Depeche Mode
English singers Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed their first band in the distant 1976. At that time their duo was titled No Romance in China and performed mainly in small clubs of London and its suburbs. Three years later, when the third member, guitarist Martin Li Gore, joined the band, the guys moved to more prestigious and popular places.
The band got its final name in late 70s. In 1980, after a successful performance, Depeche Mode captured the attention of Mute Records company, and several years later, the team signed a contract with it.
The audience of London met Depeche Mode positively due to, first of all, a nice combination of classic guitar and electronic synthesizer soundings. Unfortunately, despite the perfect music and qualitative texts, the band’s vocal left a lot to be desired. But everything changed in 1981 when the vocalist David Gahan joined the group. They first peaked at #57 on the British chart with a song “Dreaming of Me”. This song is considered to be the first real success in the musicians’ career.
In the same 1981, the band embarked on a tour in Europe, giving concerts and gaining new fans. Their next song “Just Can't Get Enough” was a real breakthrough for the band and reached Top 10 of the British chart. Keeping on the work, Depeche Mode recorded the first album, titled Speak & Spel, which sold many hundred thousand copies.
A year later, one event shocked the band and, especially, its fans. Vince Clarke, a songwriter and composer, due to whom European music admirers fell in love with Depeche Mode works, left the band. Many people thought that the group would lose its originality with a new leader but they were mistaken. Martin Gore, who replaced Clarke, showed himself as a real leader. Their new single “See You” peaked at #6 on the British chart. The band found a new keyboard player and the new lineup went on winning the hearts of rock and pop music fans.
The first success was followed by the next ones. Every new album and recorded single of the band was met by the great excitement of the public. Depeche Mode approved its name by becoming a role model for millions of people. New musicians started imitating their way of performing and fans copied a visual image of the band’s members. By the beginning of 90s, Depeche Mode, after numerous concerts, massacred the European music admirers as well as the transoceanic audience. They really became world stars.
The members of Depeche Mode experienced a lot of trials, from musicians’ leaving the band up to drug dealing problems, due to which the band was every day within sight of disbandment. But every time, after solving the problems, talented English singers began to record the music and to work at their unmatched videoclips full of some depressive symbolism. The twelfth, and last, album of the band was released under the label Mute in 2009. It is titled Sounds of the Universe and was released after a long break, during which Depeche Mode’s fans were looking forward to renewing of studioworks of the favourite music band.
