Depeche Mode

A synth band from Basildon that moved from bright pop singles to dark, sample-built albums and became a stadium act with Violator.

Origin: Basildon, Essex, England
Years active: 1980-present
Genres: synth-pop, new wave, dark wave, alternative rock
Labels: Mute, Sire, Reprise, EMI, Columbia

Basildon

Depeche Mode formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. Schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher had played in a band together since 1977, and in 1980 they formed Composition of Sound with Martin Gore. Dave Gahan joined later that year, after Clarke heard him sing David Bowie's Heroes at a jam session in a Scout hut. From a concert at Bridge House on 24 September 1980 they played as Depeche Mode, a name Gahan picked from a French fashion magazine.

Daniel Miller, who ran the burgeoning label Mute Records, approached them at a gig and wanted them to record a single. Dreaming of Me reached number 57 in the UK in 1981 and New Life reached number 11. Just Can't Get Enough) became their first UK top ten hit, and the debut album Speak & Spell followed in October 1981, peaking at number 10. Clarke, who wrote the early hits, announced his departure that November and went on to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet, and later Erasure. Gore became the main songwriter. In early 1982 Alan Wilder, a classically trained keyboardist who answered an advertisement in Melody Maker, joined the band.

Berlin and a darker sound

Construction Time Again (1983) was made with producer Gareth Jones at Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios in West Berlin. Wilder brought in the Synclavier and E-mu Emulator samplers, and the band built tracks from sampled everyday objects. In March 1984 People Are People reached number 1 in West Germany and number 4 in the UK, and in 1985 it reached number 13 on the US Hot 100. It led Some Great Reward, which peaked at number 5 in the UK and carried Master and Servant and Blasphemous Rumours, two singles that stirred mild controversy.

Black Celebration followed in 1986. Miller asked the band to live the album, working in London and West Berlin, and the sessions were tense. The same year Anton Corbijn directed his first Depeche Mode video, for A Question of Time. He has since directed 22 of their videos and designed most of their covers from Violator onward.

Music for the Masses and Violator

On Music for the Masses (1987), Miller and Jones were no longer producing. David Bascombe was brought in, though Wilder took control of the production. The tour for it closed on 18 June 1988 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, a show filmed by D. A. Pennebaker as the concert film 101. Never Let Me Down Again became a fixture of their live set.

For Violator (1990), Miller suggested Mark Ellis, known as Flood, as co-producer. A seven-week stay at Logic Studios in Milan produced Personal Jesus, and the rest was recorded at Puk Recording Studios in Denmark and finished at The Church Studios in London. Enjoy the Silence was the second single. The album reached number 2 in the UK and number 7 on the Billboard 200, their first top ten there, and was certified triple platinum in the United States. The day before release, a record signing in Los Angeles drew more than 15,000 people and riot police were called. The World Violation Tour played 88 shows, mostly in stadiums for the first time.

Songs of Faith and Devotion and after

Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) leaned on distorted guitars, live drums played by Wilder, strings and gospel vocals. It debuted at number one in both the UK and the US. It was recorded in a rented villa near Madrid, then in Hamburg and London, in difficult sessions during which the band's relationships were strained. The Devotional Tour ran fourteen months and 159 shows, and Wilder announced in June 1995 that he was leaving.

Gahan, Gore and Fletcher made Ultra, which debuted at number 1 in the UK and Germany in 1997, and five more albums as a trio, ending with Spirit in 2017. Fletcher died on 26 May 2022, aged 60. Gahan and Gore released Memento Mori in 2023. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Members

Dave Gahan lead and backing vocals (1980-present)
Martin Gore guitars, keyboards, backing and lead vocals (1980-present)
Andy Fletcher keyboards, bass guitar, occasional backing vocals (1980-2022)
Vince Clarke keyboards, backing vocals, guitars (1980-1981)
Alan Wilder keyboards, piano, drums, backing vocals (1982-1995)

Records

Some Great Reward 1984 · Mute
The fourth album, home to People Are People and the first to enter the US charts.
Black Celebration 1986 · Mute (UK), Sire (US)
A tense, claustrophobic fifth album, recorded under a live the album rule, and the start of their darker run.
Music for the Masses 1987 · Mute (UK), Sire (US)
The sixth album, made without Daniel Miller or Gareth Jones producing, with a sampled studio and a grand piano found in a converted theatre.
Violator 1990 · Mute (UK), Sire and Reprise (US)
The album that made them stars in the United States, built with Flood in Milan, Denmark and London.
Songs of Faith and Devotion 1993 · Mute (UK), Sire and Reprise (US)
A heavier, rock-leaning eighth album, recorded in strained sessions and their first to debut at number one in both the UK and the US.

Songs

Personal Jesus Violator · 1989
The first single from Violator, built from a foot-tapped acoustic demo and a stomping sampled beat.
Enjoy the Silence Violator · 1990
A harmonium ballad that Alan Wilder and Flood rebuilt as a dance single, and the band's best-selling single.
Never Let Me Down Again Music for the Masses · 1987
The opener of Music for the Masses and a fixture of their concerts, built on a guitar riff and borrowed drums.
People Are People Some Great Reward · 1984
The 1984 single that gave the band their first number one in West Germany and a top 15 hit on the US Hot 100.

Erasure, Yazoo, Recoil, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash

Where to go next

Official

Depeche Mode official site The band's own site.
Mute: Depeche Mode The label's artist page for the band.

Reference

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Depeche Mode The inductee page for the 2020 induction.
Depeche Mode The long article on the band, with the full career in order.
Music for the Masses Sessions, equipment, singles and the tour behind the 1987 album.
Violator Sessions in Milan, Denmark and London for the 1990 album.
Black Celebration The tense 1985 to 1986 sessions behind the fifth album.
Some Great Reward Recording in London and West Berlin, plus the tour behind the 1984 album.
Songs of Faith and Devotion The Madrid, Hamburg and London sessions, track by track.
Personal Jesus The single, its video and its cover versions.
Enjoy the Silence How the ballad demo became a dance single.
Never Let Me Down Again Samples, lyrics and live life of the 1987 single.
People Are People Recording and reception of the 1984 single.
Just Can't Get Enough The 1981 single written by Vince Clarke.

Writing and criticism

Pitchfork: Speak & Spell / Music for the Masses / Violator A review of the reissues of three early albums.

Sources

Depeche Mode, Wikipedia
Music for the Masses, Wikipedia
Violator (album), Wikipedia
Depeche Mode, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Speak & Spell / Music for the Masses / Violator, Pitchfork
Depeche Mode official site, Depeche Mode