Vince Clarke (born Vincent John Martin, South Woodford, Essex, England, July 3, 1960) is an English pop musician and songwriter, who has been involved with a number of successful pop groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure.

Vince Clarke Raised in Basildon, Clarke initially studied the violin and then the piano.

In the late 1970s Clarke and a schoolmate formed the short-lived band "No Romance in China". In 1979 he teamed up with Martin Gore to form "French Look" which was later re-named "Composition of Sound". Vince Clarke initially handled vocals.

Depeche Mode
In 1980 singer David Gahan was drafted in to complete the line up and the band was re-named Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound, which produced the hit album "Speak and Spell" and the hit single "Just Can't Get Enough" in 1981. Depeche Mode went on to achieve international stardom.

Yazoo
Clarke left Depeche Mode soon after the release of the first album. He then teamed up with singer Alison Moyet to form the electropop band Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.), which produced two albums and a string of hits including "Don't Go", "Situation" and "Only You".

Yazoo split in 1983, and Alison Moyet went on to have a successful solo career. In the following few years Clarke had one-off associations with several artists, notably with Paul Quinn and the single "One Day", and Feargal Sharkey as The Assembly and the hit "Never Never".
Erasure
In 1985 he put an ad in the Melody Maker for a singer, and the 41st applicant was Andy Bell, a fan of his earlier projects. He teamed with Andy to form the group Erasure, and the duo became one of the biggest selling acts in British history with international hits like "Oh L'Amour" and "Chains of Love".

Erasure continues to release albums, the latest of which was "Nightbird" in early 2005.

[Back]