Vince Clarke & Martin Gore's 8 Greatest Moments
Until just recently, sultans of synth Vince Clarke and Martin Gore hadn't worked together since the former left Depeche Mode in 1981. But the men who helped put electro-pop on the map back in the analog '80s have finally joined forces again for the duo project VCMG (no bonus points for guessing what it stands for) and the album Ssss,where they indulge their passion for good old electronic dance music. In the 30 years between Depeche Mode's incalculably influential debut album and VCMG, of course, both men have logged a lot of musical miles, so in anticipation of their new collaboration, here's a look back at the finest moments of VC and MG together and apart.
1. "Just Can't Get Enough" - Depeche Mode
In 1981, four young lads from Basildon fired the shot heard 'round the world with this frothy synth-pop masterpiece. Today it's a New Wave oldie, but at the time it sounded like the freshest thing imaginable, and with pop-savvy Clarke holding the songwriting reins, Depeche Mode seemed like nothing less than the electronic Beatles. The song's youthful abandon can still stir giddiness in unguarded hearts three decades later.
"Situation" - Yazoo
2. After departing Depeche Mode at the end of '81, Vince Clarke wasted little time getting his next project off the ground. In 1982 he unveiled his new duo, Yazoo (Yaz in the U.S.), with the soulful Alison Moyet on vocals and Clarke handling all the songwriting, synths, and production. Before the summer was over they had three hit singles to their name, and the third, "Situation," even managed to end up in Billboard's Black Singles Chart in America.
3. "See You" - Depeche Mode
Clarke's old buddies from Basildon weren't exactly sitting on their hands while he went off to conquer the world anew with Yazoo. But indeed it could've been all over for the band if Gore, who'd penned only a couple of DM tunes before, hadn't stepped up as sole songwriter for 1982's A Broken Frame. The yearning single "See You" showed that Gore had been concealing a pop knack nearly as mighty as Clarke's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUJOJ0d7e8c
4. "Never Never" - The Assembly
Unfortunately, Clarke's partnership with Moyet lasted only a short while, and before 1983 was out, he had already embarked on his next project, The Assembly, with Yazoo engineer Eric Radcliffe. Ex-Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey handled the vocals on the ill-fated outfit's only single, a masterful mix of melody and melancholy whose chart success couldn't keep The Assembly from quickly coming undone.
5. "A Question of Lust" - Depeche Mode
By the time of their 1986 album, Black Celebration, under Gore's stewardship, Depeche Mode had achieved arena status, simultaneously embracing a darker approach than the Beach Boys-meet-Kraftwerk days of Clarke's reign. Gore had also emerged as a lead vocalist with as much character and charisma as main singer Dave Gahan, a fact underscored by his performance on this hit single.
6. "Who Needs Love Like That" - Erasure
When Clarke moved on to his next project in 1985 by forming Erasure with singer Andy Bell, no one could've expected that the now notoriously mercurial songwriter was entering into what would become the longest, most successful partnership of his hit-packed career. The duo's first single, "Who Needs Love Like That," achieved merely a modest amount of attention compared with what was to come, but it fired one hell of a warning shot off the bow.
7. "Coming Back to You" - Martin Gore
As the main songwriter for Depeche Mode, Gore had little need to get his compositional ya-ya's out via extracurricular projects, so he reserved his few solo recordings for beloved cover tunes. Long before releasing his own lone solo album, Gore threw the world a bit of a left hook by closing the all-star 1995 Leonard Cohen tribute album Tower of Song with his vivid version of Cohen's country-flavored "Coming Back To You."
8. "Spock" - VCMG
Coming full circle by teaming up once more after three decades apart, Clarke and Gore created the tracks for their VCMG album, Ssss (due out on March 6) by batting files back and forth via the Internet. Unlike most of what both men have done over the years, the album -- advanced by its first single, "Spock," finds the veteran synth-poppers eschewing pop entirely, in favor of a full-on techno dance party suitable for revving up old ravers and youngbloods alike.
