David Gahan

David Gahan (born May 9, 1962 in Chigwell, Essex, England) is the baritone lead singer for English Electro stalwarts, Depeche Mode.

Life Before Depeche Mode

Born into a working class family to Sylvia and Len, David was 3 when his parents divorced and his mother moved the family -- David, his two brothers Peter and Philip, and sister Sue -- to Basildon, Essex. Sylvia remarried not long after, and David was raised under the impression that his mother's second husband (John Gahan; from whom Dave takes his second name) was in fact his real father. Unfortunately, John died when David was seven. However, when Gahan was 10, he "came home on one day and found this bloke at home". Of the incident, he has said: "I'll never forget that day. When I came home from school, there was this stranger in my Mum's house. My Mother introduced him to me as my real Dad. I remember I said, crying, that was impossible because my Father was dead. How was I supposed to know that man lived with us until I was 3? From that day on, Len often visited the house, until one year later he disappeared again. Forever this time. Since then he gave no sign of life. By growing older, I thought about him more and more. The only thing my Mother would say, was that he moved out to Jersey to open a hotel".http://www.tuug.utu.fi/~jaakko/dm/dad.txt

Related Topics:
Divorce - Basildon - Essex - Jersey

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Gahan compensated for the loss of his father by becoming something of a "real wide boy with a chip on my shoulder, a real yob". His crimes as a youth included stealing cars, vandalism, and spray-painting graffiti on walls, and as a result he had visited juvenile court three times before he was 14.

Related Topics:
Yob - Steal - Car - Vandalism - Graffiti - Juvenile court

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Within six months of leaving high school in July 1978, Gahan found and lost something in the order of twenty jobs, from selling soft drinks to working on a construction site. David also applied for a job as an apprentice fitter with North Thames Gas. He was told by his probation officer to be honest with the interviewer, and as a result, he admitted his criminal record but claimed he was a "reformed character". Of course, he did not get the job.

Related Topics:
High school - July - 1978

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Eventually, he earned a place at Southend Art College, which he enjoyed immensely. After three years, he gained the British Display Society Award, which allowed him to get jobs doing a displays in shop windows, and shopping centres.

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