Album · Erasure
The Circus by Erasure
The Circus is an album by Erasure, released in 1987. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 23 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Sometimes”, on 16 lists with a best position of #27.
The Circus, Erasure's second album, arrived on Mute on 30 March 1987, and it's where Vince Clarke, the synth whiz who had already passed through Depeche Mode and Yazoo, and singer Andy Bell became a proper pop force. Flood produced again, and the sound is bright, bubbling synth-pop with a heart that bleeds through the sequencers, Bell's soaring, fluttering voice wringing drama out of every chorus.
"Sometimes" had already done the heavy lifting, climbing to number two in the UK half a year before the album appeared, and "It Doesn't Have to Be", "Victim of Love" and the title track kept the run going, four top 20 singles in all. The album reached number six at home and stayed on the UK charts longer than any other Erasure record. In the States it was their first to crack the Billboard 200, with a pair of club hits, one of them a number one.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from The Circus on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sometimes | 16 | #27 | – | 1987–2022 | |
| 2 | Victim of Love | 5 | #49 | – | 1987–1999 | |
| 3 | It Doesn't Have to Be | 2 | #47 | – | 1987–1988 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.