Alison Moyet
Alison Moyet (born June 18, 1961 in Billericay , Essex , England ; full name Geneviève Alison Jane Moyet ) is a British pop singer who was particularly successful in Great Britain in the 1980s. Her expressive blues voice and her musical range, which ranges from punk rock , sophisticated pop, chanson and blues, characterize her work.
Musical career
With experience as a singer in various unknown punk and blues bands, Moyet looked for partners in the early 1980s to start his own project. This is where ex Depeche Mode keyboarder Vince Clarke came across Moyet. Together they founded the synth-pop project Yazoo . Her debut single Only You reached number 2 on the UK charts .
The name was changed to "Yaz" for the American market . With the two albums Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both , the duo was mainly successful in Europe. In 1983 Yazoo separated due to different musical conceptions. Clarke started The Assembly , then Erasure ; Alison Moyet started her solo career.
With her passionate, soulful alto voice, produced in a pleasing pop sound, she initially followed up on the Yazoo successes. Her first album, Alf (1984), named after her previous nickname, stayed in the British charts for a year and climbed to the top there. The first three singles released became UK top 10 hits. At the end of 1985 the fourth single For You Only reached seventh place in Germany and thus Moyet's highest position in the German charts.
In 1985 she toured the UK with John Altman's jazz band . With the cover version of the Billie Holiday classic That Ole 'Devil Called Love , Moyet then posted another top ten hit in their homeland.
After the birth of a daughter and the divorce from her husband, her duet with Paul Young , That's the Way Love Is , became one of the artist's last musical signs of life at the Live Aid Festival in London's Wembley Stadium in July 1985 . Moyet initially withdrew into private life.
She sang a duet with him on James Brown's 1986 album Gravity . Her second album, Raindancing , followed in 1987 , and she won a third BRIT Award . Is This Love reached number three on the UK charts. For the first time she went on tour in the USA as a solo performer. The single All Cried Out (No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart) was recorded in two different versions by the No Angels in 2002.
Alison Moyet retired again and became a mother a second time.
In the early 1990s, Moyet could barely gain a foothold in the music business. Neither with the soulful, critically acclaimed and predominantly self-composed Hoodoo (1991) nor with Essex (1994), she was able to achieve greater success. Only their compilation Singles , on which only two new titles were to be found, but all hits by Yazoo, hit the charts again.
In August 2001, Alison Moyet made her London stage debut in the play Chicago . A year later, also in late summer, the album Hometime hit stores. To support were u. a. the Massive Attack producers there. In 2004 the album Voice was released , which was only successful in Great Britain, but there reached a top ten placement and gold status .
Moyet now mainly shifted to ballads in various styles. Her album The Turn , released in October 2007, included songs that she wrote for the play Smaller . There she took on a role on the side of Dawn French and June Watson .
At the end of May 2008 Moyet went on stage with Vince Clarke as Yazoo for the first time in 25 years as part of the Reconnected Tour.
In May 2013, their album The Minutes was released , which reached fifth place in the UK charts.
Alison Moyet achieved another success in her homeland with the album Other , released in June 2017 , on which she experiments with modern electro-pop sounds.
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1984 | Alf |
DE5
platinum
(60 weeks)DE |
- |
CH2 (22 weeks) CH |
UK1 × 4
(84 weeks)UK |
US45 (22 weeks) US |
First published: November 5, 1984
Producers: Tony Swain, Steve Jolley |
1987 | Raindancing |
DE3
gold
(22 weeks)DE |
AT23 (2 weeks) AT |
CH4 (13 weeks) CH |
UK2 × 2
(53 weeks)UK |
US94 (17 weeks) US |
First published: April 6, 1987
Producers: Alison Moyet, David Freeman, Jean Guiot, Jess Bailey, Jimmy Iovine , Joseph Hughes |
1991 | Hoodoo |
DE36 (12 weeks) DE |
- |
CH22 (6 weeks) CH |
UK11
silver
(6 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: April 22, 1991
Producers: Pete Glenister, Dave Dix, Andy Cox, David Steele |
1994 | Essex |
DE74 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
CH50 (1 week) CH |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
US194 (1 week) US |
First published: March 21, 1994
Producers: Ian Broudie , Pete Glenister |
2002 | Hometime |
DE69 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK18th
gold
(10 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: August 19, 2002
Producer: The Insects |
2004 | Voice | - | - | - |
UK7th
gold
(12 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: September 6, 2004
Producer: Anne Dudley |
2007 | The turn | - | - | - |
UK21 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First released: October 15, 2007
Producer: Pete Glenister |
2013 | The minutes | - | - | - |
UK5 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
Initial release: May 3, 2013
Producer: Guy Sigsworth |
2017 | Other | - | - | - |
UK12 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
Initial release: June 16, 2017
Producer: Guy Sigsworth |
Live albums
- 2014: Minutes and Seconds - Live (release: November 10th)
- 2018: The Other Live Collection
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1995 | Singles |
DE49 (9 weeks) DE |
- |
CH39 (3 weeks) CH |
UK1 × 2
(59 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: May 22, 1995
|
2001 | The essential | - | - | - |
UK16
gold
(5 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: September 10, 2001
|
2009 | The Best Of - 25 Years Revisited | - | - | - |
UK17th
gold
(13 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: October 19, 2009
|
More compilations
- 1998: Her Songs
- 2007: Alf / Raindancing (2 CDs; release: October 1st)
- 2009: The Collection
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | CH | UK | US | |||
1984 | Love Resurrection Alf |
- | - |
UK10
silver
(13 weeks)UK |
US82 (4 weeks) US |
First published: June 1984
Authors: Alison Moyet, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain |
All Cried Out Alf |
DE24 (12 weeks) DE |
CH15 (11 weeks) CH |
UK8 (11 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 1984
Authors: Alison Moyet, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain |
|
Invisible Alf |
DE22 (11 weeks) DE |
CH25 (4 weeks) CH |
UK21 (10 weeks) UK |
US31 (17 weeks) US |
First published: November 19, 1984
Author: Lamont Dozier |
|
1985 | That Ole Devil Called Love |
DE29 (11 weeks) DE |
CH21 (4 weeks) CH |
UK2
silver
(10 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: March 4, 1985
Authors: Allan Roberts , Doris Fisher Original: Billie Holiday , 1944 |
For You Only Alf |
DE7 (13 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: November 17, 1985
Authors: Alison Moyet, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain |
|
1986 | Is This Love? Raindancing |
DE15 (17 weeks) DE |
CH20 (5 weeks) CH |
UK3
silver
(16 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: November 1986
Authors: Alison Moyet, Jean Guiot |
1987 | Weak in the Presence of Beauty Raindancing |
DE18 (14 weeks) DE |
CH23 (6 weeks) CH |
UK6 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: February 23, 1987
Authors: Michael Ward, Rob Clarke Original: Floy Joy, 1986 |
Ordinary girl raindancing |
- | - |
UK43 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: May 18, 1987
Authors: Jess Bailey, Rick Driscoll |
|
Sleep Like Breathing Raindancing |
- | - |
UK80 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
Love letters | - | - |
UK4th
silver
(12 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: November 16, 1987
Authors: Edward Heyman , Victor Young Original: Dick Haymes with Victor Young's orchestra from the soundtrack of the film Love Letters |
|
1991 | It won't be long hoodoo |
- | - |
UK50 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: March 25, 1991
Authors: Alison Moyet, Pete Glenister |
Wishing You Were Here Hoodoo |
- | - |
UK72 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: May 20, 1991
Authors: Alison Moyet, Pete Glenister |
|
This House Hoodoo |
- | - |
UK40 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 30, 1991
Author: Alison Moyet |
|
1993 | Falling Essex |
- | - |
UK42 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: October 4, 1993
Authors: Alison Moyet, Pete Glenister |
1994 | Whispering Your Name Essex |
DE75 (6 weeks) DE |
- |
UK18 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: February 28, 1994
Author and original: Jules Shear, 1983 |
Getting into Something Essex |
- | - |
UK51 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: May 16, 1994
Authors: Alison Moyet, Pete Glenister |
|
Ode to Boy Essex |
- | - |
UK59 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: October 10, 1994
Author: Alison Moyet, Original: Yazoo , 1982 |
|
1995 | Solid Wood Singles |
- | - |
UK44 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: August 14, 1995
Author: Alison Moyet |
2004 | Almost Blue / Alfie Essex |
- | - |
UK99 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: December 6, 2004
Authors: Elvis Costello / Burt Bacharach , Hal David Originals: Elvis Costello, 1982 / Cilla Black , 1966 |
More singles
|
|
swell
- ^ Steffen Hung: Chart Watch Britain: Alison Moyet Debuts at Number 5; Joe Satriani and Bonnie Tyler Score Multi-Decade Bests . vintagevinylnews.com. May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ↑ Michael Bauer: Surprisingly different: The new album by Alison Moyet. In: hitchecker.de. TEXT-BAUER, June 27, 2017, accessed July 13, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
- ↑ a b c gold / platinum databases: DE UK
Web links
- Official website
- Alison Moyet at Allmusic (English)
- Alison Moyet at Discogs (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Moyet, Alison |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Moyet, Genevieve Alison Jane |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British singer |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1961 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Billericay , Essex , England |