Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Avant garde techno-pop group
The latest British band to take America by storm is Depeche Mode, a group of post-punk pop performers who have broken new ground in the field of computer-assisted music. Depeche Mode has enjoyed great success in England almost since its debut in 1981. In the United States its following was limited to a sizeable cult until 1990, when the album Violator brought the group into the mainstream. Since then Depeche Mode has had little trouble placing singles on the top forty charts and selling albums by the millions.
The group’s success has come without compromise or pretense—Depeche Mode’s members call themselves pop musicians and seem quite comfortable in that format. In fact, Depeche Mode has been one of the few recent bands to infuse pop with some sense of credibility. “Most pop songs just don’t reflect life the way it really is,” songwriter Martin Gore told Spin magazine. “You can’t be happy all the time. Throughout our career, I’ve tried to write good serious songs as well as escapist songs. I know we get accused a lot of being depressive, but our songs also have a certain get-on-
For the Record…
Band formed in Basildon, England, in 1980, with members Vince Clarke, Andy Fletcher, Martin Gore, and Dave Gahan; Clarke left group and was replaced by Alan Wilder. All band members play keyboards and synthesizers. Group signed with Mute label, 1981, and released first album, Speak and Spell, 1981. Had first American hit, 1985, with single “People are People.” Group has toured extensively in England, Europe, and America.
Band is the subject of the film documentary “Depeche Mode 101,” released in 1989.
Addresses: Record company —Sire Records, 3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91510.
with-it attitude. If life is bad, there’s always something to give you solace.”
Most pop bands tend to bask in the limelight and court the press. The members of Depeche Mode do almost the opposite—they save their performances for the arena and do little to court favor among the media. Depeche Mode interviews and features are so uncommon that many new fans still do not recognize the individual band members—a state of affairs the musicians do nothing to correct. This reluctance to speak in print stems from the band’s earliest days in England.
Depeche Mode formed outside London in 1980, fronted by songwriter Vince Clarke. Other founding members include Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Dave Gahan, all of whom grew up in the suburbs of London. Rock music had spawned a whole new generation of machines for making music—synthesizers and drum simulators, to name two—and Depeche Mode’s members gravitated to these machines. “We started doing something completely different,” Gahan told Rolling Stone. “We had taken these instruments because they were convenient. You could pick up a synthesizer, put it under your arm and go to a gig. You plugged directly into the PA. You didn’t need to go through an amp, so you didn’t need to have a van. We used to go to gigs on trains”.
The group also did not need a grange hall in which to practice. In fact, they didn’t even need to be together—any individual’s bedroom could become a studio. Within a year of founding Depeche Mode, Clarke had put together a demo tape and was making the rounds trying to find a record label. Finally the band signed with an independent British company, Mute Records, and released a debut album, Speak and Spell, in 1981. The music was entirely synthetic, but it was original nonetheless. At a time when most techno work revolved around gloomy themes, Depeche Mode offered a dance beat, provocative lyrics, and that “get-on-with-it” attitude. Speak and Spell became one of the ten best-selling albums in Great Britain in 1981, and Depeche Mode was launched.
Not surprisingly, fans and press hounded the young performers mercilessly, and soon Vince Clarke had had enough. After Clarke quit, Gore became the principal songwriter, and Alan Wilder was added to help with vocals. “Under Gore’s direction,” wrote Jeff Giles in Rolling Stone, “Depeche Mode’s music became—to quote the title of an album that many of the group’s fans hold dearest—a ‘black celebration.’ His songs, a few of which have made American radio programmers blush, have been both profane… and kinky.” Almost virtually without radio station support, Depeche Mode began to attract an audience in America. They had one Top 10 hit in 1985, with “People Are People,” but they became immensely popular as live performers. For a time the group was even compared to the heavy metal bands of the 1970s who regularly sold out in concert without ever earning a gold record.
Gradually, however, Depeche Mode began to make inroads in the all-important radio market. This was not an easy task for a group one critic called “synth wimps”—the standard rock format radio stations simply would not play Depeche Mode. The group was saved by dance hall crowds and New Wave fans who could groove to the band’s techno-pop beat and provocative lyrics. Gore told Rolling Stone: “A lot of people get swayed by the ‘real’ music thing. They think you can’t make soul music by using computers and synthesizers and samplers, which we think is totally wrong. We think the soul in the music comes from the song. The instrumentation doesn’t matter at all.”
Early on the members of Depeche Mode realized that their brand of music would not translate well in live performance. They have therefore become one of the few major pop groups be open about enhancing their concerts with pre-recorded material. This has allowed the group to be as outrageous as any of its contemporaries and has contributed in no small part to its fantastic success. “Using … tapes to enhance a band’s performance is less a case of deliberate misrepresentation than of keeping up with the times technologically and giving the audience what it wants,” Peter Watrous wrote in the New York Times. “People weaned on music from the 1960’s may go to an Eric Clapton concert to hear how well he plays his guitar, but an audience for Depeche Mode, whose concerts seem almost completely prerecorded, attend for different reasons. The combination of post-punk performance ideas, in which improvisation is beside the point, and consumer-driven images, in which people come to share space with a performer, has produced an audience that goes out for more than the pleasure of music.”
If the sold-out 1990 World Violation Tour is any indication, Depeche Mode is reaching its fans even with prerecorded concerts. Fletcher told Spin that Depeche Mode’s whole aim is to avoid the ego-trip legacy of the big rock bands. “We don’t think you have to be a great musician to be allowed to play and get a message out,” he said. “I guess that’s what punk was all about, getting rid of the ego and getting right down to it without having to be a session guitarist.” Wilder put it more bluntly in Time magazine. While working with Depeche Mode, Wilder said, “nobody is allowed to be pretentious.” The music speaks for itself—and it speaks volumes.
Selected discography
Speak and Spell, Sire, 1981.
People Are People, Sire, 1985.
Catching Up with Depeche Mode, Sire, 1986.
Black Celebration, Sire, 1986.
Music for the Masses, Sire, 1988.
101, Sire, 1986.
Violator, Sire, 1990.
A Broken Frame, Sire.
Construction Time Again, Sire.
Some Great Reward, Sire.
Sources
New York Times, July 22, 1990.
Rolling Stone, May 3, 1990; July 12-26, 1990.
Spin, July 1990.
Times, July 22, 1990.
—Anne Janette Johnson
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Pop group
Depeche Mode, a group of post-punk pop performers who broke new ground in the field of computer-assisted music during the 1980s, have become “the most successful ‘electro-synth’ band ever,” according to the group’s biography at MTV.com. Depeche Mode has enjoyed great success in England almost since its debut in 1981, but in the United States, its following was limited to a sizeable cult until 1990, when the album Violator brought the group into the mainstream. Since then Depeche Mode has had little trouble placing singles on the top 40 charts and selling albums by the millions. Releases such as Songs of Faith and Devotion, Ultra, and Exciter helped continue the group’s success into the 1990s and 2000s.
The group’s success has come without compromise or pretense—Depeche Mode’s members call themselves pop musicians and seem quite comfortable in that format. In fact, Depeche Mode has been one of a few bands to infuse pop with some sense of credibility. “Most pop songs just don’t reflect life the way it really is,” songwriter Martin Gore told Spin magazine. “You can’t be happy all the time. Throughout our career, I’ve tried to write good serious songs as well as escapist songs. I know we get accused a lot of being
For the Record…
Members include Vince Clarke (born on July 3, 1961, in Basildon, England; left group, 1981), synthesizer; Andy Fletcher (born on July 8, 1960, in Basildon, England), synthesizer, percussion; Dave Ga-han (born on May 9, 1962, in Epping, England), lead vocals, guitar; Martin Gore (born on July 23, 1961, in Basildon, England), synthesizer, vocals; Alan Wilder (born on June 1, 1959, in England; group member, 1982-95), drums, synthesizer, vocals.
Band formed in Basildon, England, 1980; signed with Mute label, released first album, Speak and Spell, 1981; had first American hit with single “People are People,” 1985; subject of the film documentary Depeche Mode 101, 1989; released multiplatinum Violator album, 1990; released Songs of Faith and Devotion, 1993, Ultra, 1997, and tenth studio album, Exciter, 2001.
Addresses: Record company —Reprise Records, 3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA, 91505, website: http://www.repriserec.com; Mute Records, 429 Harrow Road, London, W10 4RE, England, website: http://www.mute.com. Website —Depeche Mode Official Website: http://www.depechemode.com.
depressive, but our songs also have a certain get-on-with-itattitude. If life is bad, there’s always something to give you solace.” Most pop bands tend to bask in the limelight and court the press. The members of Depeche Mode do almost the opposite—they save their performances for the arena and do little to court favor among the media. This reluctance to speak in print stems from the band’s earliest days in England.
Depeche Mode formed outside London in 1980, fronted by songwriter Vince Clarke. Other founding members include Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Dave Gahan, all of whom grew up in the suburbs of London. Rock music had spawned a whole new generation of machines for making music—synthesizers and drum simulators, to name two—and Depeche Mode’s members gravitated to these machines. “We started doing something completely different,” Gahan told Rolling Stone. “We had taken these instruments because they were convenient. You could pick up a synthesizer, put it under your arm and go to a gig. You plugged directly into the PA. You didn’t need to go through an amp, so you didn’t need to have a van. We sed to go to gigs on trains. ”
The group also did not need a grange hall in which to practice. In fact, they didn’t even need to be together—any individual’s bedroom could become a studio. Within a year of founding Depeche Mode, Clarke had put together a demo tape and was making the rounds trying to find a record label. Finally the band signed with an independent British company, Mute Records, and released a debut album, Speak and Spell, in 1981. The music was entirely synthetic, but it was original nonetheless. At a time when most techno work revolved around gloomy themes, Depeche Mode offered a dance beat, provocative lyrics, and that “get-on-with-it” attitude. Speak and Spell became one of the ten best-selling albums in Great Britain in 1981, and Depeche Mode was launched.
Not surprisingly, fans and the press hounded the young performers mercilessly, and soon Clarke had had enough. After Clarke quit, Gore became the principal songwriter, and Alan Wilder was added to help with vocals. “Under Gore’s direction,” writes Jeff Giles in Rolling Stone, “Depeche Mode’s music became—to quote the title of an album that many of the group’s fans hold dearest—a ‘black celebration.’ His songs, a few of which have made American radio programmers blush, have been both profane … and kinky.” Almost virtually without radio station support, Depeche Mode began to attract an audience in America. They had one top ten hit in 1985 with “People Are People,” but they became immensely popular as live performers. For a time the group was even compared to the heavy metal bands of the 1970s who regularly sold out in concert without ever earning a gold record.
Gradually, however, Depeche Mode began to make inroads in the all-important radio market. This was not an easy task for a group one critic called “synth wimps”—the standard rock format radio stations simply would not play Depeche Mode. The group was saved by dance hall crowds and New Wave fans who could groove to the band’s techno-pop beat and provocative lyrics. Gore told Rolling Stone: “A lot of people get swayed by the ‘real’ music thing. They think you can’t make soul music by using computers and synthesizers and samplers, which we think is totally wrong. We think the soul in the music comes from the song. The instrumentation doesn’t matter at all.”
Early on the members of Depeche Mode realized that their brand of music would not translate well in live performance. They therefore became one of the few major pop groups to be open about enhancing their concerts with pre-recorded material. This has allowed the group to be as outrageous as any of its contemporaries and has contributed in no small part to its fantastic success. “Using … tapes to enhance a band’s performance is less a case of deliberate misrepresentation than of keeping up with the times technologically and giving the audience what it wants,” Peter Watrous wrote in the New York Times. “People weaned on music from the 1960’s may go to an Eric Clapton concert to hear how well he plays his guitar, but an audience for Depeche Mode, whose concerts seem almost completely prerecorded, attend for different reasons. The combination of post-punk performance ideas, in which improvisation is beside the point, and consumer-driven images, in which people come to share space with a performer, has produced an audience that goes out for more than the pleasure of music.”
Depeche Mode’s Violator album, released in 1990, and the subsequent World Violation tour earned the group its greatest level of mainstream success. With hits such as “Enjoy the Silence,” “Policy of Truth,” and “Personal Jesus,” the album landed in the top ten and reached the multiplatinum sales mark in 1991. “Goth without ever being stupidly hammy, synth without sounding like the clinical stereotype of synth music, rock without ever sounding like a ‘rock’ band, Depeche here reached astounding heights indeed,” said All Music Guide writer Ned Raggett, calling the album “stunning.” The group followed the success of Violator with Songs of Faith and Devotion in 1993, which debuted on the charts at number one. Though a commercial and popular success, the album—which reached platinum sales in May of 1993—and its characteristically synth-heavy, though mostly guitar-driven tracks, did not fair as well critically. “This is a slickly produced, highly listenable album, but there is in the end a failure of nerve,” noted Christopher John Farley in Time.
A four-year hiatus, marked by Wilder’s departure from the group in 1995 to focus on his solo project, Recoil, and Gahan’s heroin addiction, attempted suicide, and lengthy recovery, followed the release of Songs. The group’s next effort, Ultra, released in 1997, featured hits “It’s No Good” and “Barrel of a Gun” and stronger, more controlled vocals by Gahan. The hit singles compilation The Singles 86-98 was released in 1998; a supporting tour followed. Exciter, released in 2001, with lead track “Dream On,” was produced by Mark Bell, who was familiar to the group through his work with Icelandic pop songstress Björk. A five-month, 24-country world tour followed Exciter’s release.
Selected discography
Speak and Spell, Sire, 1981.
A Broken Frame, Sire, 1982.
Construction Time Again, Sire, 1983.
Some Great Reward, Sire, 1984.
People Are People, Sire, 1985.
The Singles 81-85, Reprise, 1985.
Catching Up with Depeche Mode, Sire, 1986.
Black Celebration, Sire, 1986.
Music for the Masses, Sire, 1988.
Depeche Mode 101 (live), Sire, 1989.
Violator, Sire, 1990.
Songs of Faith and Devotion, Sire, 1993.
Ultra, Reprise, 1997.
The Singles 86-98, Reprise, 1998.
Exciter, Mute/Reprise, 2001.
Sources
Books
Graff, Gary, and Daniel Durchholz, editors, MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press, 1999.
Periodicals
New York Times, July 22, 1990.
Rolling Stone, May 3, 1990; July 12-26, 1990.
Spin, July 1990.
Time, July 16, 1990; April 12, 1993.
Online
“Depeche Mode,” All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (December 28, 2001).
“Depeche Mode,” MTV.com, http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/depeche_mode/bio.jhtml (October 11, 2001).
“Depeche Mode Announce 2nd Wembley Show,” Mute Liberation Technologies, http://www.mute.com/mute/dm/dm.htm (December 28, 2001).
Depeche Mode Official Website, http://www.depechemode.com (December 28, 2001).
—Anne Janette Johnson
Depeche Mode
DEPECHE MODE
Formed: 1960, London, England
Members: Andy Fletcher, synthesizers (born Basildon, Essex, England, 8 July 1960); David Gahan, lead vocals (born Epping, Essex, England, 9 May 1962); Martin Gore, synthesizer (born Basildon, Essex, England, 23 July 1961). Former members: Alan Wilder synthesizer (born England, 1 June 1959; Vince Clarke, synthesizer (born South Woodford, London, England, 3 July 1960)
Genre: Rock
Best-selling album since 1990: Violator (1990)
Hit songs since 1990: "Enjoy the Silence" "Personal Jesus" "I Feel You"
The music of British electronic synthesizer band Depeche Mode slipped onto American air-waves in the late 1980s and early 1990s, sandwiched between the synthesized sounds of the 1980s New Wave and the guitar-driven sound of grunge rock. Before the release of their seminal album, Violator (1990), Depeche Mode (French for "fast fashion") had enjoyed a cult status in the United States throughout the 1980s. The band's music is dark, sensual, and emotional; the chief songwriter Martin Gore composes achingly romantic and heartbreaking love songs that often deal with unhealthy, obsessive relationships. The band has been together for over twenty years, surviving substance abuse, depression, and personnel changes.
Starting Out
The initial trio of Clarke, Fletcher, and Gore debuted in London clubs playing guitars, not synthesizers, but it did not take long for them to switch. When Depeche Mode signed to London's Mute Records in 1980, they were a dance pop band and their debut album, Speak and Spell (1981), yielded two hits in the U.K.: "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Dreaming of Me." Their early music was notable for simple electronic dance beats and catchy, rhyming lyrics. By their third album, Depeche Mode began to hit their songwriting stride. With Some Great Reward (1984), they had several hits that covered a wide array of subject matter, from religious doubt ("Blasphemous Rumours") to sexual dynamics ("Master and Servant"); the album boasted a massive, transcontinental hit in "People Are People." The follow-up album, Black Celebration (1986), features "Strangelove," a song with a typically twisted, self-destructive theme that had become their signature. Its refrain consists of Gahan's deep voice chanting "Pain / Will you return it / I'll say it again / Pain."
Building on the success of 1987's Music for the Masses, the band put together a documentary, Depeche Mode 101, directed by D. A. Pennebaker, and a companion live double album, culled from years of U.S. tours. 10 is not only an informal greatest hits compilation, but it is also an example of the band's charisma. The documentary captures the band enjoying huge, sold-out success in stadiums and arenas across the United States. Both their music and their lyrics had developed substantially and become more sophisticated, thanks to Martin Gore, their primary songwriter. This trend is evident in the beautiful ballad "Somebody" and a nearly six-minute version of the subversive, double-entendre-laden "Behind the Wheel." "Somebody," with Gore on piano, is especially moving. He sings his plea, accompanied by thousands of fans: "I want somebody to share / Share the rest of my life."
Music for the Masses
With the release of Violator (1990), Depeche Mode was poised for their greatest success yet in the United States. Violator (1990) is a classic Depeche Mode album: dense, dark, melodic, but with a twist. Violator marked a harder-edged sound; its synthesizer pop songs, still melodic and danceable, feature more industrial textures and are suffused with guitars. The unlikely subject matter—religious fanaticism—brought them a number three hit on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and inspired several remixes. The video, directed by the renowned photographer Anton Corbijn, known for his super-saturated, sepia-tone processing, is fraught with sexual overtones and enjoyed constant rotation on MTV. The album spawned three hits: "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy the Silence," and "Policy of Truth"; the latter two reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The album, which examines the ways in which love, trust, sex, and friendship are subject to violation, is the pinnacle of their achievement: nine tracks of spare, sensual, tortured, dark, synthesized rock music. Thematically, it also hints at some manner of chemical dependence with the declarations on "Clean" and the somber, pensive, "Waiting for the Night to Fall."
The band sustained their momentum with the album Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album preserves the guitar sounds prevalent in the previous release but introduces something new: real string instruments. The majestic orchestration in love songs such as "One Caress" lends a lush sound to the track and suggested the band was moving in a new direction. The real drums and guitar riff propelling the transcendent lead-off track, "I Feel You," shows a more conventional, rock-and-roll approach.
Change of Heart, Change of Mind
By the mid-1990s the band had began to unravel; Alan Wilder left in 1995 to pursue other musical interests, and Gahan endured a series of personal crises: In 1996 he divorced, remarried, and redivorced the same American woman and then attempted suicide. By the end of 1996, he was determined to stay clean and he openly discussed his dependency on heroin and his rehabilitation in an interview in the U.K. magazine New Music Express. Toward the end of the decade, Depeche Mode recommitted themselves to their music for two more well-received albums, Ultra (1997) and Exciter (2001); the latter spawned several dance remixes that became popular in both the United States and Canada.
The alternative synth-rock of Depeche Mode wrought a major success out of an unlikely combination of elements: the edgy touches of industrial sound, the melodic sensibility of pop, and offbeat lyrics that probe the dark recesses of the human heart.
SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:
Some Great Reward (Reprise, 1985); Black Celebration (Reprise, 1986); Music for the Masses (Reprise, 1987); Depeche Mode 101 (1989); Violator (1990); Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993); Ultra (Reprise, 1995); Exciter (2001).
VIDEOGRAPHY:
D. A. Pennebaker, director, Depeche Mode 101, VHS. (1989).
carrie havranek
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode , popularizers of the post-punk synth-pop sound, formed 1980, is Basildon, England. Membership: Andrew John Fletcher, synth. (b. Nottingham England, July 8, 1961); Martin Lee Gore, synth.(b. London, England, July 23, 1961); Vincent Clarke, synth. (b. Basildon, England, July 3, 1961); David Gahan, voc. (b. Epping, England, May 9, 1962).
Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke met as children in an organization called Boys Brigade. In 1977, they got caught up in the wave of punk. Fletcher bought a bass, Clarke a guitar, and they formed a band. They met Martin Gore during a show, shared several bills with his band, and became friendly. Together, they formed a trio called Composition of Sound. Fletcher took up the synthesizer, and eventually all three were playing synthesizers. They found lead vocalist Gahan working in a cover band and asked him to join their group. Gahan, whose father had left home when he was young, had a history of petty crime and once went through a period of going through 20 jobs in six months.
With the new sound, they decided they needed a new name. They selected one from a French fashion magazine, Depeche Mode, which translated as “fast fashion/’ Their sound, a catchy, totally electronic, melodic rendering of Vince Clarke songs was unique for the time. After one release on Some Bizarre records, they came to the attention of the U.K’s Mute records. After a pair of singles that generated little attention, they recorded one of the anthems of early synth-pop, “Just Can’t Get Enough/’ It broke the Top Ten in the U.K. and became a substantial dance hit in the U.S., first as an import, and even more so after Sire records took on the group in the U.S. Their debut album Speak and Spell featured several more Clarke gems and a pair of tunes by Gore. It became a fair-sized hit in the U.K., while garnering a substantial cult following in the U.S.
However, after the acclaim, Clarke took his songs and synthesizer and started working with Alison Moyet in a new venture called Yazoo (Yaz in the U.S. to avoid confusion with the blues label of the same name). They went on to record the monster hit “Only You/’ Depeche Mode decided to continue, adding Alex Wilder (b. England, June 1, 1959) to fill Clarke’s sonic space, first just as a live adjunct. Gore took over the songwriting chores. The band went into the studio to record A Broken Frame, and announced that Wilder had become a fulltime member. The album produced the U.K. hit “The Meaning of Love.” Their third album, Construction Time Again spawned “Everything Counts,” a #6 hit in the U.K. and a substantial new wave and dance hit in the U.S.
With the release of Some Great Reward in 1984, Gore began to hit his stride as a songwriter. “People Are People” became a major hit in the U.K., and finally broke the band pop in the U.S., hitting #13 on the pop charts. The follow-up singles, “Master and Servant” and “Blasphemous Rumours” also did well on the U.K. charts and on the new-wave stations in the U.S. The album eventually went platinum in the U.S.
With the sudden rise to visibility in the U.S., Sire mined the band’s back catalog, releasing a collection of their previous hit singles and an album aptly called Catching Up with Depeche Mode. With everyone up to speed, the band released Black Celebration in 1986. Again, the modern rock stations picked up on English hits like “Stripped,” “A Question of Lust,” and “A Question of Time.” Similarly, their next album Music for the Masses generated “Strangelove,” “Never Let Me Down Again,” “Behind the Wheel,” and “Little 15.” U.K. hits all, they only garnered modern rock radio play in the U.S., but that was enough for the album to chart in the U.S. at #35 and go platinum.
One of the few totally synthesizer-based bands to have a regular touring schedule, their tour for Music for the Masses sold out across America. The band released the double-live 101 in 1989, along with a concert film by D.A. Pennebaker documenting that tour.
Even with all this adulation, the band was still regarded as mostly an underground phenomenon. Their next album, 1990’s Violator, changed that perception. The album became enormously popular, spinning four Top 20 singles in the U.K. Three of them became pop hits in the U.S. as well: “Personal Jesus” hit #28 and went gold, “Enjoy the Silence” rose as high as #8, also going gold, and “Policy of Truth” became the band’s first single to chart higher in the U.S. (#15) than it did in the U.K. (#16). The album eventually topped triple platinum and rose to #7.
They took some time off and their absence whetted fans’ appetites for a new Depeche Mode record to such an extent that their 1993 release Songs of Faith and Devotion entered the U.S. chart at #1. Although it only hit #37, the single “I Feel You” went gold. The album shipped platinum. By 1995, however, things looked bleaker for Depeche Mode than they had since Clarke’s exit. Wilder left the band. Then, Gahan attempted suicide and went into drug rehabilitation to kick a heroin habit. For over a year, there was a question as to whether the band existed anymore. Then they went into the studio and cut Ultra. Again eager fans rushed to pick up the first Depeche Mode album in four years. However, over the course of four years, there were fewer eager fans. The album entered the charts at #5 with an anchor and only went gold in the U.S., producing only one meager hit, the #38 ”It’s No Good.” In the U.K., however, the band seemed as strong as ever, with two Top Ten hits, a Top 20, and a Top 30 tune off the album.
Discography
Speak & Spell (1981); A Broken Frame (1982); Construction Time Again (1983); People Are People (U.S.; 1984); Some Great Reward (1984); Catching Up with Depeche Mode (1985); Black Celebration (1986); Music for the Masses (1987); Une Nuit a La Mode, Vol.1 (live; 1990); Une Nuit a La Mode, Vol. 2 (1990); Violator (1990), We Just Can’t Get Enough (live; 1991); Songs of Faith & Devotion (1993); Songs of Faith & Devotion Live (1993); Depeche Mode (1995); Ultra (1997); Singles 81–85 (1998).
—Hank Bordowitz