Sunday, November 13, 2005

New white dress for every situation

I've just been cleaning the bathroom, listening to Yazoo.
Please don't call them "Yaz" in my house. That was an abbreviation foisted upon them by their American record company because it didn't want to offend a specialist blues record label named for Yazoo, Miss.
Also, please don't deride them for having come from the 80s.
In retrospect, Yazoo's ability to craft timeless pop gems such as "Only You," "Nobody's Diary" and "Situation" seems quite logical.
In Alison Moyet, Yazoo had one of Britain's most soulful vocalists. In Vince Clarke, they had a person with an innate ability to take "bleeps!" "boops!" and "blips!" and arrange them into incessantly catchy musical backdrops.
The partnership was doomed, of course, because Alf and Vince boasted such wildly divergent musical agendas. Still, it was a powerful combination while it lasted.
I should know, I've just been singing along while scrubbing a shower curtain.

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