Only You

Yazoo, known in America as Yaz, were the duo of instrumentalist/programmer Vince Clarke and vocalist Alison Moyet. Clarke was an original member of Depeche Mode and wrote "Only You" for them. He was about to leave the band in late 1981 and he wanted them to have a good single to start off 1982. Depeche Mode didn't want it; instead they released "See You," a song Martin Gore wrote when he was only 15. "Only You" ended up on Yazoo's debut album, Upstairs At Eric's, in 1982. This was the first song Clarke and Moyet recorded together. In a 2010 Songfacts interview with Vince Clarke, he explained: "One of the big reasons I asked Alison to sing 'Only You' was because I felt that it was a ballad that needed someone with a soulful voice. And it wasn't like I thought to myself, 'Okay, you have a chance to marry electronics with song.' It just turned out that way, and it happened Alison had a great voice, and it worked really well."

With his departure from Depeche Mode imminent, Clarke was looking for a female vocalist to sing on this track. He told Songfacts how he found Moyet: "The first time I heard her sing, she was in a punk band called the Vandals. And my best friend, Rob, he was the guitarist for the Vandals, and they played at one of the local pubs. And then I saw her a couple of times after that. She sang for an R&B band. So when I finally had her do this demo with me, I knew she had a great voice."

The Clarke/Moyet partnership was supposed to be just for this single, but when it took off, the record company asked them to make a whole album, which they did. After one more album (You And Me Both, 1983), Yazoo split up, with Clarke teaming with Andy Bell to form Erasure in 1985. When we spoke with Clarke, he told us that this song stands out among his work. Said Clarke: "'Only You' I'm very proud of, because it almost makes sense lyrically. (laughs) And lots of people seem to like that song, so that would be one of my favorites. I've tried to write lyrics that perhaps express the way I feel sometimes. I've struggled with that feeling. I find it easier to write lyrics about someone else's situation other than my own."