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Depeche Mode Information
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'Depeche Mode' is a synth rock band from the town of Basildon, England, originally founded in 1980. 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 Fuse. As of 2005, it is estimated that Depeche Mode 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.
The three current members of Depeche Mode are:
*Martin Gore (primary songwriter, vocals, guitars, keyboards)
*David Gahan (lead vocals)
*Andrew Fletcher (management, keyboards)
Former members include:
*Alan Wilder (producer, keyboards, drums, vocals) from 1982 to 1995.
*Vince Clarke (primary songwriter, keyboards), from 1980 to 1981.
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, "Dépéªche-mode", which translates to "Fashion Update" or "Fashion News Dispatch," though it has commonly been mistranslated as "Fast Fashion."
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.
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. Prior to this, Alan Wilder replaced Vince Clarke on tour, but he did not contribute to A Broken Frame. Shortly afterwards, he became a full-fledged member of Depeche Mode, in time for their 1983 non-album single "Get the Balance Right". 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.
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".
This period is seen as the beginning of the band's long association with Britains's Gothic movement that was gaining popularity in America.
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 later tried to downplay, with little effect.
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)).
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.
Middle History
In the mid-80s and '90s, the band's popularity in the US grew, as did their influence on the emerging techno and house music scenes. Techno pioneers Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins regularly quoted Depeche Mode as an influence in their development of proto-techno music during the Detroit Techno explosion in the late 80s.
The band's 1988 Music for the Masses tour culminated in a final concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl with a sell-out attendance of 80,000 (the highest in 8 years for the venue). The tour was documented in a film by D.A. Pennebaker, notable for its portrayal of fan interaction. An album release of the concert, titled 101 (the show was the 101st and final stop on the tour) became a bestseller in 1989.
Later that year, the band recorded the bluesy country-western-influenced "Personal Jesus", in Milan. 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 which, if dialed, played the song. The ensuing controversy helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers and their first gold single in the US.
In February 1990, "Enjoy the Silence", Depeche Mode's most successful single to date, reached #8 in the US charts (#6 in the UK), eventually becoming the band's signature song. It won 'Best Single' at the Brit Awards. To promote their new album Violator, they held an in-store autograph signing in Los Angeles, which attracted 17,000 fans. The album (Top Ten in the UK and US) and the subsequent World Violation Tour were further successes. Notably, 40,000 tickets for the (New York) Giants Stadium show sold within 8 hours, and 48,000 tickets for the (Los Angeles) Dodger Stadium show sold within an hour of going on sale.
By 1991, Depeche Mode had emerged as one of the world's most successful acts, relying on a proto-techno sound to distinguish themselves. The band changed pace in 1993 with Songs of Faith and Devotion, a rock-oriented album that "butched up" the group's sound. The album moved away from keyboards and synthesizer influences, for the first time introducing live drums (by Wilder) and outside musicians into the music.
The album debuted at number 1 in both the US and the UK; highlights included the country-blues/techno "I Feel You", the soulful "Walking in My Shoes", and the gospel-tinged "Condemnation". The 14-month "Devotional" world tour followed. Strains became apparent when Fletcher declined to participate in the second "exotic" leg of the tour.
In June 1995 after the tour Alan Wilder left the band citing "unsatisfactory internal working conditions"; he continued to work on his personal project, Recoil. Contributing factors that have been suggested include the drug addiction issues of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore's admission of "battling his own demons" at this time, and growing tensions between Wilder and Andrew Fletcher. Wilder had stated that he contributed a lion's share of work while receiving the least credit on past albums. His departure was quickly followed by news of Gahan attempting suicide at his home in L.A.; he later entered a drug rehabilitation program to battle a heroin addiction.
In 1996, with Gahan out of rehab, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer Tim Simenon; the next year, the album Ultra and its first single "Barrel of a Gun" were released to critical acclaim. The album again debuted at #1, but the band declined to tour, perhaps on account of the results of the 'Devotional' tour.
A best-of collection The Singles 86>98 followed in 1998, with the new single "Only When I Lose Myself". The band set off on a 4 month tour that cemented their place as a quasi-permanent attraction, with a large touring attendance regardless of album sales. (U2, the Rolling Stones, and Rod Stewart are some others in this category).
Depeche Mode Today
While Depeche Mode remains quite popular in the US, Western Europe and Australia, its most loyal fan base and widest appeal seems to lie in Central Europe and Eastern Europe fed by the timely confluence of several key events in this part of the world in the early 90's: the then world-wide popularity of Depeche Mode and synthesized dance music in general (which has since waned in the US), the collapse of communism, and the rise of the Internet with the instant access this brought to a region thirsting for western music and ideals. Today there are countless fan-created web sites, in nearly every language, propelling the band to perpetual fame.
In 2001, Depeche Mode released Exciter, which did not place well in the charts outside of Continental Europe. Although it spawned several dance club hits such as Danny Tenaglia's remixes of "I Feel Loved", many fans felt the album was uninspired and underproduced, although the record was noted as containing some of the strongest vocal stylings of Dave Gahan since joining the band. Web blogs from L.A. to Sydney questioned if this wasn't a manifestation that indeed Depeche Mode had in essence broken up with the departure of Alan Wilder in 1995. Shortly after the Exciter tour, Martin and Dave seemed to sense that this would be a good time to busy themselves with new solo efforts.
2003 saw the release of Dave Gahan's solo album, Paper Monsters, followed by a worldwide tour and a DVD taken from it, titled Live Monsters; Martin Gore continued his solo career with the release of Counterfeit² (additional covers of some of Martin's most beloved and influential songs first canonised in his 1989 release Counterfeit); and Andrew Fletcher launched his own label, Toast Hawaii.
In August, 2004, Mute released the DVD version of "Devotional," filmed during their world tour in 1993, and a new remix compilation album Remixes 81-04 that covers some new & unreleased promo mixes of the singles from 1981 to 2004, highlighted with a re-release and new renditions of their timeworn classic Enjoy the Silence. The single peaked at #7 in the UK, but did poorly in the US. On October 18, the Depeche Mode fansite Depechemode.tv () took top honours at the BT 2005 Digital Music Awards, further reflecting the enduring popularity of the band. It was also during this time that Martin, in an interview on BBC Radio's Stuart Maconie show on September 5th, revealed that he was currently going through a divorce.
On October 17, 2005, the band released their long awaited 11th studio album Playing the Angel to mixed, but mostly positive reviews. Produced by Ben Hillier, this top ten hit (peaking at #1 in several European 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. Worthy of note is that this was the first DM album to feature songs written by frontman David Gahan. Several months prior to its official release, a prototype of the video for "Precious" was leaked onto the internet, resulting in the arrest of a Polish citizen. Meanwhile, the official video was released on September 12 on the Depeche Mode website, www.depechemode.com. To promote the album, the band launched a five-month worldwide tour in November, which will take them to fans in North America, Europe, with rumours of an additional leg in the Summer of 2006 which will include more Europe dates, and possibly additional North America dates and there's rumours of South America as well. The second single from the album, "A Pain That I'm Used To", is set for release on December 12. (To see information on "Touring the Angel" and other Depeche Mode tours, view Depeche Mode Tours)
To date, Depeche Mode has sold nearly 70.5 million albums worldwide (releasing a new studio album every four years since mid-career), and has cemented their position as one of the most popular recording and live performance artists of all time.
Discography
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Studio albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
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| 1981 | Speak & Spell | 10 | 192 | | 1982 | A Broken Frame | 8 | 177 | | 1983 | Construction Time Again | 6 | - | | 1984 | Some Great Reward | 5 | 51 | | 1986 | Black Celebration | 4 | 90 | | 1987 | Music for the Masses | 10 | 35 | | 1990 | Violator | 2 | 7 | | 1993 | Songs of Faith and Devotion | 1 | 1 | | 1997 | Ultra | 1 | 5 | | 2001 | Exciter | 9 | 8 | | 2005 | Playing the Angel | 6 | 7 | |
Live albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
|---|
| 1989 | 101 | 7 | 45 | | 1993 | Songs of Faith and Devotion Live | 46 | 193 | |
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Compilation albums
| Year | Album | UK | US |
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| 1984 | People Are People
(not released in Europe) | - | 71 | | 1985 | The Singles 81>85
(re-issued in 1998) | 6 | 114 | | 1985 | Catching Up With Depeche Mode
(not released in Europe) | - | 113 | | 1991 | Singles Box, Vol. 1 | - | - | | 1991 | Singles Box, Vol. 2 | - | - | | 1991 | Singles Box, Vol. 3 | - | - | | 1994 | Songs of Faith and Devotion [Studio & Live] | - | - | | 1998 | The Singles 86>98 | 5 | 38 | | 2004 | Singles Box, Vol. 4 | - | - | | 2004 | Singles Box, Vol. 5 | - | - | | 2004 | Singles Box, Vol. 6 | - | - | | 2004 | Remixes 81-04 | 24 | - | |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Dance | Album |
|---|
| 1981 | "Dreaming of Me" | 57 | - | - | 47 | Non-album single | | 1981 | "New Life" | 11 | - | - | 29 | Speak & Spell | | 1981 | "Just Can't Get Enough" | 8 | - | - | 26 | Speak & Spell | | 1982 | "See You" | 6 | - | - | - | A Broken Frame | | 1982 | "The Meaning of Love" | 12 | - | - | - | A Broken Frame | | 1982 | "Leave in Silence" | 18 | - | - | - | A Broken Frame | | 1983 | "Get the Balance Right" | 13 | - | - | - | Non-album single | | 1983 | "Everything Counts" | 6 | - | - | 17 | Construction Time Again | | 1983 | "Love, in Itself" | 21 | - | - | - | Construction Time Again | | 1984 | "People Are People" | 4 | 13 | - | 44 | Some Great Reward | | 1984 | "Master and Servant" | 6 | 87 | - | 49 | Some Great Reward | | 1984 | "Blasphemous Rumours" 1 | 16 | - | - | - | Some Great Reward | | 1984 | "Somebody" 1 | 16 | - | - | - | Some Great Reward | | 1985 | "Shake the Disease" | 18 | - | - | - | The Singles 81-85 | | 1985 | "It's Called a Heart" | 18 | - | - | - | The Singles 81-85 | | 1986 | "Stripped" | 15 | - | - | - | Black Celebration | | 1986 | "A Question of Lust" | 28 | - | - | - | Black Celebration | | 1986 | "A Question of Time" | 17 | - | - | - | Black Celebration | | 1987 | "Strangelove" 2 | 16 | 76 | - | 1 | Music for the Masses | | 1987 | "Never Let Me Down Again" | 22 | 63 | - | 12 | Music for the Masses | | 1988 | "Behind the Wheel" | 21 | 61 | - | 3 | Music for the Masses | | 1988 | "Little 15" | 60 | - | - | - | Music for the Masses | | 1988 | "Strangelove '88" 2 | - | 50 | - | - | Music for the Masses | | 1989 | "Everything Counts (Live)" | 22 | - | 13 | 16 | 101 | | 1989 | "Personal Jesus" | 13 | 28 | 3 | 12 | Violator | | 1990 | "Dangerous" 3 | - | - | 13 | - | - | | 1990 | "Enjoy the Silence" | 6 | 8 | 1 | 6 | Violator | | 1990 | "Policy of Truth" | 16 | 15 | 1 | 2 | Violator | | 1990 | "Halo" 3 | - | - | 21 | - | Violator | | 1990 | "World in My Eyes" | 17 | 52 | 17 | 6 | Violator | | 1993 | "I Feel You" | 8 | 37 | 1 | 3 | Songs of Faith and Devotion | | 1993 | "Walking in My Shoes" | 14 | 69 | 1 | - | Songs of Faith and Devotion | | 1993 | "Condemnation" | 9 | - | 23 | - | Songs of Faith and Devotion | | 1994 | "In Your Room" | 8 | - | - | - | Songs of Faith and Devotion | | 1997 | "Barrel of a Gun" | 4 | 47 | 11 | - | Ultra | | 1997 | "It's No Good" | 5 | 38 | 4 | 1 | Ultra | | 1997 | "Home" | 23 | 88 | - | - | Ultra | | 1997 | "Useless" | 28 | - | - | - | Ultra | | 1998 | "Only When I Lose Myself" | 17 | 61 | 36 | - | The Singles 86-98 | | 2001 | "Dream On" | 6 | 85 | 12 | 1 | Exciter | | 2001 | "I Feel Loved" | 12 | - | - | 1 | Exciter | | 2001 | "Freelove" | 19 | - | - | 1 | Exciter | | 2002 | "Goodnight Lovers" 4 | - | - | - | - | Exciter | | 2004 | "Enjoy the Silence (Reinterpreted)" | 7 | - | - | 25 | Remixes 81-04 | | 2004 | "Remixes 04" 5 | 75 | - | - | - | Remixes 81-04 | | 2005 | "Precious" 6 | 4 | 71 | 24 | 1 | Playing the Angel | | 2005 | "A Pain That I'm Used To" 7 | - | - | - | - | Playing the Angel |
Notes
1 "Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody" was released as a double A-side single.
2 The original release of "Strangelove" in the United States peaked at #76 on the Hot 100. Sire Records re-released a different version of the single in 1988, in the hopes of a higher chart placement. The re-release peaked at #50.
3 "Dangerous" and "Halo" were not released as standard singles. They managed to chart on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, which measures airplay on alternative rock radio stations in the United States.
4 "Goodnight Lovers" was not chart eligible (a single with more than one unique song must have no more than three tracks to be chart eligible, "Goodnight Lovers" had four).
5 "Remixes 04" was released as a limited edition 12" of remixes featuring "Something to Do," "World in My Eyes," and "Photographic." Despite having the same catalog number as "Enjoy the Silence 04," it charted separately on the UK Singles Chart.
6 "Precious" is currently active on the charts. The table above reflects the single's peak positions to date.
7 "A Pain That I'm Used To" has been announced as the band's next single, but has not yet been released.
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