Robert Marlow
The Peter Pan Effect

Vince Clarke was a hyperactive figure throughout the '80s. Leaving Depeche Mode after just one album, he formed Yazoo with Alison Moyet. Abandoning this project as well, he decided to set up a small label with the help of Eric Radcliffe, called RESET RECORDS. He signed a prestigious distribution contract with RCA, ensuring the spread of his products in Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. The idea was born to help a great friend of his from Basildon, Robert Marlow, record a track that Clarke liked very much but couldn't find anyone ready to put it in the catalog. The track was called "The Face Of Dorian Grey", and after meticulous studio work by Clarke, it was released in 1982 under the newly born label.

It was a synth-pop track in the vein of early Depeche Mode. Simple drum-machine rhythms and various synthesizer reverberations. Overall, a danceable rhythm perfectly suited to the clubs of the time. The decent success it found in the British independent charts encouraged Marlow to produce another 3 singles. Not only that, Marlow wrote an entire album, but for reasons still not entirely clear, it never saw the light of day. In 2000, Cleopatra finally decided to release it on CD. The whole album bears Clarke's production influence. The playful mood is indeed very similar to the earliest Depeche productions, with that dry sound and honestly a bit naive, but it has the merit of sticking in your head right away, thanks to its easy assimilation. Tracks like "Calling All Destroyers", "Torch Team", the oriental-tinged "Easternize" and "Life In A Film", are little synth-pop gems that wouldn't look out of place alongside more well-known productions. Undoubtedly, the album, listened to today, sounds very old-fashioned, but that doesn't take away, for example, from the quality of a track like "Ambition", which would not have scandalized anyone if included in the early works of Depeche Mode.

So, if you love the genre, you can't let it slip by, but be careful it doesn't slip away, as the print run certainly isn't bestseller-sized, nor is the distribution.
But this is the price one must pay to savor the charm of the "underground." Gem.