Yazoo - Only You
Yazoo - Only You
Yazoo - Only You
A remix of "Only You" made the UK Top 40 again in 1999, while reaching
number 16 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The music
video for the new version was created using the Houdini 3D animation
software package.[2] Single by Yazoo
from the album Upstairs at Eric's
An orchestral remix of "Only You" was created for the Boots 2017 Christmas
advert on British TV. Yazoo released the track on their YouTube channel on 17
B-side "Situation"
November 2017, promising that it would be released as a single-track Released 15 March 1982 (UK)
download the following week. The remix features Alison Moyet's original vocal November 1982
with a brand new orchestral backing track. (USA)[1]
23 August 1999
(remix)
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Recording
In 1981, English musician Vince Clarke left the electronic band Depeche Mode, citing touring fatigue and disdain for pop
stardom as his reasons for the departure.[3] Clarke was worried Mute Records would drop him as a result, and decided to
write a song for the label called "Only You".[4] Clarke originally wrote the music for the song on a guitar, and transposed
the riff into synthesizer notes. While writing the lyrics, Clarke remarked "It was a very simple arrangement. I just formed
words on a piece of paper. I was just hoping Daniel Miller, Mute Records founder, would like it".[5] Before Clarke
presented the song to Miller, he offered the song to Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, although the two
declined.[6]
Clarke had written "Only You" as a sentimental ballad, and wanted to find a vocalist who could sing with emotion.[3]
Around this time, the rhythm and blues band The Screamin' Ab Dabs split, and singer Alison Moyet placed an ad in
Melody Maker looking for a new band.[7] Clarke had heard Moyet perform with a few other bands in the pub circuit, and
felt she was a good fit for the song. He responded to the ad and asked Moyet if she was interested in singing for a demo.[5]
Moyet was reluctant at first, as she never aspired to perform pop songs, and noted "A part of me was thinking I'll never
hear the end of it if I go and sing with this pretty boy". She eventually agreed, saying she needed the money and had no
way of making a demo on her own.[5]
Clarke recorded the demo of "Only You" on a four-track tape recorder, and had already finished the backing track when
Moyet sang the lyrics.[3] Once the demo was finished, Clarke presented it to Miller, who at first found it to be
uninteresting. That evening, publishing associates from Scandinavia heard the demo and liked it, which Clarke noted may
have influenced Miller's opinion of the song.[5] About a week later, Miller called Clarke and told him that he and Moyet
should rerecord the song as a group and release it as a single. Moyet was surprised by the news, as neither she nor Clarke
had intended to start a band together. The two knew virtually nothing about each other besides musical abilities, and
Moyet described the pairing as "almost like an arranged marriage".[4] Regardless, the newly formed duo recorded "Only
You" at Blackwing Studios. Eric Radcliffe produced the song, along with Clarke and Miller.[8]
Composition
"Only You" is a synth-pop song that moves at a moderate tempo
"Only You"
of 108 beats per minute.[9][10] The song features an arpeggio chord
0:00 MENU
progression, and is composed in the key of A major.[10] When
An 18-second sample of "Only
asked about the song, Moyet said: "'Only You' has a nursery You" demonstrating the synth
rhyme simplicity and a lack of pretension. You don't need to be a layering of the music and soulful
style of Alison Moyet's singing.
great instrumentalist to play it. It's a universal, everyman song."[5]
Marcos Hassan of Tiny Mix Tapes agreed with this statement. He
Problems playing this file? See media help.
wrote that although "Only You" is a traditional synth-pop song, its
softer and intimate sound is more reminiscent of Motown records, and ultimately described the song as "a warm and
familiar extraterrestrial creature".[11] Stewart Mason of AllMusic noted the use of layered melodies performed on multiple
monophonic synthesizers, which add what he called "depth and melodic substance" to the song.[9]
Lyrically, "Only You" is a torch song, and is about the resignation of a relationship.[12] The singer knows the conflict laden
relationship is over, but desperately wants to be proven wrong.[11] NME wrote the song may have initially been about
Clarke's uneasy relationship with Depeche Mode, but Moyet turned the lyrics into the story of a person "looking through a
scrapbook of photo-like memories".[13] Moyet's soulful, almost masculine vocals span a tonal range of F#3-D4.[10][13]
Mason compared Moyet's vocals to those of 1970s singer Ann Peebles.[9]
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"Only You" debuted at number seventy-two on the UK singles chart, on 11 April.[14] Over the next few weeks, the song
steadily climbed the chart, and on 16 May peaked at number two, only behind the Eurovision winning song "A Little
Peace".[15] "Only You" stayed within the top ten for the next three weeks, after which it began to drop in position. It spent
fourteen weeks on the chart, and last appeared on 11 July.[14] During its chart run, "Only You" was certified silver by the
British Phonographic Industry, denoting shipments of 250,000 copies.[16]
In the United States, "Only You" debuted at number ninety on the Billboard Hot 100 on 26 February 1983.[17] The song
slowly rose in positions, and on 19 March peaked at number sixty-seven, where it remained for three weeks.[18] It spent
eight weeks on the chart, and last appeared on 16 April.[19]
The song was ranked at number 7 among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1982 by NME.[20]
Track listing
7"
Mute/7 MUTE 20 (UK)
7"
Sire/9 2-98447 (US)
12"
Mute/12 MUTE 20 (UK)
CD
Mute/CD MUTE 20 (UK)
Charts
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Peak
Chart (1982)
position
UK Singles Chart[14] 2
Cover versions
The Flying Pickets version went on to become a number one hit on the German Recorded 1983
Singles Chart in 1984,[29] and also charted in Canada,[30] though it did not Genre A cappella
chart in the United States. The song is also used at the end of Wong Kar-wai's Length 3:15
1995 film Fallen Angels.[31]
Label Virgin
The Flying Pickets version was reportedly one of Margaret Thatcher's favourite Songwriter(s) Vince Clarke
songs, a fact that has been noted with irony, due to the band's socialist
Producer(s) The Flying Pickets,
views.[32]
John Sherry Sonet
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Peak
Chart (1983–84)
position
UK Singles Chart[40] 1
Weekly charts
Peak
Chart (2015)
position
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Music video
Kylie feat. James Corden "Only You"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
107C8PMY8cM) on YouTube
See also
List of number-one singles (UK)
List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 1997
List of Christmas number one singles (UK)
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References
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2. Moltenbrey, Karen (April 2002). Broadcast Retrospective 25th Anniversary: Part 4 (http://cgw.pennnet.com/Articles/Art
icle_Display.cfm?Section=Archives&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=140685). Computer Graphics World.
Accessed 26 February 2006.
3. Freeman, John (23 August 2012). "Synthesizer Soul: Yazoo's Upstairs At Eric's 30 Years On" (http://thequietus.com/a
rticles/09800-yazoo-upstairs-at-erics). The Quietus. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
4. Burt, Kate (8 June 2008). "How We Met: Alison Moyet & Vince Clarke" (https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/sunday-
review/regulars/how-we-met-alison-moyet-vince-clarke-5479680.html). The Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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rticles/06189-alison-moyet-interview-yazoo). The Quietus. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
8. "Only You" (7")|format= requires |url= (help) (Media notes). Yazoo. Mute Records. 1982.
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ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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30. "Kylie Minogue records cover of Yazoo's Only You with James Corden" (http://www.new-magazine.co.uk/celebrity-ne
ws/902153/kylie-minogue-records-cover-of-yazoos-only-you). New!. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2017. "The
Flying Pickets' version of the electronic pop ballad was also a huge hit in Germany and Canada..."
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BAJ&pg=PA451&lpg=PA451&dq=fallen+angel+wong+kar+wai+only+you#v=onepage&q=fallen%20angel%20wong%2
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ext=only+you&Year=1984&ChartEn=Top+Singles&). RPM Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
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tin-pop-songs) on January 15, 2015.
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46. "Kylie Minogue, James Corden duet on Only You in Christmas number one bid" (http://www.smh.com.au/entertainmen
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Galvin. Sydney Morning Herald. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
47. "Ultratop.be – Kylie Minogue with James Corden – Only You" (https://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Kyli
e+Minogue+with+James+Corden&titel=Only+You&cat=s) (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
48. "Ultratop.be – Kylie Minogue with James Corden – Only You" (https://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Kylie
+Minogue+with+James+Corden&titel=Only+You&cat=s) (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
49. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100" (http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/20151211/4
1/). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
50. "Only You" (http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/151212cluk.txt). Zobbel. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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External links
Lyrics of this song (http://www.metrolyrics.com/only-you-lyrics-yazoo.html) at MetroLyrics
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