Erasure

Few synth-pop partnerships have carried as much history as Erasure. Andy Bell, the Peterborough-born vocalist, and Vince Clarke, who had already helped shape Depeche Mode and Yazoo, formed the duo in London in 1985. Clarke's electronic instincts were first kindled by the Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and the pair's influences run from Kraftwerk to Gloria Gaynor and ABBA, a lineage audible in their melodic songwriting.

Their first three singles failed in Britain, though 'Oh l'amour' found an audience in France and Germany. The breakthrough came with 'Sometimes', which reached number 2 in the UK in late 1986 and opened a run of 24 consecutive top 40 singles between 1986 and 2007. The Innocents, released in 1988, topped the album chart, and the pair went on to five consecutive UK number one albums. At the 1989 Brit Awards they took Best British Group. Later, a cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill' revived them in parts of Europe, and their career has since included more than 200 songs and over 28 million albums sold.