“Martin Gore brought along his synthesizer – we thought, this is a lot easier than learning chords on a guitar and you only need one finger to play it”: Vince Clarke on the early days of Depeche Mode and his first synth memories

Depeche Mode.

In the annals of synth-pop history, there's one name that continually resurfaces. Most famous as one half of Erasure with vocalist Andy Bell, as well as being part-responsible for the emotive brilliance of Yazoo (alongside Alison Moyet), Vince Clarke is regarded as one of the world’s most adept architects of staggeringly successful electronic pop.

But, back at the beginning, when Clarke was merely a schoolboy, it was his partnership with his mate Andy Fletcher that led to the birth of a true behemoth.