¨ New Section - "Video"

Erasure.com.ru presents you the opportunity to download Erasure's video of "Solsbury Hill". It is a UK version of the video which is based on Erasure's Christmas Concert footage. You can find it in a new section of the site - "Video" (click "Media" in menu above). 

Greg EIS:

Hello all!

Well it's been a bit quiet on Erasure news lately, so to make amends how about some exclusive album and single news?

Thought you might like that ;)

¨ Nightbird - The Brand New Erasure Album!

The brand new Erasure album 'Nightbird' has been completed and is due for release in October.

Mixed by Tom Elmhirst (whose previous mixing credits include Busted, Kylie Minogue, the Sugababes and Goldfrapp) the album is classic Erasure sounding, yet with an evolved feel to it.

¨ Breathe - The Brand New Erasure Single!

The fantastic new single from the album 'Nightbird' is titled 'Breathe' and will also be out in October.

(And to clear up any confusion - yes it is called 'Breathe' and not 'Breath')

October will certainly prove to be an exciting month!

¨ Congratulation Messages

For those have you that have left congratulation messages for Vince and Tracy on the forum:

http://www.erasureinfo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2114

I will be forwarding them onto Vince next Tuesday - thanks for all those that have written a message.

No update next Friday as I'll be on holiday - so until next time!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ Breaking News: Title Of New Erasure Single - "Breathe"

Breaking news from Erasure's studio's website. Steve Walsh, the owner of the studio:

"...I'm also finishing up mixing the music for an episode of "Johnny Bravo" that Vince Clarke scored. Also, I just found out that the first single from the upcoming Erasure will be "Breathe" and it features the beautiful singing of my wife Jill."

You can download some music files of Jill Walsh from music section of Union Street Recording website.

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Blue Savannah" uk promo cd, "Loveboat" czech cd (thanks to Alex), "Oh L'Amour" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Who Needs Love (Like That)" 1992 belgium cd (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Cowboy" singapore cd (thanks to Mike DePaz).

¨ Vince & Tracy Got Married

Congratulation Vince & Tracy who recently got married in Brooklyn.

Vince's email:

"hi greg

me and tracy got married on monday at the brooklyn town hall. just us and the judge.

afterwards we had a burger and chips (plus a small side salad)

hope all well!

cheers

vincent"

¨ Illustrious At The Royal Ballet - Update

Additional information to last weeks news.

Martyn and Vince are currently attending rehearsals at the Royal Opera House and continuing to write the music for Vanessa Fenton's piece 'On Public Display' - incorporating and inspired by Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto Inspired by Diaghilev Linbury Studio Theatre.

Andy Bell will be performing live at all performances.

Opening night 19:30 23rd June 2004
Further performances 26th and 27th June 2004.

Monica Mason, Director of The Royal Ballet, has invited five choreographers to each create a small-scale work for the Company, drawing inspiration from any of the ballets created for Diaghilevis Ballets Russes.

The choreographers are Vanessa Fenton and Alastair Marriott from The Royal Ballet, Cathy Marston, Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House, Robert Garland, from Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Matjash Mrozewski, an independent choreographer from Canada.

Cathy Marston's Venetian Requiem will have a commissioned score by Judith Bingham, Alastair Marriott is taking as his starting point L'ENVOI d'ICARE for percussion and two pianos by Igor Markevitch and Stravinsky's Suite ITALIENNE will be interpreted by Matjash Mrozewski.

Linbury Studio Theatre Tickets £15, £12, £5 standing (£8 students and ROH Access List).

For further information see the following websites: Illustrious and The Royal Opera House.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg EIS:

Hello!

¨ The Other Flower Show - Vince & Martyn

Ten Artists - Ten Sheds

Ten garden sheds have been transformed by a group of artists and designers all exploring the theme of flowers, gardens and nature.

The Other Flower Show takes art out of the gallery, flowers out of the greenhouse and creates an artistic alternative to the traditional flower show.

Artists include:

- Heather Barnett
- Tord Boontje
- Vince Clarke and Martyn Ware
- Tracey Emin
- Graham Fagen
- Fat
- Nilu Lzadi
- Andreas Oehlert
- Sarah Staton
- Chris Taylor and Craig Wood

Victoria and Albert Museum
South Kensington, London
28 May - 11 July 2004

See the EIS News section for further information:

http://www.erasureinfo.com/news

An e-flyer can be viewed here:

http://www.erasureinfo.com/news/gfx/sheds_einvite.gif

¨ A Dirty Little Business

Len Richmond recently contacted me to say that he recently wrote and directed a film called "A Dirty Little Business (aka Merchants of Venus)."

Quote from Len:

"Vince did the music and Andy acts in it. Just thought you might like to know that a Canadian film company, ThinkFilm, out of Toronto, is putting the film out on DVD in the US in a couple of months."

¨ Prize Draw Winners (Erasure Club 12" Promo's)

Congratulations to the following people:

Alan Possart (England)
Andy Cook (England)
Annemarie Steele (Ireland)
David Thomas (England)
Edwin Treend (England)
Eric Zmyslowski (USA)
Graeme Mason (England)
Jane Gimblett (Ireland)
Jim Nguyen (USA)
Jon Komar (USA)
Karen Henderson (England)
Leonel Benavides Jr. (USA)
Lisa Gordon (Scotland)
Maria Jones (England)
Mark Sligting (Netherlands)
Peter Corrall (England)
Phil Beasant (England)
Rob Felton (England)
Stephen Hladysh (Canada)
Steven Mitchell (England)

The 12" promos will be sent out Monday.

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ New Album Artwork

Greg EIS: "At this stage the album artwork is some way off from completion - but even at this stage it certainly clear that some interesting design elements and techniques are being used."

¨ Andy Bell Live In The UK

Andy Bell will be performing live at all performances of "On Public Display" project in London, UK. According to EIS, Andy Bell will be singing a 2 minute acapella piece at the end, accompanying the death of Petrushka. Opening night of the event will be 23rd of June at Linbury Studio Theatre with the following shows as listed below:

- Wed, 23 June 2004 19:30
- Sat, 26 June 2004 14:30
- Sat, 26 June 2004 19:30
- Sun, 27 June 2004 15:00

Tickets available from the ROH box office here.

Greg EIS:

Hello!

This update is a week later than originally planned - but it couldn't be helped.

Normal service will resume shortly!

¨ "On Public Display" - The Illustrious Company

Vince Clarke and Martyn Ware (The Illustrious Company) are currently composing an 18 minute piece for the Royal Ballet which incorporates the large section from Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2

The piece is based on the Diaghilev ballet Petrushka and is about the secret life of puppets. It features 20 dancers from the Royal Ballet.

Andy Bell will be singing a 2 minute acapella piece at the end, accompanying the death of Petrushka.

Illustrious is going to install a very high quality 3D immersive surround sound system in the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House especially for the piece.

For further information see:

http://www.illustriouscompany.co.uk

and

http://www.royalopera.org

¨ Erasure - The New Album News

Not much to report at this stage I'm afraid. At this moment in time the tracks are being reviewed with the aim of selecting a track for the single.

¨ Vic Twenty Interview

Matthew Smith has just completed an interview with Adrian Morris of Vic Twenty.

According to Matthew "There's a witty anecdote about Vince from the tour last year" which sounds interesting!

To read the interview follow this link:

http://www.documentaryevidence.co.uk

¨ Yazoo Situation Prize Draw Winners

The 13 winners of the recent Yazoo Situation 12" promo prize draw were as follows:

- Angie Jackson - Doncaster (UK)
- Roberto Olivares (USA)
- Brian Woodford (Milton Keynes)
- Claudia Cooper (Wakefield)
- Kevin Timmins (Manchester)
- Laura Aagaard (Denmark)
- Greg Lehmann (Canada)
- Peder Mannelqvist (Sweden)
- Richard Toledo (California)
- M Hall (Cheltenham)
- Scot Kinsey (Cananda)
- Scott Stebleton (USA)

Congratulations to you all! The prizes will be sent out Monday.

¨ This Weeks Prize Draw - Erasure Club 12" Promo's

I have 20 copies of Erasure Club (ERAS1) 12" vinyl promos to give away.

Track listing:
- Push Me Shove Me - Moonbeam Mix
- Push Me Shove Me - Catatonic Mix
- Senseless - Avalon Mix

[Check your EIS email update for entry details]

¨ Ask Mute Reminder

This is a quick reminder about the 'Ask Mute' feature.

Shortly I will be interviewing Daniel Miller and this is your chance to submit your questions for this interview.

Please submit your questions via the contact section of the EIS website here:

http://www.erasureinfo.com/contact/index.html

Please select 'Ask Mute Question' in the drop down menu on that page.

¨ Postcard Give-away Via The EIS Forum

Yes, the EIS office clearout is continuing. This time I have a collection of 320 postcards / stickers / old Phantasmagorical VIP passes to give away.

How is this going to work?

Well the 320 items have been divided into 40 sets of 8 items each. Each set contains a random selection of postcards and passes.

So how are these sets going to be given away?

[Check your EIS email update for entry details]

Why am I doing this via the forum?

Well it's a thank you to those that have registered on the EIS Forum and have made it the success that it is.

Thanks guys!

If you haven't already registered for the EIS Forum - you can do so by following the link below, and clicking on the 'register' link in the menu bar.

http://www.erasureinfo.com/forum/index.php

Until next week!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ Download "Take A Chance On Me" Performance

Erasure's classic performance of "Take A Chance On Me" (originally filmed in 1992) was repeated on 11th of May on BBC 2. Now you have the opportunity to download this video (as well as some other great videos) from John Moss' website. Thank you, John, for putting it up. Here are some screenshots from the performance.

¨ Andy Bell's Biography Book

During the recent screening of "Take A Chance On Me" performance on Top Of The Pops there were subtitles on the video which told some interesting news about forthcoming Andy Bell's biography book: "It'll be a busy few months for Erasure. They spent the first part of the year recording their new album in New York and London. Then you can look for Andy Bell's biography in the autumn...".

¨ Added New Photos

Two classic promotional Erasure photos has been added to "Photo" section. The first one was made in 1991 by The Douglas Brothers and the second one was made in 1989 by David Scheinmann.

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" us promo vinyl, "Oh L'Amour" 1986 canadian vinyl, "Chorus" south african cd album (thanks to Mike DePaz), "Cowboy" swedish cd (thanks to Mike DePaz), "Ship Of Fools" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag).

¨ Erasure On BBC 2

Erasure's classic performance of "Take A Chance On Me" will be repeated today, 11th of May on BBC 2 at 19:00 (UK time) as part of Top Of The Pops 2 Steve Wright's five-day special. Steve Wright goes fly fishing in the reservoir of classic pop, and hauls in a catch that includes Erasure, Mark Morrison, Rush, The Offspring and The Stray Cats, plus new music from Lionel Richie. More details can be found here.

¨ Vince At London Heathrow Airport

As reported by EIS member lurpak33: "...I work at Heathrow and bumped into Vince and 'Tracy' his girlfriend on Sunday on their way back to JFK New York. Vince said that the album was near completion except for a few mixes. He declined any more information on singles or album release dates..."

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime" unreleased single (thanks to FUN BOY), "I Say I Say I Say" belgian cd, "Sometimes" french cassette, "Victim Of Love" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Wild!" south african cd (thanks to Mike DePaz).

Greg EIS:

Hello!

¨ Thank You Message From Andy

As mentioned in a previous EIS update, the Erasurette website (at www.erasurette.com) has been collecting birthday messages for Andy (it was his birthday last weekend).

Jackie (who runs that site and organised this message collection) passed the messages onto me and I forwarded them on Andy.

I would like to thank Jackie for organising this, and Andy would also like to thank all of you that sent in birthday wishes - see his message below!

------

"Hi Greg would you please let all of the people that sent me e-mail
birthday wishes & all the Erasure fans around the world that I have
been absolutely staggered by the the sheer volume & wonderful wishes
that they have passed on to me !

I am completely gob-smacked & promise to keep singing forever & ever.
Honestly I don't know what to say except blow big sloppy kisses to you
all.

Thank You XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

------

¨ EIS Gallery Updated

Some interesting pictures from Andy Birthday party have been put online if you are interested!

http://www.erasureinfo.com/gallery/fans_index.html

Thanks to Alan (for taking the first picture) and James McWilliam and Philip Larson for the later photos. I'll see if I can get a few more put up online for a future update.

¨ The New Album - Mini Review

Actual conversation that took place this morning:

(Greg enters office)

Colleague: What's that huge smile on your face for?

Me: I've just come down form the studio, we were listening to the new Erasure album...

Colleague: What was it like?

Me: Amazing - it was classic Erasure...

Colleague: What do you mean?

Me: Well Andy's voice sounded incredible, the chorus's on many of the song were quite simply beautiful and Vince was typical Vince!. Several of the tracks I could imagine myself dancing to very enthusiastically!

There wasn't a single track that I didn't think was great. I hope you don't think I'm just saying this?

Colleague: I think the smile on your face is genuine enough!

¨ Prize Draw Winners

The winners of the 'Magic Moments' promo CD's are:

Sara Kilduff - Isle Of Man
Shameer Ladha - New York
Chris Smith - UK
Janne Bjerkeland - Norway
Nick Bradbury - UK
J A Oliver - UK
Linda Eng - California
Mary MacDonald - Massachusetts

¨ New Prize Draw

I have 13 copies of Yazoo Situation 12" Promos to give away (PYAZ 4).

Track Listings:
- Situation (the aggresive attitude mix by youth)
- Situation '90 (remix by francois kevorkian)
- State Farm (play-doh dub remix by paul dakeyne)
- Situation (1982 u.s. remix by francois kevorkian)

[Check your EIS email update for entry details]

Closing date is 6th May 2004 and 13 names will be picked at random from all the entries received.

Winners will be notified by email.

Until next time!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ Clip From "Abba's Greatest Hits"

A very short video clip from "Abba's Greatest Hits" documentary with Andy's comments has been added to yahoo group Pe2. It can be found in the files section here. Note that you must me registered member of Pe2 to download the file (thanks to pughie).