Despite a distinct lack of initial high-flying chart action (earliest singles "Who Needs Love Like That" and "Heavenly Action" reached the not-so-dizzy heights of numbers 55 and 100 respectively), Erasure battled on, playing their first gigs at London's "Heaven" and "Marquee" clubs. At the latter, the audience comprised of just two people, and a support act in the shape of Primal Scream. The critics described Erasure at this point as "Vince Clarke's latest vehicle for instating the synth as a viable torture weapon". Little were these doubters to know how long their torture was to last...

   Third single "Oh L'Amour" was a huge hit in France and Australia, though less huge in Britain - reaching number 85 in the charts. Erasure went on to play their first UK tour - at clubs and colleges up and down the country, with Andy dressed as a circus ringmaster, in rubber. Attendance was minimal but the response was encouraging - after one gig the entire audience went backstage to tell Vince and Andy how much they enjoyed it (all 18 of them). The press were now becoming more encouraging, with "Sounds" commenting that "The combination of a grumpy ex-futurist and an outrageously camp singer may not sound like a recipe for success but, oddly enough, it's so ill-conceived, it's a masterstroke".

   From 1987, Erasure started to infiltrate the Top Ten, chalking up a series of hits - including "Sometimes", "Victim Of Love", "Ship Of Fools", "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect" - over the next couple of years. Their albums were reaching consistently higher placings and Erasure found themselves as mainstays at the top of the charts. "The Innocents" was their first album to reach number 1, a spot to which they returned after a full nine months in the charts following release. Their 1989 single "Drama!" prompted one reviewer to comment that "Andy sounds like a warbling prarie dog, although that doesn't detract from a triumphant recording". Possibly the most triumphant part of this recording was that doom rockers Jim and William of The Jesus and Mary Chain were persuaded to camp it up and provide backing vocals for the shouty bits in the chorus.

By now Erasure were performing at venues of gargantuan proportions. Vince and Andy donned silver space suits, while the stage set consisted of a jungle with giant steaming plants. The duo's reputation for live shows of preposterous dimensions was only to grow over the next few years. The size of their stage set was to become a problem in Tokyo in 1990, however, when, whilst the duo were enjoying an innocent pre-gig meal in a restaurant down the road, an earthquake caused the whole set to collapse. True to form, of course, Vince remained motionless and apparently unconcerned throughout the whole disruption. At the end of this, highly eventful, world tour, Erasure played to an audience of 60000 at Milton Keynes Bowl, with Andy appearing as a devil with an extra, dubiously located, horn. The stage set was now becoming ever more ridiculous with the new addition of a giant inflatable snail, Ernie.

   In 1991 Erasure released what was possibly their most overtly pop gem yet, "Love To Hate You," followed by the more brooding, "Am I Right?", after which the duo made preparations for their most ambitious tour to date - 1992's "The Phantasmogorical Entertainment". For this tour Andy entered riding on a swan and appeared variously as a rhinestone cowboy (with bottom exposed to the elements) and as a map of the world. Set changes were multiple and included The Wild West, a voyage by hot air balloon and a night-club, amongst others. The show even included an Abba sequence (to compliment the duo's highly successful "Abba-esque" EP). In this Vince took the uncharacteristic step of emerging from behind his shield of synthesisers to join Andy in a dance routine in which the duo dressed up as Frida and Agnetha. This is something Clarke has vowed never to do again. Even the usually unshakeable Andy commented that it "all went a bit haywire". 1993 was a quite time for Erasure, the duo taking a much needed rest after the shenanigans of the two previous years.

   The next year, however, the dynamic duo found themselves at the top of the charts once more, with the album "I Say I Say I Say", part of which was written in the tranquil surrounds of springtime Spain. The single "Run To The Sun", prompted Smash Hits to describe Erasures music as "sometimes a little too much like the theme music to Sonic The Hedgehog", Vince's synth technique had finally been rumbled. The twosome then took a rather different approach, going back into the studio to record their 1995, 70-minute art-rock concept album, imaginatively entitle "Erasure". This darker, some might say more daring, side to Erasure was to suprise more than just the duo's ever-increasing fan-base, showing an aspect of Vince and Andy that many may not have thought existed. "The Guardian" described the single "Stay With Me" as "more beautiful than this world deserves". Fine praise indeed, although they went on to say: "Now watch Andy Bell go and ruin it".

   The next album "Cowboy" was released at the end of March, 1997. The album was preceded by a single, "In My Arms". They have also made their first tentative steps back onto the live circuit, with the (by their standards) "Tiny Tour", a chance for fans to enjoy the Erasure's greatest hits before they are able to hear the duo's new work. Erasure planned setting out on a tour of larger proportions after the album's release. And it did happen. In
1997 Erasure visited all the world continents with their "Cowboy Concerts", including such exotic countries as Malaysia and Singapore, Chile and Bolivia. The end of the year was marked with a special concert in Manchester for the band fanclub members.

   In 1998 - 2000 Erasure neither toured, nor recorded any new material. The new album titled "Loveboat" was released in October 2000 only. Unfortunately, even though the critics were rather positive about its  content, it was a big flop. It went up to number 45 in the British charts and became the least successful album of Erasure since 1986. Vince Clarke said afterwards: "Loveboat was too holey and therefore it sinked". The video for the first single from this album played its role, too. Vince Clarke himself directed the video for "Freedom" and his debut proved to be truly unfortunate.

   After the "Loveboat" flop the band went quiet for another 3 years and it was enough to become forgotten by the world. Andy Bell started recording his solo album and Vince Clarke participated in some alternative projects. Rumours about the band breakup started floating around...

   However in the summer of 2002 Erasure announced that they had just finished recording a new album. This time Andy and Vince were going to release "Other People's Songs". The album did consist of cover versions of other bands and singers, such as Righteous Brothers, Buddy Holly, Elvis, etc. The first single from this album, the cover of the hit single of 1977 "Solsbury Hill" originally performed by Peter Gabriel, went straight to the Top Ten in Great Britain, and the album went up to number 17. The band started its first tour in the last 6 years visiting Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and the USA. This time the stage was decorated in the style of king Edward Age. Andy was wearing a big old female dress like a real lady, with a high hat on his head and a veil.

   In the autumn of 2003 Mute Records, the record company of Erasure, decided to release the "Hits! - The Very Best Of Erasure" album to introduce the youngsters to the songs of the band. Andy and Vince, however, were not happy about this release, they realized that Mute Records only wanted to earn some money on their back catalogues. The only thing that pleased both Erasure and a huge crowd of their fans was the release of a long awaited DVD with all the band's videos. "It has it all, says Vince. It's a history of how we were getting older and fatter". The album went gold in Great Britain two months after its release while Andy and Vince continued working on the new album.

   The 14th album of Erasure, "Nightbird", was fully ready for release in the spring of 2004, however in May Andy Bell was taken to a hospital where he underwent the surgery to replace a leg joint. In the meantime Vince Clarke announced that he had married his girlfriend Tracy in New York. In the autumn of 2004 there was another surgery for Andy Bell, this time another leg, and the album release was postponed once again for January 2005. Nevertheless, Mute Records granted another gift to the fans and released the legendary DVD concert "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!".

   In the very end of 2004, on the eve of the release of the first single from the new album "Nightbird", Andy Bell made a shocking announcement about being HIV positive for several last years. He assured that he was feeling just fine and there was not a single reason to worry about his life. As if trying to confirm it, the band immediately started a new tour titled simply "The Erasure Show". The first single from this album, "Breathe", went up to number 4 in Great Britain and became number 1 hit in Denmark and Israel marking the best result of Erasure for the past 11 years. The song became number 1 in the club charts of "Billboard", the band hadn't been this successful since 1987!

   "The Erasure Show" was designed in the best traditions of Erasure. The stage turned into a fairy forest, where, according to Andy, "Elvis Presley could meet Marilyn Monroe". In one of the show songs Vince was moving forward and singing the rap part in the Blondie cover "Rapture". Soon after the tour was over the "Live in Cologne" DVD was released.

   As if compensating the lasting silence in the end of the 90s - beginning of the 2000s, Andy and Vince became extremely active. In their interviews of that period they said they were working on a nursery rhymes album, and also that they have finished working on an acoustic album. Besides, in the summer of 2005 Andy Bell announced the release of his first solo album "Electric Blue", which saw the light in October. The very same autumn welcomed the son of Vince - his wife Tracy gave birth to a boy who was named Oscar. Having completed a small promo tour to support the solo album and having visited Russia for the first time, Andy Bell joined Vince once again, and Erasure continued working together.

   The band had another surprise for the world releasing the "Union Street" album in April 2006; it consisted of old songs rerecorded in the acoustic country-western style! As Vince said, "the idea was to show that our songs were good enough by themselves, not depending on the instruments used". For the first time in 20 years of their career Erasure recorded an album with live musicians playing various instruments. Not stopping on that, Andy and Vince took another tour with live musicians around Europe and the USA performing in the capital of country Nashville.

   In the summer of 2006 when the tour was over Erasure started recording a new album and announced that it was going to be electronic and danceable to the maximum extent. Since by that moment Vince had finally moved to America and
wasn't able to leave his family for a long time, together with producer Gareth Jones Erasure rented a house in the quiet coast of New England, USA, and did most of the album work there. The band fans had a chance to watch the album creation process, since Gareth Jones, the album producer, started a special blog dedicated to the details of work of Andy and Vince.

   The "Light At The End Of The World" album was released in May 2007 and almost immediately the band launched a special North American tour. Cyndi Lauper was the tour organizer, besides her and Erasure the tour musicians included Debbie Harry, bands The Dresden Dolls, The Gossip and a number of other performers. Some of the concerts had special guests such as Rufus Wainwright and Rosie O'Donnell. The True Colors tour idea was the reservation of the GLBT-community rights, and the concerts motto was "equality for all".

   After the tour was over, the tireless Vince and Andy went for their own solo tours having performed in the USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, UK, Denmark and Germany. As it always works with Erasure, the main stake was made on the flamboyance of the show. Giant crystals were hanging over the two-level sparkling stage, and special videos prepared for each song were projected on several plasma screens. Even though the show size could not compare to the tours of the past, the unique charisma of Andy Bell and his ability to present himself onstage worked quite well - and again the concerts were sold out completely. The tour pinnacle was the concert in the famous London "Royal Albert Hall" that has received enthusiastic reviews of both critics and fans.

   Having released in the autumn of 2007 a special mini-album containing a duo with Cyndi Lauper and remixes for "Light At The End Of The World", Andy and Vince informed that they were going to have a break for a couple of years in order to rest properly and to take care of other projects. One of such projects of Vince was reincarnation of Yazoo - the duo where he played before Erasure.

   Erasure. The history continues...

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