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Having trained to be a piano tuner after leaving school age 16, Moyet played in a number of punk, rock and blues bands across Essex including the Vandals, the Screamin’ Ab Dabs, and the Little Roosters. It wasn’t however until the singer turned 21 that she earned her mainstream breakthrough as a part of the synthpop duo Yazoo. Formed alongside former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke in 1982, Yazoo released the albums “Upstairs at Eric’s” and “You and Me Both”, which spawned the hit singles “Only You”, “Do’t Go”, and “Situation”. After Yazoo disbanded, Moyet signed with CBS in 1983, marking the start of the singer-songwriter’s solo career.
Released in 1984, Moyet’s debut album “Alf”, was produced by the respected producing and songwriting duo Jolley & Swain. The album became a major hit in Britain, topping the UK Albums Chart and spawning the hit singles “Invisible”, “All Cried Out”, and “Love Resurrection”. Propelling Moyet to British stardom, the singer subsequently performed at Live Aid in 1985, toured alongside John Altman’s jazz band, and released the hit single “Is This Love?” in 1986.
Moyet’s second album “Raindancing” arrived in 1987, peaking at No. Two on the UK Albums Chart and No. 94 in the U.S. Featuring the singles “Weak in the Presence of Beauty”, “Ordinary Girl”, and “Sleep Like Breathing”, “Raindancing” was succeeded by “Hoodoo” in 1991. Reluctant to submit to overly pop sensibilities, despite the potential commercial success of doing so, “Hoodoo” represented Moyet's fight for artistic control. With contributions from Kirsty MacColl, Steve Lillywhite and Marius De Vries, the album’s lead single “It Won’t Be Long” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Song.
After the release of her subsequent album “Essex” in 1994, and the greatest hits compilation “Singles” in 1995, Moyet, due to contractual disagreements with Sony, didn’t release any new material for eight years. During this time Moyet collaborated with the likes of Tricky, Ocean Colour Scene and The Lightning Seeds, and released a pair of compilation albums in 2001 and 2002. Following her Sony contract release in August 2002, Moyet signed with Sanctuary Records and released her fifth studio album “Hometime”. Produced by The Insects, the album drew Brit Award and Mercury Prize nominations, and peaked at No. 18 on the UK Album Chart.
The cover album “Voices” followed in 2004, and, led by the single “One More Time”, the album “The Turn” was released in October 2007. After a move to the label Cooking Vinyl in 2013, Moyet released her eighth studio album “The Minutes”, accompanied by the singles “When I Was Your Girl” and “Love Reigns Supreme”.
Sometimes, a dramatic change of landscape is what’s required for a musician to genuinely come out of their shell, to reveal a side of themselves to the world that previously hadn’t been on display; that’s precisely what happened to Alison Moyet after the dissolution of her short-lived synthpop act Yazoo in the early eighties. As a part of that band, Moyet had mainly become known for catchy pop tracks with a classic eighties electronic sound to the instrumentation, but the songs had never really shown off her voice in earnest, and it wasn’t until she began to release music under her own name that her stunning vocal range really came to the fore, as she began to concern herself with sounds that were far more bluesy in nature, as well as some traditional pop balladry. She’s no arguably better known for those songs than her Yazoo work, and continues to retain a big enough cult fanbase to tour Europe regularly; she joined Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra on the road around the UK back in 2010, returning to her more soulful solo output just a couple of years after completing a successful reunion tour with Yazoo around Europe.
Joeg_67
In the immortal words of Alan Partridge, “ruddy hell, it’s Soft Cell!” The synthpop duo are probably open to accusations of being one hit wonders - I’m sure there’s plenty of people who’d struggle to name more than one of their songs, after ‘Tainted Love’ - but back in the early eighties, they were a real force, brewing up pop hits and constant controversy in pretty much equal measure. Their close association with the evolving drug culture in nightclubs during their heyday made them a popular target for the press, but it was something that the band were happy to play up to, with their debut record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - which reached number five in the UK charts - dealing with squalid lyrical themes. After reforming in the early noughties - they fizzled out, originally, in 1984 - they toured Europe in 2002 and played a short run of dates in the U.S. a year later. The shows were far from the kind of gaudy affairs you might have expected from the band in their prime, though, with a shadowy, minimal light show putting the focus squarely on the music - an extended, ten minute rendition of ‘Tainted Love’ included. Since singer Marc Almond’s near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2004, he’s performed solo, but not with Soft Cell; the band haven’t officially been dissolved again, though, so further shows remain a possibility.
Joeg_67
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