Macs have long been favorite tools of many musicians, but recently one artist’s Mac took center stage as the vocalist for a new composition. The work comes from Vince Clarke, one half of the pop/dance music duo Erasure. Clarke’s credits also include stints with Yazoo, The Assembly and Depeche Mode.
Erasure (formed by Clarke and conspirator Andy Bell) are back in the studio recording some new songs for an album to be released next year. Recently the Erasureinfo Web site featured a link to a new solo composition created by Clarke. It’s a rendition of the classic song “What a Wonderful World.” The song, considered by some to be a modern classic, was written by George Weiss and Bob Thiele and was first (and most famously) recorded by jazz legend Louis Armstrong.
Clarke created his rendition of “What a Wonderful World” earlier this year, and had help with its production and arrangement from Mick Martin. It’s a new twist on an old classic, with Clarke’s trademark electronic beats and instrumentation serving as the background for the voice synthesis of a Macintosh equipped with Speech Manager. The Erasureinfo site gives credits to Clarke’s Mac for supplying the voice.
Available in RealPlayer format, Clarke’s cover of “What a Wonderful World” is an exclusive feature on Erasureinfo.com. The track can be heard by visiting the site’s News page — the July 23 news item entitled “Exclusive brand new Vince Clarke track” leads to a page with three different streaming links of various quality. (Thanks to MacCentral reader Rich Evers for info used in this article.)