The odd couple no worse for war
Singer Alison Moyet of the British Synthie-Pop-Duo Yazoo perform live during a concert at the Columbiahalle on May 30, 2008 in Berlin, Germany. The concert is part of the live tour 2008, which promotes a best Of CD Credit: Jakubaszek/Getty Images
Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke were practically strangers when they clocked up their first hit as Yazoo in the dim, distant spring of 1982.
Pushed into the limelight, they discovered their relationship was too shallow to withstand the glare.
Before their second album, 1983's 'You And Me Both', was even released, Clarke had called time on the partnership. The pair have barely spoken since.
Given their difficult history, it was a surprise, then, that Yazoo would join other significant bands of the past 25 years on the comeback trail. Framed by grainy video projections of their younger selves, Moyet stands far to the left of stage while Clarke hugs the right, crouching behind a gleaming bank of laptops and computers.
There is little in the way of eye contact -- when Moyet reminds the audience that Yazoo's very first gig was in Dublin, Clarke stares at his shoes. But Yazoo were never especially cuddly. Their odd-couple dynamic -- Moyet's warm booming voice, Clarke's wintry Casio grooves -- was part of what made them so compelling. While Clarke is the creative epicentre of the partnership, Moyet carries the show.
She belts out 'Don't Go' as if it's the first time she's sung it; delivers 'In My Room' with sweet exuberance and performs 'Only You', the smash that keeps Yazoo in people's memories, with a smile and a swoon.
- Ed Power
