SPEAK & SPELL

WELCOME

“Mr. Vincent Clarke is a God… will that do?” This was

THE Perfect GIFT FOR Christmas…

It’s better than socks!

BOYS SAY GO!

LESS THAN TWO YEARS AFTER FORMING, VINCE CLARKE AND HIS DEPECHE MODE FRIENDS WOULD SPIRAL AWAY IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. BUT IN THAT SHORT TIME, WHAT A POP MANIFESTO THEY LAID DOWN…

YAZOO CHASING THE DRAGONS

“WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE A BAND. WE JUST GOT HITS WILLY-NILLY, AND THAT SOMEHOW KEPT US IN THE SAME ROOM.” CLASSIC POP TALKS ALL THINGS YAZOO WITH VINCE CLARKE AND ALISON MOYET…

BREAKING THE SILENCE

ONE PERSON WITH A UNIQUE VIEW OF THE VINCE CLARKE STORY IS, OF COURSE, MUTE LABEL FOUNDER DANIEL MILLER, HAVING BEEN WITH VINCE DURING MANY OF THE PIVOTAL MOMENTS OF HIS EXTRAORDINARY 40-YEAR CAREER. HERE, HE CANDIDLY LOOKS BACK OVER FOUR DECADES WITH “A WARM-HEARTED, BRILLIANT MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER”…

UPSTAIRS AT ERIC’S

HOW AN OPPORTUNISTIC MEETING OF A POP PROPHET IN WAITING AND A FLEDGLING POWERHOUSE VOCALIST LED TO A STRIPPED-BACK SYNTH-POP MASTERCLASS THAT REMAINS TIMELESS ALMOST 40 YEARS ON

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

IN ANDY BELL, VINCE CLARKE FOUND A PERFECT MUSICAL PARTNER. TODAY, THE SINGER LOOKS BACK OVER ERASURE’S CAREER – THREE AND A HALF DECADES OF SOUL, SHOWMANSHIP AND FABULOUS POP MUSIC

THE CIRCUS

THE NAY-SAYERS WERE OUT IN DROVES BUT CLARKE AND BELL MADE THEM MUNCH THEIR WORDS WITH ERASURE’S FABULOUS SECOND ALBUM – UPLIFTING, FLAMBOYANT, AND WITH UNEXPECTED DEPTHS OF MEANING JUST WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED…

ELECTRO DREAMS

GARETH JONES HAS BEEN WORKING CLOSELY ALONGSIDE ERASURE FOR OVER 30 YEARS. HERE, THE VETERAN PRODUCER TALKS US THROUGH SOME OF THOSE SEMINAL ALBUMS HE MADE WITH VINCE AND ANDY…

Q&A

ANDY BELL IS BETTER PLACED THAN ANYONE TO KNOW WHAT MAKES HIS ERASURE PARTNER TICK. WHY ARE THE PAIR SO SUITED FOR EACH OTHER? DO THEY CONFORM TO THE SYNTH-POP LINEAGE OF THE WILD FRONTPERSON AND RESERVED KEYBOARD PLAYER? JOHN EARLS

TOP 4O VINCE CLARKE TRACKS

Timeless synth-pop nuggets, stunning ambient textures, soaring, life-affirming singles and album cuts – all these, and more, have earned their place in our round-up of the best of Vince Clarke. Plus, Classic Pop staff and writers choose their own favourites…

POP ART

VINCE CLARKE HAS A UNIQUE AND CONSISTENT SOUND, BUT THE WAYS IN WHICH HIS RECORDED BODY OF WORK HAS BEEN VISUALLY REPRESENTED VARIES WILDLY. HIS RELEASES HAVE BEEN PACKAGED BY A WIDE RANGE OF CREATIVE TALENTS, AND HERE WE GIVE A LITTLE RESPECT TO SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS…

RESET RECORDS

CLARKE AND RADCLIFFE’S MID-80S VENTURE

HOUSE OF ILLUSTRIOUS

FORGED IN SHEFFIELD: A LIMITED BOXSET FROM 2012

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

IT’S 35 YEARS SINCE ERASURE’S DEBUT SINGLE WHO NEEDS LOVE LIKE THAT, BUT ANDY BELL AND VINCE CLARKE SOUND AS YOUTHFUL AS EVER ON THEIR 18TH ALBUM, THE NEON. THE DUO HAVE REMAINED RESOLUTELY SELF-SUFFICIENT, FORSAKING OUTSIDE SONGWRITING HELP TO CREATE FORWARD-THINKING, HYPERREAL CELEBRATIONS. HOW DO THEY KEEP UP? ANDY AND VINCE GIVE CLASSIC POP A MASTERCLASS ON HOW TO STAY RELEVANT – WITHOUT BORING YOUR FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY

THE INNOCENTS

VINCE AND ANDY’S THIRD ALBUM WAS THE BIGGIE, THE ONE WHERE MELODIES AND LYRICS COALESCED TO FORM ONE OF THE FINEST POP ALBUMS OF THE 80S. IT ALSO ZOOMED TO NO.1 AND HAS SASHAYED ONWARDS TO SELL MORE THAN FIVE MILLION COPIES…

A VERY DIFFERENT RECORD LABEL

VINCE CLARKE’S VERYRECORDS IS HIS BESPOKE LABEL FOR RELEASING TOP-QUALITY ELECTRONIC MUSIC – BUT, AS HE REVEALS TO CLASSIC POP, IT’S ALSO A GREAT WAY FOR HIM TO GET OUT AND MEET NEW PEOPLE. IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE SIGNED TO THE LABEL, YOU WILL VERY PROBABLY END UP MAKING MUSIC WITH THE BOSS HIMSELF. VERY, THEN, IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL RECORD LABEL…

UNION STREET

IT’S PLAIN TO SEE VINCE CLARKE IS A BORN COLLABORATOR, FOR THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER HE HAS SOUGHT TO FIND LIKE-MINDED SOULS WITH WHOM HE CAN BRING HIS VISIONS TO LIFE. CLASSIC POP JUMPS INTO A WORLD OF ONE-OFF HITS AND AMBIENT SOUNDSCAPES – AND SOME UNEXPECTED OLD-SKOOL TECHNO, MADE WITH AN OLD FRIEND…

HIP TO BE SQUARE

2SQUARE WAS RELEASED IN 2016. ORBITAL’S PAUL HARTNOLL EXPLAINS TO CLASSIC POP HOW IT ALL CAME ABOUT…

SNAKES ALIVE!

PERHAPS THE UNLIKELIEST RECONNECTION FOR VINCE WAS WHEN HE EMAILED ONE-TIME BANDMATE MARTIN L GORE WITH VIEW TO A COLLABORATION IN THE EARLY 2010S…

Q&A

ILLUSTRIOUS, INDEED. VINCE’S COLLABORATOR IN MANY THINGS WONDROUS, EXPERIMENTAL AND AMBIENT EXPOUNDS ON THEIR SYMBIOTIC MUSICAL RELATIONSHIP… IAN WADE

TOP 20 VINCE CLARKE REMIXES

Many, marvellous and multi-talented are the musical travellers who have applied a fingertip to Mr Clarke’s doorbell in search of his special mix magic. Ian Wade presents a run-down of some of the very best, from Madchester in 1988 to modern-day Sheffield…

Q&A

CLASSIC POP CATCHES UP WITH A REFLECTIVE VINCE CLARKE TO DISCUSS HIS FOUR DECADES AT THE TOP – THE HIGHS, THE LOWS, THE DAWN OF DEPECHE MODE – AND, OF COURSE, THE SYNTHS…

CLASSIC POP MOMENT

It was the apex of Erasure’s career, they called it