Vince Clarke

Vincent John Martin born 3 July 1960 known professionally as Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985 and was previously the main songwriter for several groups including Depeche Mode Yazoo and the Assembly In Erasure he is known for his deadpan and lowkey onstage demeanour often remaining motionless over his keyboard in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bells animated and hyperactive frontman antics Erasure have recorded over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide Clarke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode Vincent John Martin was born on 3 July 1960 in South Woodford Essex he later moved to Basildon Essex He initially studied the violin and then the piano Clarkes early musical influences included Sparks Paul Simon and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark OMD who inspired his interest in electronic music Clarke also cites electronic influences such as the Human League Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget In December 2013 Clarke listed his 13 LPs that mean the most to him for The Quietus Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon 1973 Kraftwerk Computer World 1981 The Human League Travelogue 1980 Simon Garfunkel Bookends 1968 T Rex Electric Warrior 1971 David Bowie Heroes 1977 The Eagles Hotel California 1976 OMD Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 1980 Philip Glass Glassworks 1982 Genesis A Trick of the Tail 1976 Michael Jackson Dangerous 1991 The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks Heres the Sex Pistols 1977 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV 1971 In the late 1970s Clarke and schoolmate Andy Fletcher formed a shortlived band called No Romance in China with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar In 1979 Clarke played guitar in the Plan an Ultravoxinfluenced band with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith In 1980 after the Plan dissolved Clarke and Fletcher formed Composition of Sound and were soon joined by Martin Gore Clarke provided vocals until lead vocalist Dave Gahan joined the band which was renamed Depeche Mode At that time he adopted the stage name Vince Clarke by which he is currently known The band initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound which produced the studio album Speak Spell and the Clarkepenned singles Dreaming of Me New Life and Just Cant Get Enough in 1981 Source Article Vince Clarke from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30