Martin Gore

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Martin Lee Gore (born July 23, 1961 in Basildon, Essex, England) is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, and keyboardist. He is an original founding member of Depeche Mode, a quintessential 1980s synthpop band. His work now spans four decades, but he is best known as the composer of hits such as "Personal Jesus" and "Everything Counts."

[edit] Career

Martin left St. Nicholas's Comprehensive School in 1977 and took a job as a bank teller. During evenings, weekends and any other spare time, he was involved with the local band Norman and the Worms.

In 1980, Martin met Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher at the Van Gogh club and he was soon recruited into his and Vince Clarke's band, Composition of Sound. Soon the band drafted David Gahan to be the lead singer after seeing him sing "Heroes" by David Bowie. Gahan is credited with the name "Depeche Mode" after seeing the phrase as a title of a French fashion magazine, which considered taking them to court, but thought it would be good publicity for the magazine to let the band have the name.

When Vince Clarke departed the band in 1981 after their debut album Speak & Spell, Gore became the main songwriter of Depeche Mode.
Gore also sings lead vocals in several of the band's songs, mainly those that could be classified as Depeche's softer (love) ballads, his soft tenor voice providing a contrast to David Gahan's dramatic baritone.

Martin Gore of Depeche Mode - outside the hotel, just before leaving for the show. Los Angeles, July 1986

Vince Clarke wrote most of Depeche Mode's first album, Speak & Spell, (1981). Gore contributed only two tracks, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff". "Any Second Now (voices)" features Gore on lead vocals, his first for the band. When Vince Clarke announced his departure from Depeche Mode in 1981, citing the pressures of fame, Martin took over songwriting and composition duties for the band. He had been writing material since the age of 12.

The songs Gore wrote for Depeche Mode's second album, A Broken Frame (1982) were different in sound and lyrical content from Vince Clarke's offerings on Speak & Spell. The predominant themes were unrequited love and naïvety, with a dash of everything from politics to religion. This set a precedent for the darker tones in both the lyrics and the melodies for the group.

When Alan Wilder became a permanent member of the band (c. 1983), Gore let Wilder handle much of the production and arrangement of final, released versions. Because of "real-world" subjects and cynical, almost borderline nihilistic takes on the human race (and prominently, love), Martin's lyrics appeal to a wide and varied audience, despite (and maybe even because of) their relative simplicity. As a result, Depeche Mode have retained a loyal fanbase for over two decades.

Martin contributes lead vocals to Depeche Mode songs, usually around two per album. A Broken Frame is the only one without him as an official lead singer, however "Shouldn't Have Done That" has him prominently in the track, despite Dave Gahan's officially being credited as the singer. Fans mostly enjoy his tracks but the media, especially in 2005, tend to imply that he should leave the singing to Gahan. This could be the result of his songs in Playing the Angel and Exciter, which got mixed opinions from fans. Nevertheless his higher, reedier voice makes for a pleasant contrast with Gahan's deeper, sterner vocalising.

During Depeche Mode concerts, Gore typically sings two songs in the middle of the main setlist and one at the beginning of the first encore. Depeche Mode concerts are also known for his guitar playing. During "Enjoy the Silence", he has a guitar solo towards the end of the track, where he is introduced by Gahan to glorious applause. (This can be seen in the One Night in Paris DVD recording of the Exciter Tour)

[edit] Personal life

According to Jonathan Miller's book "Stripped: Depeche Mode" (Omnibus Press, 2003, 2004, ISBN 1.84449.415.2, pp.318-319), Gore's biological father was an African-American GI stationed in the UK. Gore was raised by his stepfather and biological mother. Miller quotes childhood friends and Gore himself. According to Miller's source, Gore is of mixed ethnicity, and, as an adult, met his father in the American South. Martin Gore responds to the source's information and is quoted in Miller's book saying "It brings up family traumas" and "It's one of those things I'd rather not talk about."

On August 27, 1994, Martin married lingerie designer Suzanne Boisvert, and has two daughters and a son with her: Viva Lee Gore (b. 6 June 1991) and Ava Lee Gore (b. July 1995) and Calo Leon Gore (b. July 27, 2002). The family still lives together in Santa Barbara, California, just blocks from where the latest Depeche Mode Album was recorded.

As of January 2006 Martin has divorced from Suzanne. The song "Precious" from 2005's Playing the Angel was a product of the divorce, written as a response to the trauma it caused his children. [1]

[edit] Solo discography

1. Counterfeit e.p. (Mute STUMM 67, 1989)
2. Counterfeit² (Mute STUMM 214, 2003)

In 2003 Mute released Gore's Counterfeit², a follow up solo cover album to the 1989 Counterfeit EP. Both feature only versions of material by other songwriters. Gore has stated publicly that he considers himself not the most prolific songwriter and prefers to keep his own material for Depeche Mode albums.^{[citation needed]}

The first Counterfeit featured covers of bands such as The Durutti Column, Comsat Angels and Sparks. Second one contained an eclectic barrage from David Essex to Lou Reed, John Lennon, David Bowie and even Nick Cave.

He played guitar on Gwen Stefani song "Wonderful Life" on her 2006 album The Sweet Escape.

[edit] Singles

[edit] Depeche Mode songs with Martin on lead vocals

Depeche Mode's lead vocals are generally handled by David Gahan, but on occasion Martin will sing lead vocals. These are all the songs he sings in chronological order.

• Speak and Spell
  • "Any Second Now (voices)"
• A Broken Frame
  • "Shouldn't Have Done That"
• Construction Time Again
  • "Pipeline"
  • "Everything Counts (Reprise)"
• Some Great Reward
  • "It Doesn't Matter"
  • "Somebody"
• Black Celebration
  • "A Question of Lust"
  • "Sometimes"
  • "It Doesn't Matter Two"
  • "World Full of Nothing"
  • "Black Day" ["Stripped" single]
• Music for the Masses
  • "The Things You Said"
  • "I Want You Now"
  • "Route 66" (cover of a song by Bobby Troup [B-Side of "Behind the Wheel"]
• Violator
  • "Enjoy the Silence" (Harmonium version only) ["Enjoy the Silence" single]
  • "Sweetest Perfection"
  • "Blue Dress"
• Songs of Faith and Devotion
  • "Death's Door" [Until the End of the World soundtrack]
  • "Judas"
  • "One Caress"
• Ultra
  • "Home"
  • "The Bottom Line"
• Exciter
  • "Comatose"
  • "Breathe"
• Playing the Angel
  • "Macro"
  • "Damaged People"

[edit] Duet

These are songs where Dave and Martin have around equal singing time, in chronological order. In some instances, both sing at the same time (ex: "Behind the Wheel"), and in others, Dave sings the verses while Martin sings the chorus (ex: "Everything Counts").
Note that the songs listed here are based on judgement of the Wikipedia users editing this site, and may not officially be called "duets" by the band or some other Wikipedia users.

• Everything Counts [Construction Time Again]
• Something to Do [Some Great Reward] (the 2004 Black Strobe remix completely loses Gahan's voice)
• People Are People [Some Great Reward]
• Shake the Disease [Catching Up with Depeche Mode]
• Here is the House [Black Celebration]
• Behind the Wheel [Music for the Masses]
• Pleasure, Little Treasure [Music for the Masses]
• Waiting for the Night [Violator]
• Insight [Ultra]
• Surrender [B-side to "Only When I Lose Myself"], albeit only towards the end of the track
• The Sinner In Me [Playing the Angel]
• Nothing's Impossible [Playing the Angel]
• Newborn [B-side to "A Pain That I'm Used To"]

[edit] Live

These are songs that Martin has sung lead live, although the studio versions are sung by Dave, in chronological order of the song's first live performance by Martin. Includes his solo concerts in 2003.

• Little 15 (World Violation Tour)
• Here is the House (World Violation Tour)
• Condemnation (Exotic Tour, Exciter Tour, Solo)
• Waiting for the Night (Exotic Tour)
• Sister of Night (KROQ Acoustic Christmas '98, Exciter Tour)
• Dressed in Black (Exciter Tour)
• Surrender (Exciter Tour, Solo)
• Only When I Lose Myself (Solo only)
• In Your Room (Solo only)
• Walking in My Shoes (Solo only)
• The Love Thieves (Solo only)
• Enjoy the Silence (Solo only)
• Shake the Disease (Solo, Touring the Angel)
• Leave in Silence (Touring The Angel)

[edit] Trivia

• A curiously endearing parody of Depeche Mode's "Somebody", entitled "Some Valium for Fletch" was released on the internet, and features a fictional Martin Gore singing an anxiety-ridden Andrew Fletcher to sleep after the final Touring the Angel concert.