"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 ''Upstairs at Eric's'' is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo (known in North America as Yaz). It was released on 16 August 1982 by Mute Records. It was produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe, with assistance from Mute labe ...

'' (20 August 1982). The song peaked at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, 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 A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song features band members

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

and

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

in a sort of haunted mansion with Clarke cast in the role of

Victor Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...

. 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 ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' 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) #"Don't Go" – 2:53 #"Winter Kills" – 4:02 * US 12" single (Sire 29886-0) #"Don't Go (Re-mix)" – 4:08 #"Don't Go (Re-re-mix)" – 4:20 #"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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Other versions

The following artists have produced covers of or sampled the song: *1993 – Dutch act Boobytrax (aka

doop Doop may refer to: * Doop (comics), a Marvel Comics character * D.O.O.P. or Democratic Order of Planets on the television program ''Futurama'' * Doop (band), Dutch duo ** "Doop" (song), 1994 song by the duo See also * Doob (disambiguation) * ...

) released a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

version of the song. Their version peaked at number 23 in the Netherlands and at number 36 in Sweden. *1995 – British singer

Lizzy Mack Lizzy Mack is a vocalist from the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mai ...

had a UK number 52 hit with her version of the song. *2006 –

Nouvelle Vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

covered the song on their album '' Bande à Part''. *2007 - European band Bear Force 1 covers this song and many other songs. *2009 – The

Kid Sister Melissa Young (born July 3, 1980), known professionally as Kid Sister, is an American rapper based in Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her single " Pro Nails", which features Kanye West, and for her work as a member of the British music colle ...

song "Big N Bad" from the album ''

Ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

'' contains interpolations of "Don't Go". *2009 –

Smoove & Turrell Smoove & Turrell are a British group hailing from Gateshead in the North East of England. They play a style of music they describe as "Northern Funk" - a contemporary fusion of funk, soul, northern soul, hip-hop and electronica. The band is co ...

covered "Don't Go" on their album ''Antique Soul''. *2010 – Georgian-Greek singer

Tamta Tamta Goduadze ( ka, თამთა გოდუაძე; el, Τάμτα Γκοντουάτζε, Támta Gkontouátze; born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Tamta, is a Georgian-Greek singer. She first achieved popularity in Greece in ...

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

song "New Vibe Who Dis" featuring Indianapolis Singer Little League. *2019 – English DJ Riton and Dutch DJ

Oliver Heldens Olivier J. L. Heldens (born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, includ ...

sampled the synths of the song on their

future house Future house is a house music genre that emerged in the 2010s in the United Kingdom, described as a fusion of deep house, UK garage and incorporating other elements and techniques of other EDM genres. It is high in energy, generally consistin ...

song " Turn Me On", featuring British singer

Vula ''Vula'' first appeared in Cape Town in December 1984. Distributed to beach bathers and the like, it quickly became one of the country's top, alternative publications, before disappearing sometime in 1987. Other SA Alternative Publications * ' ...

. *2021 – English post-punk music duo

Sleaford Mods Sleaford Mods are an English post-punk music duo, formed in 2007 in Nottingham. The band features vocalist Jason Williamson and, since 2012, musician Andrew Fearn. They are known for their abrasive, minimalist musical style and embittered explo ...

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

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 Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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

References

{{authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles 1999 singles 2006 singles Yazoo (band) songs Songs written by Vince Clarke Song recordings produced by Eric Radcliffe Song recordings produced by Daniel Miller Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles