UK singer Alison Moyet on road with Yazoo reunion

By Lars Brandle

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke have seen so little of each other since electro duo Yazoo went its separate ways in 1983 that Moyet reckons they caught up recently for the first time in 16 years.

Now, however, the pair -- who enjoyed a string of top five U.K. hits with "Only You," "Don't Go" and "Nobody's Diary" -- will be seeing plenty of each other. Yazoo (or Yaz as it is known in the United States) began its Reconnected tour May 26 in Copenhagen, and dates extend across Europe and the United States through late July.

"In Your Room" (Mute), a four-disc collection of remasters, remixes, B-sides, a DVD and the band's two albums "Upstairs at Eric's" and "You and Me Both," is out now in the United Kingdom and Europe. Moyet's latest solo disc "The Turn," issued in the U.K. last year on the Universal-backed W14 label, comes out in North America on July 8 via Decca.

1. IT'S BEEN A QUARTER-CENTURY SINCE YAZOO LAST PLAYED TOGETHER. WHY REUNITE NOW?

I would have done it a million times over in the last 10 years. It was unfinished business. Performing is like the pleasure point of the three areas we work in -- writing, recording and then doing it live. We only did about 24 gigs for the first album, but never did any for the second. And these songs are a big part of my catalog. It fell at a time when (Clarke's) Erasure were having a break, and it was just serendipity.

2. HOW DID THE REUNION COME ABOUT?

Before I put out my last album I was thinking, "I really want to sing these songs live." I e-mailed him, and he said as much as he liked the idea, he was in a committed musical relationship. You can't go back and shag the ex-wife for old time's sake. It's a bit like that, as much as we were never biblical, obviously. Then I got an e-mail from (Mute Records founder) Daniel Miller saying Vince had been in touch with him and had had a change of heart and did I still fancy doing a Yazoo gig?

3. WILL THE PERFORMANCES BE RECORDED FOR DVD/CD RELEASE?