Andy Bell

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Interview: Vince Clarke

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In the synthpop world, there aren’t many artists who have enjoyed the artistic and commercial success that songwriter/synth wizard Vince Clarke has. As a founding member of Depeche Mode, he wrote the early singles “Just Can’t Get Enough”, “Dreaming of Me”, and “New Life”, and spearheaded the band’s 1981 debut album Speak & Spell before making a quick exit. Next came the short-lived band Yaz(oo) and songs including “Only You” and the dance masterpiece “Situation”.

In 1985, Clarke joined forces with singer Andy Bell to form Erasure, a band that has been going strong ever since. They have sold over 25 million albums, and have an amazing list of hit singles including “O L’amour”, “Sometimes”, “Victim of Love”, “Chains of Love”, “A Little Respect”, “Blue Savannah”, and “Always”. Just over a month ago, they released their sixteenth studio album The Violet Flame, which has been getting favorable comparisons with their recordings of decades past.

This interview was for a preview article for the Erasure concert at the Majestic Ventura Theater on 10/26/14. It was done by phone on 10/15/14. (Joe Dilworth photo)