Merry Christmas From Andy & Vince

Click here to hear a festive message from Vince and Andy. Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! :-)

Erasure Сhoose 'I Lose Myself' Remix Competition Winner

Back in October EIS launched a special 'I Lose Myself' remix competition with Beatport. The competition attracted almost 300 entries but finally Andy and Vince have chosen the winner which was announced on the Beatport website last night... congratulations to the winners, and also to everyone who took part in the competition!

See the announcement and listen to the winner - click here.

"Be With You (Acoustic Version)" Available As Free Download

The beautiful acoustic version of the latest Erasure single "Be With You" is now availabale as free download from Maxi Promotion website. Click here to download it. Happy listening!

EIS Newsletter:

Sut Mae?

I think this will probably be the last EIS newsletter of 2011 so let me start off by sending an enormous thank you from Andy and Vince to each and every one of you for all your support this year (and what a year it's been for them and for us)!

In the last newsletter I promised you that I would be backthis week with gifts, and here I am in my virtual Santa suit as promised! As you've been so good this year I have not one, not two, but twelve special Erasure gifts for you and there's more about those below…

Thank you for all your messages, patience and support this year, I wish you all a peaceful festive season and a very happy New Year!

See you in 2012...

The Erasure Information Service Festive Countdown

It's been quite a year for Erasure and, by association, for the Erasure Information Service, and to celebrate the last twelve months I am doing a special festive countdown on the website to mark the twelve days of Christmas. There will be new content from the year added every day until Christmas Eve, from giveaways to videos to free downloads and more. I'm on day four already and so far there's a video, a free download of an unreleased 'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' remix, and a free downloadable sample chapter from Paul Hickey's book 'Sometimes - A Life of Love, Loss & Erasure'. There's also the news of the EIS Festive Raffle, but more of that below! Check out the Festive Countdown at the link link below, and remember to check back each day until Christmas to see what new treats the EIS has brought you! :-)

Erasure Charity Auction

I announced this auction in the last newsletter, and since then I've been watching the prices of all five items going up and up, which is absolutely brilliant, especially for the two charities - the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and Gilda's Club NYC - who are benefiting from the auction, but with just under three days left to go I'm hoping that we can still do even better! In case you need a reminder, you can bid for one of the gargoyles from the 'Tomorrow's World' stage set, a jacket of Vince Clarke's which he wore on both tours this year, and for the corsets custom-made for Andy Bell, Emma Whittle and Valerie Chalmers to wear on stage during the 'Tomorrow's World' dates. All the proceeds from the auction will be split between the two charities and you can get all the details about the auction, the items available and the charities that will benefit here. Good luck!

The EIS Festive Raffle

Now, I know that not everyone has the financial means to be able to compete in the ebay auction (especially now the prices are creeping up and up!) even though they might want to, so I've come up with an alternative that I hope will be in reach of every single one of you; the Erasure Information Service Festive Raffle for 2011! There are thirteen different prizes available, including lots of autographed items including Vince and Andy's laminate passes from this year's tour, and signed copies of 'Tomorrow's World', 'Total Pop!' and the 'Wonderland' and 'The Circus' reissues! Tickets cost just £1 each (although you can buy as many as you like!) and all of that money will be split between the same two charities as the auction items; the Rett Syndrome Research Trust and Gilda's Club NYC. More details at the link below, and I want to give a very special thank you to Lexer Music for setting up the payment pages and for waiving all their costs to ensure that ALL the money taken will go to benefit the chosen charities, that's Christmas spirit for you!

Send A Festive Message To Vince And Andy

Just a reminder that Sherry has set up an unofficial online message board to collect your festive messages to Vince and Andy. If you fancy wishing them the compliments of the season then just follow this link and get typing. I will then send the link to the messages over to Vince and Andy just before Christmas… :-)

'Blue Savannah' As You've Never Seen It Before!

Chris sent over the link to this video which he made with some friends, and describes as a tribute to Erasure… it's 'Blue Savannah', but not quite as you know it! Enjoy… I did!

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter are in Welsh, which we have done before, but as I got two emails this week wishing me season's greetings in Welsh I thought I'd use it again today, with thanks to Dawn and Josie!

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year).

Cheers!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Archive Newsletters - Part VIII

Here are EIS newsletters for the last few months that we missed...

EIS Newsletter [09.12.11]:

Hello!

I think last week was the first week for about six months when I didn't send out at least one newsletter… was that as weird for you as it was for me? Of course, as always all sorts of things have been bubbling along behind the scenes, including a rather exciting charity auction of items from the recent 'Tomorrow's World' tour (including the chance to bid for one of the gargoyles that made up the stage set!) which went online earlier today. More of that below, plus news on Vince's VCMG project in collaboration with Martin Gore, some lovely things to buy, and the chance to send a festive greeting to Andy and Vince.

Talking of festive greetings, I hope to be back with you next week - resplendent in my virtual Santa hat and tickly white beard of course - with one or two lovely EIS treats… I hope you've all been good girls and boys! :-)

In the meantime here's what I have for you right now…

Erasure Charity Auction

I have put five unique items from the recent 'Total Pop!' and 'Tomorrow's World' tours up for auction via ebay today. If you're feeling flush you can bid for one of the gargoyles from the 'Tomorrow's World' stage set, for a jacket of Vince Clarke's which he wore on both tours this year, and for the corsets custom-made for Andy Bell, Emma Whittle and Valerie Chalmers to wear on stage during the 'Tomorrow's World' dates. All the proceeds from the auction will be split between two very worthy causes; the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and Gilda's Club NYC and you can get all the details about the auction, the items available and the charities that will benefit here. Ignore the fact that all the information is included on the ebay pages twice, that's just because I'm a fool!

VCMG - 'EP1/Spock' Available To Download From Beatport

The first release from the exciting techno collaboration between our very own Vince Clarke and his former bandmate, Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, is a five track EP entitled 'EP1/Spock' and is available for download right now exclusively from Beatport. The release will then be available to download from all good online retailers from Monday (December 12th) and will be released as a 12" vinyl single on December 19th… enjoy! See the news page on the Vince Clarke website for all the details.

Tracklisting:
1. Spock (Album Version)
2. Spock (Edit Select Remix)
3. Spock (Regis Remix)
4. Spock (DVS1 Voyage Home Remix)
5. Spock (XOQ Remix)

'Tomorrow's World Live' 2-CD Album

I think that most of those who pre-ordered the 2CD live album have now received their copies and the feedback I've had on the release has been brilliant, so if you fancy going back in time to the 'Tomorrow's World' tour all you need to do is order yourself a copy!

'Tomorrow's World' Tour Merchandise Available To Buy Online

The Official Erasure Shop over at Lexer Music is now selling all the remaining stock of merchandise from the recent 'Tomorrow's World' tour, so if you missed out while the band was on the road then this is your chance to order yourself up a programme, t-shirt or bag. Some items are only available in very limited quantities so if you do want anything you should order now as once they're gone, they're gone for good!

Mute Sampler - A Free Fifteen-Track Festive Download

Mute have made a fifteen-track album of tracks from artists on their roster available as a free download at Amazon UK. It includes Erasure of course, with 'When I Start To (Break It All Down)', as well as Vince Clarke's remix of Depeche Mode's 'Behind The Wheel' and tracks from Goldfrapp, Apparat, Cabaret Voltaire and Polly Scattergood amongst many others. You can download the album here, although if you're outside the UK I suspect there might be some territorial restrictions…

Send A Festive Message To Vince And Andy

As always Sherry has set up an unofficial online message board to collect your festive messages to Vince and Andy. If you fancy wishing them the compliments of the season then just follow this link and get typing. I will then send the link to the messages over to Vince and Andy just before Christmas… :-)

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter are in English as I have once again run out of language suggestions… if you have any greeting and farewell language suggestions please do send them over!

Cheers!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Newsletter [24.11.11]:

Hogy Vagy!

Do you remember that feeling when school finished for the holidays and you're happy because that huge weight is off your shoulders, but you're a little bit sad because you won't see all your friends for a few weeks? Well that's kind of how it felt after Erasure's live session at BBC Radio 2 yesterday… all of a sudden the tour was over and the band had completed their current work commitments. Andy was heading off to get ready for a good break, Vince was straight off to the airport to fly back to the USA and his family in time for Thanksgiving, Valerie and Emma were all set to return to their day jobs, and the crew were off to whatever projects they had lined up next… I'm sure you'll join with me in wishing them all a good break (and in keeping your fingers crossed that they all come back together again soon)!

On the bright side the session was excellent (you can see some pictures I took in the studio in the news section on the website… they're not great because I took them on my phone as I wasn't allowed to take a camera into the studio, but they'll give you an idea!) and there's more about that below, plus some very exciting news about Vince's side project with his former Depeche Mode bandmate Martin Gore, and not one but two videos for 'Be With You'... which is released as a seven-track this week!

Here you go...

'Be With You' Single - Out Now

I'm sure that you already have this in your Erasure collection and have spent this week basking in the glories of the acoustic version, the exclusive b-side 'Never Let you Down', the Starshapes remix I shared with you last week, the two Moto Blanco remixes and the very popular extended remix by Gareth Jones! It's a fantastic package and I thoroughly recommend it… the CD single is available from Lexer Music, Mute Bank and Amazon in the UK and Amazon in Germany and the download should be available from iTunes (iTunes UK, iTunes USA) Amazon (Amazon UK, Amazon USA) and all good download retailers everywhere!

Vince Clarke & Martin L. Gore Announce VCMG

Mute have announced details of the much anticipated collaboration between Vince Clarke and Depeche Mode's Martin L. Gore (the first time they've worked together since 1981!) and you can find all the information available so far in the news sections of the Erasure and Vince Clarke websites. In a nutshell Vince and Martin have been collaborating on a number of instrumental techno tracks via email and will be releasing an album under the name VCMG on Mute in Spring next year. The album will be preceded by a series of EPs, the first of which is entitled 'EP1/SPOCK' which will be released at the end of this year (as a download from Beatport from November 30th, as a download from other online retailers from December 12th, and as a 12" vinyl single from December 19th). More on that project as news becomes available.

'Be With You (Rehearsal Video)'

The latest in Mute's fab series of videos from Erasure's rehearsal sessions in London back in July has been added to the Erasure YouTube channel and is available to view there or on the news page over at the Erasure website. This time it's the band rehearsing 'Be With You'...

Erasure - BBC Radio 2 'Ken Bruce' Live Session

As I mentioned above I was lucky enough to be in the studio with the band while they were recording yesterday's five-track live session on BBC Radio 2 but it wasn't until I was back in my office today that I had a chance to listen to how it all sounded on the radio. I am very happy to report that it sounded great and thank you to everyone who tuned in! If you would like to listen to just the songs (the band performed 'Blue Savannah', 'Be With You', 'Love To Hate You', 'I Lose Myself' and 'A Little Respect') then the session is online for thirty days here, and if you want to hear everything then you can hear the whole show via this link, but that one is only online for a week. If you're outside the UK then you might not be able to access the links, although it seems that the one for the full show works in a lot more countries than the first one! Enjoy...

'Be With You' - Video Competition Winners

Well it's taken Vince and Andy a long time to choose the winner, mostly because they each had different favourites, but yesterday they sat down and decided the overall winner in an arm-wrestling match after the Radio 2 session* so it gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner is Mary & Steve's 'cartoon animals' video, with Onge and Robbie coming in as runners up. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who took part. You can see the winning trio of videos on the Erasure website!

Erasure - 'Tomorrow's World Live' 2-CD Album

The audio is mixed, the CDs have been manufactured, the digipacs have been printed and the first 'Tomorrow's World Live' CDs were shipped today with the remainder of the orders all set to ship tomorrow and the download set to be made available on Friday so that everyone gets their copy at once! It's almost time to put on the headphones and transport yourself back to the 'Tomorrow's World' tour… if you've not ordered a copy yet then you can do so here!

Nine Questions With... Me!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send over questions for this, the latest in the irregular 'Nine Questions' series of features. Last week I invited you to put me, and my role overseeing the running of the Erasure Information Service, under the microscope and this afternoon I picked the most popular questions to answer. You can read my answers right now over on the news page on the Erasure website… it was much more difficult than I expected, but thank you for being so gentle with me! :-)

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter are in Hungarian, in honour of Erasure's final 'Tomorrow's World' show for this year which took place in Budapest last Friday. I got them from the internet so I hope they're right...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it, and more from me next week!

Sziasztok!

Richard

* not really, it was all settled amicably during a nice chat!

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Archive Newsletters - Part VII

Here are EIS newsletters for the last few months that we missed...

Vince Clarke Music Newsletter [21.11.11]:

Hi!

Mute have today announced details of the much anticipated collaboration between Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and you can find all the information available so far in Mute's official press release below:

Vince Clarke And Martin L. Gore Announce Details Of Brand New
    Collaboration

After 30 years working on their respective ongoing music projects, Vince Clarke (Erasure/Yazoo/Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) come together for the first time since 1981 as VCMG to release a brand new album preceded by a series of EPs.

VCMG is the fruit of initially tentative discussion and subsequent enthused collaboration where Vince and Martin, both influential as pioneers in electronic music, get to exercise their lifelong love of the genre as the techno-inspired VCMG.

As Vince explains: "I've been getting into and listening to a lot of minimal dance music and I got really intrigued by all the sounds… I realised I needed a collaborator… so it occurred to me to talk to Martin."

Says Gore: "Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, 'I'm interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?' This was maybe a year ago. He said, 'No pressure, no deadlines,' so I said, 'OK'."

The writing and recording of the album was done in a typically unique way with the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the album was ready. It was in May 2011 that the pair met for the first time to discuss the project when they both performed at Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London.

The album (title to be announced soon) was produced by Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and mixed by the influential Californian electronic artist Überzone/Q and will be released in the spring of 2012.

The first release is an EP entitled Spock. EP1/SPOCK will feature remixes from Edit-Select, aka Tony Scott, the UK DJ/producer and founder of EditSelect Records whose previous remix credits include Speedy J, Death In Vegas and Gary Beck; Regis, British techno musician Karl O'Connor, member of the Sandwell District collective and co-founder of Downwards Records); DVS1, Brooklyn based producer Derek VanScoten (Radiohead/Sleigh Bells/Emancipator); plus XOQ, the alter ego of Überzone/Q, who mixed the VCMG album.
 
EP1/SPOCK will be available initially as a global exclusive on Beatport on 30 November, and then on all DSPs from 12 December with the 12" release following on 19 December 2011.

EP1 / SPOCK TRACKLIST:
1. Spock (Album Version)
2. Spock (Edit Select Remix)
3. Spock (Regis Remix)
4. Spock (DVS1 Voyage Home Remix)
5. Spock (XOQ Remix)

Apart from a couple of pictures that are on the Vince Clarke website that's all I have at the moment. More soon though...

Cheers!

Richard

Vince Clarke Music
www.vinceclarkemusic.com

EIS Newsletter [18.11.11]:

Moin Moin!

I can't believe it's November 18th already, a date that has been etched in my mind for months because it marks the end of the Erasure tour dates for 2011. Tonight the band will play their final show in Budapest and then it's all over for the time being. The band can have a very well deserved rest and things will, hopefully, start to get back to some sort of normal in the EIS office!

However there's lots more Erasure in the pipeline, some you know about - the release of the 'Be With You' single on Monday, the BBC Radio 2 live session next week, and the appearance at Wave 105 Live in Bournemouth on Sunday to name but three - but some you won't hear about until a little later, which is my rather vague way of saying that the 'Tomorrow's World' project is far from over! :-)

I was hoping to be able to announce the winner of the EIS 'Be With You' video competition in this newsletter, but Vince and Andy are still deliberating so I will bring you their decision very soon, in the meantime you can still see the shortlisted six videos on the Erasure website… enjoy!

Here, without further ado, is this week's news…

'Be With You' Single - Released On Monday!

I'm sure I don't have to remind you that the 'Be With You' seven-track CD and download single is released everywhere on Monday (although maybe I should remind you that the CD format is only available in the UK and Germany!) but if you can't quite wait that long then you can listen to one of those seven tracks online right now courtesy of those lovely people at Mute. All you need to do is click here to listen to the fabulous 'Starshapes Remix (and it's also available on the news page on the Erasure website)! The CD single is available from Lexer Music, Mute Bank and Amazon in the UK and Amazon in Germany (links below) and the download should be available from all good download retailers everywhere!

Tracklisting:
1. Be With You (Radio Version)
2. Be With You (Moto Blanco Remix Radio Edit)
3. Never Let You Down [Exclusive B-side]
4. Be With You (Love Is Coming) [Extended Remix By Gareth Jones]
5. Be With You (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
6. Be With You (Starshapes Remix)
7. Be With You (Acoustic Version)

Erasure BBC Radio 2 Live Session On Tuesday

Another reminder that Erasure will be playing a live session for BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce from the legendary BBC studios in Maida Vale in London next Tuesday. If the current schedule is to be believed then they will be performing one track live at around 9.40am, then two tracks at around 10.40am and two more tracks at around 11.20am, although given that this is live radio who knows what will actually happen! More about the show - including listen online and listen again information - on the BBC website.

Erasure - 'Tomorrow's World Live' 2-CD Album

I'm pleased to report that the 'Tomorrow's World' live album has gone into production this week and as soon as finished copies are ready they will be shipped straight out, it's possible that the first copies will ship today but all pre-orders should be on their way sometime next week! If you've not ordered a copy yet then you can do so here!

Nine Questions With... Me!

It's time for another instalment of my irregular 'Nine Questions' series of features that looks at the roles played by the team around the band for the 'Tomorrow's World' project. This week I'm putting myself under the microscope, so if you have any questions for me about my work for Erasure or about the Erasure Information Service in general then feel free to ask them by replying to this email. I will choose the nine most asked, most interesting, most revealing and (perhaps) most embarrassing questions (Erasure related, naturally!) and sit myself down to answer them!

Erasure At 'Wave 105 Live' This Sunday

If you're off to see the band play their set at Wave 105's live music event at Bournemouth's BIC on Sunday then you might want to know that the band should be onstage around 6.15pm and will be playing for twenty minutes, obviously that might change but it's the plan at the moment! Also on the bill include The Pierces, Darren Hayes, Matt Cardle and The Feeling. I'll be there, so if you see me do come and say hello! :-)

'I Lose Myself' Remix Competition

I'm currently working my way through the 197 entries into Beatport's 'I Lose Myself' remix competition but I just wanted to remind you that public voting ends on November 22nd so if you want to vote then please do so in the next few days. The ten mixes with the most public votes will go through to the final along with ten mixes chosen by Mute and the EIS. Andy and Vince will then choose the winning mix from that final twenty. Good luck everyone!

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter use a dialect from Northern Germany and come courtesy of Andy in Hamburg, with thanks to him!

Have a good weekend.

Tschüss!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Newsletter [11.11.11]:

Dobar Dan!

How are you doing?

I know that all sorts of rumours have been flying around this week concerning possible Erasure shows for 2012 after Frankmusik published a number of apparent supports for next summer on his website. I'm afraid that those shows were posted in error and in fact were re-postings of shows that FM played with Erasure earlier this year. The band are still working on their plans for next year but I promise that if they confirm any shows, anywhere, I will let you know straight away!

The European leg of the 'Tomorrow's World' tour started in Denmark on Monday and since then the band has already played more shows in Germany and Belgium, and are back in Germany again tonight. Thank you to everyone who emailed me to say how much they enjoyed them, and congratulations to Lars and Eline who travelled from Oslo to Copenhagen last week, got married on the day of the show and attended the concert and the EIS meet and greet in the evening... that's what I call a day to remember!

Here's what I have for you this week…

Erasure - 'Tomorrow's World Live' 2-CD Album

I'm afraid the mixing of the audio has taken longer than expected and as a result it now looks likely that the live CD and download will be shipped sometime next week, however I have today posted the tracklisting and the artwork for the album in the news section of the Erasure website for you to feast your eyes upon. If you've not ordered a copy yet then you can do so exclusively here...

'Be With You' - EIS Video Competition

The public has spoken and we now have the six videos that have made the shortlist in the current EIS 'Be With You' video competition. These six videos are currently being judged by Andy and Vince - with input from Mute - and the winner and the two runners up will be announced on or around November 16th. Thank you to everyone who entered, you can see the six shortlisted videos here.

'I Lose Myself' Remix Competition

There have been a staggering 197 entries into the 'I Lose Myself' remix competition that Beatport are running, and I have to say there are some great mixes online and something for everyone's taste, so do have a listen. You can also vote for your favourites by creating a Beatport account and giving those entries a 'Spin'. Public voting ends on November 22nd and then the ten mixes with the most spins will go through to the final along with ten mixes chosen by the site team. Andy and Vince will then choose the winning mix from that final twenty. Good luck everyone!

'Be With You' CD Single - UK And Gemany Only (Download
    Everywhere!)

I know that loads of you still prefer to buy a physical format when it comes to Erasure singles, so this is advance warning that the only countries that will be releasing the seven-track 'Be With You' CD single are the UK and Germany. If you're elsewhere in the world then you will need to either hunt down an expensive import in your country or order online from either the UK or Germany, and to help you out with that you can buy from Lexer Music, Mute Bank and Amazon in the UK and Amazon in Germany! The seven-track download format should be available from all usual online suspects everywhere!

Tracklisting:
1. Be With You (Radio Version)
2. Be With You (Moto Blanco Remix Radio Edit)
3. Never Let You Down [Exclusive B-side]
4. Be With You (Love Is Coming) [Extended Remix By Gareth Jones]
5. Be With You (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
6. Be With You (Starshapes Remix)
7. Be With You (Acoustic Version)

Erasure BBC Radio 2 Live Session

I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but this is just a reminder that Erasure will be playing a live session for BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce from the legendary BBC studios in Maida Vale on November 22nd. I think the band will be playing five tracks live at various points in the show which starts at 9.30am and runs until midday. More about the show on the BBC website.

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter use Serbocroat and were provided by Mary-Anne (well, more accurately and in the spirit of full admission, by an un-named colleague of Mary-Anne's)… thank you Mary-Anne and mystery colleague!

Laku Noć!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Archive Newsletters - Part VI

Here are EIS newsletters for the last few months that we missed...

EIS Newsletter [04.11.11]:

Hvordan går det?

It's been a week since the last newsletter and in that time Erasure have played 'Tomorrow's World' shows in Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge and Reading. They're in Brighton tonight, Blackpool tomorrow and then start the mainland Europe leg of the tour in Copenhagen on Monday. Every single show has been outstanding and I'm absolutely sure that the rest of the tour will be equally amazing... Andy, Vince, Emma, Val and the crew, we salute you!

Mind you, I'm equally sure that the band's week has been boosted by the excellent news that the new single 'Be With You' has moved up the BBC Radio 2 playlist from the c-list to the b-list, with a fortnight still to go before the release of the single on November 21st.

On that very positive note, here's all the news...

'Be With You' - EIS Video Competition

I've received fifteen entries for the 'Be With You' video competition and they are all online now for your viewing and voting pleasure on the Erasure website. Please do have a look and cast your votes as 'likes' on each video's YouTube page. The six videos with the most 'likes' at midday (UK) next Wednesday (November 9th) will go through to the next stage of the competition which will see Vince and Andy choosing the overall winner and two runners up. The videos and more details - including the prizes on offer - are all available on the video competition page at the Erasure website.

Beatport 'I Lose Myself' Remix Competition

I just checked the Beatport competition page and there are now sixty-two entries to their 'I Lose Myself' remix competition. The deadline for entries is 10pm (EST) on Monday so there's still time to enter if you would like to. You can listen to all the remixes submitted so far, plus get all the competition details on the Beatport website.

Blackpool Support Acts Announced

Erasure will be supported by Spacebuoy and Vanquish at their one-off Blackpool show tomorrow and there are links to information about both hose acts in the news section on the Erasure website. The show is now sold out but for those of you going the band will playing a one-hour set and will be onstage around 9pm.

'Be With You' Single Available For Pre-Order

The 'Be With You' single will be released on November 21st as a seven-track CD and download single, and is now available for pre-order at Amazon UK in addition to Lexer Music and Mutebank at the links below.

German Aftershow Party In Cologne On November 12th

Some German fans have organised a party after Erasure's show at Cologne's E-Werk on November 12th. The party will take place at Sasch's Bar on the Wetzlarer Strasse 2 and has been arranged to benefit local AIDS charity Schwips. The band themselves won't be involved but if you fancy going on somewhere after the E-Werk for more Erasure and Erasure-related sounds and the company of other fans then it's well worth popping along. There are just a few tickets available for 19 Euros which includes all drinks (although not if you're drinking fancy cocktails or spirits!). More details from the Sasch's Bar website and Facebook page.

Marsheaux Blog About Erasure's Roundhouse Show

I know that loads of you will already know of Greek synthpop duo Marsheaux, but you might not know that they are both huge Erasure fans and in fact travelled from Greece to London for the 'Tomorrow's World' show at The Roundhouse last week and wrote up the experience in their blog. They say such nice things that I thought I would share their thoughts with you all. You should probably also check out the Marsheaux website because I think you might just like them… thanks to Rob for sending over the blog link!

The greeting and farewell in this newsletter are in Danish, to mark the start of the European leg of the 'Tomorrow's World' tour in Copenhagen on Monday!

Oh, and a big hello to everyone I've met at shows this week, it's been great to put so many names to faces. :-)

Adjø!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Newsletter [28.10.11]:

Alloo!

It's been quite a week for Erasure; fantastic shows in Preston, Wolverhampton, London and Southend since the last newsletter; a return to UK TV when they appeared on ITV1's The Alan Titchmarsh Show yesterday (although I think it's fair to say that it was wasted on the studio audience who seemed to have mostly turned up for the gardening tips and/or a snooze!); and the fantastic news that, even though it's four weeks before release, BBC Radio 2 - the UK's most popular radio station - have already added 'Be With You' to their playlist!

It's been a good week for me too; every time I go to an Erasure show I meet a few more of the people who read this newsletter, so hello to everyone I met at the show at The Roundhouse in London on Wednesday, and if that wasn't you then I hope to meet you soon too. I do plan to greet you ALL, personally and individually, in the fullness of time, but in the meantime this email will have to do for most of you…

Here's some things I think you might be interested in…

Erasure - 'Tomorrow's World Live' 2-CD Album

I know loads of you have already pre-ordered the 'Tomorrow's World Live' album but I thought it was worth mentioning again as the album was recorded at Wednesday's show in London (I was lucky enough to be in the sound truck for some of the show and it sounded amazing!) and is currently being mixed at the Abbey Road Studios. If all goes according to plan the finished album will be ready to ship in the week of November 7th. The album will be released as a 2-CD deluxe digipac edition and via digital download and you can order it here. As an added incentive all orders received before the end of November will be entered into a draw to win a personally autographed copy of the album and a personally autographed poster! I'm not going to include the setlist for the show because I know some of you are seeing upcoming shows are are trying to avoid spoilers, but you can click through to all the setlists for the tour from the news page on the website.

'Be With You' - Montage Video

Mute have produced an online video for Erasure's next single 'Be With You' which will be released (as you should well know by now!) as a seven-track CD and download on November 21st featuring the single, an exclusive b-side, remixes and an acoustic version. This video uses footage from some of the band's recent live shows as well as from the recording studio. You can have a look on the news page of the erasure website as well as the Erasure YouTube channel.

'Be With You' Video Competition

The entries are starting to roll in for the EIS 'Be With You' video competition but if you've not quite finished yours yet then you still have a few days as entries don't need to be with me until midnight on Monday (October 31st). I'm looking forward to sharing all the entries with you next week! All the details (and the prizes!) are listed on the competition page.

'I Lose Myself' Remix Competition

On the subject of competitions, the Beatport competition I told you about last week is also attracting a number of early entries with sixteen remixes online as I write and more getting uploaded each day, well in advance of the submission deadline of November 11th. There's already some great work to listen to over at Beatport's competition page, plus all the entry details if you fancy having a go!

'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' In Simlish

Erasure have recorded a version of 'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' in Simlish for use on the computer game The Sims. For those of you who don't know the game, The Sims allows you to interact in a virtual world which uses the made-up language Simlish (based on fractured Ukrainian, French, Latin, Finnish, English, Fijian and Tagalog, apparently!) and Simlish music is often included as part of the game upgrade packs, so there you go! The Simlish version of 'When I Start To (Break It All Down)' appears in 'The Sims 3 - Pets' which was released last week, but you can hear the track - and watch Andy Bell recording his vocals for the version - in a special video that is streaming right now on the Erasure YouTube channel and on the news page of the Erasure website. Urr rahh, as they say in The Sims… :-)

Were You Videoed By Winkball At The Roundhouse Show In
    London?

Website Winkball were interviewing fans outside the Roundhouse before the concert on Wednesday, and they have put up a page of video soundbites from those mini-interviews on their website if you fancy having a look, but watch out, there is singing!

I would have felt that I was letting you down if I didn't use Simlish for the greeting and farewell of this newsletter, so that's what I've done (although I did it using the internet so who knows if I got it right or not!).

Have a good weekend. I'm off to Southampton now… perhaps I'll see you there?

Dag Dag!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com

EIS Newsletter [21.10.11]:

Ellohay!

I'm going to kick off this newsletter with a huge thank you to all the US fans whose support for 'Tomorrow's World' since its release there last week has given Erasure their best US chart placings over there for well over ten years, hitting 61 in Billboard's Top 200 Albums, 10 in the Independent Albums chart and - the one we're most pleased about - a fantastic number 6 in the Electronic Albums chart. Thank you everyone!

Thanks also to all of you who have been attending the UK 'Tomorrow's World' concerts this week, for your amazing feedback and for your pictures (you can see some of them, plus reviews of shows and setlists in the news section on the website).
It seems that we really are living in 'Tomorrow's World'!

Here's the news, unsurprisingly there's LOADS going on...

'Be With You' Single - Release Date, Tracklisting & Pre-Orders

As I mentioned in the last couple of newsletters the next Erasure single to be taken from the 'Tomorrow's World' album is 'Be With You'. This week however I am able to bring you a few more details, including the all important release date and tracklisting, as well as a reminder that the single artwork is now online. OK… 'Be With You' will be released as a seven-track CD or download on November 21st and the tracklisting - which features the single, some remixes, an exclusive non album b-side and another of Gareth Jones' very popular extended mixes - is below. You can pre-order the single already from Lexer Music, Mutebank and Amazon UK!

Tracklisting:
1. Be With You (Radio Version)
2. Be With You (Moto Blanco Remix Radio Edit)
3. Never Let You Down [Exclusive B-side]
4. Be With You (Love Is Coming) [Extended Remix By Gareth Jones]
5. Be With You (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
6. Be With You (Starshapes Remix)
7. Be With You (Acoustic Version)

Erasure To Appear On Alan Titchmarsh TV Show & Ken Bruce
    Radio Show

The band will be performing on ITV1's 'The Alan Titchmarsh Show' next week, recording an interview and a performance of 'Be With You' on Wednesday for broadcast at 3pm on Thursday 27th (and then available on ITV's online player). The band will also be playing a live session from the BBC's legendary Maida Vale studios as part of Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show live on November 22nd. Lots to look forward to!

'Be With You' Video Competition

I know that lots of you are working hard on your entries to the EIS 'Be With You' video competition, in fact I've already received the first entry! All the details, including those elusive Terms & Conditions, are now online if you want to check them out. Just to remind you, the prize for the winning video - which will be chosen by Andy and Vince - is to see your video included on a forthcoming commercial Erasure release, plus a special 'Golden Ticket' that will entitle the winner to a pair of tickets and a meet and greet with Vince Clarke and Andy Bell at a forthcoming Erasure concert of the winners choice (on the current tour or in the future) plus framed lyrics to 'Be With You' handwritten by Andy Bell and signed by both Andy and Vince. Two runners up will also receive framed handwritten lyrics signed by the band.

'I Lose Myself' Erasure/Beatport Remix Competition

Erasure and Beatport have this week announced details of an exclusive competition to remix 'I Lose Myself' from the 'Tomorrow's World' album. There are over $5000 worth of prizes on offer and all the details are available from Beatport or from the news section on the Erasure website. I know 'I Lose Myself' is a bit of a favourite for lots of you so I really look forward to hearing what you come up with!

Erasure Interviews On BBC Local Radio

In addition to playing Manchester last night and travelling to Preston for tonight's show Andy Bell will be spending a large part of his day recording interviews for BBC local radio stations around the country. A couple went out live, but most are pre-recorded and will be broadcast over the next week or so. Listen out for Andy talking about 'Tomorrow's World', the tour, 'Be With You' and life in general on the following stations; BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Humberside, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Cambridge, BBC Radio Northampton, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio Nottingham, BBC Radio Newcastle, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire and BBC Three Counties Radio! Phew! In the meantime you can listen to an interview Andy did last week with John Marshall of Lincs FM in the news section on the website.

'Tomorrow's World' Press Articles Available To Download

I've scanned some of the recent UK press features that have run alongside the release of Erasure's 'Tomorrow's World' album, and they are available for you to download as PDFs from the news section on Erasure's website. There are great pieces from The Sunday Express Magazine, Gay Times, The Stool Pigeon and The Times. Happy reading!

Nine Questions With Paul A. Taylor, Mute's Art Director And
    Creative Guru!

Thank you to everyone who sent over questions for Mute's Art Director Paul A. Taylor, his 'Nine Questions' - an irregular series of features looking at the people behind Erasure - are online now in the news section on the website for your reading pleasure. Fascinating stuff. Enjoy!

'Tomorrow's World' Tour - More Sold Out Shows

I just wanted to give you an update on ticket availability for the current UK 'Tomorrow's World' dates, so far the shows in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Nottingham, Preston, London, Bristol, Cardiff and Brighton have all sold out, and several other shows are very close to doing the same… if for some reason you've not got your tickets already then you have been warned.

Andy Bell Vs Pokemon

This will probably make the most sense to you if you're an Andy fan AND a games fan, but Kirk sent over this link to a mash-up he's made of Andy Bell's solo track 'Crazy' with the 'Sky Tower Theme' from Pokemon, and I think it works well. Here the link so you can decide for yourself. Thanks Kirk… :-)

This newsletter's greeting and farewell use Pig Latin, as suggested by David… thank you. More from me next week, although that might be after the London 'Tomorrow's World' show which I will be at and if you're going too then I'll see you there!

Untilway extnay imetay!

Richard

Erasure Information Service
www.erasureinfo.com