Robert Marlow

Infobox Musical artist


Img_size = 150 |
Name = Marlow
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = flagicon|ENG Basildon, England
Genre = Techno
Electro
Synthpop
Electropop
New Wave

Years_active = 1981–1984, 1999-present
Label = Reset Records
RCA Records
Energy Records
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Robert Marlow Gary Durant
Past_members = Perry Bamonte
Notable_instruments =

Robert Marlow (born Robert Allen, October 21 1961) is a synthpop musician and songwriter.

Biography

Robert Marlow grew up in Basildon with future Depeche Mode members Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher. He is also tied to Alison Moyet, whom he played in a band with. He knew Andy and Vince from the Basildon chapter of the Boys' Brigade. He and Vince would occasionally get together to play music. Vince on guitar, and Robert on the church's piano. Like Vince, he played in many local bands, and ended up playing in a band, with Vince, called "the Plan," and later "French Look," with Martin Gore and Paul Redmond.

After the release of "Calling All Destroyers," Marlow shifted between acting and bands.

Music

Film Noir

He recorded the album The Peter Pan Effect with his best friend, Vince Clarke in 1983, around the end of Yazoo. The project came around when Marlow was in a band called Film Noir, with now-former keyboardist and guitarist for the Cure, Perry Bamonte. This band supported Depeche Mode on one tour date in Basildon.

Some time after Vince left Depeche Mode, Marlow approached Vince and "bullied him" into getting studio time with him and Eric Radcliffe. He was offered only one day, and decided to record "The Face of Dorian Gray." This then led to more studio time, and then a complete single, with b-side and 12" mixes. It was then that Vince suggested that he try to get record company interest. He ended up getting interest from RCA, but was later decided to be release on Vince's short lived Reset Records label. The single, however, did not get much radio airplay.

After that he released three more singles. "I Just Want to Dance", "Claudette" and "Calling All Destroyers". These singles suffered the same fate as "The Face of Dorian Gray," and the album was later shelved.

"The Peter Pan Effect"

The album was then released by Energy Records in 1999, when Sonet manager, Rod Buckle, showed a demo tape to Energy Records. Eric Radcliffe then went up into the bell tower of Blackwing Studios, formerly a church, and found the tapes. He then sent a CD to Energy Records, where it was remastered at Polar Studios. It was released as "The Peter Pan Effect" in Europe. It was, for some reason, released as "Erasure's Vince Clarke" along with a copy of a Family Fantastic record.

Marlow....Just Marlow

The one man project Robert Marlow then transformed into the duo MARLOW with the help of Gary Durant. Gary, who plays Keyboards and provides backing vocals has been a friend of Robert Marlow for some time.

In early 2006, the guestbook on Marlow's Energy Rekords website, announced a new album, in the works. As of March 2008, they are finishing the album. The band has been active in live performances, though. They played at a Depeche Mode aftershow, in February 2006, and have been playing in gigs, around London and Sweden.

Discography

Albums

ingles

References

Print references
* Miller, Jonathan, "Stripped: The True Story of Depeche Mode", 2004, Omnibus Press, ISBN 1-84449-415-2

Online references
* [http://www.marlow-online.com/ the Official Website]
* [http://www.energy-rekords.se/marlow/ Energy Rekords' Artist Page]
* [http://www.erasureinfo.com/features/interviews_03.html Interview for the official Erasure website]

External links

* [http://www.marlow-online.com/ the Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/marlowfan Marlow's Myspace Site (by the fans)]
* [http://www.energy-rekords.se/marlow/biography.html]