Depeche Mode: "Speak Spell" (1981) Overtly influenced by the German synthesizer band Kraftwerk , this album in turn launched a thousand other synth-pop bands. "Speak Spell" blended cold, sparse electronics with dispassionate vocals, concluding with "Just Can't Get Enough," still a staple of '80s parties and compilation CDs.
Yaz: "Upstairs at Eric's" (1982) After leaving Depeche Mode, Clarke teamed up with Alison Moyet, whose soulful, bluesy voice was the perfect foil for his machine-created rhythms and melodies.
While "Goodbye Seventies" and "Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)" can still get dance floors rocking today, the ballads "Only You" and "Winter Kills" are drop-dead gorgeous.
Erasure: "The Innocents" (1988) After parting ways with Moyet, Clarke recruited Andy Bell, a man who happens to sound almost exactly like her. Bell's amazing falsetto set him apart from other technopop acts, and Erasure's third album catapulted them to fame with the single "A Little Respect," whose video was in regular rotation on MTV.
Erasure: "Erasure" (1995) For the first time, the duo dispensed with any attempt to get a song on the pop charts. Marked by bubbling sonic landscapes and stretches without lyrics, these songs take their time reaching their destinations. The self-titled effort was panned upon its release but has stood up well over time.
Erasure: "Nightbird" (2005) A perfect collection of electronic pop, "Nightbird" contains not a single dud. Twenty years after meeting, Clarke and Bell show they still have great music in them.
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