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The Two Ring Circus

Remix / live album · 1987

Remixes, Andrew Poppy’s orchestral arrangements, and extra live tracks on CD and cassette: a companion to The Circus.

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ErasureFan illustration for The Two Ring Circus; not official release artwork
ErasureFan illustration; not official release artwork.

Listening notes

Inside The Two Ring Circus

By Alex Vale

The Two Ring Circus is not a conventional follow-up to The Circus. Its first half lets Flood, Pascal Gabriel, Little Louie Vega, Vince Clarke, Eric Radcliffe, and Daniel Miller pull the same songs toward different rhythms and dance-floor arrangements.

Then the frame changes. Andrew Poppy’s orchestral arrangements of “If I Could,” “Spiralling,” and “My Heart… So Blue” remove the remixer’s obvious pulse and expose a more formal melancholy. CD and cassette editions add The Touring Circus: seven Hamburg performances ending with “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”

That three-part design—remix laboratory, orchestral chamber, live appendix—is the reason to own it. It is not the cleanest beginner route and should not be filed as a third studio album. It is the first strong evidence that Erasure’s catalog would keep producing useful side roads around the main sequence.

Release details

The Two Ring Circus facts

Verified 2026-07-18

First release
16th November 1987 (Germany), 16th November 1987 (UK), 1st December 1987 (USA)
Release type
Remix / live album
Label
Mute
Catalog number
l stumm 35, L stumm 35, L. STUMM 35
Track list (16 tracks)

Reference edition: The Two Ring Circus · GB · 1987-11-16 · 12" Vinyl. Track order can differ by territory and reissue.

  1. Sometimes (Erasure & Flood Mix) [4:54]
  2. It Doesn’t Have To Be (Mix By Pascal Gabriel) [6:55]
  3. Victim Of Love (Little Louie Vega Mix) [5:22]
  4. Leave Me To Bleed (Vince Clarke/Eric Radcliffe Mix) [5:09]
  5. Hideaway (Little Louie Vega Mix) [7:14]
  6. Don’t Dance (Daniel Miller & Flood Mix) [3:51]
  7. If I Could (Orchestral Arrangement & Thanks To Andrew Poppy) [3:50]
  8. Spiralling (Orchestral Arrangement & Thanks To Andrew Poppy) [3:32]
  9. My Heart… So Blue (Orchestral Arrangement & Thanks To Andrew Poppy) [4:07]
  10. Victim Of Love (Live) [3:58]
  11. The Circus (Live) [4:57]
  12. Spiralling (Live) [2:30]
  13. Sometimes (Live) [3:40]
  14. Oh L’Amour (Live) [4:32]
  15. Who Needs Love Like That (Live) [3:01]
  16. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Live) [4:30]
Formats, editions, charts, and credits

Formats

VINYL (UK – LSTUMM35 / Germany – INT 192.622 / USA – Reprise 25667-1), CD (UK – LCDSTUMM35 / Germany – INT 892.622 / USA – Reprise 25667-2), CASSETTE (UK – CSTUMM35 / Germany – INT446.831 / USA – 25554-4), DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (ISTUMM35)

Chart positions

Not Eligible (UK) | 26 (Germany) | 186 (USA)

Edition notes

The CD and Cassette editions include 7 bonus tracks, entitled ‘The Touring Circus’, taken from The Circus ‘Live In Hamburg’ collection.
The album was released in the USA with a different tracklisting; it omits ‘The Circus (Live)’ but includes ‘The Circus (Gladiator Mix Edit)’ (labelled as ‘The Circus (Dave Powell Mix)’).
‘The Two Ring Circus’ album was later re-released as a limited-edition double cassette with The Innocents (CSTUMM55D).

Selected credits

Written by Clarke/Bell
Published by Musical Moments Ltd/Minotaur Music Ltd/Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd.
‘Who Needs Love Like That’ and ‘My Heart… So Blue’ written by Clarke. Published by Musical Moments Ltd/Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd.
‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ written by Andersson/Ulvaeus. Published by Bocu Music Ltd.
Produced by Flood.
‘Sometimes [Erasure & Flood Mix]’ mixed by Erasure and Flood.
‘It Doesn’t Have To Be [Mix By Pascal Gabriel]’ mixed by Pascal Gabriel.
‘Victim Of Love [Little Louie Vega Mix]’ mixed by Little Louie Vega.
‘Leave Me To Bleed [Vince Clarke/Eric Radcliffe Mix]’ mixed by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.
‘Hideaway [Little Louie Vega Mix]’ mixed by…

Sources

Corrections are welcome through the contact form.

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