Depeche Mode
Basildon synth-pop pioneers who became one of the biggest electronic bands in the world.
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via Wikipedia: Depeche Mode · see source
Depeche Mode are an English electronic band that formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The founding line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke; since Fletcher died in 2022, the group has been the duo of Gahan and Gore.
Emerging from the British new wave scene, they grew into one of the leading alternative acts of the 1980s and beyond. They have placed 54 songs on the UK singles chart, scored 17 Top 10 albums in Britain and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Lore & Background
The story starts in 1977, when schoolmates Clarke and Fletcher formed No Romance in China. By 1980 they were playing as Composition of Sound with Gore, and Gahan joined after Clarke heard him sing Heroes at a Scout hut jam.
Cheap synthesizers pushed them toward synth-pop, and from a gig on 24 September 1980 they used the name Depeche Mode, borrowed from a French fashion magazine. Daniel Miller of Mute Records signed them after a show, and singles such as New Life and Just Can't Get Enough led to the debut album Speak & Spell in 1981. Clarke left that year to form Yazoo, Gore took over songwriting, and keyboardist Alan Wilder joined in 1982, staying until 1995.
Reader's Guide
Their peak run came with Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, and a June 1988 show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl drew more than 60,000 fans. Violator, released in 1990, reached number seven on the Billboard 200 and went triple platinum, followed by Songs of Faith and Devotion.
As a trio they made Ultra, Exciter, Playing the Angel, Sounds of the Universe, Delta Machine and Spirit. Memento Mori arrived in 2023. Q named them among the 50 Bands That Changed the World.
Did You Know?
- Their first single, Dreaming of Me, reached number 57 in the UK.
- Alan Wilder answered an anonymous ad in Melody Maker asking for a musician under twenty-one, despite being 22.
- A plaque at the James Hornsby School in Basildon marks the band's first four-piece gig.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are Depeche Mode from?
Basildon, Essex, England, where they formed in 1980.
Who is in Depeche Mode now?
Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, who have continued as a duo since Andy Fletcher's death in 2022.
More in Electronic & Experimental
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Depeche Mode (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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