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Don't Go (Yazoo song)

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1982 single by Yazoo

"Don't Go"
Artwork for 12-inch remix vinyl release
Single by Yazoo
from the album Upstairs at Eric's
B-side"Winter Kills"
Released2 July 1982
Genre
Length2:53
Label
Songwriter(s)Vince Clarke
Producer(s)
Yazoo singles chronology
"Only You"
(1982)
"Don't Go"
(1982)
"Situation"
(1982)
Music video
"Don't Go" on YouTube

"Don't Go" is a song by British synth-pop band Yazoo (known in the US and Canada as Yaz). It was released in 1982 as the second single from their debut album, Upstairs at Eric's (20 August 1982). The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Yazoo's second top 5 hit. In the US, where the band was known as Yaz, the song was their second big hit on the American dance chart, where it spent two weeks at number one in October 1982. Their first American dance chart hit was "Situation", which had also gone to number one on this chart earlier the same year. The music video for the song features band members Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke in a sort of haunted mansion with Clarke cast in the role of Victor Frankenstein. The song re-entered the UK Dance Chart on 13 December 2009 at number 30, peaking at number 15 on 2 January 2010.

Critical reception

Ian Birch of Smash Hits considered "Don't Go" to be a "sharp successor" to "Only You". He commented: "Vince coaxes a sterling song out of his synthesizer while Alf balances its metallic clip with a deep, emotion-packed vocal that gets better with every hearing".

Formats and track listings

  • UK 7" single (Mute 7 YAZ 001)
  1. "Don't Go" – 2:53
  2. "Winter Kills" – 4:02
  • US 12" single (Sire 29886-0)
  1. "Don't Go (Re-mix)" – 4:08
  2. "Don't Go (Re-re-mix)" – 4:20
  3. "Winter Kills (album version)" – 4:03

Note 1: "Winter Kills," the B-side to this single, is explicitly listed as "Not re-mixed" and "Not extended" on the album sleeve
Note 2: The US 12" single mis-prints the track lengths on the record, listing the "Re-mix" as 5:08 and the "Re-re-mix" as 3:20

Note 3:On Some releases both Mixes of Don't Go were combined into / shown as one track with a length of 8:28

Other Mixes

  1. "Don't Go" (Future Funk Squad Remix) - 5:35
    Taken from the 2008 Remixes Promo CD
  2. "Don't Go" (Future Funk Squad Remix) - 5:35
    Taken from the 2008 Remixes Promo CD

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 6
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 6
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 1
Denmark (Hitlisten) 13
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 7
France (IFOP) 3
Iceland (Dagblaðið Vísir) 1
Ireland (IRMA) 4
Italy (Musica e dischi) 22
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 22
Poland (Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego) 12
Portugal (AFP) 2
South Africa (Springbok Radio) 9
Spain (AFYVE) 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 2
UK Singles (OCC) 3
US Hot Dance/Disco (Billboard) 1
West Germany (GfK) 4
Zimbabwe (ZIMA) 19
Chart (1999) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) 17
US Hot Dance Club Play (Billboard) 16
US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard) 8
Chart (2000) Peak
position
France (SNEP) 91
Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Dance (OCC) 30
Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Dance (OCC) 15

Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report) 70
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 9
France (IFOP) 31
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 24
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 46

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 250,000

Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Other versions

The following artists have produced covers of or sampled the song:

  • 1993 – Dutch act Boobytrax (aka doop) released a house version of the song. Their version peaked at number 23 in the Netherlands and at number 36 in Sweden.
  • 1995 – British singer Lizzy Mack had a UK number 52 hit with her version of the song.
  • 2005 – Canadian artist Shawn Desman sampled the song for Let's Go from his album Back for More.
  • 2006 – Nouvelle Vague covered the song on their album Bande à Part.
  • 2009 – The Kid Sister song "Big N Bad" from the album Ultraviolet contains interpolations of "Don't Go".
  • 2009 – Smoove & Turrell covered "Don't Go" on their album Antique Soul.
  • 2010 – Georgian-Greek singer Tamta sampled the synths of the song on her single "Fotia".
  • 2011 – Slow Moving Millie covered the song on her album Renditions.
  • 2019 – Estonian DJ Madison Mars sampled the synths of the song for his house song "New Vibe Who Dis" featuring Indianapolis Singer Little League.
  • 2019 – English DJ Riton and Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens sampled the synths of the song on their future house song "Turn Me On", featuring British singer Vula.
  • 2021 – English post-punk music duo Sleaford Mods covered the song as it has been a fan-favourite of the duo's live sets for some time.
  • 2022 - Babert use a sample of the synthesizer main riff in his song "Can't Stop Now".

Starting Rock featuring Diva Avari version

"Don't Go"
Single by Starting Rock featuring Diva Avari
Released2006
Length3:27
Label541
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Hédi Banon
  • Stéphane Tedesco
Starting Rock featuring Diva Avari singles chronology
"Don't Go"
(2006)
"Movin' On"
(2007)

The song was covered and remixed by French project Starting Rock featuring Diva Avari. It was released in December 2006 as a single and had modest success in Europe. It reached the top 10 in Finland.

Music video

The music video depicts a male at a club dancing with women. He meets Diva Avari, who has her eyes set on him and he cannot escape her throughout their time at the club.

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) 10
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia) 10
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 3
France (SNEP) 24
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 34
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 42

See also

References

  1. "BPI certifications".
  2. "On Stage > Alison Moyet – Old Vic Theater, London". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 51. 21 December 2002. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Situation," followed by "Don't Go," two synth-pop dance jams from the singer's Yazoo days that, sadly, sounded out of place
  3. Owen, Tom (30 April 2024). "The top 25 greatest 1980s synthpop songs ever". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  4. "Top 40 synth-pop songs". Classic Pop Magazine. 13 September 2021.
  5. "Album Reviews / Alison Moyet". San Francisco Chronicle. 9 June 2013. Three decades after they were recorded, Alison Moyet's smoldering vocals can still be heard on the radio singing Yazoo's era-defining new wave hits "Only You" and "Don't Go."
  6. Mitchell, Matt (21 July 2023). "The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. Birch, Ian (8 July 1982). "Singles". Smash Hits.
  8. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 45. 13 November 1982. p. 64. ISSN 0006-2510.
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  10. "Yazoo – Don't Go" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  11. Danish Charts Archive. 29 October 1982.
  12. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Yazoo". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 285. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. "Le Détail par Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Select "Yazoo" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Yazoo". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  16. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 8 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Yazoo".
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  20. Poland Lista Przebojów 3 Archive. 2 October 1982.
  21. Portuguese Charts Archive. 7 December 1982.
  22. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (Y)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  23. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
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  27. ^ "Yazoo – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Yazoo – Don't Go" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  29. * Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  30. "Yazoo – Don't Go 1999 Mix" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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  33. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  34. "National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. 3 January 1983. Retrieved 1 January 2020 – via Imgur.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten 1982" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  36. "TOP – 1982". Top-france.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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  43. Hubbard, Michael (17 July 2006). "Nouvelle Vague – Bande A Part". musicOMH. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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  45. "Smoove & Turrell: Antique Soul – 2009 – Album review". Monkeyboxing. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  46. "Το νέο single της Tamta 'Φωτιά'" [Tamta's new single "Fotia"] (in Greek). MAD TV. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  47. Lester, Paul (11 November 2010). "Slow Moving Millie (No 1,147)". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  48. White, Nick (23 August 2019). "Madison Mars Brings Fresh Sound with 'New Vibe Who Dis'". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  49. Bein, Kat (12 September 2019). "Oliver Heldens & Riton Sample Yazoo Classic for 'Turn Me On': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  50. Aubrey, Elizabeth (17 December 2021). "Listen to Sleaford Mods' cover of Yazoo's 'Don't Go'". NME. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  51. "Starting Rock feat. Diva Avari – Don't Go" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  52. "Starting Rock feat. Diva Avari – Don't Go" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  53. "Starting Rock feat. Diva Avari: Don't Go" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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