Eric Radcliffe

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Eric Radcliffe
Background information
Associated acts	Fad Gadget Depeche Mode Yazoo The Assembly Robert Marlow Erasure

Background

Eric Radcliffe (often credited as E.C. Radcliffe) is a recording engineer and producer who worked with New Wave and synthpop bands in the early 1980s in Basildon, England: Later owner of Blackwing Studios.

Eric Radcliffe was believed to have a huge part of Yazoo's success, and even had the duo's first album named after him (Upstairs at Eric's). In March 1984 Radcliffe gave an interview to Electronics and Music Maker in which he mentioned how he got into the business:

"When I was about fifteen the group I was in was booked into a four-track studio to do some demos, and I got a taste for recording then. I got an Akai reel-to-reel at home and I built a studio in the front room, with multi-core cable running into my bedroom which acted as the control room... it snowballed... eventually I was able to afford a eight-track Teac and it was with that machine that I came up to London and set-up the studio here, which I called Blackwing and it took off in earnest..."

And a snippet on his contribution to the Yazoo sound:

"We often combine more than one [device] to create a sound. One particular one that sticks in my memory is the snare-drum sound on Yazoo's 'Don't Go', I did that using the Lexicon 224 and 224x [reverbs] ganged together. We came across that sound entirely by accident, but then again, in the final analysis I think you discover almost everything by accident, just by fiddling around".

After Yazoo, Radcliffe and Yazoo-songwriter Vince Clarke continued to work together. As The Assembly they released a single with singer Feargal Sharkey in the autumn of 1983. Clarke and Radcliffe also founded the record company Reset Records, and released singles with Robert Marlow.

Eric Radcliffe is now living in Gravesend in Kent, with his partner Cathryn and daughters Kai, Fay and Mae. According to former Yazoo-singer Alison Moyet, Eric prefers these days to avoid the attention.

In the documentary video accompanying Yazoo's 25th anniversary release 'In Your Room', Eric Radcliffe delivers the following written message:

"I count myself fortunate and privileged to have worked with such a talented team. I remember that we had to build a studio in my house (in about ten days) to complete the recording of 'Upstairs at Eric's' because Blackwing Studios London was fully booked. My mother provided us all with her famous "egg and chips" and also appeared on the record. Wonderful days!

Best regards

Eric Radcliffe"

Notable work

See also Cat:Albums produced by Eric Radcliffe.

• Fad Gadget - Fireside Favourites (1980)
• Fad Gadget - Incontinent (1981)
• Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981)
• Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's (1982)
• Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame (1982)
• Yazoo - You and Me Both (1983)
• The Assembly - Never Never (1983)
• Robert Marlow - The Peter Pan Effect (1999)

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