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Yaz
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history · #116 in alternative artist polls

Yaz

Band Basildon United Kingdom Active 1982–1983 80s British synthpop duo, aka Yaz

Yaz formed in 1982 in Basildon, United Kingdom and was active until 1983. Yaz has 110 chart appearances on 60 radio countdowns from 17 stations on RockLists, spanning 1983–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Situation”, which appears on 46 lists with a best position of #8. The station that charted Yaz most often is Live 105 (San Francisco, CA), with 19 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1983.

110appearances
60countdowns
7songs charted
17stations
0#1 finishes
1983–2026years

Yaz, as North America knew them (Yazoo back home), paired the coolest synthesizers in Essex with one of the biggest voices in Britain. Vince Clarke had just walked out of Depeche Mode when he teamed up with Alison Moyet in Basildon, and the combination was electric: his keyboards bright, bubbling and precise, her singing full of bluesy grit and ache. Machines and soul, head and heart, and somehow they fit.

Their debut, Upstairs at Eric's, came out on Mute Records in 1982. "Only You" is a tender, spare ballad that lets Moyet's voice do all the heavy lifting, "Don't Go" bounces with a nervy, jittering synth line, and "Midnight" shows off the moodier side. "Situation", the dance-floor cut that has outlasted almost everything else on the countdowns, crackles with a restless electronic pulse and Moyet's commanding presence.

You and Me Both followed in 1983, carrying "Nobody's Diary", and the duo split in May of that year. Moyet launched a solo career, and a successful one, while Clarke co-founded the Assembly and later Erasure. The 2 of them regrouped for a tour in 2008.

Short as their run was, Yaz left a long shadow: they helped shape the synth-pop that was just coming together around them, and their records had a real influence on house music in the mid to late '80s.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Yaz on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Situation
2,735		 46 #8 – 1984
2 Only You
1,210		 20 #24 – –
3 Don't Go
1,003		 27 #37 – –
4 Nobody's Diary
206		 8 #75 – 1983
5 Walk Away
42		 4 #1784 – –
6 State Farm
19		 1 #164 – –
7 Midnight
16		 1 #1721 – –

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

83 84

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2026 688 Only You WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time
2026 266 Only You WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s
2024 406 Don't Go The Best Opening Tracks of All Time
2023 879 Only You WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023
2023 58 Only You The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2023 230 Situation The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2022 157 Only You X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time
2022 206 Situation X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time
2022 368 Only You The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2020 1711 Don't Go WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time
2014 1490 Situation CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013 1434 Situation CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011 1372 Situation CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010 1318 Situation CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009 1279 Situation CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009 1954 Don't Go CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008 1262 Situation CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008 1925 Don't Go CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007 1333 Situation CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007 1948 Don't Go CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2006 360 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)
2006 105 Situation The End Top 107 Resurrection Songs (December 2006)
2005 392 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005)
2003 1981 Situation CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 356 Don't Go Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 588 Situation Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1106 Only You Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1721 Midnight Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1981 Nobody's Diary Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002 354 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002 1784 Walk Away CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 471 Situation Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 963 Don't Go Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 1553 Only You Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 1734 Nobody's Diary Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 69 Artist ranking WLIR Top 92 Artists of All-Time (September 2002)
2001 342 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 1797 Walk Away CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000 342 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 1797 Walk Away CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 280 Only You 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999 461 Situation 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999 485 Nobody's Diary 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999 194 Only You Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 274 Situation Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 735 Don't Go Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 49 Don't Go WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 119 Situation WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 270 Situation WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999 446 Situation The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 812 Don't Go The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 66 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999 1795 Walk Away CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1998 119 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1996 117 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996 253 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996 46 Situation Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1996 237 Only You Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1996 268 Don't Go Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1996 36 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1996 390 Don't Go WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1995 288 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1995 420 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1995 240 Situation Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995)
1994 102 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994 272 Only You KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994 319 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994 26 Situation Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)
1994 366 Nobody's Diary Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)
1994 28 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1994 418 Don't Go WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1992 35 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992 146 Only You KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992 280 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992 8 Situation Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1992 173 Only You Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1992 225 Don't Go Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1991 29 Situation Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991 118 Only You Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991 197 Don't Go Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991 263 Nobody's Diary Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991 30 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991 467 Don't Go WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991 66 Situation CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991 198 Only You CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991 434 Nobody's Diary CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991 633 Don't Go CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991 55 Artist ranking Live 105 Top 105 Artists of All-Time (1991)
1990 20 Situation Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)
1990 29 Only You Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)
1990 262 Don't Go Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)
1989 53 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989 88 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989 37 Situation WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 19 Artist ranking Live 105 Top 105 Artists of All-Time (1989)
1988 90 Situation KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 281 Don't Go KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 13 Situation Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 37 Don't Go Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 53 Only You Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 151 Nobody's Diary Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988 24 Only You WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1988 61 Situation WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1988 87 Don't Go WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1988 164 State Farm WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1984 89 Situation 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984
1983 75 Nobody's Diary 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983
– 45 Situation WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s
– 102 Only You WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s
– 128 Don't Go WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s

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