Depeche Mode

Depeche Modes origins can be traced back to 1977, when Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed a band called No Romance In China, with Clarke on vocals/guitar and Fletcher on bass. In 1978, Clarke played guitar in an Ultravox rip-off band, The Plan, with school friend Robert Marlow on vocals and Vince on guitar/keyboards. In 1978 79, Gore played in an acoustic duo, Norman and The Worms, with school friend Philip Burdett (who now sings on the folk circuit) 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, Clarke 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. The French Look and Composition of Sound once played live together in June 1980 at St. Nicholas School Youth Club in Southend on sea, Essex.

Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesizers, working odd jobs to buy them, or borrowing them from friends. Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout-hut jam session, crooning to a rendition of David Bowies Heroes, and Depeche Mode was born.

The new name was taken from a French fashion magazine, Depeche mode, which translates to Fashion Update or Fashion News Dispatch (depeche = dispatch) though it has commonly been mistranslated as Fast Fashion, due to the confusion with the French verb se depecher (to hurry up). The band became part of Daniel Millers Mute label by verbal contract, and released their first album, Speak & Spell, in 1981. While the band was promoting the album, Clarke began to publicly discuss his discomfort with the level of success that Depeche Mode was achieving; he felt they were becoming too popular after the success of their second major hit single Just Cant Get Enough. He soon left the group and went on to form several other bands including Yazoo (Yaz in the U. S. ) with Alison Moyet, The Assembly with Eric Radcliffe, and later Erasure with Andy Bell. More than 20 years after, Depeche Mode still include the aforementioned Just Cant Get Enough in their live performances when touring, which has become kind of a humorous tip of the hat to their audience and a flashback break during their performances, given the much darker general tone that their compositions achieved in years to come compared to the naive synth-pop style of this song.

After Clarkes departure, Martin Gore, who had written Tora! Tora! Tora! and Big Muff on their debut album, took over as the bands primary songwriter. 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 ...