BRITAIN’S ERASURE WANTS TO GET IT RIGHT IN U.S.

Andy Bell remembers all too well the first thing that greeted his ears from an audience after becoming the latest singer to be associated with noted English keyboardist Vince Clarke.

“ ‘Where’s Alf?’ somebody yelled. So I just yelled back ‘She couldn’t make it’ and carried on.”

“Alf” is Alison Moyet, Clarke’s partner in Yazoo (renamed Yaz in America), an acclaimed synth-and-soul duo that ended when Moyet opted for a solo career.

After a couple of false starts, Clarke (who was also once a member of Depeche Mode) put an ad in a British music magazine for “a versatile singer” and, after auditioning 43 prospects, formed Erasure with Bell. The duo--augmented only by two male backup singers--is on a four-city U.S. tour, including a Palace show tonight.

Bell and Clarke are hoping for a better reception in the United States than they’ve received so far in their native land, where their first single, “Who Needs Love Like That,” was a surprise flop and their “Wonderland” debut album has not done as well as expected.

Among those most surprised was Bell. “I thought we’d take off right away,” he said during a recent phone interview from New York. “I was nervous at the start, of course, but I was also confident. My confidence faded a bit when we started getting all the knocks.” Those knocks came chiefly from the fickle British press, which delighted in comparing Bell’s voice to Moyet’s.

The attitude of Erasure’s first crowds was also sometimes harsh. “British audiences can be tough,” Bell said. “People have yelled things, thrown things.” Bell’s openly gay stance may have riled some. And then there’s his performance style. “I suppose I do appear to camp it up a bit. I come out with all these different personalities on stage.” Something like David Bowie’s? “I think he had his more planned. I never really know what I’m going to be.”

And, yes, there are a lot of old Yazoo fans out there, measuring Bell against their beloved Alf. It chafes Clarke and Bell, but both admit there are some similarities.

Clarke’s primary instrument is the synthesizer, though he does play guitar on one or two songs in the current show, as well as manipulating drum machines and sequencers (“No tapes, though,” he promises). Most of the songs he and Bell write are cheery and danceable. So Clarke looks to Bell for some of the same things Moyet supplied: “Andy’s voice is the thing that puts the soul into the music.”

Bell’s is a higher-pitched voice that lacks Moyet’s huskiness, but leans in similarly Motown-ish directions. Bell has had a chance to compare notes with Moyet, and found that they have some influences in common--and not just of the R&B; sort.

Bell: “There’s someone we both liked a lot who people might not expect us to--Siouxsie & the Banshees. In general, I prefer women singers. Perhaps it’s because they’re able to express their emotions more easily.”

Moyet’s former partner still sees her occasionally, and wishes her well. “I’m really pleased for her. She’s doing what she wants to do now,” said Clarke.

He was aware from the start of Yazoo that the two of them came from varying musical directions. “I knew there were differences, but I didn’t know they would be as much of a problem as they became.

“I didn’t realize how much I loved doing the music I do, and how much she loved doing the music she’s doing now. It was something we had to discover. You can’t predict things like that from the outset. You hear other people say things, but you never know yourself.”

Philosophically, he summed up that period: “It was just doing some good songs with a good singer.” And is there any feeling about how long the association with Bell might last?

“Well, we’ve been together a year, so we’ve really gotten to know each other. We’ve discovered we agree on a lot, not only music but other things, like politics. We know each other better now, and the next album will delve into some deeper things.

“It’s definitely different with Andy--I never really co-wrote with anyone like this before, the way we sit around a piano and work out a tune together. It’s the most melodic music I’ve done since the Depeche days. With Alf, I pretty much wrote my songs and she wrote hers.”