Yazoo – Situation

When A Throwaway B-Side Became A Club Revolution

In 1982, British synth-pop duo Yazoo released “Situation” as the B-side to their debut single “Only You”, which climbed to number two on the UK singles chart. What happened next was entirely against the band’s wishes but changed electronic music forever. When Sire Records released “Situation” as a standalone single in North America, remixed by legendary New York DJ François Kevorkian, it spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and crossed over to number thirty-one on the Black Singles chart. The song peaked at number seventy-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number thirty-one in Canada, but its true impact was felt on dance floors across America where the Kevorkian remix became the definitive version.

The duo behind “Situation” consisted of former Depeche Mode founder Vince Clarke and blues-influenced vocalist Alison Moyet. Clarke had left Depeche Mode after their debut album and responded to an ad Moyet placed in Melody Maker seeking musical collaborators. The pairing seemed unlikely—Clarke’s minimalist electronic sensibilities clashing with Moyet’s soulful vocal power—but it produced something entirely unique. Clarke wrote “Situation” using a Roland Jupiter 4 synthesizer, a Sequential Pro One monosynth, and a Roland TR-808 drum machine, creating a driving, hypnotic track with Moyet’s distinctive laugh opening the song. That laugh would go on to be sampled in dozens of recordings, most famously in Los del Río’s 1995 worldwide smash “Macarena”.

The song was recorded at Blackwing Studios in southeast London during grueling early morning sessions between five and eleven AM, the only time available because Fad Gadget had booked the studio during the day. Studio owner Eric Radcliffe oversaw production alongside Clarke and Moyet, with assistance from Mute Records founder Daniel Miller. When even those limited hours became unavailable, Radcliffe built a studio at his house in just ten days to complete the album. The sonic result was stark and propulsive—Clarke’s icy synthesizers locked into a relentless groove while Moyet’s powerful vocals conveyed emotional urgency over lyrics about romantic desperation.

“Situation” appeared on Yazoo’s debut album Upstairs at Eric’s, released on August 20, 1982, by Mute Records. The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and earned platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry. The North American version of the album, released by Sire Records, replaced the track “Tuesday” with “Situation” because Sire refused to release an album without their breakout club hit. Other singles from the album included the melancholic “Only You”, which became their signature ballad, and “Don’t Go”, which also reached the UK top three.

François Kevorkian’s remix work on “Situation” essentially created multiple classic versions of the same song. His 1982 US 12-inch remix became the most recognizable version, but he returned to the track in 1990 for the Deadline Mix, and an unreleased More Dub mix finally surfaced on a 2018 Record Store Day release. The remixes were created at Sigma Sound in New York with assistance from Goh Hotoda at Axis Studios and engineer John Potoker. In 1999, renewed interest in the song sent new remixes back to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for a second time, seventeen years after the original. Tom Jones covered the song on his 1994 album The Lead and How to Swing It, and Slant magazine ranked it at number sixty-four on their list of the one hundred greatest dance songs in 2006. The Saturdays heavily sampled “Situation” for their 2008 debut single “If This Is Love”, and Heidi Montag interpolated it for her 2009 single “Body Language”.

“Situation” stands as one of the defining moments where European synth-pop collided with American club culture and created something revolutionary. Despite Moyet telling NME in 1982 that she wasn’t happy with the record itself, even while celebrating its American success, the track became essential to understanding how electronic music crossed into mainstream dance culture. For anyone exploring the roots of modern electronic dance music or discovering the short-lived but influential partnership between Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, “Situation” remains the essential starting point—a B-side that became bigger than its A-side and proved that sometimes the most transformative moments in music happen entirely by accident.