Forthcoming Erasure release

Erasure tour 2005

Erasure.com.ru competition

Erasure.com.ru exclusive!

"The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD
out 22nd November

"The Erasure Show"
tour 2005

Win one of the prize sets!

Read interview with In_Vox

Greg EIS:

Hello!

This is a slightly different (and lengthy!) EIS Update today as it deals with issues affecting the EIS and these EIS E-Mail news updates.

The changes will help to provide a better EIS service for you.

But first....

¨ Breathe & Nightbird UK Release Dates

Here we go again :)

Erasure's brand new single 'Breathe' will be released in the UK on the 3rd January 2005, and the album 'Nightbird' will be released on the 24th January 2005.

¨ 'Breathe' Track Listing

As with the releases last year, 'Breathe' will be available on two CD's and a DVD, but with a break in tradition, the 'Breathe' DVD will actually feature the video for 'Breathe'!

The full tracks listings for 'Breathe' on the various formats are as follows:

CD1: (CDMUTE330)

- Breathe
- Gone Crazy

CD2: (LCDMUTE330)
- Breathe (LMC Extended Club Mix)
- Breathe (When Andy Bell Met Manhattan Clique Extended Remix)
- Breathe (Acoustic Version)

Enhanced Section:
- Exclusive Digimpro Remix Software (Enables you to remix 'Breathe' on your PC)*

DVD: (DVDMUTE330)
- Breathe (Radio Version)
- Mr Gribber And His Amazing Cat
- Breathe (Video)

* This exclusive new software, Digimpro, allows you to remix 'Breathe'
on your own Windows based PC by enabling you to interact and manipulate the different elements of 'Breathe'.

By using the improvisation feature and real time mixing options (and the additional music supplied by the band), you can create a customised version of 'Breathe' and save it as an a MP3.

I've stayed up quite late over the past few nights playing with this software - it's great fun :)

¨ EIS Members Details / Multi Language Updates

Back in the days when the EIS was a subscription service, records were held of each EIS member that included name, address and country etc. Since the EIS changed to being a web based service, only members names and e-mail addresses are recorded. Well this is going to change.

From next week, new members will be required to state what country they are from. For existing members I am asking you to update your details by following this link:

[Check your EIS email update for the link]

All you need to do is to enter your name (if it's not already filled in correctly) and choose your country from the drop down list and click update - that's it!

There are several reasons why this data is important. If any future EIS events are to be organised, it makes sense to determine if there are sufficient members in other countries for these locations to be considered.

I am of course aware that English is not the first language of many Erasure fans, therefore plans are underway to introduce EIS email updates in different languages. The non-English languages on offer will be determined by:

a) the breakdown of the EIS members countries (see above) b) who I can get to translate the updates!

When the final choice of languages have been determined, you will be able to sign up to these new additional email updates - more details nearer the time!

¨ French

Merci de bien vouloir cliquer sur le lien ci-dessous afin de mettre e jour votre inscription sur le site EIS.

Tapez votre nom et votre pays et cliquez sur "update". En fonction des resultats nous envisagerons des e-mails d'informations en diverses langues.

¨ Spanish

Por favor modifica tus datos en el sitio EIS en el siguiente enlace.

Entra tu nombre y tu pais y pulsa "update". Segun los resultados trataremos mandar email de informacion en varios idiomas.

¨ More Erasure Teapots?

In the last update I announced that the last few EIS' 04 / Erasure branded teapots were on sale - well they sold out in about 10 hours!

If anyone else would like one, email me with the subject line "another cuppa!" and if I get enough feedback I'll order another batch of teapots. Only 25 were made originally so they are pretty rare items, and this will be the only time they will be produced again.

¨ EIS Forum - 1st Birthday On 7th November 2004

Yes believe it or not, the EIS Forum is coming up to it's one year anniversary next month!

Starting from the 7th November any forum user account that is over 1 year old and has never been used (i.e. has never been used to log onto the forum) will be deleted. This will help remove accounts that have been created by spammers and those created with incorrect email addresses.

Remember - if you have logged onto the EIS Forum at any time (it doesn't matter if you have never posted a message) then your forum account *will not* be removed.

None of this affects your membership to the EIS and receiving the EIS Update e-mails.

Until next time!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ Erasure.com.ru Competition - Only 3 Days Left!

Only three days left until the end of erasure.com.ru competition. You can still enter it and get one of the prize sets! All details here.

¨ The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon - Different Front Covers

The front cover of "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD was taken from original VHS edition of this concert, but now there are two slightly different front covers of the DVD. It is still unknown which one of them will be used for the actual release. Here they are:

¨ "Nightbird" Will Be Enhanced?

According to Amazon.de, new Erasure album "Nightbird" will be released on enhanced cd (i.e. will contain a CD-ROM part). German release date listed at Amazon.de is the 24th January 2005.

¨ "The Erasure Show" - Ticket

As we can see the "The Erasure Show" ticket is not the souvenir but the usual one.

Greg EIS:

Hello!

¨ 'The Erasure Show' - Belfast Date Added

Yes your feedback has worked again - an extra date has been added to the forthcoming tour!

The band will perform in Belfast at the Waterfront Hall on Thursday 24 February - tickets go on sale this Friday 29 October at 9 am.

web: http://www.ticketmaster.ie
box-office: 028 9033 4455
venue: http://www.waterfront.co.uk
all tour dates: http://www.erasureinfo.com/news/news_tour.html

¨ New And Old EIS Merchandise Online

Those of you that attended EIS '04 will be aware that a *very* limited number of Erasure / EIS '04 branded teapots were for sale at the event - well the last few can now be purchased online.

In addition some old editions of the Private Ear magazine (issues 30 and 27) are also available.

eis shop: http://www.erasureinfo.com/shop/index.html

¨ Cool Erasure Web Link

It describes itself as "erasure comics for the mentally ill" and it's worth a look:

web: http://www.geocities.com/erasurecomics

Plus it sums up the EIS Forum as "... a forum that will make you go mad.", which I quite liked!

¨ The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon DVD

Full track details of the Tank...Swan DVD has now been published within the discography section.

web: http://www.erasureinfo.com/discography/dvds/tank.html

The North American release date of the DVD is the 30th November 2004, the UK release date the 22nd November 2004.

¨ UK Music Hall Of Fame - Channel 4

Andy made a brief appearance on Channel 4's Sunday night programme "UK Music Hall Of Fame", discussing Abba.

The show will be repeated this Friday at 11.30 pm

web: http://www.channel4.com...

¨ Email Problems

I'm afraid that the EIS email was down on Friday and Saturday, which meant that any emails sent to the EIS over these two days would have been lost, and no emails could be sent. This also caused the 'DEBUG' error messages on the EIS forum over this period as well.

If you emailed me over these two days could you please resend them. This problem did not affect any merchandise orders (as this is handled by another server).

Cheers!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon - New US Release Date

As confirmed by EIS, the new US release date of "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD is 30th November 2004. UK release date of the DVD is 22nd November 2004.

¨ 'The Erasure Show' - Belfast Date Added

As also reported by EIS, a new date has been added to 'The Erasure Show', at the Belfast Waterfront on the 24th February 2005!

Tickets are on sale from 29th October via Waterfront Boxoffice (028 9033 4455) or via the Ticketmaster Ireland website.

¨ Andy On "UK Music 80's Hall Of Fame"

On Sunday, 17th October Andy was appearing on "UK Music 80's Hall Of Fame" on Channel 4 in the UK. He commented on the George Michael toilet incident and quipped that luckily he'd never been caught red handed in the same act (thanks to daz73 for the info).

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Wonderland" philippinean lp, "Chorus" argentinian cassette album, "I Love Saturday" uk cassette (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Rock Me Gently" 'orange' and 'red' german cds (thanks to Christian Ondrak), "Love To Hate You" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag).

Greg EIS:

Hello!

¨ Andy's Forthcoming DJ Debut

Breaking news! Confirmed via a txt message only this morning, Andy will be making his debut DJ performance at the Electrogogo Xmas party on December 16th!

More detail nearer the time!

web: http://www.electrogogo.com

¨ The Tank The Swan And The Balloon DVD - Delayed Release

The release date of the forthcoming Tank / Swan DVD has unfortunately been pushed back slightly. The UK release date is now 22nd November - I'm waiting for confirmation of the US release date.

The delay was triggered by the discovery (during the final QA check) of brief colour flashes appearing in several individual frames of the footage.

Although these flashes were really only noticeable if you are specifically looking for them, they have nonetheless been corrected on the master and the DVD has been re-authored.

¨ Tank Swan DVD - Mute Bank

If you purchase the Tank / Swan DVD from Mute Bank (price TBC) then you will also receive one of the original Phantasmagorical bingo cards! (There is only a limited number of these bingo cards available).

Mute Bank will be taking orders for the DVD nearer the release date.

web: http://www.mutebank.co.uk

Until next time!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ "Tank..." DVD - Release Date Change

The release date of "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD unfortunately has been pushed back to 22nd November 2004.

¨ Manhattan Clique Again

Groove Collision also known as Manhattan Clique are currently remixing Erasure and are also writing and producing tracks for Andy Bell’s solo album.

They have also signed to Virgin for a DJ mix album. Other recent remixes include Liberty X, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Lighthouse Family, Soft Cell, Ronan Keating and Lene (Aqua).

Manhattan Clique’s debut album is being recorded with a number of big name collaborations planned and a record deal is imminent. In addition the guys have just started their own record label/production company ‘Eccentric’.

Undoubtedly the highlight of 2004 so far has been Philip’s recent Grammy award for his work on the Kylie Minogue track "Come Into My World" one of the two tracks he co-produced and mixed on Kylie’s multi platinum "Fever" album.

¨ Andy's Second Operation

Greg EIS: "Andy was telling quite a few people at EIS '04 that he was getting his second hip done... It was done last Friday (with a recovery period of about 3 / 4 weeks) - so he'll be well rested and able to do a loads of high kicks on the tour! (he does keep demonstrating he can do high kicks with his other leg now!)".

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Always" australian limited cd, "You Surround Me" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Erasure" french cd (thanks to Alex), "Chorus" argentinian cd album (thanks to Mariano Rodriguez), "The Circus" german cassette album (thanks to Patrick Aldag).

¨ "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD

Some release info and pictures of "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" DVD.

DVD5: 2004 UK (Mute; ERAS DVD 2 / 7243-544197-9 9)

Disk 1:
1. Intro
2. Siren Song
3. Ship Of Fools
4. Chorus
5. Breath Of Life
6. Chains Of Love
7. Love To Hate You
8. Joan
9. Voulez Vous
10. Take A Chance On Me
11. S.O.S.
12. Lay All Your Love On Me
13. Am I Right?
14. Oh L'Amour
15. Waiting For The Day
16. Heart Of Stone
17. Stop!
18. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
19. Who Needs Love Like That
20. Stand By Your Man
21. The Soldier's Return
22. Turns The Love To Anger
23. Star
24. Blue Savannah
25. Over The Rainbow
26. Love Is A Loser
27. A Little Respect
28. Home
29. Perfect Stranger
30. Sometimes

Disk 2:
"The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon" - Behind The Scenes". Exclusive footage and interviews with Andy Bell, Vince Clarke, costume designer Dean Bright and choreographer Les Child.

Greg EIS:

Hello!

- Tour News -

¨ The Erasure Show - Copenhagen Sold Out

In EIS Update #38 I announced that the Copenhagen tickets were on sale
from last Friday - well this week I can now tell you that they sold out in four days!

A quick reminder that all known tour dates are published online here:

web: http://www.erasureinfo.com/news/news_tour.html

I do not know of any other confirmed dates, so e-mailing me or asking via the EIS forum for additional dates will get the same response, i.e. 'I don't know'.

But showing demand for particular countries and locations for tour dates on the EIS Forum is useful.

forum: http://www.erasureinfo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=6

- EIS Web-site Updates -

¨ The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon - Further Clip

A clip featuring 'Stop!' from the forthcoming 'The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon' DVD has been put up on the EIS home-page.

Not long now until the release date!

web: http://www.erasureinfo.com

¨ 'Breathe' - The New Single Video Shoot

This week (Wednesday in fact), a large part of the filming of the 'Breathe' video took place in London. I went along with camcorder in hand and recorded the days proceedings to put up for you guys on the EIS web-site.

Assuming I've done no major errors such as leaving the lens cap on (don't laugh - it has happened!), I'll edit the footage and put clips up online (along with the story board etc.) in a few weeks time.

Whilst I was there, Andy revealed that Vince and himself had pretty much sorted out the set-list for 'The Erasure Show', and that it would feature five songs from Nightbird, classic hits and some songs they haven't performed in quite a while. Can't wait! (This is of course subject to change!)

- News Roundup -

¨ Q Magazine - Top 50 Bands

Writers for Q magazine have compiled a top 50 of what they believe to be the music world's biggest groups, rating the band's performance with a points system that measured sales of their biggest album, the scale of their biggest headlining show and the total number of weeks spent on the UK album chart.

Erasure are in the top 50 at number 47!

See the November edition of Q magazine for the full list or the Independent write-up about the feature at:

web:
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/story.jsp?story=568385

¨ In_Vox Interview

Maryanne Rarity from In_Vox (the Greek band that recorded and released the recent duet with Andy Bell) is featured in an interview on the erasure.com.ru website.

web: http://www.erasure.com.ru

Cheers!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ "Breathe" And "Nightbird" Release Dates

Recent North American press release revealed some info regarding forthcoming Erasure single and album. Here it is:

"ERASURE RELEASES NEW DVD IN NOVEMBER - NEW STUDIO ALBUM OUT JANUARY 2005

Erasure will release a brand new DVD on November 16th, 2004. The live DVD, entitled "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!", was recorded at the Manchester Apollo in England on the August 6th, 1992 as part of their Phantasmagorical Entertainment tour and is available here for the first time on DVD.

Directed by David Mallet (known for his video work with David Bowie, Blondie and Queen amongst others), the live DVD includes many of Erasure’s classic singles, including "A Little Respect", "Sometimes", "Oh L'Amour" and "Stop!" as well as the classic Abba covers, which made up "ABBA-esque", Erasure’s number one (in the UK) from 1992.

A bonus disc will include exclusive interviews and backstage footage, the DVD is in both 5.1 and stereo sound.

Erasure have recently completed work on a brand new album, "Nightbird", due for release on January 25th, 2005. 2003 saw Erasure release a Best Of compilation and "Other People's Songs", an album of covers, both of which hit the UK Top 20 and in the past two years Erasure have released three Top 20 singles in the UK. In North America, "Solsbury Hill" (the first single from "Other People's Songs") went Top 10 on the Billboard’s Top Singles Sales Chart and gained significant air play at Hot A/C stations all across North America. "Nightbird" will be the first album of original material since 2000's acclaimed album "Loveboat" and will be preceded by a single, "Breathe" which will be released on January 11th, 2005.

Following the album release, the band have announced live UK dates in February and March 2005, with North American dates to follow. The UK dates include a show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on March 5th, 2005, where the band recently played as part of their sold out tour in 2003.

Andy Bell and Vince Clarke (also known for his work with Depeche Mode and Yazoo) are one of the most successful UK duos of all time. Last year the band had their 29th consecutive UK Top 40 hit with the single "Oh L'Amour" remixed, from "Hits! - The Very Best Of Erasure".

According to Labels (Erasure's french label), "Breathe" will be released in France on Maxi CD and 12" on 4th January while "Nightbird" will be released on CD and LP on 25th January.

¨ Article About Andy Bell And Paul Hickey

There was an article about Andy and Paul in yesterdays (7th October) issue of free british newspaper "Free Metro".

The article talks about Andy has been with his partner Paul Hickey for 20 years. In 2000 Paul suffered six strokes simultaneously. Andy talks about Pauls recovery. The article talks about how Andy was terrified and had no idea what had happened. Andy talks about getting help as soon as possible new technology means the quicker you get help the better chances recovery are. Andy also talks about Paul being in a coma for 12 days and how he stayed with him for all the time trying to let him know he was there. Paul later said he knew Andy was there and it helped him through it.

Andy goes on to say that Paul was paraylised down the left side of his body and part of his throat was paralysed too. For six months Paul had to be fed by a tube in his stomach and how Andy crushed up Paul's medicine. Over time with encouragement Paul began to recover physically and how his love of tennis helped him to reach his goals. Today Paul is 90% recovered which is pretty miraculous! (thanks to Darren for the info).

¨ "The Tank..." US DVD Barcode

The barcode of north american edition forthcoming Erasure DVD "The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon Live!" is 7245-969276-9 4.

¨ Erasure.com.ru Exclusive - In_Vox Interview!

In_Vox is a Greek band that recorded and released a duet with Andy Bell named "Will I Ever?" in summer 2004. Maryanne Rarity from In_Vox has kindly agreed to answer the erasure.com.ru questions. Now you have an opportunity to read this exclusive interview at erasure.com.ru!

- First of all tell us about yourself and In_Vox. When did it all start and how many members are in the band?

- In_Vox are myself (Maryanne Rarity) and Panagiotis Davelos who's really the brains behind the wheel. He's the one who does most of the writing and all of the arrangement and computer work. It's fair enough to say that we are both equally involved into the creation of what one hears. Our history goes back quite a few years ago and a lot of hard work has been put into our music. We started by calling ourselves "Sire" but we only made it as far as recording a few demo tapes. Panagiotis has always been working with music... either as an arranger, a session musician or a sound technician. Me, I got involved with a few recordings as a vocalist and did a few gigs as well. Eventually we listened to our inner voices and stuck together.

- How would you describe your music?

- How can one describe music? Everybody hears and feels music with a unique way. In general our style is so far classified as synth pop. On the other hand we use a lot of natural instruments like the guitar, the sax, the piano all performed by very talented artists. We do however take advantage of technology as well. Inspired by life, cliche as it may sound, we try to express those feelings in our music...

Read the full interview >>

¨ "Breathe" Release Date

Mute Germany have just confirmed that Erasure's new single "Breathe" is sheduled for release on 3rd January 2005. Also Mute Germany confirmed that new Erasure album "Nightbird" contains 11 brand new songs.

¨ Andy Bell At 'Q' Awards

Here are two pictures of Andy Bell arriving at the 'Q' Awards 2004 at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, on October 4, 2004 in London. The 15th annual music awards are held by 'Q' magazine and honour the best musicians in the industry.

¨ Erasure In The Top 50 Bands Of All Time Of 'Q' Magazine

Writers for 'Q' magazine have compiled a top 50 of what they reckon to be the music world's biggest groups, placing Pink Floyd - the band whose "Dark Side Of The Moon" album is estimated to be owned by one in every 18 Americans - at the top of the chart.

The magazine sized up each band's performance with a points system that measured sales of their biggest album, the scale of their biggest headlining show and the total number of weeks spent on the UK album chart. Difficulties in finding accurate and reliable figures mean it is virtually impossible to compare on total album sales alone.

'Q' editor Paul Rees said: "I must say I suspected it might have been Queen at number one, but then when you think of the huge sales of "The Wall" and "Dark Side Of The Moon" it would have to be Pink Floyd. If you look at the top 10 you would expect those bands to be in there. It's slightly more surprising that the champagne corks are popping for bands such as Erasure (ranked 47) and Hootie & The Blowfish (40). I was genuinely stunned to see them in there."

The list of the top 50 bands is published in the October edition of 'Q'.

It is interesting that such famous UK bands like Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys doesn't appear in the list. Here it is with Erasure placed at #47:

1. Pink Floyd
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Rolling Stones
4. U2
5. Queen
6. Dire Straits
7. Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band
8. The Beatles
9. Bob Marley And The Wailers
10. Fleetwood Mac
11. The Eagles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Oasis
14. Bon Jovi
15. Guns N' Roses
16. Nirvana
17. Genesis
18. Bee Gees
19. Metallica
20. Boston
21. R.E.M.
22. Backstreet Boys
23. Red Hot Chili Peppers
24. AC/DC
25. The Police
26. Steve Miller Band
27. ABBA
28. Santana
29. Simply Red
30. Supertramp
31. The Carpenters
32. Journey
33. Spice Girls
34. Def Leppard
35. Deep Purple
36. UB40
37. Aerosmith
38. Wham!
39. Pearl Jam
40. Hootie & The Blowfish
41. Status Quo
42. Simple Minds
43. Wet Wet Wet
44. 'N Sync
45. Eurythmics
46. Duran Duran
47. Erasure
48. The Shadows
49. Boyz II Men
50. Van Halen

Biggest Erasure album:
"The Innocents" - 1,6 m

Biggest Erasure gig:
Milton Keynes Bowl, 1 September 1990 - 60,000

Weeks on UK album charts - 323

Greg EIS:

Hello!

¨ The Erasure Show - Denmark Date

I'm am delighted to be able to confirm (at last!) that 'The Erasure Show' has been extended to Copenhagen!

The date of the show is the 24th March 2005 at the Vega venue, and tickets are on sale from today!

For more info (and tickets) see:

web: http://www.vega.dk

¨ The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon - Online Clip

How about watching an exclusive 1 minute preview clip from the forthcoming 'The Tank, The Swan And The Balloon DVD'? I thought you might like that!

The media links are on the home-page of the EIS site:

web: http://www.erasureinfo.com

(Please refresh the page or else you won't see the links).

¨ The Erasure Show - Tickets

If you find that the tickets for a venue are sold out via a particular ticket agency, make sure that you try contacting the venue direct, or try another agency. You may find that one agency has sold out of their allocation of tickets, whereas another has not. So make sure you check around!

Enjoy your weekends!

Greg
Erasure Information Service

¨ Erasure.com.ru Competition

To celebrate the 3 year anniversary, erasure.com.ru is running a competition for all Erasure fans around the world! We have 5 sets of prizes to give to the winners. To get one of the prize sets you must answer the three simple questions. Closing date of the competition is the 31st October 2004. All details here.

¨ Added New Pics

Added details of: "Chorus" colombian vinyl single, "Run To The Sun" uk cassette (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "Star" german vinyl (thanks to Patrick Aldag), "ABBA-esque" german cd (thanks to Patrick Aldag and Mike DePaz), "Pop! - The First 20 Hits" canadian cd (thanks to Alex).