NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Martin L. Gore

Martin left St. Nicholas's Comprehensive School in 1977 and took a job as a bank teller. Despite discovering that it was not the most exciting of jobs, and certainly not his vocation, he decided that the banking industry would make for a safe career option. During evenings, weekends and any other spare time, Martin was involved with the local band "Norman and the Worms".

In 1980, Martin met Andy "Fletch" Fletcher at the Van Gogh club, and was soon recruited into his band, "Composition of Sound". Before long, the band changed their name to "Depeche Mode" and recruited David Gahan to be the band's singer.

On Depeche Mode's first album, Speak & Spell (1981), Vince Clarke had chiefly been responsible for the album's material. Gore contributed only two tracks; the instrumental "Big Muff" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!". When Vince Clarke announced his departure from Depeche Mode in 1981 (citing the pressures of fame as the reason), Martin took over the songwriting duties for the band. Gore had been writing material since the age of 14.

The songs that he provided for Depeche Mode's second outing, A Broken Frame (1982) were vastly different in sound and lyrical content from Vince Clarke's lyrically nonsensical offerings on Speak & Spell. The predominant themes were unrequited love and naivety, with a dash of everything from politics to religion.

When Alan Wilder was finally introduced as a permanent member of the band, Gore let all production and arrangement responsibilities rest with him. This is especially evident when one compares the solo church organ demo of "Enjoy The Silence" with the epic masterpiece that it eventually became.

Because of their real world subjects, Martin's songs have appealed to a wide and varied audience, despite, and maybe even because of, their often simplistic lyrics. As a result, Depeche Mode have retained a loyal fan base for more than two decades.

Categories: 1961 births

Results from FactBites:

MARTIN L.GORE - Counterfeit 2 (289 words)
	Gore’s second solo album comes in the shape of radically reworked tracks, originally made famous by the likes of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Kurt Weill, John Lennon, Brian Eno and David Essex.
	However, Gore has done a good job and the success of this album lies in the fact that, reworks or not, its simply an album of strong songs that are likely to hugely appeal to the electronic-loving fraternity.
	Having said that, given the right conditions, Gore is a superb vocalist in his own right, and he takes the opportunity to use it brilliantly on Kurt Weill’s incredibly romantic 'Lost In The Stars'.

Moving Hands Music Magazine - Martin L. Gore, Counterfeit2 (564 words)
	Martin L. Gore a name that speaks volumes in itself and a musician I doubt I need to introduce any further.
	First of all, the ambition Gore has had with this album is not quite praising the artist hes covered, although to some extent this is inevitable.
	Of course, Gore has added much of himself to the songs, the mostly electronic production and of course Gores vocal style and musical sense have had a strong impact on these versions and I see little point in making comparisons.

More results at FactBites »

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