Erasure: Give A Little Respect

“People say that the music industry is cyclical and we’ve been waiting and waiting and now seems to be the right time.” Andy Bell is referring to the post-indie vogue for mainstream electronica and the fact that their record company now sees fit to unleash an Erasure Extravaganza, incorporating Total Pop! (their first 40, yes, 40 hits), a remix album called Pop! Remixed and a couple of live DVDs to boot. "You’d think we’d died or something,” he laughs.

“Actually, we’ve been working all the time and people seem to think we split up somewhere along the line. I get a bit tired explaining that we’re still going.” Bell, despite a ridiculous string of hits (24 consecutive top ten hits in the UK and 25 million albums worldwide) is still baffled by the notion of himself as celebrity. “I get asked all the time to do Big Brother but I’m really not keen on that idea. Despite the fact I do get recognised it’s not like back in 1992 when Abba-esque was at the top of the charts and there was constant media attention. I think it’s worse being a celebrity now. The newspapers and tv shows tend to trawl through your private life and get in touch with family members, stuff like that. To me it’s really not fair on them. I’ve had everything out in the open since the beginning so there’s not really a lot left to say, but it does seem like a game you can’t win.”

Despite a predilection for shunning the spotlight (though you’d never guess, what with those feather boas), Bell has been open about his sexuality throughout his career, something which, if not unheard of in the eighties, did put him in the spotlight somewhat. Considered a genuine icon amongst the gay community, he is reticent to suggest he may have been - even in a minor way - a catalyst for the increased sexual openness in today’s society. “I think it’s a visibility thing, just people seeing someone else and deciding it’s not so bad to be open. I think when we joined up with Europe, the laws changed, the age of consent became the same and people had more access to pornography and stuff like that. I think in the background, the British attitude to sex was quite easy-going but I think it took a while for the government to catch up with the general public. Now it seems all hell has broken loose and Pandora’s box has been well and truly opened. I’m not sure I’ve had much of a role in all that, but when people come up to you and tell you their stories and about how your music has helped them, whether it’s getting through high school or coming from small towns, I just feel really pleased that our music allowed them to do that.”

That said, he has noticed difficulties in the revolution globally. “It can be different elsewhere. We played in Malaysia, on the cowboy tour, and I had a cowboy suit on and I took my jacket off and I was bare-chested underneath. I was told off and warned to put my jacket back on because it’s a Muslim country, but still, the people there were really very respectful. I think it’s quite scary in Eastern Europe, especially when somewhere like Moscow has their Gay Pride march banned and a whole patriotism being whipped up over there. I don’t know what the purpose of this is and I think if Eastern European countries want to be part of Europe, then they have to abide by the rules.”

Also, he worries the whole thing might just become another (relatively) mainstream commercial movement. “Because lifestyle magazines hold a lot of weight - it’s all about going out and buying things, colognes and beauty products or whatever - I think the gay community is just as easily swayed as everybody else, in fact possibly even more so in some ways. There’s the whole so-called ‘scene’; going out to clubs and things like that is quite about the body beautiful. I’m quite surprised at how easily influenced people are by general Europop. I don’t have anything against it, that music, to me the cheesier the better, but in some ways it still feels like people are repeating themselves over and over again.”

Diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1998 (made public in 2005), Bell is rather sanguine when discussing his condition, grateful that he lives in the UK where treatment is free. “I’ve been undetectable for a few years now which I’m delighted about. On the other hand, I would like to work in America but it is an issue for me as far as health insurance and things are there. I feel like it’s every person’s human right to have access to medicine but, unfortunately, we’re in the minority here.”

Having spent time and effort (including prior to diagnosis) working with HIV support groups to raise money and awareness, he is quite forthright on why infection rates continue to rise in this country. "I think the bugger is that with ethnic minorities, a lot of those people are involved with organisations that are either Catholic or quite conservative Christian organisations. As long as the Pope is telling them that you can’t use contraceptives and it’s a sin to sleep with other men … well, if they’re not being real, then they’re not going to be able to address the issues."