This September 1985 gig at Smokeys nightclub in Arbroath was at such a particular moment in time. Three years on from his previous band's demise, Vince Clarke is billed as 'ex Yazoo'. It was actually Erasure playing, but nobody had really heard of them yet and the were second on the bill. £2 tickets!
#StrawberrySwitchblade #strawberryswitchbladeband #rosemcdowall #jillbryson #80sindie #80sindiepop #gothpop #80sgoth #newwave #synthpop #vinceclarke #erasure #andybell #arbroath #electropop
The first three Erasure singles had flopped, and the new one they were promoting in Arbroath was Sometimes, to be released a fortnight later. It was their big breakthrough, the first of 24 consecutive top 40 singles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1a8QABKNo0
Strawberry Switchblade were heading the other way - they were promoting their electropop cover of Jolene that failed to chart and turned out to be their final single in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq0UleP-VGg
It's also worth mentioning that between Yazoo and Erasure, Clarke had made an amazing one-off single with Feargal Sharkey under the name The Assembly, an aching icy masterpiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYtWGKpWpGA
He'd also done One Day, a single with Paul Quinn ex of Bourgie Bourgie, which ties him into the Scottish music network of which Strawberry Switchblade were a part. That release came a few months after Quinn and Edwyn Collins issued their gorgeous cover of the Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes, a record so beautiful that I only need a half-excuse like this to mention and post it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z3RgoukUEk
Strawberry Switchblade fansite