When she was 20, Alison’s pop career began in 1982 when Yazoo were formed alongside former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke.
Vince and Alison both grew up in Basildon and attended the same Saturday music school when they were 11.
In 1981, Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode, citing touring fatigue and a growing disdain for pop fame as his reasons for the departure.
Worried that Mute Records would drop him as a result, he decided to write a song for the label called ‘Only You’.
Clarke originally wrote the music for the song on a guitar, and later converted the riff into synthesizer notes.
While writing the lyrics, Clarke said: “It was a very simple arrangement. I just formed words on a piece of paper. I was just hoping Daniel Miller, Mute Records founder, would like it”.
However, Before Clarke gave the song to Miller, he offered the song to Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, but they declined.
Alison had spent her teens singing in various punk and blues bands, and placed an advert in the UK weekly music magazine Melody Maker in late 1981 asking for musicians to form a “rootsy” blues band.
The only reply she got was from Vince, who had recently surprised the industry by quitting Depeche Mode after their debut album and three hit singles, all of which he had written.
They didn’t know each other, despite being in the same class at school. Vince had seen her sing live a few times. Knowing she had a great voice, he was looking for someone to sing on a demo of a song he had written called ‘Only You’.
He said in 2008: “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. Alison happened to be advertising in a local paper so I called her.”
The duo’s biggest hits were ‘Only You’, ‘Don’t Go’, ‘Situation’ and ‘Nobody’s Diary’, and they released two albums.
Posted from : https://www.smoothradio.com/news/music/alison-moyet-facts-age-husband-children/
