FROM THE ARCHIVE
THE BELLBOY - Issue 190, October 2005
With his first solo album, Andy Bell is making a musical trip back in time, to an era when Erasure were just one of a slew of out ‘n’ proud gay popsters on the hit parade. John Clarke meets a man whose youth is catching up on him.
Way back in the ‘80s almost every second pop star on the British block was homo with a capital ‘H'. Some were out and proud like Jimmy Somerville, Marc Almond and Holly Johnson. Some were on the cusp, like Neil Tennant, Boy George and Elton John. And some were closeted - stand up George Michael. But of all the gay stars in the era of big hair and batwing sleeves, Andy Bell represented the epitome of what it was to be a homosexual on the loose in the metropolis at that time. He first appeared on Top of the Pops, strutting his stuff in jeans carefully ripped to reveal traces of buttock and a tight, tight vest - the essential club bunny from a London scene that had just taken flight. Jimmy was a socio-political beat boy, Marc was a gothic drama queen, Holly was trade on the make, but Andy was all about camp, glitterball excess, the endless fun to be found dancing your ass off night after night in a sublimely shallow cosmos. Partnered by Vince Clarke in Erasure, he shook his booty with divinely decadent intent, dragged up as the girls from ABBA (thereby reinventing the Swedish ‘70s middle-of-the-roadsters as cool), and influenced singers and bands across the world with a trademark brand of euphoric electronica. Such is the strength of his partnership with Clarke, Erasure are still together after all these years, with a new album in the planning. In the meantime, Andy has taken time out to record his first solo album, Electric Blue, working with the happenin' likes of Propaganda's Claudia Brucken and Scissors Sisters' Jake Shears. After a couple of edgier albums from Erasure, it's a return to murder-on-the-dancefloor form for Andy, packing in 14 tracks that any self-respecting queer DJ would be hard pressed to ignore. Speaking from his London home, Andy, however, doesn't sound like a man who is revisiting his youth. It's more like youth is revisiting him.
JC: How was the experience of doing a solo album?
AB: It was great, although I miss having Vince around. He had a baby this week - a new little boy. It's his first child, so he's taken time out.
So, when did you decide to do the solo project?
It all happened by chance really. The Erasure album Other People's Songs was going to be a solo project. I had started to work with Gareth Jones, one of our producers, and we were writing stuff together. We thought ‘let's do some cover versions of Phil Spector songs' and that turned into an Erasure project. The guys who supported Erasure on our last tour, Manhattan Clique, sent me a CD of some demos they'd done without any vocals or any top lines and said, ‘Would you like to do some stuff with us?' Before we knew it we had 20 songs written.
They wrote the tracks and you wrote the lyrics?
They wrote the backing tracks and then I did the top lines and the lyrics, yeah. Vince and I always write together on guitar and piano. I quite often say to him that my favourite work of his is the Yazoo stuff from really early on. I'd love him to do dance tracks or rhythm tracks where I could put the melody on top of it. He's kind of shied away from that, preferring to do traditional song writing and I think my work with Manhattan Clique has kind of turned him round a bit. He's heard the stuff and he thinks it's alright.
There's a really clubby feeling to the album. Do you still like to go out on the town as much as ever?
I do like to go out and have a good bop every now and then. Mostly on the weekends.
The album goes through lots of genre shifts, but it's also very underpinned by electronica in that early Erasure way.
Yeah, Manhattan were real fans of Vince's work. I don't think they are trying to copy him and I think they're less precious about their sounds and things. They're both in their 30's, so they love ‘80s music.
How do you think it compares to Erasure?
I think it's just a different thing really. It's kind of like having fun and it's just a different experience with young musicians.
Do you have a message in the album?
No, not really. The lyrics are very honest and I think the main theme is just about claiming ground for yourself, just being out there and not letting people step over your boundaries.
You worked with Jake Shears of the Scissors Sisters on the track I Thought It Was You. How was that?
Yeah, it was good fun. They invited us to go and see them when they played in Hammersmith in London a while back and they dedicated a song to me, which was really sweet. Then I met them afterwards backstage and took loads of photos and swapped e-mails and stuff. We had this song, so I sent it to Jake and asked if he'd be interested in doing some stuff with us. He really liked it. So we met in a studio in New York and worked on the lyrics there and he did all the vocals. I left him to it, really.
Is he one of that group of younger artists who would have a great appreciation for Erasure?
Yeah, he and Ana Matronic saw Erasure when they were 12 years old in America and it kind of opened their eyes a little bit.
Jake Shears is one of the only openly gay pop stars today, compared to the ‘80s when there were quite a lot of out people in the charts, in Britain at least. What kind of progressions do you think have been made in terms of gay people in the music industry?
People really aren't vocal anymore. It's all that pretty gay boy look that isn't out. I've had guys who've done videos with us and have said they never got any work again afterwards because they did a supposed ‘gay video', which is ridiculous. People like Will Young are really great - he's really sensible - but you still get the feeling that when you come out there are certain parts of the industry that won't touch you.
Of all of the gay pop stars in the ‘80s, who was your favourite?
I love Jimmy Somerville and Marc Almond. I'm friendly with Jimmy but I haven't seen him for ages. The last time I saw him was last year on a German TV show. I only met Marc once last year, before he had his accident. I met him about three times in a club, but he's really very shy and quite nervous, so I just went up and put my arms around him and that was it.
Who's ringing your bell in terms of pop music right now?
I got the Antony and the Johnsons album, I really like his voice. I like Goldfrapp, they're really great. I like the White Stripes. I'm really looking forward to Kate Bush's new one. I also do quite like Kelly Osborne, I must admit. She's really sweet, but I think I'm a bit biased because I met her in New York where she was DJing and she was just about to play one of our songs when they took her off because she had to go somewhere. But she's so sweet. She's really small and quite shy.
You're working on an album of nursery rhymes with Vince. Tell me about that.
We started doing it last year. We were thinking of doing a talking book with children's stories like The Little Matchstick Girl and The Little Prince. Vince said that he wanted to make them more creepy because my voice can become very choirboy-like with a spooky edge. Also his music is twinkly, but very sinister sometimes. Now that he's had a baby he might change his mind about the stories being so scary!
You've been with your boyfriend for over 20 years. What's the secret to your longevity?
He puts up with a hell of a lot. He's got real patience. I really think that you have to make it up as you go along. You have to allow each other their freedom, respect each other's space. We get along well together in the house; we have our own privacy.
Will you be taking advantage of the new UK partnership legislation?
I don't know. I can't make up my mind about it.
A while back you announced that you're HIV positive. What's it like to be so public about it?
It's fine, really fine. People come up to me and say, ‘I'm positive as well and thanks for being so open and out about it' and they tell me how they are with their families and stuff. It's good. I was a bit nervous about it because I thought that I might get picked on or something. It's kind of like coming out a second time.
Do you think there is still a stigma around HIV?
I think maybe if I was living in a small town and people found out it would be much, much harder. But if you're in the public eye, people accept you more.
How did it change your life when you come out about being HIV positive?
Well for one thing I didn't have to explain to all and sundry or every time I met someone I wanted to have sex with. I didn't have that embarrassment.
Are you on medication?
Yeah, I have been since 1998. I'm on three pills a day now. It's always been fine, only in the beginning when you have a slight tingling in the fingers and stuff. For a while I was on a pill that can give you lipodystrophy, which makes your face lose fat, so I swapped and am on something else now. My life is totally normal.
What do you think about the rise in HIV infections in younger people?
I think it's quite shocking, but they have sex thrust in their faces all the time. It's on MTV every minute and if you look at the back of any gay magazine there are dicks everywhere. It's difficult for them to know what to think. You have bars with backrooms and saunas. I'm not saying we shouldn't have them, but there really should be an emphasis on people protecting themselves from other people. I think young people are being forgotten about.
What's your feeling about how the gay world has evolved since the 1980's?
I think it's become much more hedonistic. It's much more about the pink pound. Ever since you had to pay to go to Gay Pride and be hemmed in somewhere, it's ridiculous. Now I'd rather go to the more provincial places. They had Soho Pride this year and you didn't have to pay in. It was a really nice vibe and lots of fun. Otherwise it's about going out, getting off your head, getting off with somebody, having sex and that's it. I feel that there isn't that sense of community that there was before, when we were fighting for the age of consent in Britain, or against Section 28. There was more camaraderie then.
You're looking pretty well for a man who has been in the industry for 20 years. Has there been any surgery involved?
A little. I've had a little bit under my eyes and a little bit under my chin. But that's all, not the whole hog.
Would you recommend it?
Yes, everyone needs a little freshen up now and again.