Thank you to Per Aksel Lundgreen for sending me this article and for transcribing it into English!

Source: Ungdomsbladet Topp (Norway)

Journalist: Tor Milde

Vince Clarke - The Modern Pop Guru!

Vince Clarke should really be a familiar name for most music interested people, but for some strange reason, it isn't!

He has been the man behind a lot of big hits, just listen to this: He was a co-founding member of Depeche Mode, and he wrote most of the songs that helped Depeche Mode to get their breakthrough. After quitting Depeche Mode he started a collaboration with Alison Moyet, and together they formed the duo Yazoo and had a string of superb pop hits. After the end of this collaboration, Vince teamed up with producer Eric Radcliffe and the singer Feargal Sharkey, and the three of them formed the project called Assembly. They had a HUGE HIT with the soothing single Never Never, a track which boosted all of the charts around the world, and it also made it into the Top 3 spot here in Norway!

The project they called Assembly, was meant to be sort of a group that would have different singers on each track, and by this make a great collaboration album with the favourite singers of Vince and Eric. This turned out to be a very hard act to follow, since most singers wanted to join a real band, and not just get exploited for the sake of one single! That's why Assembly now also is a part of Vince's past, but he's not the type who's giving up, so now he's on to something new once again!

Now Vince has teamed up with the singer Paul Quinn, and the single One Day was released earlier this year with mixed reactions from the radio and the press. Paul Quinn obviously doesn't have the same type of interesting background as Vince, and his references from the past is limited to his participation in the band Bourgie Bourgie. This band never had any hits, and since Paul found his band very "career threatening" for him, to use his own words, he decided to leave the band approx. one year ago. Now, Paul Quinn has no regrets whatsoever about leaving his band, and he's also very exited about working with Vince, and Paul also tells us that he has got huge respect for the work that Vince has done in his previous bands, and that he hopes that he and Vince can do something together at a later stage if the opportunity should pop up.

It's already decided that One Day is the only single that Vince and Paul will do together for this time, but Vince also expresses his open hearted interest in teaming up with Paul again for another "project", as Vince likes to call his production and studio work nowadays. Another confirmation to the fact that it will be a "one off" project only, is that Paul Quinn's new solo single will be released as soon as "in a few weeks time", according to Paul himself, and the title of this single is Personality. Paul's new single is in fact an old "Rhythm 'n Blues" song, which has been given a really good work over and a "face lift", according to Paul himself. Paul also says that; "I don't think that the people who bought the One Day single will actually buy my new one, I'm not stupid you know, I have enough insight in my own personal career to see that the One Day single was bought by Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Vince Clarke fans and that I had nothing to do with the sales figures of the single itself! I just decided that I would put my ego aside for this project and let Vince do his "thing" here. I openly admit that I just wanted to sing on this record because I wanted to "be in for the ride", as well as getting the experience from working with the master mind that Vince really is! It's not exaggerated you know, he's probably the best synth-pop/pop songwriter around these days, and I know that my participation on this single will help my own career in other ways than record sales, but more in the field of contacts and people knowing who I am after this, so the result was as clear as the intention, both Vince and I wanted to feed our ego's!!"

Vince wasn't that keen on talking about the One Day single as Paul was, but somehow we find that very understandable, especially when Vince starts telling us about his new "project", involving the singer Andy Bell which he got hold of through an ad in an English music paper, and he even goes as far as telling us that there are plans for an LP with this project as well!!

Vince also tells us that he has been working with so many different singers because he can't really sing that well himself, and that he prefers to write and produce songs instead, because as Vince says: "That's what I'm good at, so why should I embarrass myself and the audience with my lousy vocals?? No, I want to do the production work, that's where I belong in the music business, no doubt!".

For Andy Bell, this must be like a dream come through, since this opportunity gives him the chance to work together with a famous songwriter and producer, and not just any songwriter and producer either, but in fact the one who managed to get Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Assembly into the charts several times, giving Vince a track record that makes good promises for Andy Bell and his future work with him in the new project they have formed together. Vince is VERY careful about saying "too much" about the new project before something is out in the open, and while he's obviously plotting out the important pieces in his cunning plan to get back into the charts, he almost whispers to us at the end of the interview; "I think the name of the project will be Erasure. I think it sounds good, and I know it's going to match perfectly with the music!". Well, what will Erasure sound like then Vince?? "Well, I'd rather not discuss it now if you know what I mean? I've said too much already, I can't believe I gave the band name away there!! You are one lucky journalist you know!". Then he turns the conversation quickly, puts up the "defence shield" again, and is back to his normal self again, very laid-back, and not very keen on saying anything but "yes" or "no" when we continue with our questioning.

Anyway, Vince Clarke has also produced songs for artists like Robert Marlow and Absolute, both of them acts which are signed to the Reset Records label, a label owned by Vince himself together with Eric Radcliffe. The only thing Vince wants to comment on regarding his record label, is this: "You know, it's very strange to have the power to pick up artists or acts that I like myself and then produce and release them, it's so different from what I've done before, but I like it a lot, I really do, and as Robert (Marlow - ed. note!) and I go way back, it's like picking up some of your past and you suddenly feel that you are back in 1979 again, it's great!". Well, any success with the record label and the artists that you have signed so far then? "Hmm! I'm not doing this for the money you know! This is the fun part, like a bunch of friends getting together, you see? I'm glad that RCA picked up the distribution, but so far their promotion has not been giving any big results, but I still hope that they will do enough work to make it worth while to release the album from Robert Marlow. It's a good synth pop album you know, it sounds a bit like the old Yazoo stuff, but Robert is a totally different singer and lyric writer, so you might recognise the sounds used and the way the songs are composed, but it will sound different anyway, more like the first Depeche album I think!".

Furthermore, Vince has also been producing songs or soundbeds for TV commercials, and the latest one is the well known Volkswagen ad that you probably all have seen already. We can practically say that Vince Clarke's work and productions are up the same alley as the stuff released by Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones, with simple but very catchy tunes, basically played on a synthesiser or other electronic instruments.

Vince is also telling us that he thinks that both Howard and Nik are making good songs, but that their earliest singles were their best in his opinion.

We are now entering a very exciting future, and it will be thrilling to see if Vince Clarke still has the appeal and impact as seen from his side before with his previous work. The big question now is if Vince can make both Paul Quinn and Andy Bell into new and famous names in the music business, and if Vince is following up his earlier success, then both Paul and Andy will have a good shot at future stardom, and undoubtedly their chances can be considered above average when having Vince as their collaborator.

Tor Milde