Crackers International is a ChristmasEP released by Englishsynth-pop duoErasure in November 1988, in between the albumsThe Innocents (1988) andWild! (1989). The EP reached number-one in Denmark and Argentina, and peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The EP appeared in several different versions. The original UK release byMute Records consisted of four original, self-produced tracks. In the UK, where at the time EPs were eligible for the singles chart, it became one of Erasure's most successful releases, matching the number two peak of 1986's "Sometimes". It was promoted with a simple music video for the lead track "Stop!", showing Clarke and Bell performing the song on a stage surrounded by "stop", "no entry", "give way" and similar road signs.
In the US,Crackers International was still considered an EP, although tworemixes were added (bringing the track list count to six) whenSire Records released it. In the US, where EPs chart on theBillboard 200, it hit number seventy-three. The song "Stop!" was also released as its own stand-alone single in the US, just barely making an appearance on theBillboard Hot 100 (number 97). On the USHot Dance Music/Club Play chart "Stop!" / "Knocking on Your Door" peaked at number four as a double-sided entry.
Additionally, a version of the EP was released in the UK byMute Records in a very limited-edition, seasonal pressing, titledCrackers International Part 2. Released originally in 12" vinyl with extended versions of "Stop!" and "Knocking on Your Door", both remixed by Mark Saunders, it also added the Christmas standard "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". It was subsequently released as a compact disc containing the original 7" versions of "Stop!" and "Knocking on Your Door" (also of note is the fact that there were two different versions of the single mix of "Stop!", one with a fade, and a slightly longer one with a 'cold' ending).
Sire Records commissioned some mixes for the song by Justin Strauss, who previously had remixed "A Little Respect" for the US market, but the mixes remain unreleased.
Twenty-five years afterCrackers International, in 2013, Erasure would finally release a proper Christmas album, titledSnow Globe.
Ned Raggett from AllMusic complimented "Stop!" as brilliant, noting its "infectious energy".[4]
Everett True fromMelody Maker stated that "it takes some kinda fool genius to createfast songs of the scope and emotional rush" of "Stop!".[5]
In 2009, Darren Lee fromThe Quietus noted the "poutingdisco throb" of the song, praising it as one of "the most gloriously effervescent pop anthems ever recorded."[6]
In 2014, Chris Gerard fromMetro Weekly wrote, "Opening with a whirring burst of synthesizer, "Stop!" goes right into a manic and irresistible dance beat completely with achorus designed for singing along. "Stop!" is 3:02 of pure energy, a sure bet to fill the dance-floor during any '80s night. "Stop!" is asynth-pop classic."[7]
Note: There was also a 2 track 7" produced mainly forjukeboxes (Mute 93) with the same versions of "Stop!" and "Knocking on Your Door" as the 4 track version.
