Yaz: Alison Moyet (vocals); Vince Clarke (synthesizer).
Almost the equal of their influential debut UPSTAIRS AT ERIC'S, Yaz's second and final album, 1983's YOU AND ME BOTH, is a strong collection of diverse songs. The duo of ex-Depeche Mode songwriter Vince Clarke and formidable R&B singer Alison Moyet had scored three classic singles off their debut, and they trumped them all with this album's great double-sided hit "Nobody's Diary" and "State Farm," the synthpop equivalent of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane."
Like that double-sided Beatles hit, however, this single showed that Clarke and Moyet were drifting apart musically, with one side a soulful, downcast ballad and the other a thumping dance club anthem. Clarke and Moyet alternate songwriting credits on the album and while both contribute gripping tunes, the results are somewhat schizophrenic when taken as a whole. It was not altogether surprising when the duo split upon the album's release, Moyet to a solo career and Clarke to form Erasure.