THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

700-Erasure-Stop!

1988-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.07. The best way to start the top 700, is with ‘Stop.’

Erasure who were formed in London, England, in 1985, are the ‘Synth-Pop’ duo of Vince Clarke, who was born Vincent John Martin, on July 3rd, 1960, in South Woodford, Essex, England, and Andy Bell, who was born Andrew Ivan Bell, on April 24th, 1964, in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, England, and at the time of writing they remain active. Prior to forming Erasure, Vince Clarke had already proved himself as a talented songwriter, having written nine of the 11 tracks on ‘Speak & Spell,’ the debut studio Album by Depeche Mode (see also best songs 968-261 and 134) from 1981. Clarke then left Depeche Mode, and formed ‘Yazoo,’ (known as ‘Yaz’ in the United States) (see also best songs 451) in 1981, with the English vocalist Alison Moyet. The partnership disbanded in 1983, having produced two studio Albums. Vince Clarke then teamed up with the English recording engineer, and music producer Eric Radcliffe as ‘The Assembly,’ in 1983, with the idea being to collaborate with different artists on each single release. The short lived project yielded one single issued, the track ‘Never Never,’ with vocals by Feargal Sharkey, (see also best songs 435) which made Number 4 in the UK in 1983. In early 1985 Vince Clarke placed an advertisement in the British weekly music magazine ‘Melody Maker,’ looking for a singer to work alongside. Andy Bell who has said that Clarke was his ‘hero,’ was the successful applicant, and the duo went on to form Erasure. Other work from Vince Clarke includes his 2011 collaboration with Martin Gore of Depeche Mode as ‘VCMG,’ on their Album ‘SSss.’ Vince Clarke has also released three solo Albums between 1993-2023.

The discography of Erasure includes 19 studio Albums released between 1986-2022, and 62 singles released between 1985-2021, there are also nine official compilation Albums, six live Albums, and 13 extended plays available. Erasure who have sold in excess of 28 million records worldwide, reached their commercial peak between 1988-1994, with four of their studio Albums consecutively reaching Number 1 in the UK. Also in the UK, 32 of their singles have reached the top 40, with their ‘Abba-esque,’ EP from 1992 making Number 1. In America on the Billboard 200 Album chart, their highest charting Album remains ‘I Say I Say I Say,’ which peaked at Number 18 in 1994, while three of their singles have have reached the Billboard Hot 100 singles top 40, with ‘Chains of Love,’ from 1988, peaking the highest at Number 12.

‘Stop!’ is one of the four tracks that appeared on the ‘Crackers International’ extended play (EP) from November 1988, all four tracks were co-written by Vince Clarke, and Andy Bell, with both also credited as the producers. The other three tracks o the EP are ‘The Hardest Part,’ ‘Knocking on Your Door,’ and ‘She Won’t Be Home.’ The ‘Crackers International’ EP was released when ‘EP’s’ were still eligible for the UK singles chart, and was issued between the Albums ‘The Innocents,’ (1988) and ‘Wild,’ (1989) in order to cash in on the Christmas market, even so none of the songs had anything to do with the festive season. Due to the EP’s success ‘Mute Records’ released a limited edition ‘Crackers International’ Part 2, which included Erasure’s take on the traditional Christmas carol ‘God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen,’ as well as extended remixes by Mark Saunders (see also best songs 839) of ‘Stop!’ and ‘Knocking on Your Door.’ In America on Billboard, the ‘Crackers International’ EP which was released with two further remixes of those songs, reached Number 73 o the Album chart, while ‘Stop!’ which was also issued as a stand alone single, stalled at Number 97.

‘We’ll be together again, I’ve been waiting for a long time. We’re gonna be, we’re gonna be together again, I’ve been connected to the right line. We’ll be together, nobody ain’t never gonna disconnect us, or ever separate us, or say to us, you’ve got to stop.’