Upstairs at Eric's | ||||
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Studio album by Yazoo | ||||
Released | 20 August 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1982 at Blackwing Studios, London | |||
Genre | Synthpop | |||
Length | 42:31 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Producer | E.C. Radcliffe and Yazoo | |||
Yazoo chronology | ||||
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Singles from Upstairs at Eric's | ||||
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Melody Maker | very favourable |
NME | favourable |
Robert Christgau | B+ |
Rolling Stone |
Upstairs at Eric's is the debut album by British synthpop duo Yazoo (known in the US and Canada as Yaz), released in the UK on Mute Records on 20 August 1982. It was produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe, with assistance from Mute label boss Daniel Miller on some of the tracks. Named after producer Radcliffe's Blackwing Studios where the album was recorded, Upstairs at Eric's was preceded by two top three UK singles, the ballad "Only You" and the more uptempo "Don't Go". The singles' success helped Upstairs at Eric's reach number 2 in the UK Albums Chart and gain platinum certification for 300,000 copies sold in the UK.
Against the group's wishes, "Situation", originally the B-side of "Only You" in the UK and Europe, was released as the band's debut single in the US and Canada, where a remixed version of the song by DJ François Kevorkian was a hit in the clubs and reached #1 on Billboard's Club Play Singles chart. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart "Situation" was a minor hit in the US, peaking at #73, while in Canada it made the top 40, peaking at #31. The North American version of the album subsequently substituted the remixed version of "Situation" for the UK album track "Tuesday". Upstairs at Eric's reached #92 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the US and #49 on the Canadian album chart.
The album track "Midnight" was later sampled by Rex the Dog for his 2008 dance hit "Bubblicious".