Depeche Mode are an electronic music group formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex, England. The group’s original lineup was David Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andrew Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter 1980–81). Vince Clarke left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album, and was replaced by Alan Wilder (production, lead keyboards) who was a band member from 1982 to 1995. Following Wilder’s departure, Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher keep performing as a trio.
Depeche Mode are one of the longest-lived, most successful and influential bands to have emerged from the New Romantic and New Wave era. They have had forty-four songs in the UK Singles Chart, as well as one US and two UK #1 albums.
1977–1980: Formation
Depeche Mode’s origins can be traced back to 1977, when Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals/guitar and Fletcher on bass. In 1978, Clarke played guitar in an “Ultravox rip-off band”, The Plan, with school friend Robert Marlow on vocals and Vince on guitar/keyboards. In 1978–79, Gore played in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Philip Burdett -who now sings on the folk circuit- on vocals and Gore on guitar. In 1979, Marlow, Gore, Clarke and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called The French Look, Marlow on vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar, Clarke and Redmond on keyboards. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass. The French Look and Composition of Sound once played live together in June 1980 at St. Nicholas School Youth Club in Southend-on-sea, Essex.
Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesizers, working odd jobs, including carpentry, to buy them, or borrowing them from friends. Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout-hut jam session, crooning to a rendition of David Bowie’s “Heroes”, and Depeche Mode were born. When explaining the choice for the new name -taken from a French fashion magazine, “Dépêche mode”- Martin Gore has said, “It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that.”[1]
1981–1983: Early releases
While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band was approached by Daniel Miller -an electronic musician and founder of Mute Records-, who was interested in them recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was “Dreaming of Me b/w Ice Machine”, which was released in February 1981, and managed to reach 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this surprise success, the band recorded its second single “New Life”, climbing to 11 in the UK charts. Three months later, the band released “Just Can’t Get Enough” - their first single to enter the UK top ten, peaking at 8. This record was in many ways a breakthrough for the band, and its success paved the way for their debut album - Speak & Spell, released in November 1981, and eventually reaching 10 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”.
During the touring and promotion for Speak & Spell, Clarke began to privately voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking. He later expressed his agitation that “there was never enough time to do anything”. In late 1981, Clarke publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode. Soon afterwards, he joined with blues singer Alison Moyet to form Yazoo -Yaz in the US- and later, the duo Erasure with Andy Bell, in 1985. With their primary songwriter gone, Depeche Mode needed a new direction. Martin Gore, who had written “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and “Big Muff” for their debut album, took over as the band’s new songwriter. In January 1982, the band released “See You”, their first single without Clarke, which against all expectations, managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in the UK charts, reaching 6. In the ensuing months of that year, two more singles were released -”The Meaning of Love”, and “Leave in Silence”-, and the band embarked on their first world tour - known as the “See You” tour. Their second album A Broken Frame was eventually brought out in September.
In late 1981, the band placed an ad in Melody Maker stating “Keyboard player needed for established band - no timewasters.” Alan Wilder, a 22-year old keyboardist from West London responded - and after two auditions with Daniel Miller, he was accepted as the fourth member of Depeche Mode. Despite this, Daniel Miller informed Wilder that he was not needed for the recording of the album, as the band wanted to prove that they could succeed without Vince Clarke. Wilder’s first musical contribution to the band was in 1983, on the non-album single “Get the Balance Right!”.
For their third LP Construction Time Again, Depeche Mode decided to work with producer Gareth Jones, at John Foxx’s Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, which had been used by David Bowie and Brian Eno before, and where the Berlin Wall with guarding soldiers could be seen right from the mixer, this creating an extraordinary atmosphere[10]. The album saw a dramatic shift in the group’s sound, due in part to the introduction of the Synclavier and Emulator samplers, in addition to their previously-used analogue synths.[11] By sampling the noises of everyday objects, the band created an eclectic, industrial-influenced sound, with similarities to groups such as the Art of Noise and Einstürzende Neubauten, the latter having been published under the same label. Similarly, Gore’s lyricism was rapidly evolving, focusing increasingly on political and social issues. A good example of the new sound was on the first single from the album “Everything Counts”, a commentary on the perceived greed of multinational corporations, which got to 6 in the UK, also reaching the Top 30 in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. Alan Wilder also contributed two songs to the album -”The Landscape is Changing”, “Two Minute Warning”-.
1984–1988: Growing international fame
In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success in the UK, Europe, and Australia - however, this changed in March 1984, when they released the single “People Are People”. The song - a comment on racism, climbed to 2 in Ireland and 4 on the UK and Swiss charts - and gave them their first 1 -in Germany-. However, it belatedly reached 13 on the US charts in mid-1985. Sire, the band’s North American record label, released a compilation of the same name. In September 1984, Some Great Reward was released. Melody Maker claimed that the album made one “sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose. Some Great Reward” saw the band experimenting with even darker subject matter, exploring sexual politics -”Master and Servant”-, adulterous relationships -”Lie to Me”-, and arbitrary divine justice -”Blasphemous Rumours”-. Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad -”Somebody”- - a concept that would be repeated on all following albums. The album was also their first to enter the US album charts, and made the Top 10 in several European countries. In 1985, Mute Records released a compilation, The Singles 81>85 -Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US-, which included the new hit singles : “Shake the Disease” -4 in Germany, 5 in Sweden, 6 in Switzerland, 9 in Ireland, 13 in France and 18 in the UK- and “It’s Called a Heart” -5 in Ireland, 7 in Sweden and Switzerland, 8 in Germany, 18 in the UK and 29 in France-.
During this period the band became associated with the gothic subculture, which had begun in Britain, and was slowly gaining popularity in the United States. There, the band’s music had first gained prominence on college radio and modern rock stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles, and WLIR on Long Island, New York, and hence, they appealed primarily to a decidedly cultish, alternative audience who were disenfranchised with the predominance of “soft rock and “disco hell” on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp contrast to that in Europe and the UK, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs. In Germany -and other European countries-, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols, and were regularly featured in euro teen magazines, providing their detractors with more ammunition to use against them.
Depeche Mode’s largest transformation came in 1986, with the release of their fifteenth single “Stripped”, and its accompanying album Black Celebration. Jettisoning much of the “industrial-pop” sound that had characterised their previous two LPs -although they retained their often imaginative sampling-, the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound, accompanied by some of Gore’s bleakest, most insightful lyrics to date. Also included on the album was a revised version of the song “Fly on the Windscreen”, which had originally appeared as the b-side to “It’s Called a Heart”. The band recognised the song’s promise, and decided to improve it and include it on the album, renamed as “Fly on the Windscreen - Final”.
The music video for “A Question of Time” was the first to be directed by Anton Corbijn, beginning a working relationship that continues to the present day. Anton has directed 19 more of the band’s videos -the latest being 2006’s “Suffer Well”- and live performances, and has been responsible for some of the band’s albums and singles covers.
1987’s Music for the Masses saw further alterations in the band’s sound and working methods. Dave Bascombe -who had previously worked with Tears for Fears- was brought in as a producer -although his role ended up being more that of an engineer-, and the band -for the most part- abandoned sampling in favour of more musical experimentation. Although the chart performance of the singles -”Strangelove”, “Never Let Me Down Again” and “Behind the Wheel”- was disappointing in Great Britain -whereas those singles were big hits in countries such as Canada, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden or Switzerland, reaching the Top 10 there-, the album was almost universally praised by the music press - far more so than any other album the band had released. Record Mirror described it as “the most accomplished and sexy Mode album to date” and it made a breakthrough in the American market, something which the band had failed to achieve with their previous albums.
On the heels of Music for the Masses, the group played a follow-up world tour in 1987–88. The tour culminated on 18 June in a concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl with a sell-out attendance of 60,453 -the highest in eight years for the venue-. The tour was documented in 101 - a concert film by D.A. Pennebaker, and its accompanying soundtrack album.
Middle history
1989–1994: Achieving mega-band status
In mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan with producer Flood and engineer François Kervorkian. The result of this session was the single “Personal Jesus”, which featured a drum-based sound. Prior to its release, advertisements were placed in the personal columns of UK regional newspapers with the words “Your own personal Jesus.” Later, the ads included a phone number one could dial to hear the song. The ensuing controversy helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers; in the US, it was their first gold single and their first top 40 hit since “People Are People”, eventually becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in Warner Bros. Records’ history. The song has been covered by -amongst others- Johnny Cash, Gravity Kills, and Marilyn Manson, and was notably sampled in the song “Beware of the Dog” by Jamelia. In 2004, the song was included in the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and in September 2006 was voted by readers of music monthly Q as one of the 100 greatest songs of all time.
In February 1990, “Enjoy the Silence”, became one of Depeche Mode’s most successful singles to date, reaching 6 in the UK; a few months later in the US, it became Depeche Mode’s first -and to date, only- Top 10 hit, reaching 8, and earning the band a second gold single. It won ‘British single’ at the 1991 Brit Awards. To promote their new album Violator, they held an in-store autograph signing at the Tower Records music store in Los Angeles, which attracted approximately 17,000 fans and caused a near-riot. Violator went on to reach top 10 in the UK and US. It has also been certified triple platinum in America, selling over 3.5 million units there. The subsequent World Violation Tour was another notable success, with 40,000 tickets sold within eight hours for the New York Giants Stadium -in East Rutherford, New Jersey- show, and 48,000 tickets for the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium show sold within an hour of going on sale. Two more singles from the album, “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes” were UK and US hits.
In 1991 Depeche Mode made a one-off contribution to the Wim Wenders film, Until the End of the World, entitled “Death’s Door” and a third solo album was released by Alan Wilder under the Recoil moniker bridged the gap between albums.
In 1993 Songs of Faith and Devotion saw them experimenting with more organic arrangements, based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars and live drums -played by Alan Wilder, whose debut as a studio drummer was the track “Clean” on Violator- as on synthesizers. Live strings, uillean pipes and female gospel vocals were other new additions to the band’s sound.
The album debuted at 1 in both the UK and the US, on the heels of the bluesy, grunge-influenced single “I Feel You”. Depeche Mode were the first British alternative band to have a number 1 hit album in the billboard 200 album charts. The 14-month Devotional world tour followed. It was documented by a concert video of the same name, and a second live album, Songs of Faith and Devotion Live. The live album was essentially a track-by-track reproduction of the eponymous album, designed to help boost sales figures of the studio album, and it proved to be a critical and commercial failure. Dave Gahan’s heroin addiction was starting to affect his behaviour, causing him to become more erratic and introverted. Martin Gore experienced a series of seizures, and Andy Fletcher declined to participate in the second “exotic” leg of the tour, due to “mental instability”. During that period, he was replaced on-stage by Daryl Bamonte, who had worked with the band as a personal assistant for many years.
1995–2000: Continued success through turmoil
In June 1995, Alan Wilder announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode, citing his “increasing dissatisfaction with the internal relations and working practices of the group”. He continued to work on his personal project Recoil, releasing a fourth album -Unsound Methods- in 1997. Wilder claimed that he had contributed the lion’s share of work on past albums, and that “this level of input never received the respect and acknowledgement” it deserved. Following Wilder’s departure, many were skeptical of whether Depeche Mode would ever record again. Gahan’s mental state and drug habit became a major source of concern, with a near-fatal overdose at a hotel in Los Angeles.
Despite Gahan’s increasingly severe personal issues, Gore tried repeatedly during 1995-1996 to get the band recording again. However, Gahan would rarely turn up to scheduled sessions, and when he did, it would take weeks to get any vocals recorded. Gore was forced to contemplate breaking the band up, and releasing the songs he had written as a solo album.[30] In mid-1996, Gahan entered a drug rehabilitation program to battle his heroin addiction.[31] With Gahan out of rehab in 1996, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer Tim Simenon; the next year, the album Ultra and its two preceding singles, “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good”, were released. The album again debuted at 1 in the UK and reached the US Top 5.
A second singles compilation The Singles -86-98- was released in 1998, preceded by the new single “Only When I Lose Myself”, which had been recorded during the “Ultra” sessions. The band set off on a 4 month tour. The same year, a tribute album For the Masses was released, featuring Depeche Mode covers by bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Rammstein and The Deftones.
Depeche Mode in the 2000s
2001–2004: Exciter
In 2001, Depeche Mode released Exciter, which was produced by Mark Bell -formerly of the pioneering techno group LFO-. Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album, influenced by IDM and glitch. The album failed to achieve the same levels of sales as the band’s previous three releases, and was the first studio album by Depeche Mode to chart higher in the US than the UK, although it reached the Top 10 in both countries. The critical response to the album was mixed. Whilst it received reasonably positive reviews from some magazines -NME, Rolling Stone and L.A. Weekly-, others -including Q Magazine, PopMatters, and Pitchfork Media- derided it as sounding underproduced, dull and lacklustre.
2003 saw the release of Gahan’s solo album, Paper Monsters, followed by a worldwide tour and an accompanying DVD, titled Live Monsters; Martin Gore continued his solo career with the release of Counterfeit² -a follow-up to his 1989 release Counterfeit-; and Fletcher launched his own label, Toast Hawaii, which has no bands signed to it -the only outcome so far was the synth-pop group, Client, who have now left the label-.
In August that year, Mute released the DVD version of Devotional, filmed during their 1993 world tour, as well as a new remix compilation album Remixes 81 - 04 that compiled new and unreleased promo mixes of the band’s singles from 1981 to 2004, including a reinterpreted version of “Enjoy the Silence” by Mike Shinoda entitled “Enjoy the Silence 04″, which was released as a single, and reached 7 on the UK charts.
2005–present: Playing the Angel and current events
On October 17, 2005, the band released their 11th studio album Playing the Angel. Produced by Ben Hillier, this Top 10 hit -peaking at 1 in 17 countries- featured the hit single “Precious”, peaking at 4 in the UK charts. The album was backed by the band’s first in-store signing since 1990, on the day of release in New York City. This is the first Depeche Mode album to feature lyrics written by Gahan and, consequently, the first album since 1984’s Some Great Reward featuring songs not written by Gore.
On April 3, 2006, remastered editions of Speak & Spell, Music for the Masses, and Violator were released, featuring remastered audio in two-channel stereo and 5.1 multichannel on Super Audio CD and DVD, extra tracks and B-sides. In addition, each album comes with its own documentary charting the history of the band and the production of each album. The second installment of remastered albums were A Broken Frame, Some Great Reward and Songs of Faith and Devotion, all of which were released on October 2, 2006. Construction Time Again and Black Celebration were released on March 26, 2007. Both Ultra and Exciter were released on October 1, 2007.
On September 25, 2006 Depeche Mode released their live DVD-CD set Touring the Angel: Live in Milan, directed by Blue Leach and recorded at Milan’s Fila Forum on February 18, and February 19, 2006. The DVD has a full concert on disc 1, bonus live songs “A Question of Lust” and “Damaged People” along with a 20-minute documentary featuring Anton Corbijn, official tour announcement from Germany in the summer of 2005, and the Playing the Angel electronic press kit on disc 2, and disc 3 is a CD with live versions of tracks from Playing the Angel.
In addition, a “best-of” compilation was released in November of 2006, entitled The Best Of, Volume 1 featuring a new single “Martyr”, an outtake from the Playing the Angel sessions.
On 2 November, Depeche Mode received the MTV Europe Music Award in the Best Group category. During that same period Fletcher confirmed that the band was on a long break after the massive “Touring the Angel” tour and that they soon would decide whether to go on hiatus or if they should start to write a new album.
In December 2006, Depeche Mode were nominated for a Grammy Award, for Best Dance Recording, for “Suffer Well.” This is their third Grammy Award nomination. The first being a Best Long Form Music Video award in 1995 for Devotional and the second being for Best Dance Recording for “I Feel Loved”.
In mid-December 2006, iTunes released The Complete Depeche Mode as its fourth ever digital box-set -following The Complete U2 in 2004, The Complete Stevie Wonder in 2005, and Bob Dylan: The Collection earlier in 2006-.
In August 2007, during promotion for Dave Gahan’s second solo album, Hourglass, it was announced that Depeche Mode could be heading back in studio in early 2008 to work on their upcoming twelfth studio album.
Depeche Mode were nominated for The MTV European Music Awards Interact Category in 2007.
Legacy and influence
Depeche Mode influenced many of today’s popular recording artists, in part due to their recording techniques and innovative use of sampling. For example, Pet Shop Boys cited Violator -and “Enjoy the Silence” in particular- as one of the main sources of inspiration during recording of their critically acclaimed album Behaviour. Neil Tennant, “We were listening to Violator by Depeche Mode, which was a very good album and we were deeply jealous of it.” Chris Lowe agrees, “They had raised the stakes.”
Techno pioneers Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins regularly quoted Depeche Mode as an influence on the development of techno music during the Detroit Techno explosion in the mid 1980s. Appreciation of Depeche Mode within today’s electronic music scene is shown by the numerous Depeche Mode remixes by contemporary DJs such as Ricardo Villalobos’ remix of “The Sinner in Me” or Kruder & Dorfmeister’s remix of “Useless”.
According to Matt Smith, the former music director of the modern-rock radio station KROQ, “The Killers, The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand — that whole wave of music owes a tremendous amount to Depeche Mode.”
Chester Bennington, vocalist of Linkin Park, was inspired by the band. Another Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda has said, “Depeche Mode is one of the most influential groups of our time. Their music is an inspiration to me…”
The band’s influence is spread throughout different genres of music. Raymond Herrera, the drummer of the metal band Fear Factory, “A lot of different music influenced the way I play now. Like the band Depeche Mode. If I could sound like Depeche Mode, but be fast like Slayer, I think I might be onto something”. According to Darren Smith, the guitarist of the post-hardcore band Funeral for a Friend, “dark, moodier stuff” in his band’s music was “Depeche Mode-influenced.”