new takes on old favourites. Andy's vocal bought an exhilarating sense of adventure and gay abandon to Voulez Vous; Vince's expertise with electronica ensured the joy radiated from SOS. Add a separate EP of remixes that transported the music to the kind of club dancefloors that made my tummy go funny in the best possible way, and it was win-win all the way. Not only did it heighten expectations to soaring new heights for the upcoming greatest hits, but they are pretty much credited with kickstarting the ABBA Gold revival later that has yet to quit. Truth be told, on a Saturday night, with a couple of Lambrinis in me, I can still be found twirling around my living room to all four tracks (plus GGG) as sung by this amazingly talented twosome...
ERASURE-ISH?The Abba-esque story came full circle when Abba tribute act,
Bjorn Again, released their own Erasure-ish double A-side single a few weeks later. Without Abba reforming, this was as close as Erasure fans were ever going to get to having the Swedish foursome perform classic Erasure songs in their own glorious pop style. They chose two of Erasure's most iconic songs (at that time); focusing on A Little Respect and Stop. Brilliant choices that blended well with the harmonious arrangements of the ladies with poptastic instrumental scores. A Little Respect recalled the halcyon days of Knowing Me Knowing You; whilst Stop took on the dazzling disco vibes of songs like Dancing Queen and Summer Night City. It is interesting to note that the sound they adopted for A Little Respect wasn't a million miles away from what a newly duo-ed Bananarama would replicate on their 1993 album, Please Yourself. If you haven't heard these songs, do check them out on youtube. They may not change your world, but Bjorn Again sure are fun...
