Yaz - Situation (Single Remix)

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CruiserLeo2007
May 08, 2008

Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.) was a short-lived but highly successful English synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex that had a number of top ten hits in the British charts in the early 1980s. Heavi...

Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.) was a short-lived but highly successful English synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex that had a number of top ten hits in the British charts in the early 1980s.

Heavily influenced by earlier bands like Kraftwerk, Yazoo expanded upon the synthpop formula by juxtaposing Alison Moyet's vocals with Vince Clarke's electronic hooks. Its sound referenced disco but added a more disaffected attitude that disco lacked. Their second album saw greater songwriting input from Moyet, adding a rather more mature and soulful flavour, particularly on the hit single "Nobody's Diary."

The group was formed in 1981, using a moniker that Alison Moyet, veteran of a number of southeast Essex based punk and rock bands, had seen on the labels of old blues albums: Yazoo Records, although Clarke later confessed that this came from mis-hearing the name of the mouth instrument Kazoo which was popular in the late 1970s. Clarke had been the main songwriter in Depeche Mode, who at that point had recorded one album and three singles for Mute Records, including the hits "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Clarke surprised many by quitting Depeche Mode just as they were beginning to reap success, claiming that they "just weren't getting on, really", forming Yazoo with the then relatively unknown Moyet. Mute Records continued to release the output of this new Clarke project. The band was licensed to Sire Records in the United States.

Its debut single "Only You" backed with "Situation," was released in April 1982 and rose to number two in the UK. Clarke had offered the song as a parting gift to his former bandmates in Depeche Mode, but they declined. Yazoo quickly scored another hit with the next single, "Don't Go," which hit number three, and became popular on MTV in the United States thanks to a Frankenstein-themed video. They continued their successful streak with their first album, Upstairs at Eric's, which went platinum in Britain. The band received favourable reviews for their pioneering sound. Clarke and Moyet toured briefly, while releasing a stopgap single, "The Other Side of Love."

The duo's second and last album, You and Me Both, yielded more success, hitting the top of the UK charts, and spinning off one single. The album's success was tainted by Clarke and Moyet announcing they were to go their separate ways shortly before its release.

Moyet decided to venture off on a solo career, signing to Columbia Records, where she would enjoy a great deal of early success. Vince Clarke recorded a single with producer Eric Radcliffe (the same "Eric" from the title of Yazoo's debut album) and Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey as The Assembly, and another with vocalist Paul Quinn. Around this time, Clarke also co-wrote "The Face of Dorian Gray" for his friend and singer Robert Marlow. Clarke then founded the highly successful pop group Erasure with vocalist Andy Bell.

Mute Records released a remixed version of "Situation" as a single in 1990 to moderate success. In 1999, a compilation was released, entitled Only Yazoo - The Best of and was preceded by a re-release of Yazoo's debut single, "Only You", featuring a new remix of the title track and several more of "Don't Go". The band's output was bookended with yet another release of "Situation", accompanied by many remixes

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Yaz Situation Single Remix Electronic Synth

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Hot80s (1 week ago) Show Hide

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i prefer the original 80s cutz.

stevenredd (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

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@jaklumen....yeah, kids these days....what are you gonna do? And there were these big round black things, they were called R E C O R D S.....Okay, I'm being a bitch.....

CruiserLeo2007 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

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lmao...dont stop now!

MillaLi22 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

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OMG- HEIDI MONTAG took this beat!!!!! for her BODY LANGUAGE>. hmmm wonder if she paid her dues for that?........ how unoriginal of her.. no wonder i dislike the PRATTS!

jaklumen (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

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The Internet is a fabulous repository of information, *if* you know where to look. The origins of just about every sample used in recorded music is documented somewhere, including where the sample came from and where it's been used.

Quick search so far says yes, the laugh is Alison's, from a recording session for this song. C'mon kids, gotta keep up...

NYCPANCAKES (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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Wow, thats who she is! Such a powerful voice. Is that the radio mix? I'm in NYC and the D.J.'s always played (what I thought was the original) that extended version. Some parts of this song though I love I'm not familiar with.

rgiuliani2 (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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I believe this was the 1990 single remix... It uses lots of different parts of different recordings of this song, Including the Re-recorded version from 1983 (B-Side of Nobody's Diary 12" )

NYCPANCAKES (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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Really? I always thought it sounded like Samantha Fox.

rgiuliani2 (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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The laugh was taken from the Dub version of Situation... By the band Yaz (Yazoo)

RocStarr913 (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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Actually, whoever created the remix of Los Del Rio's "Macarena" actually sampled that laugh from "Situation".

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Yaz - Situation (Single Remix)

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