Depeche Mode
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Depeche Mode
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Background information
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Depeche Mode are an English electronic rock band formed in Basildon, Essex. Through a constant evolution in their musical output and a consistent touring ethic that saw the band graduate from performing school gigs to playing the legendary concert for the masses at the Pasadena Rose Bowl to an audience in excess of 60,000 people within ten years of their formation, Depeche Mode have built a cult following of devoted fans and metamorphosed into one of the most influential and successful alternative musical acts of all time over the course of their four decade career.
History
Formation
Formed in 1980, the group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (primary songwriter after 1981, vocals, keyboards, guitar), Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher (keyboards), and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter from 1980 until 1981).
Depeche Mode's origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called "No Romance in China" with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, "Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in." In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an Ultravox-influenced band, The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1978–1979, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In 1980, Clarke and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar and Fletcher on bass; the pair were soon joined by Martin Gore as a third instrumentalist.[citation needed] Dave Gahan joined the ensemble later in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local Scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of David Bowie's "'Heroes'".
With the advent of affordable synthesizers and the increasing popularity of electronic music, the group began pursuing a synth-pop direction. The first live concert of Composition of Sound as a four-piece was on 14 June 1980 at Nicholas School, Basildon, England, UK. There is a plaque commemorating the gig at the James Hornsby School in Basildon, where Gore and Fletcher were pupils. Gahan's and Gore's favourite artists included Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sparks, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads and Iggy Pop. Gahan's onstage persona was influenced by Dave Vanian, frontman of The Damned. Gahan has also credited David Bowie, James Brown, Elvis Presley and Prince as influences on his performance style.
Composition of Sound would become embarrassed about their band name and started thinking of changing it. There were several potential variants, including the name "Musical Moments" that was suggested by Vince Clarke as both a band name and the name of their first album. Starting at their concert on 24 September 1980 at Bridge House, the band changed their name to Depeche Mode, chosen by Dave Gahan.When explaining the choice for the new name, which was taken from a mistranslation of the name of French fashion magazine Dépêche Mode, Gore said, "It means 'hurried fashion' or 'fashion dispatch'. I like the sound of that." However, the more accurate translation of the magazine's name (and therefore the band's name) is "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update".
The band made their recording debut in late 1980 for the Some Bizzare Album (released in 1981) with the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell.
The band made a demo tape but, instead of mailing the tape to record labels, they would go in and personally deliver it. They would demand the labels play it; according to Dave Gahan, "most of them would tell us to fuck off. They'd say 'leave the tape with us' and we'd say 'it's our only one'. Then we'd say goodbye and go somewhere else.
According to Gahan, prior to securing their record contract, they were receiving offers from all the major labels. Phonogram offered them "money you could never have imagined and all sorts of crazy things like clothes allowances".
While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band was approached by Daniel Miller, an electronic producer and founder of Mute Records, who was interested in their recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was their first single, "Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981. It reached number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded their second single, "New Life", which climbed to number 11 in the UK charts and got them an appearance on Top of the Pops. The band went to London by train, carrying their synthesisers all the way to the BBC studios.
Speak & Spell (1981)
The band's next single was "Just Can't Get Enough". The synth-pop single became the band's first UK top ten hit. The video is the only one to feature Vince Clarke. Depeche Mode's debut album, Speak & Spell, was released in October 1981 and peaked at number ten on the UK album charts. Critical reviews were mixed; Melody Maker described it as a "great album … one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please the fans who just can't get enough", while Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album "PG-rated fluff".
The album peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, and was ranked number 991 in the 2000 book All Time Top 1000 Albums.
This was the only Depeche Mode album with Vince Clarke as a member. Clarke wrote most of the songs for the band, before departing to form Yazoo and later Erasure.
The album is significantly lighter in tone and melody than their later work, a direction which can largely be attributed to Clarke's writing. After he left, Martin Gore took over songwriting duties, writing almost all of the band's material. Later albums written by him would explore darker subjects and melodies.
When interviewed by Simon Amstell for Channel 4's Popworld programme in 2005, Gore and Fletcher both stated that the track "What's Your Name?" was their least favourite Depeche Mode song of all time.
The album was re-released on 3 April 2006 (along with Music for the Masses and Violator) as part of Mute's extensive Depeche Mode reissue schedule. This special edition release was a double disc set that included a Hybrid SACD/CD and a DVD. This format included the album in five formats—multi-channel SACD, stereo SACD, PCM stereo CD, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1.
In the United States, the album was not re-released until 2 June 2006. The US version was only a CD rather than a SACD/CD Hybrid, though it still included the DVD which was identical to the European one (barring some different copyrights and logos).
The re-release somewhat preserves the album as it was originally intended. As such, while it is mostly the same as the UK version, North America got a completely new version with some songs that have never been released there. For example, "New Life" was the original version, not a remix, and "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead" finally debuted (on a Depeche Mode release) in North America. However, "Dreaming of Me", the band's very first single which was not on the original album, was included at the end. The four bonus tracks on the original CD release in the UK, were omitted from the re-issued CD, but were on the DVD.
Also included was a 28-minute documentary about the making of the album entitled Depeche Mode: 1980–1981 (Do We Really Have to Give Up Our Day Jobs?) featuring interviews with the group (including Vince Clarke) and other relevant personnel such as Daniel Miller. There is various footage of the group's appearances on Top of the Pops including their very first appearance from 1981 performing "New Life". There is also vintage BBC footage of the Speak & Spell Tour from the same year.
The remastered album was released on limited-edition vinyl in March 2007.
Vince Clarke departure (1981)
Clarke began to voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking, saying "there was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions". Clarke also said he was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was "bullshit to be quite honest". Gahan went on to say he "suddenly lost interest in it and he started getting letters from fans asking what kind of socks he wore." In November 1981, Clarke publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode.
Soon afterwards, Clarke joined up with blues singer Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (or Yaz in the United States). Initial talk of Clarke's continuing to write material for Depeche Mode ultimately amounted to nothing. According to third-party sources, Clarke offered the remaining members of Depeche Mode the track "Only You", but they declined. Clarke, however, denied in an interview that such an offer ever took place saying, "I don't know where that came from. That's not true." The song went on to become a UK Top 3 hit for Yazoo. Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff" for Speak & Spell, became the band's main composer and lyricist.
A Broken Frame (1982)
Alan Wilder joins (1982)
Construction Time Again (1983)
Some Great Reward (1984)
The Singles 81→85 (1985)
Black Celebration (1986)
Music For The Masses (1987)
Violator (1990)
Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993)
Alan Wilder departure (1995)
Ultra (1997)
The Singles 86>98 (1998)
Exciter (2001)
Playing The Angel (2005)
Sounds Of The Universe (2009)
Delta Machine (2013)
Spirit (2017)
Andrew Fletcher's death (2022)
Memento Mori (2023)
Legacy
Discography
