Robert Marlow
Birth nameRobert Allen
Born(1961-10-21)21 October 1961
OriginBasildon, England
Died22 September 2022(2022-09-22) (aged 60)
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • music programmer
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • synthesizer
  • guitar
Years active
  • 1978–1985
  • 1999–2022
Labels

Robert Marlow (born Robert Allen, 21 October 1961 – 22 September 2022)[1] was an English synth-pop singer, songwriter and musician.

Biography

Robert Marlow grew up in Basildon with future Depeche Mode members Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher (who died the same year as Marlow, and at the same age). He was also tied to Alison Moyet, with whom he had played in a band, the Vandals. He knew Fletcher and Clarke from the Basildon chapter of the Boys' Brigade. He and Clarke would occasionally get together to play music. Clarke on guitar, and Marlow on the church's piano. Like Clarke, he played in many local bands, and ended up playing in a band, with Clarke, 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

Robert Marlow solo and Film Noir

Marlow recorded the studio 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 future keyboardist and guitarist for the Cure, Perry Bamonte. This band supported Depeche Mode on one tour date in Basildon.

Some time after Clarke left Depeche Mode, Marlow approached Clarke and charmed him into some studio time at Blackwing Studios 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 Clarke suggested that he try to get record company interest. He ended up getting interest from RCA Records, but was later decided to be released on Clarke'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 due to the lack of chart success.

The Peter Pan Effect

The Peter Pan Effect was released in 1999 by Swedish label Energy Rekords,[2] when Sonet manager, Rod Buckle, showed a demo tape to Energy Rekords. 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. In the US, it was released as Erasure's Vince Clarke along with a copy of a Family Fantastic album.

Marlow... Just Marlow

The one man project Robert Marlow then transformed into the duo Marlow with the help of Gary Durant. Durant, who played keyboards and provided backing vocals had been a friend of Robert Marlow for some time.

In early 2006, the guestbook on Marlow's Energy Records label, announced a new album, in the works. As of March 2008, they were 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 Europe; particularly London and Sweden. About that time, they recorded their first album Inside Outside with the title track arranged and produced by Vince Clarke, who had also remixed a track on the album called "Home". The album was released on 27 February 2009.

At the end of 2011 Marlow has a second album The Future ready to be released, at the latest in early 2012. In April 2012 the band's label placed an announcement that Marlow had decided to quit as a band. Marlow and Durant broke up the duo in good friendship. The release of the album The Future will be reviewed and might be available to the general public at a later date, maybe 2013.

Robert Marlow solo – once again

After the split of Marlow (the duo) in spring 2012, Marlow once again performed as a solo artist. A new 7 track EP, The Blackwing Sessions on the German label *Electro-Shock-Records*, which contained demos and alternate versions of tracks from the 1982–1984 recording sessions, was released in a pre-sale session on 8 August 2012 exclusively via the German mailorder-shop POPoNAUT. The official release date of the limited edition (300 copies only) was 19 September 2012.

After the break up of the duo, Marlow reworked the album The Future, with on there 6 tracks and a classic unreleased Vince Clarke remix, will be released in 2013. The remixed album version, The Future Remixes was released half a year later.

Death

Marlow died after a short and unexpected illness on 22 September 2022, at the age of 60.

Discography

Robert Marlow albums (solo)

Year Album
1999 The Peter Pan Effect
2013 The Future

Robert Marlow remix albums (solo)

Year Album
2013 The Future Remixes

Robert Marlow EP (solo)

Year Album
2012 The Blackwing Sessions

Robert Marlow singles (solo)

Year Song UK Album
1983 "The Face of Dorian Gray" 93 The Peter Pan Effect
"I Just Want to Dance" —
1984 "Claudette" —
1985 "Calling All Destroyers" —

MARLOW albums

Year Album
2009 Inside Outside

MARLOW singles

Year Song Album
2002 "My Teenage Dream"[lower-alpha 1] Inside Outside

Notes

  1. ↑ Earlier released EP now placed on the Inside Outside album.

References

  1. ↑ R.I.P. Robert Marlow, singer/musician is no more
  2. ↑ "Vince Clarke". Radio Swiss Pop. Retrieved 31 July 2020.

Print references

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

Online references

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