Vince Clarke: "Martin Gore brought along his synthesizer, we looked at the thing and thought, this is a lot easier than learning chords on a guitar and you only need one finger to play it"

Vince clarke.

Vince Clarke is almost unique in the synth-pop world for attaining significant success with a multitude of electronic bands throughout the ’80s and beyond. Having studied violin and piano at school, the South Woodford, London-born songwriter teamed up with schoolmate Andy Fletcher prior to the formation of Depeche Mode, then promptly left the band after their debut album Speak & Spell (1981) hit the top 10.

Shortly after, the introverted electro-pop mastermind met Alison Moyet to have huge but brief success with Yazoo before scoring even greater chart triumphs as one half of the interminable dance-pop duo Erasure, with vocalist Andy Bell. The restless Clarke has also collaborated with Martin Gore for the 2011 album VCMG and other electronic luminaries such as Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware, Jean-Michel Jarre and Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll, amongst others.