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DEPECHE
MODE
[Bobcat
Books, London 1986. Words: Dave Thomas. Cover picture: London Features
International Ltd / Barry Plummer]
" "They all came in offering huge amounts of money, but that was all they were offering - money. They didn't seem bothered about records or anything, they just wanted to add our name to their roster. And then Daniel came along again and said he didn't have any money, but he could put out a record on Mute and if after that we didn't want to stay, we didn't have to. It was the most honest thing we had heard." "
Summary:
Short paperback
biography of the band. The author spends a disproportionate amount of time
covering the very early years and begins with a detailed examination of the
music scene which led to Depeche Mode's appearance. The time after 1981 seems to
be written more as a chore, covering little more than the names and dates of
releases. Consequently this book is useful as a very basic overview only of
their early career. On the other hand, if you are interested in their absolute
beginnings or the music world generally in the late seventies, there is plenty
to immerse yourself in here. [6701
words]
View pages: cover
Try
also: "Going
U.P.!" [Smash Hits, 9th-22nd July 1981]
Record
Collector, July 1982
"Staying Mute" [The Face,
August 1990]
Few instruments can claim to have made a greater impact on popular music than the synthesizer. The electric guitar, of course, outranks the synth in historical terms and arguably, rock'n'roll music might never have existed, but for the tireless inventiveness of Leo Fender and Les Paul. Then there are the many and various developments in recording techniques, the absence of any one of which could have changed the entire course of popular music. But it was the synth which truly revolutionised rock and, more than any other instrument, propelled the beast headlong into the 1980s.
The synthesizer, in its simplest form, is an electronic device which can create and shape sound patterns. It was first developed in the late 1920s, but it wasn't until the mid-sixties that its possibilities as a musical instrument were truly explored - by Dr. Robert Moog, an American electronics engineer after whom one of the world's most popular synthesizers is named. He attached a keyboard to a synthesizer for the first time, and by 1071 the Mini-Moog, a portable instrument which swiftly found favour among leading rock bands of the day, was on sale. Less than fifteen years before, Columbia Studios had been forced to clear out an entire room in order to install a similar device.
Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, The Who and Hawkwind were all among the early pioneers of the instrument. In 1974, Kraftwerk enjoyed a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Autobahn', a record which was almost exclusively electronic, and three years later David Bowie and Brian Eno were to employ the instrument to quite devastating effect on Bowie's 'Low' and 'Heroes' albums. Simultaneously, Ultravox, Japan and Rikki & The Last Days Of Earth introduced the synthesizers to the Punk/New Wave and by the end of the decade these two points had come together in the flower of a whole new generation of young musicians.
As the 1970s progressed, so the price of synths dropped. After opening the decade as little more than a rich man's plaything, a decent synth could now be purchased for little more than a the cost of a good guitar. It was also easier to play, another attraction for the budding musician who was unwilling to spend a fortune in time and sticking plasters trying to master a fretted instrument. And finally, with a synth, the most extraordinary sounds were available at the touch of a button.
It was this which first attracted Daniel Miller to the instrument. As guitarist in a school band he constantly outraged fellow musicians by playing guitar not with fingers and chords, but by hitting it with bits of metal, experimenting with sound. At art school in Guildford has talent might have lain in film making - one effort, a 20 minute comedy called 'Don't Sit Too Close' won a National Film Festival award - but his mind was on blending electronics with popular music. And as a DJ in Switzerland in 1976, he might have outwardly enjoyed playing Abba and Boney M to the tourists, but inside he was seething, impatiently watching the development of Punk music in England and plotting the day when the synth, with its unlimited scope for the untrained musician, would be accepted as the logical punk instrument. "A synth meant you didn't even need to know how to hold a guitar in order to express yourself," he said.
By 1979 Daniel Miller had proved his point. 'TVOD', the first release on his Mute label, had sold over 40,000 copies - not enough to make Daniel, who as The Normal was responsible for the record, a rich man, but more than enough to encourage him in his dream of providing a regular outlet for other non-musicians who, like himself, used pure electronics to generate sound. Artists such as Fad Gadget and Boyd Rice kept release schedules ticking and within 18 months of starting out, Mute Records was firmly established as the prodigal of the independent British music scene.
Stubbornly self-sufficient, and powered only by Daniel's own belief, the label had an unblemished reputation, picking up on some of the finest electronic practitioners around and giving them a chance to be heard when few other labels would have considered releasing such music. And in keeping with this fierce anti-commercialism, only the Silicon Teens (another of Daniel's aliases) saw the North London-based Mute even approach the hallowed corridors of chart fame and glory. Mute, like Mohammed, had no wish to go to the mountain. But the mountain, for once, was quite willing to go to Mute.
Depeche Mode were, on the face of things, the perfect pop group. They played short, sharp lessons in contagious hooklines, their lyrics were montages of words which sounded good but meant little. They were good looking, they dressed well and they were all young enough for any self-respecting press officer to have no trouble in promoting them as genuine teenage idols. Yet from the start, Depeche Mode showed no interest in playing such games. They were young and naive, they admitted that. But they also knew what they wanted, and while they were quite willing to be ushered into big offices to talk even bigger money, they were sufficiently aware of the pitfalls involved. When Stevo, head of the Some Bizzare label and a guiding light on the then-emergent Futurist scene, espied the band one night at Crocs, the Rayleigh club wherein they were installed, only his fiercest exhortations could persuade Depeche Mode to contribute a track to the compilation of new and unsigned talent he was then putting together. And even then it was a move which they were to regret for some time to come.
"I don't like that Futurist scene at all," said Dave Gahan - Mode's charismatic vocalist - when the compilation hit the streets. "All the bands involved in it are in one bunch together and they'll never escape. Soft Cell are the only ones with a good chance of making it through to the other side..."
His observations proved correct. Of the dozen bands who appeared on 'Some Bizzare Album' when it was released in February 1981, only Soft Cell and Depeche Mode were to move on to more lasting careers. Other hopefuls, like Illustration, B-Movies and The Fast Set, vanished without a trace. The The survived to accrue a considerable cult following but steadfastly refused to leave the commercial back waters of critical acclaim, and while the only other outfit of any real note, Blancmange, did eventually make it through to the attentions of a mass audience, 18 months were to pass between 'Some Bizzare Album' and 'Living On The Ceiling', their first hit single.
Depeche Mode was formed during the summer of 1980 in the Essex new town of Basildon, home to all three of the band's founder members; Andy Fletcher - born July 8th 1960 [1]; Martin Gore - born July 23rd 1961; and Vince Clarke - born July 3, 1960.
Vince, at this time, was one half of a gospel duo; he also played without enthusiasm in another band called No Romance In China. He met Andy Fletcher at Boys Brigade and was thus introduced to Martin Gore, guitarist with a middle-of-the-road West Coast type band. The trio began to play together in their spare time - Vince owned a drum machine and a guitar, Fletch owned a bass. Martin, too, played guitar but very early on he traded it in for a synthesizer. Vince sang.
Although the band never used a regular name, Composition Of Sound is how they are best remembered. It was under this name they played their first gig, supporting Film Noir at Scamps, in Southend. A short while after they played a party thrown by a friend "-and," says Andy, "neither was even a minor success. The crowd didn't react, so Vince lost his temper with them. Plugs were kicked out." And Martin remembers: "There were all these 14 year olds who'd never seen a synthesizer before, so they were all fiddling with the knobs saying 'What does this one do?'"
The absence of a real frontman was the cause of much restlessness within the band, especially after Vince followed Martin's lead and bought a synth. But although the band did toy with the idea of advertising for a new singer, they never did. "You can't possibly get on so well with newcomers who've been fixed up through ads as you can with someone you already know," Martin said. "So although we desperately wanted a singer we were prepared to take our time and be patient, and wait for the right person to come along."
The 'right person' turned out to be David Gahan. Born in nearby Epping on May 9, 1962, Dave had lived in Basildon since his early childhood, running with the pack and earning three appearances in juvenile court. He later admitted: "I was a real wide boy with a chip on my shoulder, I got done for nicking cars and motorbikes, setting cars alight, spraying walls, vandalism. A real yob!" [2] He passed through 20 jobs within six months of leaving school - at the time he joined the group he was studying window design at Southend Tech.
According to Fletch: "We got Dave on the strength of him singing 'Heroes', the Bowie number, at a jam session with some other band. We weren't even sure that it was him we wanted, there were so many other people singing. In fact, we still aren't!" [3]
Dave's arrival was the signal for the group to make further adjustments before they set out to face the world. The first was to change their name. None had particularly liked Composition Of Sound - for a long time afterwards they refused even to tell anybody they had been called that. [4] Depeche Mode was a name they found in a French fashion magazine - according to Fletch: "It means 'Hurry Up Fashion', but we didn't know that at the time. We just liked the sound of the words. It could just as easily have been Depeche Mud..." [5]
[1] - Whoops! Andy was in fact born in 1961. [continue]
[2] - That quote is from No. 1, 19th January 1985. [continue]
[3] - Don't be misled - the comment was a wind-up. The full conversation can be found here. [continue]
[4] - Try this 1988 interview for an hysterical example of an interviewer plying Andy - in vain - for the band's original name. [continue]
[5]
- Given that Martin had a French 'A' Level I personally find this hard to
believe. But the quote is badly paraphrased (and wrongly attributed) from New
Sounds, New Styles, August 1981.
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