Saturday Flashback: Erasure – Love To Hate You

Everything about this is brilliant.

Tom: As regular readers may remember, I’m in Australia for most of this month. I was meant to be reporting back about Australian pop music, but since it’s basically identical to the UK (as I write this, “Gangnam Style” is number one) there’s not much to tell.

Tim: You know, if this was a serious site we could have a talk about globalisation and why it applies to some tracks and not others and oh God, I’m bored already, so let’s move on.

Tom: Instead, here’s an absolutely amazing 1991 single from British synthpop duo Erasure, that I first heard last time I was in Australia. Close enough.

Tom: Everything about this is brilliant. The subtle sample (or “blatant rip-off”) of I Will Survive. The nonsensical lyrics. The disco beat.

Tim: That is brilliant – especially the sample.

Tom: And the video: oh my, the video. It’s like they had a hundred brightly-coloured ideas and said “screw it, put them all in”.

Tim: I particularly like the sweater he’s wearing in the flat that looks like they’ve shorn a sheep, gathered it all up and thought “this is what clothing’s made of, right? Let’s just wear it as it comes, then.”

Tom: One of you dancing in a wetsuit while the other looks on like a Michael Stipe impersonator? Sure. Do it. Give us another chorus.