Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode was originally founded in 1980 as a synth pop band in the town of Basildon, England. They have been one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged during the New Wave/New Romantic era; many of their videos have been heavily rotated on MTV and MuchMusic. As of 2005, Depeche Mode are estimated to have sold over 70 million albums worldwide. They have influenced many of today's popular recording artists, in part due to their innovative work, recording techniques and use of sampling. Their 1990 album Violator is considered a gem of electronic music. Though influential in the modern techno scene, they remain in the alternative genre.

Early History

Depeche Mode's origins can be traced back to 1976, when Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed a band known as "No Romance in China." The band was unsuccessful and in 1979, Vince Clarke formed a new band named "French Look" with Martin Gore. Andrew Fletcher then became part of the band and it was renamed "Composition of Sound." David Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Vince Clarke heard him perform at a local gig, and "Depeche Mode" was born. The new name was taken from a French fashion magazine, "Dépêche-mode", which translates to "Fashion Dispatch" http://clonline.infoservizi.it/blaine/press/privatemg.htm.

Related Topics:
1976 - Vince Clarke - Andrew Fletcher - 1979

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The band became part of Daniel Miller's Mute label by verbal contract, and released their first album, Speak and Spell, in 1981. Soon after, Vince Clarke left and went on to form several other bands including Yazoo (Yaz in the US) with Alison Moyet, The Assembly with Feargal Sharkey, Dave Clempson and Eric Radcliffe, and later Erasure with Andy Bell.

Related Topics:
Daniel Miller - Mute - Speak and Spell - Yazoo - US - Alison Moyet - The Assembly - Feargal Sharkey - Dave Clempson - Eric Radcliffe - Erasure - Andy Bell

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After Clarke's departure, Martin Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Big Muff" on their debut album, took over as the band's primary songwriter and in 1982 the album A Broken Frame was released by the remaining trio. Shortly after, Alan Wilder who had auditioned for the band prior to the recording of A Broken Frame (although he did not contribute to that album) joined the band first as a live replacement for Clarke, then as a full-fledged member of Depeche Mode. He wrote "The Landscape is Changing" and "Two Minute Warning" for their 1983 album, Construction Time Again, as well as "Fools," the B-side to the Love in Itself single, "In Your Memory," the B-side to the People Are People single, and "If You Want" on the 1984 album Some Great Reward, but his main contribution to Depeche Mode was in technical and musical production.

Related Topics:
Martin Gore - 1982 - A Broken Frame - Alan Wilder - Construction Time Again - Some Great Reward

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In the early 1980s the band's popularity was largely confined to Europe (particularly Germany). However, in 1984 Depeche Mode made inroads into the US, spawning the North American-only releases of the compilations People Are People and 1985's Catching Up With Depeche Mode, the former featuring their first transatlantic hit "People Are People".

Related Topics:
1980s - 1984 - Compilations - People Are People - 1985's - Catching Up With Depeche Mode

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This period is seen as the beginning of the band's long association with Britains's Gothic movement that was gaining popularity in America.

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This may have owed more to its sound than to its image, due to the band's late exposure to the American market and its unfortunate string of inconsistent, budget-driven music videos prior to this time. As heard with 1984's "Blasphemous Rumours", a bitter commentary on the unfairness of life, and the dour B-side to 1985's "It's Called a Heart", called "Fly on the Windscreen" (thereafter remixed and released as "Fly on the Windscreen - Final" on the 1986 album Black Celebration), lead songwriter Martin began a decade-long descent into dark, brooding synthesized dance music. At the time, many associated this sound with that of the then-ascendent Goth movement - an association the band tried to later to downplay, with little effect.

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After the video of their 1986 single A Question of Time garnered attention, its director Anton Corbijn began a long-lasting friendship and working relationship with the band, eventually directing 19 of their videos (the latest being 1997's "Useless"). For his part, Corbijn -- an internationally renowned photographer and newly emerging music video director (U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1984) and Echo and the Bunnymen's "Bring on the Dancing Horses" (1985)) -- was catapulted into near stardom, eventually directing music videos for the likes of Joy Division ("Atmosphere" (1988)), Front 242 ("Headhunter" (1988), "Tragedy for You" (1991)), Bryan Adams, Nirvana, and U2 ("One" (1991), "Please" (1997), "Electrical Storm" (2002)).

Related Topics:
Anton Corbijn - U2 - Echo and the Bunnymen - Joy Division - Front 242 - Bryan Adams - Nirvana

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With a newly-coherent, striking image and a brooding sound, the band resonated with an emerging taste for all things Gothic in the US. On the heels of their ironically titled 1987 album Music for the Masses, Depeche Mode played a follow-up US tour in 1988, to sold-out venues.

Related Topics:
1987 - Music for the Masses

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