Vince Clarke Interview about Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure on Night Network

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[@KortKramer]

Vince is proof that a quiet, understated musician can still be successful.

[@gonzalocatalan5393]

And highly talented as well..

[@johnmccann1960]

No matter the angle you look at it, Vince Clarke is a genius. it's that simple.

[@DoubleVisionandco]

Vince Clarke, the quiet genius.

[@belenhernandezbenavente3420]

Yes, I love him in fact

[@GAMELAUNDRY]

totally genuine guy. genius yes:) love erasure.

[@KortKramer]

Vince is the best.

[@user-hq5lh3wu3m]

Absolutely agree

[@stbjerre]

Not only genius but he was a pioneer of synthpop music

[@ericweiler6571]

I met Vince and Andy after a concert here in Seattle. Their cool and calm attitudes reflected off the stage as it did during their show. Great human beings!!

[@carlitafp]

hahah Vince is so brief and straight forward in his answers, he's kinda hard to interview! A genius no doubt !

[@stephenwilliams944]

I have always admired Vince Clarke, He is a very talented musician and is incredibly grounded. He plays the game in his own way without attitude or arrogance, Respect.

[@robertisham5279]

If only he stayed in the band. People keep saying bring back Alan Wilder now that Fletcher is dead. I say they should bring back Vince instead.

[@alexkoch3712]

@@robertisham5279 I agree. Alan's well been retired since 2010! He's done with music and I respect that, whereas Vince I am pretty sure's just still as quiet as he's always been, but still working hard. It'd be crazy to see him back and see what he has to contribute since we only ever saw one album with him.

[@lloydlyall8120]

Fair play for keeping his cool in this interview 😎

[@antonwitter]

Totally see what you mean 😉

[@PsyMongazoid]

Absolute legend. Very creative and good tunes. Not given nearly as much credit as he deserves.

[@user-pk4sd9dd2w]

totally agree.

[@GaryWayneHill64]

A living legend, thanks for all music Vince, from the past, to the present and no doubt the future. Great to see Erasure back on tour again.

[@Cedde6]

I have to say, Vince Clarke is probably the ONLY music personality I can watch old or even current interviews without cringing (as opposed to “insert name here”). Ego, even masked as humility, is so ghastly to watch that sometimes there are no big enough cushions to hide behind. Vince’s truly a really decent guy and success has never got to his head. One of a kind.

[@Cedde6]

In fact, come to think of it, the same could be said of the Basildon cohort really. Dave, Martin, Andrew and Alison (and even Alan) always and still come across as down to earth.

[@belenhernandezbenavente3420]

Love Vince Clark, Depeche Mode, Yazoo,... The golden 80s music... 😪❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😊😊😅

[@adinichifor5871]

Half of planet loves you Vince. All the best from Romania.

[@darkestserenity6775]

Man is a genius from one success to another

[@rbrtck]

Right, and he started all of those bands and made them successful, too.

[@dukecharlesmccrae]

Individually, Vince and Alison are so awesome. Erasure had such great catchy tunes, especially on albums like Chorus and Cowboy. Alsion's Alf was tremendous. Finding Andy Bell was super lucky. They are both so good. This is pop at its best.

[@rbrtck]

Yes, ultimately everything depends on luck, although talent and hard work sure help improve one's chances! And Vince had to slog through about 40 other applicants before getting to Andy, whom he immediately saw so much potential in. The fact that Andy turned out to be such a great songwriter himself was the real bit of luck, and we all won out there. Just imagine artists like Andy, Alison, Martin Gore, and Dave Gahan never getting far, if anywhere, without Vince. I mean, Depeche Mode were strong, just like Vince said, but if you look at their early history, they weren't going anywhere without Vince putting everything together and driving them all ahead. Martin mostly just wanted to socialize (in his own shy way, through music), and never took the possibility of hitting it big seriously, or his songwriting, until they actually did make it, and even then he only really got serious about songwriting in response to Vince leaving. Martin and Dave and Depeche Mode were never going to be a thing without Vince to kick things off for them. I know less about Andy and Alison in these ways, but generally speaking, regardless of how talented they are, it was still highly unlikely for them to have succeeded without Vince, all of his qualities, and his luck. Speaking of luck, how did all of these artists turn up in Basildon, of all places, all at once? There was a whole scene at the time, and out of it came Perry Bamonte, as well, who was Vince's bandmate in The Plan (also with Robert Marlow).

[@kiedru]

Vince Clarke = Genius

[@leelantern805]

Vince is brilliant and responsible for some of my favourite albums of all time, speak and spell, broken frame, upstairs at Eric's, the innocence...

[@Hirnlego999]

A broken frame? He had left the band at that point

[@rbrtck]

_The Innocents_ .

[@rbrtck]

@@Hirnlego999 Yeah, that was all Martin and Dave (and Daniel Miller). Even Alan, who had been hired and was still an employee rather than a member, didn't participate in making _A Broken Frame_ because the band felt they had to prove themselves--that they could make it without Vince and not just because they had found a replacement (which Alan really wasn't, although obviously he would contribute to the band in his own ways). They didn't have to prove themselves to Vince, who fully expected them to do well and build on the success they'd had, but rather to the press, who had largely written the band off, and the public.

[@tangerine825]

Mr Vincent Clarke - Synthpop Pioneer ! #1 Erasure #2 Yazoo #3 Depeche Mode #4 The Assembly...Greets From Poland ;-)

[@KidMrRemixes]

Public school boy interviews Basildon’s working class....... That’s always going to go well.

[@hoisin75]

2024, just checking....yup Vince is STILL a legend

[@davids736]

Vince Clarke = Genius................simples............

[@johnfitzsimons3198]

Paul Thompson? who? never ever heard of him, and not surprising after that effort of an interview! Fair play to Vince, cool as a cucumber...some interviewers need a slap! Vince=Legend

[@burlhorse61]

i've got stock answers for every interview🤣🤣🤣

[@ianwalters11]

Yeah he was rubbish. Condescending. I expect he’d have preferred to have been “interviewing” Andy Bell instead.

[@HughKAyers]

Vince doesn't just do amazing work. He does amazing amounts of work!

[@cmjones83]

"I've just got stock answers for every question" hahaha. Fair play to the interviewer here, he plugs away gamely.

[@MonsterMom7]

Vince Clarke is underrated! I’m hardcore Depeche Mode fan BUT love ❤️ Erasure ! Vince Clarke is so talented and he’s STILL touring with Andy in 2019 !!! That twat that interviewing him, WHO is he? Of all the questions you can ask a genius, he ask stupid obvious questions, it shows he don’t know shit! (Sorry) But it’s great to watch Vince and thnx for the upload ☺️👍

[@christianshreve5101]

Finally I get to hear about the history of Vince.

[@Cl4rendon]

I really love this guy - Jeeez he was so hot back then. Allison discribed him very well in "Ode to boy".

[@Lofote]

I think the questions are quite interesting. No idea why everybody hates the interviewer.

[@Dreddusa]

When you have it you have it, and Vince has it all.

[@Tony-1971]

This guy is a real talent. But he fades into the background. Probably by choice. Its a wise position to take.

[@rbrtck]

Right, Vince was always trying to escape the spotlight while achieving his dream of escaping Basildon, a contradiction which was ultimately too difficult for him to completely reconcile. He had this vision of being like Phil Spector or some similar type of big-time producer who achieved success in the background by writing hit songs for and producing various successful bands and individual artists. The Assembly was probably the closest he got to that goal, but he just had so much trouble finding vocalists he was interested in working with, and decided to give up and try forming yet another band, which ended up being Erasure, of course. Fortunately he and Andy Bell got along so well they've been working together ever synth...I mean since. ;) Vince still tries to hide in the background and occasionally succeeds, but when you're in a band of only two, you can't completely escape having to do interviews, go on tour, and do everything else Vince doesn't like about being in a famous, successful band. But it sure beats working in the factory, and I think after starting his third successful band, which was quite a feat for anyone in this industry, and finally finding someone whom he liked to work with and liked as a person, he wasn't going to press his luck anymore.

[@MrDuncl]

I have seen Erasure in concert. Most of the time Vince loaded floppy discs into his BBC, then climbed a tall tower to adjust a synth (whose idea was that ?). However, he did do one number dressed as a cactus !

[@abrahamanthony493]

The Quincy Jones of snyth/pop

[@peternagy-im4be]

@@rbrtck can't blame a bloke for wanting to leave Basildon. It's a bloody horrible place.

[@Nat-wu1rv]

❤

[@SuzLa1]

Amazing Vince is so great that he stays calm and rises above such a hostile interviewer. Probably the same qualities that gave him the confidence to leave Depeche Mode, and allowed him to go on to do much wonderful hit music with others.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Hostile interviewer? What planet are you on?

[@DIETRICHCICCONE]

VC is a fucking genius ⚡⚡⚡

[@40KempShawn]

This guy is a genius, simply like that.

[@burlhorse61]

so introverted and talented guy-made some of the best 80s music

[@danielcubides5170]

This man only needed a syntethizer to make a worldwide hit. Founding a successful band it's already quite a challenge but this man gave birth to THREE of the most popular synthwave acts in history, nobody else can do that

[@jackal242]

7:06 I love how you can hear crickets in the background.

[@RMHeaven]

Great Vince!!

[@RMHeaven]

Simply GENIUS!!!!!!!

[@theliltwirp]

These comments about how the interviewer is condescending and generally being a douchebag to Vince are hilarious !! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I'm not British so maybe I can't pick up on Paul's tone of questioning but I thank you all for making me laugh, this is great !! 😂 BTW, "Situation" and "State Farm" are my favorite tracks by Yazoo. What a talented writer and musician !!

[@jamiesebastian7694]

I don't think Paul was too rough on Vince, I think that he was joking around a bit about what to expect on stage from Vince, but I think that he also respected Vince quite a bit and it showed in the interview. Obviously they have different personalities, but ultimately Paul realized that and got the most out of the interview I think. Great job

[@vartolomei55]

Yazoo means Alison Moyet too ( a great voice ) . 2 magnifique albums 1982-1983 , I had to pay around 40 $ to have them ... that was around a half mounth money work in the middle 90`s .Greetings from Romania, Vince and ... Thank U 4 the music !

[@markdoughty8780]

Great songwriter and musician and all round nice guy...

[@lizc2023]

Legend ❤️

[@sandcastlejim]

i quite like the interviewer. very Word like style. At least he's not got his head up the arse of the superstar like these days. vince clark is cool - he doesn't seem to mind.

[@Aramanth]

🎹🎹🎹 🔌⚡💡 Of all his projects *Yazoo* has always been my favorite!!! Erasure are great too... but I wished The Assembly had continued! 💜❤💛

[@Mr_Seppo]

where have they dun this interview, i can hear motor bikes and frogs.

[@elton-mundotech4165]

O cara é gênio demais!

[@burlhorse61]

Don't see much interviews of Vince Clarke-brilliant musician

[@PseudomoniaProject]

Was there motorsport on the tape before this, I can hear some sort of engine in the backround.

[@welderella]

Skye Wolff Alchemy right? Cracks me up.

[@juno6]

Wow thanx for this!

[@valgehiir]

Vince Clarke looks like he enjoys torturing the poor interviewer, just look at the mischief in his eyes

[@Spellcheekswammablamma]

Because the interviewer is a Dick.

[@johanflod]

I just think he tries to stay serious and honest, but some of the stuff is emotional.

[@darkwav3s]

Vince was the best synth player in the 80s

[@joaoheliorodrigues6156]

vince é o cara.

[@SRDhain]

This is hilariously poor interviewing due to thompson's lack of real interest and veiled hostility. Vince was and is a trooper for having to deal with this sort of thing on occasion. He looks completely disenchanted, but still keeps his professionalism intact. That's class.

[@davidchildress587]

S R DHAIN

[@Parasmunt]

Bowie was like that too. They are sure of themselves, they know what they did and it's worth. It's worth does not depend on factors outside decided by hype or something like that.

[@zazz63]

dont confuse hostility with asking pertinent questions ...nothing worse than an an interviewer blowing smoke rings up the arse of the idol.

[@DICKTURPIN1976]

Interviewer seems a right prick👍

[@poom641]

6 years i know, but i think the interviewer did fine Talking to Vince was like pulling blood from a stone

[@the0point]

i love his open hostility :)

[@dae3xt]

great informative interview.. thanks for the upload..

[@djbethell]

+dae3xt Paul Thompson did his best with Vince who really didn't want to speak at all.

[@sirvidia]

+djbethell that;s just what Vince is like

[@Oksana7305]

@@sirvidia Why was he there? Kind of pointless

[@martinparker6536]

He reminds me little of Gary Numan.........also very talented

[@foreveralone9201]

"some band called yazoo" wow lol and he could of atleast tryed to seeem interested in the answers and not jump so fast to each question painful interview, but vince seems like a lovely man very genuine and clearly good at what he did, any singer would be lucky to have such a great partner like him!

[@1739666]

This guy is a Genius.

[@TheNitsua59]

What's with the frogs and race car background sound.

[@Tony-1971]

+TheNitsua59 Its like how when football managers and football players are interviewed on t,v, they love saying the word "obviously" all the time.

[@arricammarques1955]

Another audio source is leaking through!

[@eduardolopez3081]

Vincen genius grant music master

[@buxvan]

What's with the motorbike being thrashed in the background from about 55 seconds in ?

[@taergehtsiram]

I was such a fan of the Vince Clarke era of Depeche Mode and Yazoo. It always has rubbed me the wrong way that he left those projects, just as they were becoming so popular. He just comes across as someone that wouldn't be fun to work with, or be in a band with. I haven't really followed him or his projects since then. This is the first interview I've ever seen of him.

[@spurv]

I think you're absolutely right. Saw an Erasure interview recently, where Andy Bell says that he is not "allowed" to touch any of Vince's synths or have any input on the song writing. Vince is a one-man army. What he does, he does well. Not that endearing, though.

[@Oksana7305]

@@spurv That's a pity because I feel Andy could offer a lot in the way of songwriting and Vince must have creative block every now and then so another pair of hands wouldn't go to waste.

[@madwiganer]

I wonder if any of the singers he saw before picking Andy went on to do anything musically..

[@rauljimenez1015]

Musical genius

[@1990wuzzup]

What’s with the crickets and frogs in the background of this recording ??

[@MrFireblade74]

Depeche Mode by far the most successful

[@osobean8628]

I hear race cars

[@andrewhillis9544]

OH DEAR ! ! ! WHAT A CAR CRASH TRAIN WRECK INTERVIEW THIS IS ! ! ! I FEEL SORRY FOR V.C. WHO HAD TO ENDURE IT ! ! !😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@LFOVCF]

It's all there in the interview!

[@kevinprior3549]

Why's there a sound of frogs in the background?

[@MrDuncl]

Happy Birthday Vince. He is 60 now. How long ago was this?

[@josssmith]

This was in either in 87 or 88, interviewer mentions Erasure's most recent release being The Circus, which came out in 87, next album came out in 88

[@tompogson9755]

Vince did a Office style look to camera before it was a thing 😂

[@nwlman]

Vince made some great music. I hope he re joins D M sone day

[@rbrtck]

Well, he recently did a project with Martin Gore as VCMG. Now I think that Vince and Alan Wilder should form a new band called XDM. ;)

[@lxworld]

Well done to Vince for not chinning the interviewer! Condescending so and so!

[@88feji]

"I love doing it and I love the money.." Love that answer .. I really like the interviewer's way of asking questions, its uncomfortable questions to ask but he coats it with a friendly tone of voice which is not too impolite and pointed, at no point does it seem like he's being rude ...

[@AstroRex]

Seems 90% of comments didn't get fooled by his castrated false-friendly tone of voice. Neither did Clarke, but he remained relatively gentlemanly. Had the interviewer had the same line of questioning to, for example, Shaun Ryder, or Nitzer Ebb, or even Morrissey, he'd be knocked out within a minute, physically, mentally or both. Wonder what he's up to these days.

[@elton-mundotech4165]

The Sr 80,s.

[@andrewhillis9544]

7:50 'The Judas Kiss' Handshake From The Interviewer Who Was PATRONISING & CONDESCENDING To His Guest ! ! !

[@Parasmunt]

Synth God

[@rolandwagner3746]

He didn't realise the giant of Vince Clarke

[@djtropicaldisco]

F1 race going on in the background...

[@dvws1]

Awkward genius that just happened to write the soundtracks to the different stages of my life. I owe him so much for my memories associated with his music.

[@dixgun]

Would this have been in the mid-1980s?

[@saraivatoledo1842]

Hawkwind created all these sub genres ... from Industrial to new wave , you name it ... fucking geniuses !

[@poneill65]

Was this recorded in a hut beside the British MotoGP?

[@wildone106]

KEvin Bacon?!?

[@FavreianVengeance]

What direction did Vince want to take DM that they didn't want to go? Because Speak And Spell is all Vince, and the band wasn't exactly all too comfortable in the transition to A Broken Frame without him.

[@BillyJango]

Vince reminds me of Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols.

[@dankitch]

Who's racing round on a motorbike?

[@Vebinz]

Thank you a million times for this interview! But do you know the year?

[@tjhawpe3712]

This was 9 years ago lol But, answer to your question is. At the end they say the song “the circus” by Erasure just came out. So sept 1987. Somewhere around there.

[@Vebinz]

@@tjhawpe3712 THank you!

[@andrewhillis9544]

THAT WAS THE END OF PAUL THOMPSON'S CAREER IN TELEVISION ! ! !

[@annpower8071]

although i´m not able to understand the most things that they said (my english isn´t good enough for it) Vince stayed very cool; no everybody could do that another interview from 1997 in sweden shows that these interviewers weren´t better...

[@rasmusivarsson1469]

What is it with english musicians from the 80's and saying you know?

[@andrewhillis9544]

IF THAT WAS ME BEING INTERROGATED (SORRY INTERVIEWED!!!) BY THAT RUDE, CONDESCENDING & PATRONISING INTERVIEWER I WOULD HAVE JUST WALKED AWAY ! ! ! I FEEL SORRY FOR VINCE WHO HAD TO ENDURE THAT GUY ! ! !

[@BANCODECASAS]

name song begin, please?

[@darkiee69]

+adan edmundo gomez vega Just can't get enough. From Depeche Modes first album Speak and Spell.

[@BANCODECASAS]

thanks, its cool salutes from los mochis mecxico

[@prajnamindlight]

I'm confused, is this a Depeche Mode interview or a Vince Clarke interview?

[@canderson1522]

+Sean C Is that all you can think? DM ?

[@crumplezone1]

That look from Vince at the end lol, screams Bellend !

[@Beermaker2000]

Classic example of not listening to the answer, but waiting to ask the next question...

[@cmjones83]

It's clearly been edited down from a much longer conversation.

[@andrewhillis9544]

INTERESTING BODY LANGUAGE IN THIS VIDEO THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES ! ! !🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@fastmclaren71]

can i hear gp cars?

[@JOCKATEO]

hes a god to me as a keyboard player wish I had 1% of his talent

[@edwardsnowdenofficial]

That interviewer is bloody awful and totally not interested and that shows, which it shouldn't!

[@e-walls4565]

The sign of Libra is the indecisive, not cancer. 😂