Erasure were formed in 1985 after Andy answered an ad placed by Vince in UK music paper 'Melody Maker'. Andy was the 42nd person to audition. After a slow start - their first 3 singles 'Who Needs Love (Like That)', 'Heavenly Action' and 'Oh L'Amour' only reached numbers 55, 100 and 85 respectively!, Erasure had their first hit with 'Sometimes', which reached number 2 in the UK chart in late 1986. Since then, they have had 17 top 10 singles (including one number 1, their ABBA covers EP 'ABBA-Esque' in 1992) and 5 number 1 albums. This year, they release a new album, 'Light At The End Of The World', and tour the UK, the US and Europe.
Andy Bell
Full name: Andrew Ivan Bell
Date Of Birth: 25/4/64
Born: Peterborough, England
Eyes: Green
Height: 5'11"
Brothers and Sisters: Four sisters - Karen, Alison, Diane, Elaine and a brother, Gary.
Home: London and Majorca
Favourite group or artist: ABBA
Favourite food: Roast beef dinner
Favourite TV show: French and Saunders
Favourite item of clothing: Jeans and a T-shirt
Favourite "thing": His ruby slippers
Hobby: Sleeping
Hero/Heroine: Debbie Harry of Blondie
Erasure Albums: 'Wonderland' ('86), 'The Circus' ('87), 'The Two Ring Circus' (remix/live album - '87), 'The Innocents' ('88), 'Wild!' ('89), 'Chorus' ('91), 'Pop!-The First Twenty Hits' ('92), 'I Say I Say I Say' ('94), 'Erasure' ('95), 'Cowboy' ('97) and 'Loveboat' ('00), 'Other People's Songs' ('03), 'Hits! - The Very Best Of Erasure' ('03), 'Nightbird' ('05), 'Union Street' ('06), 'Light At The End Of The World' ('07).
Full name: Vincent John Martin
Date Of Birth: 3/7/60
Born: Woodford in Essex, England
Home: Portland, Maine, US.
Eyes: Grey
Height: 5'6"
Brothers and Sisters: Two brothers - Rodney and Michael and a sister, Carol.
Favourite other group or artist: Paul Simon
Favourite food: Fish and chips
Favourite TV show: Clarence
Favourite item of clothing: Three piece suit
Favourite "thing": Marks And Spencer's slippers (?!!)
Pets: none
Hobby: Fishing
Previous jobs: Civil Servant
Hero/Heroine: John Wayne
Albums: 'Speak And Spell' with 'Depeche Mode' ('81), 'Upstairs At Eric's' ('82) and 'You And Me Both' ('83) with Alison Moyet as 'Yazoo', 'Pretentious' ('99) and 'Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle' ('01) with Martyn Ware and 'Nice!' ('00) with Phil Creswick and Jason Creasey as 'Family Fantastic', plus Erasure's albums (see above).
Source: Some information in these biographies is taken from a 'Smash Hits profiles' interview from 1988 (thanks to UnclePeter42), so some information is probably out of date and may be inaccurate, though I've tried to update it where possible. All chart positions mentioned refer to the UK charts.