Rubber band

Erasure shows staying power with a 10th album

by Marc S. Malkin

Andy Bell and Vince Clarke - the English techno-pop group better known as Erasure - are in the back of a limo as it crawls through Big Apple rush-hour traffic. They're freshly showered, but visibly exhausted. They're in the middle of a worldwide tour to promote their new - and ninth - album, Erasure. Besides the non-stop press interviews and radio appearances, there are album-release parties, like the one in New York that included a three-song acoustic set in a Soho bar for about 200 people.

"I didn't really want to do it, because I don't think it represents our music," says Clarke of his hesitation to perform the group's electronic-dependent music acoustically. "But at the same time it has worked because, you know, people don't really believe that we play or sing. They think it's all done on the computer, especially some of the people at the radio stations. So I think it's great to prove them wrong."

If, in fact, Erasure could not play or sing, it's unlikely they would have lasted for 10 years. The band members met in 1985, when Bell auditioned for a new group being formed by Clarke, who had already established himself as a songwriter for Depeche Mode and Yaz.

Erasure's 1986 album debut, Wonderland, included the group's first hit, "Sometimes," which peaked at number two on the UK charts. Other albums included The Circus in 1987 (helped by an American tour with Duran Duran), Wild in 1989, and Chorus the following year.

Since the beginning, it's been no secret that Bell is openly gay, and that the heterosexual Clarke is comfortable with his singing partner. Their 1992 Abba-Esque, a collection of remakes of ABBA songs from the '70s, added more gay camp value to the band, already known for their extravagant (and often drag-filled) shows.

"It was a really interesting experience because I had never really associated with anybody that I knew was gay," the 35-year-old Clarke recalls of the duo's beginning. "We used to have totally long discussions about it, because I was totally curious about the mechanics of it. He's quite frank, and I'm quite pertinent with my questions. So I got to know a lot very quickly."

Bell remembers those early conversations as well. "I think in the beginning, I used to say things more for shock value," says the 31-year-old Bell as he stretches out in the limo with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Evian in the other. "And Vince can't be shocked - not at all."

Clarke interjects with a smile, "The thing about the kangaroo, that wasn't true?"

Although k.d., Melissa, and Elton practically have the words "openly gay" attached to their names now, there was never a big splash about Bell's honesty. Maybe that's because Bell didn't wait until he had the power of gold records behind him. But Bell doesn't claim credit for having the guts to come out the earliest.

"I've never been a liar," he says matter-of-factly. "I couldn't not tell the truth. . . . "I'm quite surprised there aren't more people [out] in the industry. I just think it's a real slow, slow thing. And I think it's a real shame that the AIDS crisis isn't enough."

But Bell has no intention of becoming a gay icon. Unlike Boy George, he hasn't released an album that includes love songs to a man (or to a woman, for that matter). He's also not about to invest too much in the music's industry's recent flirtation with the gay market.

"They have a gay marketing person at Elektra," he says of Erasure's label. "All those little things are quite silly. They can get dangerous, and I think when you start being hailed like that, you're almost sheltered."

Clarke agrees: "I just find it funny, because the music industry has to categorize things even more. I'm not sure if I believe in the `pink pound.' "

But it appears the issue of the closet will never rest when it comes to Erasure. Album promotions have always included events at gay clubs and interviews with the gay media. The group does AIDS benefits and submitted a song to the Wigstock movie soundtrack ("Cold Summer's Day," which was retitled "Fingers and Thumbs" for Erasure).

Despite Clarke's heterosexuality, Erasure will always be known as a gay band.

"We're gay sometimes," Clarke jokes.

Sometimes?

Bell jumps to answer that one: "When we've had a few drinks and Vince starts grabbing my crotch."