Martin Gore

Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961)^[1] is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, producer, remixer, and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the majority of their songs. His work now spans over four decades. Gore's best-known compositions include hits such as "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy the Silence", "Stripped", "It's No Good", "In Your Room", "Strangelove", "I Feel You", "People Are People", "Precious", "A Question of Time", "Policy of Truth", "Everything Counts", "Behind the Wheel", "Shake the Disease", "Never Let Me Down Again" and many more.

In addition to composing music and writing lyrics for the majority of Depeche Mode's songs, Gore has also been the lead singer on some of them (examples include "Somebody", "A Question of Lust" and "Home"). He has been a backing singer on many others.

In 1999, Gore received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for "International Achievement".

Early life

Martin Lee Gore was born in Dagenham, Essex in England. Gore's biological father was an African-American G.I. stationed in Britain.^[2] Gore was raised by his stepfather and biological mother. He believed his stepfather was his biological father until age 13. When he was 13, he learned that his biological father was an African-American serviceman and, as an adult, later met him in the American South. 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".

He left Nicholas Comprehensive, Basildon in 1977 and took a job as a bank cashier. During evenings, weekends and any other spare time, he was involved with the local band Norman and the Worms with school friend Phil Burdett who later went on to become a singer/songwriter himself.

Gore has two younger half sisters, Karen, born in 1967, and Jacqueline, born in 1968.^[3]

Career

Martin Gore, Los Angeles, July 1986

In 1980, Gore met Andy "Fletch" Fletcher at the Van Gogh club. Fletcher recruited Gore into his band Composition of Sound along with Vince Clarke. Soon the band drafted Dave Gahan to be the lead singer after hearing 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 later considered taking them to court, but thought it would be good publicity for the magazine to let the band have the name.

Clarke left Depeche Mode in late 1981, shortly after the release of their debut album Speak & Spell. Clarke wrote most of the album, with Gore contributing two tracks, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff". "Any Second Now (voices)" features Gore's first lead vocals for the band. Gore sings lead vocals on several of the band's songs, notably ballads, his tenor voice providing a contrast to Gahan's dramatic baritone. When Clarke announced his departure from Depeche Mode in 1981, citing the pressures of fame and creative differences, Gore took over songwriting. Gore had been writing material since the age of 12.

Songs Gore wrote for Depeche Mode's second album, A Broken Frame (1982) differed musically and lyrically from Clarke's. Gore's writing became gradually darker and more political on subsequent Depeche Mode albums.

Gore sometimes plays guitars, typically his Gretsch White Falcon or Gretsch Double Anniversary on Depeche Mode songs. The first time guitar was used as the main instrument was on "Personal Jesus", although he used small guitar parts on previous songs, such as "Behind the Wheel" and "Love, in Itself". Gore's guitar playing developed even more on Songs of Faith and Devotion. However, in live performances, he switches his keyboards for his guitar on some older Depeche Mode songs, such as "Never Let Me Down Again" and "A Question of Time". In mid 1990 Gore stated –

NME – July 1990^[4]

On 27 May 1999, Gore was presented with an award by Daniel Miller for "International Achievement", by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, at the 44th Ivor Novello Awards, at The Grosvenor House Hotel.^[5][6]

Gore remains the main songwriter for Depeche Mode.

Personal life

Gore lives in Santa Barbara, California.^[7] He started dating lingerie designer and model Suzanne Boisvert after meeting in Paris in 1989. They married in August 1994. He has three children with Boisvert: daughters Viva Lee Gore (born 1991) and Ava Lee Gore (born 1995), and son Calo Leon Gore (born 2002). Gore and Boisvert divorced in 2006.

Gore married Kerrilee Kaski in June 2014. In October 2015 Kerrilee Gore updated her Facebook profile photo showing her to be pregnant.^[8] On 19 February 2016, Kerrilee gave birth to a baby girl named Johnnie Lee, his third daughter and fourth child.^[9]

Vegetarianism

Gore became a vegetarian for health and moral reasons in 1983.^[10][11]

Solo discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other appearances

VCMG

Former Depeche Mode colleague Vince Clarke collaborated with Gore for the first time since 1981 as techno duo VCMG on an instrumental minimalist electronic dance album called Ssss, released on 12 March 2012. The first EP entitled Spock was first released worldwide exclusively on Beatport on 30 November 2011.^[28] The second EP Single Blip was once again first released exclusively on Beatport on 20 February 2012. Their third EP Aftermaths was released on 20 August 2012.

MG

In late February 2015, several teaser images were displayed on Martin Gore's official Facebook page,^[29] citing a hashtag "MGxMG" which was later revealed to be a promotional tool for his new solo studio album, titled MG (named after his previous collaborative album, VCMG, with Vince Clarke from 2012). In a news post on his official website and various social media on 2 March, this confirmation of his new studio album announced its release would be on 27 or 28 April and previewed a track, Europa Hymn, from the new album.^[30]

Other collaborations

• Gore played keyboard on two tracks by Annette & Inga Humpe (Humpe and Humpe), called "Happiness Is Hard to Take" & "Don't Know Where I Belong" from their 1985 album Humpe Humpe
• He played guitar on the Gwen Stefani song "Wonderful Life" on her 2006 album The Sweet Escape.
• Gore collaborated on the band Onetwo's track "Cloud Nine" by playing the guitar and as songwriter of the song, which can be found on their 2007 album called Instead.
• In 2010, Tim Simenon's Bomb the Bass album Back to Light was published, which is containing the instrumental "Milakia", co-written by Martin Gore during the Ultra sessions. Gore also played synthesiser on the track.^[31]
• Compact Space's album Nameless (2011) includes the track "The Unstoppable Collision" with Gore on guitar. Compact Space is formed by Depeche Mode's collaborators Christian Eigner, Daryl Bamonte and singer Florian Kraemmer.
• Also in 2011, Gore created the sound "Siren-synth – Mutesound" on the track "Uni Rec" on the album Univrs by German glitch and minimalist techno artist Alva Noto.

Remixes

• 1994 Spirit Feel – "Rejoice" (Mystic Span Mix)
• 1995 Garbage – "Queer" (The Most Beautiful Woman in Town Mix)
• 1999 ON – "Soluble Words" (Sublingual Remix)
• 2003 Señor Coconut And His Orchestra – "Smooth Operator" (In-Disguise Remix)
• 2013 Diamond Version - "Get Yours" (Martin L. Gore Remix)

Depeche Mode songs with Gore on lead vocals

Depeche Mode's lead vocals are generally sung by Dave Gahan, but on occasion Gore will sing lead vocals. These are all the songs he sings, in chronological order:

• Speak & Spell
  • "Any Second Now (voices)"
• Construction Time Again
  • "Pipeline"
• 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 and "Condemnation" single]
  • "Judas"
  • "One Caress"
• Ultra
  • "Home"
  • "The Bottom Line"
• Exciter
  • "Comatose"
  • "Breathe"
• Playing the Angel
  • "Macro"
  • "Damaged People"
• Sounds of the Universe
  • "Jezebel"
  • "The Sun and the Moon and the Stars" (bonus track)
• Delta Machine
  • "The Child Inside"
  • "Always" (bonus track)

Duets

These are songs where Gahan and Gore have around equal singing time, in chronological order. In some instances, both sing at the same time (ex: "Behind the Wheel"), and in others, Gahan sang the verses while Gore sang the chorus (ex: "Everything Counts").

• A Broken Frame
  • "Shouldn't Have Done That"
• Construction Time Again
  • "Everything Counts"
  • "Shame"
• Some Great Reward
  • "Something to Do"
  • "People Are People"
• The Singles 81→85/Catching Up with Depeche Mode
  • "Shake The Disease"
  • "Fly On The Windscreen"
• Black Celebration
  • "Here Is the House"
  • "Dressed in Black"
  • "Breathing in Fumes" [B-side to "Stripped"] (the transformed voice throughout the song is the one of Martin Gore)
• Music for the Masses
  • "Never Let Me Down Again"
  • "Behind the Wheel"
  • "Pleasure, Little Treasure" [B-side to "Never Let Me Down Again"]
• Violator
  • "Waiting for the Night"
• Songs of Faith and Devotion
  • "Higher Love"
• Ultra
  • "Insight"
  • "Surrender" [B-side to "Only When I Lose Myself"], albeit only towards the end of the track.
• Exciter
  • "Dream On"
  • "The Sweetest Condition"
  • "I Feel Loved"
• Playing the Angel
  • "The Sinner in Me"
  • "Nothing's Impossible"
  • "Newborn" [B-side to "A Pain That I'm Used To"]
  • "Free" [B-side to "Precious"]
• Sounds of the Universe
  • "Hole to Feed"
  • "Wrong"
  • "Little Soul"
  • "Peace"
  • "Corrupt"
  • "Oh Well" [bonus track]

Sources

• Malins, Steve. Depeche Mode : Black Celebration : The Biography. Andre Deutsch, 2007. ISBN 978-0-233-00178-4
• Miller, Jonathan. Stripped: Depeche Mode 2003, 2004, Omnibus Press ISBN 1-84449-415-2
• Tobler, John. NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd, 1992. CN 5585. ISBN 0-600-57602-7

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martin Gore.

• Martin Gore Interview in SPIN
• Martin Gore's DJ Chart from Beatport
• Martin Gore on BBC Radio 1's Residency programme (interview and mix) from BBC Radio 1