Alison Moyet & Yazoo's 10 greatest songs, ranked

4 February 2025, 12:21

Alison Moyet's striking voice set her apart from fellow popstars of the era during her time with Yazoo and as a solo artist. Picture: Getty/Alamy

By Thomas Edward

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No synth-pop band quite had soul like Yazoo had soul.

Despite being on the cutting edge of pop music, the two-piece group infused blues and soul into their electronic sound, making them more timeless than most.

That's thanks to their powerhouse singer Alison Moyet no doubt, who thankfully answered a magazine advert Vince Clarke placed looking for a singer after he left Depeche Mode to start his own band.

Together, the duo became one of the UK's most successful acts, releasing two critically acclaimed albums in Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both, while achieving a series of chart hits.

But the honeymoon period didn't last long - the pair called it a day after just 18 months after they formed in Basildon, Essex due to personality clashes and a lack of communication.

Despite their swift demise, Moyet and Clarke went on to have incredibly fruitful careers after Yazoo came to an end.

Clarke formed iconic dance-pop group Erasure with Andy Bell, and Alison Moyet went on to become a solo sensation in her own right.

With a striking voice that set her apart from fellow popstars of the era, let's look at Moyet's greatest songs with Yazoo and as solo artist:

'Love Letters'

Alison Moyet - Love Letters (Performance Version)

What does Alison Moyet have in common with Elvis Presley and Nat King Cole? She covered 'Love Letters', of course.
The melancholic ballad was seemingly tailor-made for Moyet's sumptuously soulful vocal, which ensured it peaked at number four in the UK charts upon its 1987 release.
Adding some strange comic relief to the music video, it starred Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French goofing around whilst Moyet bares her soul.
'Goodbye 70s'

Goodbye 70's (Live)

Alison Moyet was remarkably just 17 years old when she wrote 'Goodbye 70s' in 1978, which became a beloved song for her future band Yazoo. Though she didn't know it at the time.
The lyrics were somewhat ahead of her years and certainly prescient about the shifting tides of culture, depicting the tribalism of music, especially punk music. Little did she know it'd eventually become a New Romantic anthem.
"When I was a punk I believed I'd always be a punk," Moyet later explained.
"'Goodbye 70s' was my 17-year-old self reacting to the wake-up call that everything will change. It will."
'Nobody's Diary'

Yazoo - Nobody's Diary (Official HD Video)

'Nobody's Diary' was the only single to be released from Yazoo's second album, You and Me Both, before the pair called it a day.
Again, Moyet wrote the lyrics to the song whilst she was a teenager, long before she joined forces with Vince Clarke, showing emotional maturity beyond her years.
After recording the song together, Clarke was convinced it was a hit. "It immediately stood out to be the track that should be released as a single," he recalled in 2008.
It was - 'Nobody's Diary' went to number three in the UK and number one on the US dance charts, proving the pair had plenty in the tank despite ending the band soon after its 1983 release.
'Is This Love?'

Alison Moyet - Is This Love?

Moyet's 1986 single 'Is This Love?', from her second album Raindancing, was the result of collaborating with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart.
It was the idea of super producer Jimmy Iovine to put the pair together, though because of label issues with Eurythmics' own upcoming album, his work on Moyet's album was under the pseudonym "Jean Guiot". Not that he kept the secret safe for long, blabbing in an interview soon after.
"Dave was a very interesting chap. A lot of energy. Very vibrant," Moyet later said on the Moyet Moments podcast. "He got out his guitar, we sat together and knocked around some chords. Then we came together on a melody and I went off and wrote a lyric. It was as simple as that."
Their partnership was a hit, with 'Is This Love?' peaking at number three in the UK charts, becoming one of her most beloved songs in the process.
'Invisible'

Alison Moyet - Invisible

'Invisible' was Alison Moyet's biggest solo hit Stateside, perhaps because the song's roots were in Motown music.
It was penned by Lamont Dozier for Moyet's debut solo album, Alf, who wrote classic hits like Marvin Gaye's 'How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You' for the legendary Detroit label, as well as 'Two Hearts' for none other than Phil Collins.
Though it was the only song Moyet didn't have a hand in writing for Alf, she fully backed its message of feeling invisible in a relationship.
"My analogy with 'Invisible' is kind of like your first wife or husband," Alison Moyet explained to Glam Adelaide. "You had a really nice time with them, you're not denying that they're lovable and loads of good points and will be happy somewhere else- but you just don't want to f**k them anymore!"
'All Cried Out'

Alison Moyet - All Cried Out

'All Cried Out' is one of Alison Moyet's biggest hits, about getting out of her toxic relationship having come to the end of her tether after giving it her all and getting nothing in return. Though, she didn't write it from personal experience.
"It's not a phrase I'd heard before and it's not one I'd naturally use, but the sentiment is quite clear: there's no more s**t you have to give," she revealed on podcast Moyet Moments. Point made Alison.
Released in 1984 from her debut album Alf, her pained and weighty performance ensured it became a top ten hit in her native UK.
It was also the handiwork of producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain, who were renowned for their work with Bananarama and Spandau Ballet.
'Situation'

Situation (2008 Remaster)

'Situation' became Yazoo's first genuine breakthrough hit in the US thanks to a remix by French DJ Francois Kevorkian, which helped it top the US dance chart and even break into the Billboard Hot 100.
The remix transformed the song into a club classic across the pond, with DJ's attaching to the track's infectiously melodic synths and glitchy groove.
It also contains one of the most famous laughs in pop music history - Moyet's heavily reverb-laden laugh at 20 seconds in was even sampled in Los Del Rio's 1996 novelty hit 'Macarena'.
Fun fact: Vince Clarke offered 'Situation' to Depeche Mode as a parting gift when he left the band, but they declined.
'Don't Go'

Yazoo - Don't Go (Official HD Video)

Synth-pop riffs don't come more iconic than Yazoo's gargantuan hit 'Don't Go'.
Peaking at number three in the UK charts, the song only came about due to record executive pressure to write a B-side to 'Only You', despite Vince Clarke's idea for Yazoo to be a one-off single kind of project.
"I think the problem that Yazoo had was that we never really had the foundation of a relationship," he later reflected. "We made a single ('Only You'), and the record company said, 'Well, why don't you make a record?' We kind of fell apart, and I don't regret that happening. It was sad, but I don't think we could have continued working together without probably strangling each other."
Still, 'Don't Go' is a sure-fire classic from the era, and got its overdue recognition in America after it was re-released as a club single some years later.
'Love Resurrection'

Alison Moyet - Love Resurrection (Promo)

For her first foray into solo stardom, Alison Moyet couldn't have gotten off on a better foot with the release of 'Love Resurrection', a song which hands down possesses one of the most anthemic choruses of the decade.
But, due to her reluctance to immerse herself fully into her music video shoots (during the time when MTV could make or break a career), she nearly sabotaged her success.
"You can totally blame me for all my videos being rubbish," she later revealed. "I'm just not interested in them. But to be fair to myself, with 'Love Resurrection,' I decided that I was going to get involved for once. So I sat down and thought about what I wanted. Now, you know the beginning of The Exorcist where they did the excavation with all that digging? Well, I remember watching that in the cinema and feeling really horrible, thinking 'I can't wait for this bit to be over.' And that's what I wanted the video to be like. I wanted people to go 'Ooh, I do wish this video would get off the television!'"
Though 'Love Resurrection' didn't make much of an impact in the US, it drove her debut album Alf to the top of the album charts at home in the UK and across Europe, establishing Moyet as a distinctive voice in contemporary pop music.
Since then, 'Love Resurrection' has only aged like a fine wine.
'Only You'

Yazoo - Only You (Official Music Video)

Realistically, Alison Moyet and Yazoo's greatest song couldn't have been anything else, could it? But yes, you've guessed it - 'Only You' makes the grade as their very best song.
Featuring on their 1982 debut album Upstairs at Eric's, 'Only You' was the duo's first single and established them as bright talents once it reached number two in the UK charts.
Vince Clarke kept 'Only You' with him after writing it for his former group Depeche Mode, but knew he wanted a soulful voice to sing the glittering ballad. That's where Alison Moyet came in.
"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," Clarke later said. "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."
- The Story of... 'Only You' by Yazoo
Given Vince had difficulty pouring his emotion into his lyrics, he was chuffed with how 'Only You' came out. "I'm very proud of [the song] because it almost makes sense lyrically. And lots of people seem to like that song, so that would be one of my favourites. I've tried to write lyrics that perhaps express the way I feel sometimes. I've struggled with that feeling."
Testament to the ballad's heartfelt words, vocal group Flying Picketts made their a-cappella cover of 'Only You' the Christmas UK number one single in 1983, establishing the ballad as a Christmas favourite – who can forget the original's usage in The Office Christmas Special?
That said, the marriage of synthesizers and deeply evocative, soulful lyrics ensured 'Only You' was not only a hit single, but a song that changed perceptions of electronic music and what was possible from then onwards.