Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America) were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals).

Over the next 18 months the duo released two albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both, which received critical acclaim for their production, particularly the blending of Clarke's synthesizer melodies with Moyet's blues- and soul-influenced vocals.

Despite their success, the duo split acrimoniously in May 1983 as a result of a combination of Clarke's reluctance to make more records under the Yazoo name, a clash of personalities, and a lack of communication between the pair.

[13] Clarke was inspired to make electronic music after hearing Wirral synth-pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD): he became co-founder and original bandleader of Depeche Mode, who in 1981 released an album and three Clarke-penned singles through Mute Records.

She placed an advert in the UK weekly music magazine Melody Maker in late 1981 asking for musicians to form a "rootsy" blues band after her most recent group, the Screamin' Ab Dabs, had broken up.

[12] Clarke wanted to maintain his relationship with Mute, saying in a 2008 interview, "When I left Depeche I wasn't sure I'd still have a record deal and was keen to play the label something of my own, so I wrote the song 'Only You' but needed someone to demo it with.

As the studio had already been booked during the day by fellow Mute artist Fad Gadget, Yazoo recorded most of the album during the early mornings.

[10] In North America, "Situation" had been a hit in the clubs in a version remixed by New York City-based DJ François Kevorkian, and against the band's wishes, it was released as Yazoo's debut single in the US and Canada, where it reached number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Clarke had always seen Upstairs at Eric's as a one-off project and had to be persuaded to make another Yazoo record by his publishers, who felt it would not go down well if he was seen to walk out of a second band within a year of the first.

At only 21 years of age, she was struggling to come to terms with being in the spotlight and the pressures of sudden fame, and she resented the fact that Clarke was leaving her to carry out all the promotional work for the records by herself.

However, with no further singles or live appearances to promote it, it did not sell as well as Upstairs at Eric's, although it still achieved gold status in the UK for sales of 100,000 copies.

Reflecting in 2008 on the group's split, both Moyet and Clarke agreed that a lack of communication between the pair had been a major reason for the breakdown of the partnership.

I felt confident in the studio, but starting a chat with somebody ..."[11] He put it down to the fact that because the duo became popular so rapidly, there had never been any time to build up a personal relationship between them: "It all happened very fast and because we hadn't been in a band for years, playing in clubs, it was very much just a working relationship—we never had the chance to bond.

Moyet added that their differing personalities had not helped matters, saying, "He was, I think, sad at the time after leaving Depeche and remote, a bit angry, but it was all internalised.

[citation needed] Anohni, lead vocalist of Antony & the Johnsons, talked with Terry Gross in February 2009 about recording the debut self-titled Hercules and Love Affair album.

"[31] Despite the long estrangement, Moyet had always harboured plans to perform the songs from You and Me Both live on stage, something that had never occurred, as the duo had split before the album was released.

Clarke welcomed her message, but replied that he was now committed to his current band Erasure and felt it would be disloyal to his musical partner Andy Bell if he returned to work with Moyet.

[33] On 20 January 2008, the new official Yazoo website confirmed that Clarke and Moyet would be reuniting to play five concerts across the UK in June 2008, preceded by a four-disc box set entitled In Your Room, which would feature remastered stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes of the albums Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both, a disc of B-sides and remixes and a DVD including new interviews with Clarke and Moyet and the videos for their five UK and US singles, along with video footage of television performances from 1982 and 1983.

[11] The promotion for the tour received moderate television coverage, including a performance on the prime-time BBC chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, broadcast in the UK on 16 May 2008.

In an interview in May 2008 with the online magazine Side-Line, Clarke said that there were plans to record the two London shows on the tour for a possible live album in the future.

[41] On 14 May 2011, Moyet appeared as a guest on stage before Erasure's set on the second day of Mute Records' Short Circuit music festival at the Roundhouse in London.