Editing Dave Gahan (section)

==Early life==
Gahan was born David Callcott on 9 May 1962 in [[Epping, Essex]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll |date=2001 |isbn=9780743201209 |page=254 |publisher=Touchstone |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uU9AAQA6kAMC}}</ref> the son of [[Social class in the United Kingdom#Working class|working-class]] parents. His mother, Sylvia, was a conductor on [[London buses]], while his father, Len, was a bus driver of [[Malaysians|Malaysian]] descent<!-- Do not specify Malaysian Indian unless a reliable source confirming this can be found. -->.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2017/06/depeche-mode-s-dave-gahan-why-i-don-t-understand-my-own-band|title=Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan: why I don't understand my own band|website=New Statesman|date=June 2017|access-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702161927/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2017/06/depeche-mode-s-dave-gahan-why-i-don-t-understand-my-own-band |archive-date=2 July 2021}}</ref> When he was six months old, his father left the family, and his parents divorced two years later. His mother moved him and his older sister Sue (born 1960) to [[Basildon, Essex]], after marrying her second husband, [[Shell Oil]] administrator Jack Gahan; Jack adopted Susan and David. Through this marriage, he has two younger half-brothers named Peter (born 1966) and Phil (born 1968). While growing up, he and his sister were under the impression that their adoptive father was their biological father.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://depechemodebiographie.de/ebio05david.php|title=Depeche Mode Biography David Gahan|access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>

When Gahan was nine years old, Jack died, and Len returned and was introduced as "Uncle" Len. In a 1987 interview, Gahan recalled his experience: "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 that was impossible because my father was dead. How was I supposed to know who that man was? From that day on, Len often visited the house, until one year later he disappeared again, forever this time."<ref name="jaakko">[http://www.tuug.utu.fi/~jaakko/dm/dad.txt "The Big Uncertainty Of Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan" (1987)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050213125208/http://www.tuug.utu.fi/~jaakko/dm/dad.txt |date=13 February 2005 }}, tuug.utu.fi. Retrieved 21 June 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.bebo.com/davegahanfans Fansite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914130708/https://bebo.com/davegahanfans |date=14 September 2016 }}. Retrieved 22 March 2015.</ref>

While attending [[Barstable School]] in Basildon, Gahan started skipping school, getting into trouble with the police, and was suspended from school before ending up in [[juvenile court]] three times for offences ranging from [[joyriding]] and [[graffiti]] to criminal damage and theft.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2003-05-30|title=Dave Gahan: Madness à la mode|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/dave-gahan-madness-la-mode-106798.html|access-date=2020-10-23|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> He enjoyed the thrill of stealing cars, driving them, and then setting them on fire.<ref name="spence1">{{cite book|title=Just Can't Get Enough: The Making of Depeche Mode|last=Spence|first=Simon|year=2011|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=978-1-906002-56-5|page=89}}</ref> He said of this time in his life, "I was pretty wild. I loved the excitement of nicking a motor, screeching off and being chased by the police. Hiding behind the wall with your heart beating gives you a real kick – 'will they get you?'"<ref>{{cite book|title=Stripped: The True Story of Depeche Mode|page=31|last=Miller|first=Jonathan|year=2004|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=1-84449-415-2}}</ref>

During his final year of school, Gahan applied for a job as an apprentice [[Machinist|fitter]] with [[North Thames Gas Board|North Thames Gas]]. His probation officer told him to be honest during the interview, leading him to tell the interviewer that he had a criminal record but claim he was a "reformed character," which resulted in him being refused the job. He then trashed his probation officer's office in retaliation, for which he was ordered to spend every Saturday for several weeks at an attendance centre in [[Romford]] for one year.<ref name="spence1" /> He recalled, "You had to work. I remember doing boxing, stuff like that. You had to have your hair cut. It was every weekend, so you were deprived of your weekend and it seemed like forever. I was told very clearly that my next thing was [[Prison|detention centre]]. To be honest, music saved me."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] | title=Just Can't Get Enough|issue=May 2001|first=Stephen|last=Dalton|page=45}}</ref>