Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode biography

Depeche Mode ( ) are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andy Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter 1980-81). Vince Clarke left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album, Speak & Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, occasional songwriter) with Gore taking over songwriting. Wilder left the band in 1995 and since then Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher have continued as a trio.

Depeche Mode have had 48 songs in the UK Singles Chart and twelve top 10 albums in the UK charts, two of which debuted at #1. According to EMI, Depeche Mode have sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide, making them the most successful electronic band in music history. Q magazine calls Depeche Mode "The most popular electronic band the world has ever known" and included the band in the list of the "50 Bands That Changed The World!".

In 2010 Depeche Mode were ranked No. 98 on VH1's list of the "100 greatest artists of all time".

History

Formation and debut album (1977-1981)

Depeche Mode's origins date back to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a The Cure-influenced 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 1978-79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo Norman and The Worms with school friend Philip Burdett on vocals. In 1979, Marlow, Gore, and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called The French Look with Marlow on vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar 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.

Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesisers, working odd jobs including carpentry to buy or borrow them from friends. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing 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, DépíȘche mode (from french dépíȘche that means here "news report" but can also mean "to hurry up" and mode that means "fashion"), Martin Gore said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that." Gore recollects that the first time the band played as Depeche Mode was a school gig in May 1980. The band made their recording debut in 1980 on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", which was later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell.

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