Depeche Mode came into existence in Basildon, Essex England when the trio known as Composition Of Sound (Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher, and songwriter Vince Clarke) recruited David Gahan to be their new lead singer around 1979. Dave suggested the name change, taken from a French fashion magazine (meaning 'fast fashion'). Soon they had a following. They caught the attention of Mute Records founder Daniel Miller while playing a gig with Fad Gadget. They agreed on a contract (sealed with a handshake) and their first single, "Dreaming Of Me", was released in 1981. After the singles "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough", which gradually charted higher and higher, they released "Speak and Spell", their first full length. Then Vince quit.
So Martin, who had been writing songs since he was 13, took over song writing duties. After holding an audition Alan Wilder joined the band as a keyboardist for live shows. He was not to appear on their next album, "A Broken Frame", from which several singles were released. After the album's release Alan was announced as a full time member.
After a world tour their third full length, "Construction Time Again", was put out. As the title suggests it had a more "industrial" sound. From this album came the band's first hit in America, "People Are People". Since America missed out on much of their early career, they released a 'hits' compilation of the same name. 1984 also brought "Some Great Reward" which the singles for "Master and Servant" and "Blasphemous Rumours/Somebody" came from. Both were considered very controversial and the latter was banned in America. Following another tour they released another compilation, similar to "People Are People", entitled "Catching Up With Depeche Mode" in America and "The Singles 81>85" in the UK.
"Black Celebration" was to be full length number five. The singles "Stripped", "A Question Of Time", and "A Question Of Lust" all came from this 1986 album, which is considered by many to be one of their best. "Music For the Masses" was their next release, and from this came a massive world tour and their live album "101". It was recorded at their 101st show of the tour at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in front of a sold out crowd of over 70,000+ fans. Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker filmed the video for this momentous event. It was also released as a feature film and played at theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.
After a break, work began on the next album. As the rest of the band requested, the demos that Martin brought were less formed and so it allowed the songs to grow and become the masterpiece known as "Violator", which was produced with Mark "Flood" Ellis. The first single "Personal Jesus" became the best selling 12" ever in Warner Bros. history and the next single "Enjoy The Silence" was also a huge hit. After causing a near riot at an LA record store and the huge World Violation tour, the band parted ways.
Between the end of the tour and when they re-convened to make the next album Dave had divorced his first wife, moved to LA, re-married, grown his hair long, and became a heroin junkie. Dave was dissatisfied with the "dance" music they had been making and wanted to move in a more rock oriented direction. Martin's demos were leaning more toward this also so Dave agreed to go ahead with it. So the band moved to Spain and again recorded with Flood. "Songs Of Faith And Devotion" debuted at #1 on both the Billboard and UK music charts, a first for a band as 'alternative" as Depeche Mode. They decided to embark on their longest tour ever, a grueling 15 month excursion across the globe, including shows South America, Australia, and South Africa. This had a disastrous effect on the band. They rarely saw each other except during the shows, Martin had seizures from alcohol withdrawal and stress, Andrew developed mental problems and had a nervous break down so he couldn't even finish the tour, heroin had fully taken Dave over, he had a heart attack after the New Orleans show but was back after a day despite doctors advice not to continue to soon, and at the last show he broke two ribs after leaping into the audience and hitting the crowd barrier but didn't even realize it for several days. Post tour Dave slashed his wrists. Then on June 1st of 1995 Alan quit.
In 1996 Martin had some new songs and the band decided to try recording again as a trio with producer Tim Simenon. Due to Dave's inability to stand for more than an hour because he was either strung out or in withdrawal he only managed to complete one song during his recording sessions (and that one was pieced together from different takes). A few weeks later, in June Dave OD'ed on a speedball and was clinically dead for two minutes. Despite being arrested for drug possession he started taking drugs again as soon as he got out, but a friend finally convinced him to get clean and he checked himself into rehab. After he got out, recording continued and in April 1997 "Ultra" was released. The band decided not to tour for this album and instead promted it other ways, including an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and two "launch parties" where they played a few songs from the album.
The band released "The Singles 86>98" and re-released "The Singles 81>85" in 1998, which were both 'best of' compilations. The first album included a new song, "Only When I Lose Myself", which was also released as a single. They cautiously decided that they would tour this time, the first time since the disasterous Devotional tour.
21 years since they began, their triumphant 10th full-length album was released on May 15, 2001. "Exciter" was produced by Mark Bell and debuted at #8 in the US.
"Dream On" and "I Feel Loved" were the first two singles to be released and they officially began a world tour in support of it in mid-June.
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