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Perhaps the quintessential '80s electropop band, Depeche Mode - the name was inspired by a French fashion magazine - parlayed a fascination with synthesizers into huge success on the British charts (where all its albums went Top 10) and eventually on the U.S. pop chart. Whereas a more traditional four-piece rock band might feature three members playing instruments and the fourth singing and perhaps playing guitar or bass, the lineup of this British group was thus described in a 1993 press release: "Dave (Gahan) is the singer, Martin (Gore) the songwriter, Alan (Wilder) the musician, and Andrew (Fletcher) the coordinator.” Though Depeche Mode’s stark, synthetic sound and often moody, provocative lyrics buck classic pop convention, the hooks that distinguish its most popular songs are among postmodern rock’s most ingratiating. For a time, the group did share an unfortunate trait with numerous conventional rock bands, however: a troubled, drug-addicted lead singer.
When the group’s original members united in 1980, in a working-class suburb of London called Basildon, they gravitated toward synthesizers and drum machines in part because they were easy to carry around and didn’t require amplifiers. In fact, they took the train to their early gigs in local pubs. The group’s recording career began auspiciously: 1981’s dance beat–ridden Speak and Spell (#10 U.K.) became one of the year’s best-selling albums in England. Shortly after its release, though, principal songwriter Vince Clarke left. He eventually formed the techno-driven bands Yazoo and, later, Erasure [see entry].
But Depeche Mode bounced right back with 1982’s A Broken Frame (#8 U.K.), on which Gore assumed chief songwriting duties; soon after, Alan Wilder, who had toured with the band earlier, joined as a full-time member. Two years later the band released the critically and commercially groundbreaking Some Great Reward (#5 U.K.), whose content ranged from the bitter and shocking “Blasphemous Rumours” to “People Are People,” a catchy plea for tolerance that went to #13 in the U.S., where Depeche Mode had previously been considered an obscure alternative act.
In spite of its success on the American tour circuit, where they were selling out arenas, Depeche Mode didn’t have another U.S. hit until “Personal Jesus” (#28, 1990), its first gold single. Violator(#7, 1990), the album that single introduced, yielded the group’s first Top 10 single, “Enjoy the Silence” (#8, 1990). Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) was heralded by critics as a bold foray into warmer musical textures and more spiritual imagery. It also entered the American pop album chart at #1, boding well for Depeche Mode’s future on both sides of the Atlantic.
However, after another successful tour, that promising future was in doubt. Gore and Fletcher were physically exhausted from the band’s 18 months on the road, Wilder had become disenchanted and left the group (he later formed the largely instrumental project Recoil), and most disturbingly, Gahan slashed his wrists in a suicide attempt in August 1995. The now-trio had already begun to record its next album when Gahan took a near-lethal overdose of heroin and cocaine in May 1996; he actually flatlined for a few minutes. Soon after regaining consciousness, the singer was arrested for drug possession and sentenced to rehab. He emerged from the program clean and sober, and later spoke frankly in interviews about how he had believed he had to live the pain of Depeche Mode’s songs to perform them (although Gore wrote the lyrics).
The group released Ultra in 1997 and enjoyed a resurgence: The album went to #5 in the U.S, and the singles “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good” were popular Modern Rock tracks (#11 and #4, respectively, on that chart). The band declined to tour in consideration of Gahan’s still-new sobriety. They did return to the stage to support The Singles 86–98 (#38) the following year.
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