Depeche Mode ( , ) are an
English electronic band who 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),
Andrew Fletcher (keyboards) and
Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief
songwriter 1980–81). Vince Clarke left the band after the release
of their
1981 debut album,
and was replaced by
Alan Wilder
(keyboards, drums,
production) 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 are one of the most successful, longest-lived bands
from the early 1980s. They have had forty-five songs in the
UK Singles Chart and #1 albums in
UK, US and throughout Europe. According to
EMI,
Depeche Mode have sold over 75 million albums worldwide, as part of
total worldwide record sales (including singles) in excess of 100
million.
History
Formation (1977-1980)
Depeche Mode's origins are in 1977, when
Vince Clarke and
Andrew Fletcher formed a band
called
No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and
guitar and Fletcher on bass. In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an
"
Ultravox rip-off band",
The Plan,
with friends
Robert Marlow and Paul
Langwith.In 1978–79, Gore played in an acoustic duo,
Norman and
The Worms, with school friend Philip Burdett on vocals and
Gore on guitar. In 1979, Marlow, Gore, Clarke and friend Paul
Redmond formed a band called
The French Look, 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. On 31 May 1980, The French Look
and Composition of Sound played together at St. Nicholas School
Youth Club, Basildon, Essex.
Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and
Fletcher switched to synthesizers, 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, crooning to a rendition of
David Bowie's "
Heroes", and Depeche Mode was
born. When explaining the choice for the new name (taken from a
French fashion magazine,
Dépêche mode) Martin Gore has
said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the
sound of that." The band made their recording debut on the
Some Bizzare Album, with
the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album,
Speak &
Spell.
Speak & Spell (1981)
While
playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town
, the band was approached by Daniel Miller (an electronic musician and founder of
Mute Records), who was interested in
them recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result
of this verbal contract was their first single "
Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980
and released in February 1981, reaching number 57 in the UK charts.
Encouraged by this, the band recorded its second single "
New Life", climbing to number 11 in the UK
charts. Three months later, the band released "
Just Can't Get Enough" - its first
single to enter the UK Top 10, peaking at number eight. This record
was in many ways a breakthrough for the band, and its success paved
the way for its debut album -
Speak & Spell, released
in November 1981, and eventually reaching number ten on the UK
album charts. Critical reviews were mixed -
Melody Maker described it as a "great
album... one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please
the fans who just can’t get enough", while
Rolling Stone was more critical, calling
the album "PG-rated fluff".
Clarke departs, Wilder joins (1981/1982)
During the touring and promotion for
Speak & Spell,
Clarke began privately to voice his discomfort at the direction the
band was taking. He later expressed his agitation that "there was
never enough time to do anything". In November 1981, Clarke
publicly announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode. Soon
afterwards, he joined with blues singer
Alison Moyet to form
Yazoo (Yaz in the U.S.) and later, the duo
Erasure with
Andy Bell. After initial talk of Clarke
continuing to write material for the group ultimately amounted to
nothing (Clarke offered the remaining members of Depeche Mode the
track "Only You", but they declined; it subsequently went to UK #2
for Clarke's new band, Yazoo), Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora!
Tora!" and "Big Muff" for
Speak & Spell, was forced to
become the band's new songwriter.
In late 1981, the band placed an anonymous ad in
Melody
Maker looking for another musician.
Alan Wilder, a 22-year old keyboardist from West
London, responded and after two auditions, he was hired in early
1982 initially on a trial basis as a touring member.
A Broken Frame (1982)
In January 1982, the band released "
See
You", their first single without Clarke, which against all
expectations, managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in
the UK charts, reaching number six. In January 1982, the band
embarked on their first world tour, the "See You" tour. In the
ensuing months of that year, two more singles were released
("
The Meaning of Love", and
"
Leave in Silence").
Depeche Mode began work on their second album in July 1982. Daniel
Miller informed Wilder that he was not needed for the recording of
the album, as the band wanted to prove that they could succeed
without Vince Clarke. Their second album
A Broken Frame was released that
September. In October 1982, the band embarked on their second tour
that year, the "Broken Frame Tour".
Construction Time Again (1983)
A non-album single "
Get the
Balance Right!" was released in January 1983, and was Wilder's
first musical contribution to the band.
For their
third LP Construction Time
Again, Depeche Mode worked with producer Gareth Jones, at John Foxx's Garden Studios and at Hansa Studios
in West Berlin.
The album saw a dramatic shift in the group's sound, due in part to
Wilder's introduction of the
Synclavier
and
Emulator samplers, in addition to their
previously-used analogue synths. By sampling the noises of everyday
objects, the band created an eclectic,
industrial-influenced sound, with
similarities to groups such as the
Art of
Noise and
Einstürzende
Neubauten, the latter having been published under the same
label.
Similarly, Gore's lyricism was rapidly evolving, focusing
increasingly on political and social issues. A good example of the
new sound was on the first single from the album "
Everything Counts", a commentary on the
perceived greed of multinational corporations, which got to number
six in the UK, also reaching the Top 30 in Ireland, South Africa,
Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. Wilder also contributed on
the songwriting front, notably on "The Landscape Is
Changing".
Some Great Reward (1984)
In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success
in the UK, Europe, and Australia - however, this changed in March
1984, when they released the single "
People Are People".
The song climbed to #2
in Ireland and #4 on the UK and Swiss
charts - and
gave them their first #1 (in Germany). However, it belatedly
reached #13 on the U.S. charts in mid-1985. The song has since
become an anthem for the LGBT community and is regularly played at
gay establishments and
gay pride
festivals.
Sire, the band's North American record
label, released a compilation of
the same name. In September 1984,
Some Great Reward was
released.
Melody Maker claimed that the album made one
"sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your
nose."
Some Great Reward saw the band experimenting with
even darker subject matter, exploring sexual politics ("
Master and Servant"), adulterous
relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice
("
Blasphemous Rumours"). Also
included was the first Martin Gore ballad ("Somebody") - a concept
that would be repeated on all following albums, and later became
the first single sung by Gore. The album was also their first to
enter the U.S. album charts, and made the Top 10 in several
European countries.
In 1985,
Mute Records released a
compilation,
The Singles
81>85 (
Catching Up with Depeche
Mode in the U.S.), which included the new hit singles :
"
Shake the Disease" and "
It's Called a Heart".
During this period, in some circles, the band became associated
with the
gothic subculture, which
had begun in Britain in the late 70s, and was now slowly gaining
popularity in the United States.
There, the band's music had first gained
prominence on college radio and modern
rock stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles,
KQAK ("The Quake") in San Francisco and
WLIR on Long Island, New York
, and hence, they appealed primarily to a alternative audience who were
disenfranchised with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco
hell'" on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp
contrast to that in Europe and the UK, despite the increasingly
dark and serious tone in their songs. In Germany and other European
countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols, and were
regularly featured in euro teen magazines, providing their
detractors with more ammunition to use against them.
Black Celebration (1986)
Arguably Depeche Mode's largest transformation came in 1986, with
the release of their fifteenth single "
Stripped", and its accompanying album
Black Celebration.
Jettisoning much of the "industrial-pop" sound that had
characterised their previous two LPs (although they retained their
often imaginative sampling), the band introduced an ominous, highly
atmospheric and textured sound, accompanied by some darker,
bleaker, lyrics, as written by Gore. Also included on the album was
a revised version of the song "Fly on the Windscreen", which had
originally appeared as the b-side to "It's Called a Heart". The
band recognised the song's promise, and decided to improve it and
include it on the album, renamed as "Fly on the Windscreen -
Final".. This song was also featured on an episode of the US
television series "Miami Vice".
As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours,
several songs from
Black
Celebration have appeared in tour setlists.
The music video for "
A Question of
Time" was the first to be directed by
Anton Corbijn, beginning a working
relationship that continues to the present day. Corbijn has
directed 19 more of the band's videos (the latest being 2006's
"
Suffer Well") and live performances,
and has been responsible for some of the band's album and single
covers. "
But Not Tonight", the
B-side to "
Stripped" was released in
October as the third single for the US. It did not chart.
Music for the Masses (1987)
1987's
Music for the
Masses saw further alterations in the band's sound and
working methods. For the first time a
producer not related to Mute,
David Bascombe, was called to assist with the
recording sessions (although, according to Alan Wilder, his role
ended up being more that of an engineer), and the band, for the
most part, sided its sampling of industrial sounds in which their
music used to rely, in favour of more synth experimentation. While
the chart performance of the singles "
Strangelove", "
Never Let Me Down Again" and
"
Behind the Wheel" proved to be
disappointing in Great Britain, they performed well in countries
such as Canada, Brazil, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden and
Switzerland, often reaching the top 10.
Record Mirror described it as "the most
accomplished and sexy Mode album to date" and it made a
breakthrough in the American market, something which the band had
failed to achieve with their previous albums.
As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours,
several songs from
Music for
the Masses have appeared in tour setlists.
101 (1988)
On the heels of
Music for the Masses, the group played a
follow-up world tour in 1987–88.
The tour culminated on 18 June 1988 in a
concert at the Pasadena
Rose Bowl
with paid attendance of 60,453(the highest in eight
years for the venue). The tour meant a breakthrough and
massive success in the United States and was documented in
101 - a concert film by
D. A. Pennebaker and its accompanying soundtrack
album.
As
a side note, just before the show started KROQ's own Richard Blade
appeared on stage saying that the show would be canceled in order
to stop a massive food fight that had nearly all of the Rose Bowl
participating.On 7 March 1988 they played an
unofficial gig (as it was not officially announced that DM was the
band performing that night) in the “Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle”,
East Berlin. By that time the communist regime was still in power
and Depeche Mode were among the very few western bands that ever
played in former East Germany (GDR).
Violator (1990)
In
mid-1989, the band began recording in Milan
with
producer Flood and engineer
François Kevorkian.
The initial result of this session was the single "
Personal Jesus". Prior to its release, a
marketing campaign was launched with advertisements placed in the
personal columns of UK regional newspapers with the words "Your own
personal Jesus." Later, the ads included a phone number one could
dial to hear the song. The resulting furore helped propel the
single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest
sellers to date; in the U.S., it was their first gold single and
their first Top 40 hit since "People Are People", eventually
becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in
Warner Bros. Records' history up to that
point.
In January 1990, "
Enjoy the
Silence", became one of Depeche Mode's most successful singles
to date, reaching number six in the UK; a few months later in the
U.S., it became Depeche Mode's biggest hit, reaching number eight,
and earning the band a second gold single. It won 'Best British
single' at the 1991
Brit Awards. To
promote their new album
Violator, they held an in-store
autograph signing at the Wherehouse Entertainment store location in
West Los Angeles, which attracted approximately 20,000 fans, some
of which were injured by being pressed against the store's glass by
the crowd, and nearly caused a riot. As an apology to the fans who
were injured, the band released a limited edition cassette tape to
the fans living in Los Angeles and was distributed through radio
station
KROQ, the sponsor of the Wherehouse
event.
Violator went on to reach Top 10 in the UK and U.S.
It has also been
certified triple
platinum in America, selling over 3.9 million units there.
The
subsequent World Violation Tour
was another notable success, with 40,000 tickets sold within eight
hours for the New York Giants Stadium
(in East Rutherford, New Jersey
) show, and 48,000 tickets for the Los Angeles
Dodger
Stadium
show sold within an hour of going on sale.
Two more singles from the album, "
Policy
of Truth" and "
World in My
Eyes" were hits in the U.K. and U.S.
As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours,
several songs from
Violator have
appeared in tour setlists.
Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)
In 1993
Songs of Faith
and Devotion saw them experimenting with more organic
arrangements, based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars,
keyboards and live drums (played by Alan Wilder, whose debut as a
studio drummer was the track "Clean" on
Violator). Live
strings,
uilleann pipes and female
gospel vocals were other new additions to the
band's sound. The album debuted at number one in both the UK and
the U.S., on the heels of the bluesy,
grunge-influenced single "
I
Feel You".
As a testament to the album´s success, in later world tours,
several songs from
Songs
of Faith and Devotion have appeared in tour
setlists.
The 14-month
Devotional world tour
followed. It was documented by a concert video of the
same name, and a second live album,
Songs of Faith and
Devotion Live. The live album was essentially a
track-by-track reproduction of the eponymous album, designed to
help boost sales figures of the studio album, and it proved to be a
critical and commercial failure, reaching only #46 in the UK, it
managed a #193 peak in the U.S., selling a mere 114,000 units there
as of April 2006.
Dave Gahan's
heroin addiction was
starting to affect his behaviour, causing him to become more
erratic and introverted. Martin Gore experienced a seizure and Andy
Fletcher declined to participate in the second "exotic" leg of the
tour due to "mental instability". During that period, he was
replaced on-stage by
Daryl Bamonte,
who had worked with the band as a personal assistant for many
years.
Wilder's departure (1995)
In June 1995, Alan Wilder announced that he was leaving Depeche
Mode, explaining,
He continued to work on his personal project
Recoil, releasing a fourth album (
Unsound Methods) in 1997. Following
Wilder's departure, many were skeptical of whether Depeche Mode
would ever record again. Gahan's mental state and drug habit became
a major source of concern, with a near-fatal
overdose at a hotel in Los Angeles.
Ultra (1997)
Despite Gahan's increasingly severe personal issues, Gore tried
repeatedly during 1995 and 1996 to get the band recording again.
However, Gahan would rarely turn up to scheduled sessions, and when
he did, it would take weeks to get any vocals recorded. Gore was
forced to contemplate breaking the band up, and releasing the songs
he had written as a solo album. In mid-1996, Gahan entered a
drug rehabilitation program to
battle his heroin addiction. With Gahan out of rehab in 1996,
Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer
Tim Simenon; the next year, the album
Ultra, and its two preceding
singles, "
Barrel of
a Gun" and "
It's No Good", were
released. The album debuted at #1 in the UK and #5 in the US.
"
Home" and "
Useless" were also released from the album,
becoming a double A-side in the US.
A second singles compilation
The Singles 86–98 was
released in 1998, preceded by the new single "
Only When I Lose Myself", which had
been recorded during the
Ultra sessions. The band set off
on a four month tour.
Exciter (2001)
In 2001, Depeche Mode released
Exciter, which was produced by
Mark Bell (of the pioneering
techno group
LFO).
Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album,
influenced by
IDM and
glitch. The album failed to achieve
the same levels of sales as the band's previous three releases, and
was the first studio album by Depeche Mode to chart higher in the
U.S. than the UK, although it reached the Top 10 in both countries.
"
Dream On", "
I Feel Loved", "
Freelove" and "
Goodnight Lovers" were released as singles
in 2001 and 2002. The critical response to the album was mixed.
Whilst it received reasonably positive reviews from some magazines
(
NME,
Rolling Stone and
LA Weekly), others (including
Q,
PopMatters,
and
Pitchfork Media) derided it as
sounding underproduced, dull and lacklustre., and on tours
following the
Exciter Tour (
Touring the Angel and
Tour of the
Universe), the band have chosen to play only one ("Goodnight
Lovers" or "Freelove") or no songs whatsoever from the
Exciter album.
In 2004, Mute released the DVD version of
Devotional, filmed during their 1993
world tour, as well as a new remix compilation album
Remixes 81–04 that compiled new
and unreleased promo mixes of the band's singles from 1981 to 2004,
including a reinterpreted version of "Enjoy the Silence" by
Mike Shinoda entitled "
Enjoy the Silence 04", which was
released as a single, and reached #7 on the UK charts.
Playing the Angel (2005)
On 17 October 2005, the band released their 11th studio album
Playing the Angel.
Produced by
Ben Hillier, this Top 10 hit
(peaking at #1 in 17 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. This is
the first Depeche Mode album to feature lyrics written by Gahan
and, consequently, the first album since 1984's
Some Great
Reward featuring songs not written by Gore.
With a prototypical version having been leaked onto the Internet
some months earlier, the official video for "Precious" was released
on 12 September on the Depeche Mode website,
www.depechemode.com. The second single from the album,
"
A Pain That I'm Used To,"
was released on 12 December, and the third single from the album
was "
Suffer Well," the first ever
post-Clarke Depeche Mode single not to be written by Gore (lyrics
by Gahan, music by Philpott/Eigner). The song, re-recorded in
Simlish, was also included in the
Open for
Business expansion pack for the hit game,
The Sims 2. The last single from the album was
"
John the Revelator", an
uptempo electronic track with a running religious theme,
accompanied by "Lilian", a lush track that was a hit in many clubs
all over the world.
To promote
Playing the Angel, the band launched the
worldwide
Touring the Angel in
November 2005, taking them to North America and Europe. The tour
continued through the first half of 2006.
Depeche Mode also
headlined both the 2006 Coachella
Valley Music and Arts Festival
, in California
, and the O2
Wireless Festival, which took place on the last weekend of June
2006 in London's Hyde Park
. Some of the gigs were their first ever shows
in certain countries like Romania
and Bulgaria
. In March 2006, the website announced two
dates in Mexico (a country they had not visited for twelve years).
More than 55,000 tickets for a stadium in Mexico City were sold,
causing the band to schedule another date for the same venue.
Recordings of 43 of the shows were officially released on CDs.
These limited edition Depeche Mode live albums published under the
scheme title
Recording the
Angel were much sought after by collectors.
On 3 April 2006,
remastered editions of
Speak & Spell,
Music for the Masses,
and
Violator were
released, featuring remastered audio in two-channel stereo and 5.1
multichannel on
Super Audio CD and
DVD, extra tracks and B-sides. In addition, each
album comes with its own documentary charting the history of the
band and the production of each album. The second instalment of
remastered albums were
A
Broken Frame,
Some Great
Reward and
Songs of Faith and
Devotion, all of which were released on 2 October 2006.
Construction Time
Again and
Black
Celebration were released on 26 March 2007. Both
Ultra and
Exciter were released on 1 October
2007.
On 25
September 2006 Depeche Mode released their live DVD-CD set
Touring the Angel:
Live in Milan, directed by Blue
Leach and recorded at Milan
's Fila
Forum
on 18 February, and 19 February 2006. The
DVD has a full concert on disc 1, bonus live songs "
A Question of Lust" and "Damaged People"
along with a 20-minute documentary featuring Anton Corbijn,
official tour announcement from Germany in the summer of 2005, and
the
Playing the Angel electronic press kit on disc 2, and
disc 3 is a CD with live versions of tracks from
Playing the
Angel. On the tour following Touring the Angel (Tour of the
Universe), the band have chosen to play only one song ("Precious")
from the album.
A "best-of" compilation was released in November 2006, entitled
The Best Of, Volume 1
featuring a new single "
Martyr", an
outtake from the
Playing the Angel sessions. On 2
November, Depeche Mode received the
MTV Europe Music Award in the
Best Group category. During that same period Fletcher confirmed
that the band was on a long break after the massive "
Touring the Angel".
In December 2006, Depeche Mode were nominated for a
Grammy Award, for
Best Dance Recording,
for "Suffer Well." This was their third Grammy Award nomination.
The first being a
Best Long Form Music
Video award in 1995 for
Devotional and the second being for
Best Dance Recording for "
I Feel
Loved". In mid-December 2006, iTunes released
The Complete Depeche Mode as
its fourth ever digital box-set (following
The Complete U2 in 2004,
The Complete Stevie Wonder
in 2005, and
Bob Dylan:
The Collection earlier in 2006).
Sounds of the Universe (2009)
In August 2007, during promotion for Dave Gahan's second solo
album,
Hourglass, it was
announced that Depeche Mode were heading back in studio in early
2008 to work on their upcoming twelfth studio album.
In March 2008, rumours surfaced that
Ben
Hillier would be the producer of the forthcoming album.
In May
2008, the band returned to the studio to work on some songs that
Martin Gore had been working on at his home studio in Santa
Barbara
, California
.
In August 2008, it was announced that Depeche Mode were splitting
from their long-term U.S. label, Warner Music, and will be signed
to
EMI Music worldwide.
At a
press conference on 6 October 2008 at the Olympiastadion
in Berlin, the band announced plans for its
Tour of the
Universe, which commenced on 6 May 2009 with a warm-up show at
Rockhal
, Luxembourg
. and officially started on 10 May 2009 at Ramat Gan
Stadium
, Israel
.
Dates in North America and a return to South America for the first
time since the
Exotic Tour of 1994 were
announced in early 2009. Two new songs, "
Wrong" and "
Peace", were previewed at the
press conference.
Posted on YouTube are videos shot by Andy Fletcher of various
activities in the studio, whilst the album was being made.
On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced
that the new album would be called
Sounds of the Universe.. The
album was released internationally on 20 April 2009 and in the U.S.
on 21 April 2009.
"
Wrong" was the first
single from the album, released digitally on 21 February 2009, and
physically on 6 April (7 April in the U.S.). The video was directed
by
Patrick Daughters.
The full album was leaked over the Internet on 26 March 2009, when
it was sold ahead of time through iTunes Pass. Andy Fletcher says
the idea for their iTunes Pass was a combination of the band's and
iTunes': "I think the digital and record companies are starting to
get their act together. They were very lazy in the first 10 years
when downloads came in. Now they’re collaborating more and coming
up with interesting ideas for fans to buy products."
"
Peace" was the second
single from
Sounds of the Universe; it was released on 15
June 2009 as a European only single. Later that summer, "Perfect"
was released as a promotional-only (non-commercial) single in the
U.S.
On 14 May 2009, Depeche Mode announced they had been forced to
cancel six shows on their Tour of the Universe due to further
complications from singer Dave Gahan's severe bout of
gastroenteritis. On 28 May 2009, Depeche
Mode announced that Dave Gahan recovered from gastroenteritis after
doctors found a "low-grade malignant tumour" in his
bladder during tests and removed it.
Also, doctors ordered
him to rest until 8 June, when the band resumed touring starting in
Leipzig
, Germany.
On 9 July
2009, Gahan suffered a leg injury at a gig in Bilbao
,
Spain. This forced the band to cancel the final two
shows of the European tour, one of which was scheduled for two days
after, in Oporto
,
Portugal.
"
Fragile Tension / Hole
to Feed", a double A-side single will be released as the third
single from
Sounds of the Universe on 7 December 2009.The
track "Hole to Feed" got a music video that was put on Depeche
Mode's website in September 2009.The music video of "Fragile
Tension" was released at the end of November 2009.
In addition, the track "Corrupt" was used for a trailer for the hit
HBO show,
True
Blood.
Legacy and influence
Depeche Mode influenced many of today's popular recording artists,
in part due to their recording techniques and innovative use of
sampling. For example,
Pet Shop Boys
cited
Violator (and "Enjoy the Silence" in particular) as
one of the main sources of inspiration during recording of their
critically acclaimed album
Behaviour.
Neil Tennant says, “We were listening to
Violator by Depeche Mode, which was a very good album and
we were deeply jealous of it”. Bandmate
Chris
Lowe agrees “They had raised the stakes”.
Techno pioneers
Derrick May,
Kevin Saunderson and
Juan Atkins regularly cited Depeche Mode as an
influence on the development of techno music during the
Detroit Techno explosion in the mid 1980s.
Appreciation of Depeche Mode within today's electronic music scene
is shown by the numerous Depeche Mode remixes by contemporary DJs
such as
Ricardo Villalobos' remix
of "The Sinner in Me" or
Kruder
& Dorfmeister's remix of "
Useless".
According to
Matt Smith, the former music
director of the modern-rock radio station
KROQ, "
The Killers,
The Bravery,
Franz Ferdinand — that whole wave of
music owes a tremendous amount to Depeche Mode."
In an accompanying interview for his piece in
The New Yorker evaluating the impact of
British acts on the US market, Sasha Frere-Jones claims that
"probably the last serious English influence was Depeche Mode, who
seem more and more significant as time passes."
Radiohead frontman
Thom Yorke, cites Depeche Mode as an influence
with their album
Violator.
Ken
Jordan, member of the LA
electronic
duo The Crystal Method has said
that Depeche Mode is one of The Crystal Method's main influences in
music.
Chester Bennington, vocalist of
Linkin Park, was inspired by the band.
Another Linkin Park member
Mike Shinoda
has said, "Depeche Mode is one of the most influential groups of
our time. Their music is an inspiration to me..."
The band's influence is spread throughout different genres of
music.
Raymond Herrera, the drummer
of the
heavy metal band
Fear Factory, says, "A lot of different music
influenced the way I play now. Like the band Depeche Mode. If I
could sound like Depeche Mode, but be fast like
Slayer, I think I might be onto something". According
to Darren Smith, the guitarist of the
post- band
Funeral for a Friend, "dark, moodier
stuff" in his band's music was "Depeche Mode-influenced." Depeche
Mode's influence on heavy metal bands is clear through the numerous
covers of their songs. Examples include
It
Dies Today's "Enjoy The Silence",
Lacuna
Coil's "Enjoy the Silence",
Vader's
"I Feel You",
Arsis' "The Things You Said",
Rammstein's "Stripped",
Lollipop Lust Kill's "Personal Jesus",
Marilyn Manson's "Personal Jesus",
A Perfect Circle's "People Are
People",
Sonata Arctica's "World in
My Eyes" and
In Flames' "Everything
Counts". Other artists to have covered the band's songs include
Moonspell ("Sacred"),
The Smashing Pumpkins ("Never Let Me
Down Again"),
Tori Amos and
HIM ("Enjoy the Silence"),
Johnny Cash ("Personal Jesus"),
Dope ("People Are People"),
Finger Eleven ("Walking In My Shoes"),
Chevelle ("It's No Good"),
Deftones ("To Have & To Hold") and more
recently
The Saturdays ("Just Can't
Get Enough").
Colombian singer
Shakira is also highly
influenced by Depeche Mode. Ximena Diego, the author of the book
"Shakira - Woman Full of Grace" wrote in this book: "At thirteen
Shakira especially liked Depeche Mode, an electronic rock band from
Great Britain. One day she was listening to the band's song,
Enjoy the Silence. She
noticed that she was not only hearing the music but also feeling
the music in her body. She said to her mother, Every time I hear
that guitar riff [a rhythmic musical phrase] I feel this weird
thing in my stomach".
In August 2008,
Coldplay released a "cover
version" of the video for "Enjoy the Silence", as an alternate
video for their single "
Viva la
Vida". On their website where the video is shown, they are
quoted as saying, "This is our attempt at a video cover version,
made out of love for Depeche Mode and the genius of Anton
Corbijn...".
The video shows Chris Martin dressed as a
king like Dave Gahan, walking through The Hague
.
"I feel more connected to Depeche Mode" (compared to other acts of
the 80s) claimed
Magne Furuholmen,
the keyboardist of
a-ha. In July 2009, a-ha
performed a cover of "A Question of Lust" during a live performance
for
BBC Radio 2 -
The Dermot O'Leary Show.
Christian rock band
Mad at the World leader Roger Rose cited
the band as an influence musically, although lyrically he was very
different, on the bands first disc
Mad at the World.
The Posters Came from the Walls is a documentary about
Depeche Mode fans around the world co-directed by
Turner Prize winning artist
Jeremy Deller and filmmaker
Nicholas Abrahams.
Depeche Mode is also mentioned in the video game
Left 4 Dead 2 on a playable character's
t-shirt.
Live supporting musicians
- Peter Gordeno –
keyboards, occasional electric bass and electric guitar
(1998—Present)
- Christian Eigner – drums,
occasional songwriting and keyboards (1997—Present)
- Daryl Bamonte – keyboards
(1994)
- Dave Clayton – keyboards
(1997)
- Hildia Campbell – backing vocals (1993–1994)
- Samantha Smith – backing vocals (1993–1994)
- Jordan Bailey – backing vocals (1998 & 2001)
- Janet Ramus – backing vocals (1998)
- Georgia Lewis – backing vocals (2001)
Between 1998 and 2009, both Gordeno and Eigner have been present on
four consecutive tours; with Eigner on drums (and contributing to
some of the songwriting on
Playing the Angel and
Sounds of the Universe with Gahan and Andrew Philpott) and
Gordeno on keyboards.
Discography
See also
References
- Miller, Jonathan. Stripped: The True Story of Depeche
Mode. Omnibus Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84449-415-2
Footnotes
- EMI "Depeche Mode signs worldwide exclusive deal with
EMI Music - to include the US for the first time", press
release, 7 October 2008
-
http://www.emi.com/page/emi/AboutEMINews2009/0,,12641~1568634,00.html
-
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE52K1W320090321
- Band's first incarnation as "No Romance"
- The Erasure Information Service, " Interview with Robert Marlow", - Retrieved on 10
December 2007.
- philburdett.com, Phil Burdett Biography
- Max Bell, " Martin Gore - The Decadent Boy", No1
Magazine, 11 May 1985 - Retrieved on 29 October 2007.
- Tickell, P., "A Year In The Life of Depeche Mode", The
Face, January 1982
- Page, B., "This Year's Mode(L), Sounds Magazine, 31
January 1981
- Colbert, P., "Talking Hook Lines", Melody Maker, 31
October 1981
- Fricke, D., "Speak & Spell", Rolling Stone,
May 1982 - Retrieved 6 February 2007
- Ellen, M., "A Clean Break", Smash Hits, February
1982
- Miller, p. 109
- Miller, p. 107
- Miller, p. 110
- Miller, p. 121
- Miller, p. 113
- Miller, p. 134
- "The Singles 81-85", Shunt - Retrieved on 6
February 2007
- [1], Inga Humpe - Mit Depeche Mode in einer
2raumwohnung (German), Retrieved on 15 November 2007
- Moore, X., "Red Rockers Over the Emerald Isle", NME,
17 September 1983
- Masters of 'The Universe' - David Atlanta
Magazine
- McIlheney, B., "Greatness and Perfection", Melody
Maker, 29 September 1984
- loc. cit., Alan Wilder's history
- Adinolfi, F., "Dep Jam", Record Mirror, 22 August
1987
- loc. cit., "The Singles 81-85"
- "The Singles 86-98", Shunt - Retrieved
7 February 2007
- op. cit., "Q+A: DEPECHE MODE: MUSIC FOR THE MASSES"
- ibid.
- Levy, E., "Music for the Masses", Record Mirror, 3
October 1987
- [2]Jonathan Kessler quoted in the 101 film. His exact words
are: "$1,360,192.50. Paid attendance was 60,453 people, tonight at
the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, 18 June 1988. We're getting a load of
money. A lot of money; a load of money - tons of money!"
Link is to online version of Stripped: The True Story of
Depeche Mode, by Jonathan Miller
- [3] Mute records web-page for the re-released
101 film on DVD,
retrieved 29 November 2007.
- Personal Jesus (#3), Allmusic
- Sanner, S., "Depeche has faith in new 'Songs'",
Variety, 22 March 1993
- op. cit., "The Singles 86-98
- op. cit., "The Singles 86-98"
- Martin L. Gore interview, Pavement, 16
April 1997
- Cameron, K., "Dead Man Talking", NME, 18 January
1997
- "Depeche Mode: Exciter (2001): Reviews",
Metacritic - Retrieved on 10 February 2007
- Depeche Mode single leaked online
- New Depeche Mode album in the pipeline for
2008
- Depeche Mode return to studio with U2 producer Ben
Hillier while Gahan wants to stop old suicide rumours
- BBC - Depeche Mode tour
- NME - Depeche Mode announce 2009 European tour
- Last 5,000 tickets for the concert of “Depeche Mode”,
by A. Novakovic, Published 27 April 2009
- Depeche Mode prepares for Tour of the Universe,
by Kerri Mason, Reuters News, Published 21 March 2009.
-
http://www.dailymotion.com/YourUselessAdvice/video/x6zlq1_depeche-mode-wrong-peace_music
- Depeche Mode present birth first song in 4 video
postings
- DEPECHE MODE ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF SOUNDS OF THE
UNIVERSE 21 APRIL 2009
- Depeche Mode leave Warner
- The Who's News Blog, 21 April 2009
- [4]
- " 10 years of Being boring" - Retrieved on 9 September
2007.
- " Interviews - Behaviour - The end of the world",
Absolutely Pet Shop Boys - Retrieved on 9 September
2007.
- McCready, J., "Modus operandum", The Face, February
1989
- " Depeche Mode", Washington Post (Sept
11, 2005) - Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- "[5]", New Yorker (5 June 2006) -
Retrieved on 10 December 2008.
- " Chester Bennington", mtv.com -
Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- " LINKIN PARK Singer Says Solo Album Will Have
'Driving Beats And Walls Of Guitars' - Aug. 19, 2005",
BLABBERMOUTH.NET - Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- " Depeche Mode "Remixes 81-04"", [mute] -
Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- Anthony Roldan, " An exclusive interview with Fear Factory's Raymond
Herrera", PROG4YOU - Retrieved on 12 September
2007.
- Tony Pascarella, " Darren Smith of Funeral For A Friend", The
Trades - Retrieved on 12 September 2007.
- [6]
- Dermot O'Leary: 25 July 2009 BBC iPlayer
- http://www.madattheworld.net/notmad.htm
Further reading
- Corbijn, Anton. Depeche Mode: Strangers. Prentice
Hall, 1990. ISBN 0-7119-2493-7
- Malins, Steve. Depeche Mode : A Biography. Cooper
Square Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8154-1142-1
- Thompson, Dave. Depeche Mode : Some Great Reward. Pan
Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 0-283-06243-6
- Zill, Didi. Depeche Mode. Photographs
1982-87. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2004. ISBN
3-89602-491-4
External links