"A Little Respect" - Erasure

On Forming an Alliance

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Through acceptance and respect, gay and straight men have a lot to offer one another. 

Is Erasure’s 1988 hit, “A Little Respect,” the greatest queer anthem ever written? Time Out ranked it No.10 on their 2022 list — “50 Best Gay Songs to Celebrate Pride All Year Long.” And to help launch radio station Virgin Radio Pride UK, a listener poll crowned it No. 1, beating competition from Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Cher. What’s the criteria for such honors? Should the lyrics plead the listener to embrace their true self? Does the singer need to be queer? Erasure’s Andy Bell checks those boxes. But perhaps what makes Erasure such a compelling contender is its duo — flamboyantly queer Andy Bell meets stoically straight Vince Clarke — reflect how we want to co-exist in this world together. Their mutual adoration creates an alchemy that proves “a little respect” goes a long way. 

Vince Clarke didn’t begin his career by topping “Best of Queer Music” lists. He was wildly successful long before becoming the literal and figurative straight man to Bell’s sequined stage persona. Clarke, the indubitable king of synth-pop, began his reign at just 20 years old as a founding member of Depeche Mode. He was the band’s main songwriter on their first album, 1981’s Speak & Spell, penning nine of the album’s 11 tracks, including their breakthrough top 10 hit, “Just Can’t Get Enough.” Depeche Mode got a taste of stardom, then he bounced. There were too many top-chefs in the kitchen, and sudden fame burned too hot for Clarke’s palette. He decided to risk the sure thing and prove he could start another chart-topping band. The risk paid off.

Clarke with Depeche Mode in 1980

Clarke formed the group Yazoo (or Yaz, as they were called in America) after responding to an ad in a music magazine placed by a vocalist in need of a project. Alison Moyet was surprised when the only reply she received was from Clarke, the rockstar who’d recently quit the U.K.’s hottest new band. He explained in a 2008 interview with The Independent, "When I left Depeche Mode, I wasn't sure I'd still have a record deal and was keen to play the label something of my own, so I wrote the song 'Only You' but needed someone to demo it with. Alison happened to be advertising in a local paper so I called her." Though Moyet and Clarke didn’t know one another, they’d grown up in the same town. Over the next two years, Yazoo would release two successful albums and win “Best Breakthrough Act” at the 1983 Brit Awards. 

Despite wild success with two different bands, Clarke still felt restless. Moyet explained to The Independent that she and Clarke had a great working relationship, but they were never friends: "We never spoke about anything other than recording — nothing. Suddenly we were in a really successful band, but we hadn't even ever gone for a pint together. It was really weird — almost like an arranged marriage." Their dynamic was frustrating for Moyet, who suspected Clarke was still upset about what happened with Depeche Mode. Ultimately, after two successful albums, Clarke left Yazoo, too. 

Looking to resurrect himself yet again, Clarke tried out a couple of short-lived partnerships before placing his own ad for a vocalist in Melody Maker. It was a women’s shoe store clerk with a penchant for dressing up in drag who won the audition and would become Clarke’s most enduring creative partner. 

The chemistry wasn’t immediate. Andy Bell was initially dumbfounded by the idea of working with his musical hero. “I was very shy in the studio. I couldn’t even speak to him. I could not believe I was there,” Bell told The Guardian. 

"In the beginning, Andy was just going to sing my songs," said Vince Clarke to the Washington Post. "When we first performed on stage, he wouldn't move a muscle, he'd be positively glued to the microphone stand. It's taken him a while to take on this stage persona."

One thing Bell knew from the beginning: He wasn’t going to be a closeted rock star, which was a risky career move considering there were so few out pop stars in 1986. “We had the American artists,” Bell told The Advocate. “We had Sylvester and of course Divine, and gay-identified people like Grace Jones. But in the U.K., we had Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I mean, I'm not sure in which order it was, was it Bronski Beat and then Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I think Frankie might have been first, and then it was Bronski, but I'll probably be proven wrong.” (Editor’s note: It was Frankie first in 1983, then Bronski Beat in 1984. And, to be fair, Boy George coming out as bisexual in 1985 also predates Erasure.) Bell’s decision to be an out and proud frontman posed a potential threat to Clarke’s career, as well. After all, he’d already launched and dissolved two hugely successful bands without the diminished odds of making it as a “queer act.” Nonetheless, Clarke placed his bet on the new partnership. Erasure’s sound would be a mix of both of their musical sensibilities. For Clarke, it was Kraftwerk and O.M.D., and for Bell — Gloria Gaynor and ABBA. Talk about a gay-straight alliance!

Once trust between the pair was established, Bell’s extravagant stage persona exploded. He’d perform in drag as Judy Garland in 9-inch ruby heels or as a naughty Rhinestone Cowboy in assless chaps, or any number of fabulous outfits. For the video of their debut single, “Who Needs Love Like That,” both Bell and Clarke are dressed in drag as if sending a message to the world that, no matter the cost, they were in this thing together.

Bell and Clarke in “Who Needs Love Like That”

Rod Thomas from the queer band Bright Light Bright Light wrote this in an essay for Billboard: “Where I’m from, back then especially, someone gay was very much the ‘other.’ Gays didn’t fit alongside ‘normal’ people. So, when I understood that Erasure was one gay and one straight man making this amazing music with such unity and camaraderie, it blew my mind. Of course, Elton John and Bernie Taupin are another example, but you never see Bernie on stage. Here, you have a straight man just as up for the pomp, humour and the ridiculous as the gay man. That was a real game-changer for me.”

Erasure’s first album, 1986’s Wonderland, didn’t make much of an impact. But their follow-up would give them their first big single, “Sometimes,” which peaked at No. 2 on the U.K. chart. Their most enduring hit — the song that would go on to top “Best of Queer Music” lists — came from their third album. “‘A Little Respect’ reminds me that queer love doesn't have to be tragic, even if it's almost always about resilience,” Thomas explains in his essay in Billboard. “To fall in love and openly express that love is a triumph. ‘A Little Respect’ sounds like that triumph, the triumph of queer people falling in love together, and singing out about love's glory.”

I'm so in love with you

I'll be forever blue

What religion or reason

Could drive a man to forsake his lover?

Don't you tell me no

Don't you tell me no

Don't you tell me no

Don't you tell me no

Soul, I hear you calling

Oh baby, please, give a little respect to me

And what did Clarke think of his new accolade as a queer ally? “I’m very happy about that,” he told Equality 365. “I am very proud of Andy. He is just so strong. He has never been a bullshitter. I also like the fact that he doesn’t take things too seriously. I think originally, I took music and everything a little too seriously, but now I don’t. That is due to working with Andy.”

“Vince is a sweetheart,” Bell explained to the Washington Post. “He makes out he’s really tough on the outside, and I know that he’s not. We just balance each other really well. He’s taught me a lot about being sensible.”

Four decades into their career together, Erasure is still camping it up on tour. Their performances always include elaborate costume changes and plenty of drag. There's even a bingo game at intermission, with Clarke pulling the numbers and Bell announcing them.

While Erasure’s danceable hits are universally appealing, the band played a huge role in bringing queer culture into the mainstream and proving that through vulnerability, acceptance, and respect, gay and straight men have a lot to offer one another. 

The British rugby club, Hull Kingston Rovers, brought that lesson to life in 2015 when they adopted “A Little Respect” as the official song of the Challenge Cup Final — their first appearance in a final for over 30 years. Social media videos of fans singing “A Little Respect” went viral, resulting in Bell granting the club permission to record their own single for charity.

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