Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Famous worldwide, Depeche Mode have endured almost 30 years in the music industry, and are one of the most successful and influential bands that have emerged from the early 80’s.
An electronic sounding band, Depeche Mode started off from the humble beginnings of Basildon, Essex, the original line-up was Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals and chief songwriter), Andrew Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clark (keyboards and original chief songwriter).
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Clark left after the debut album, forming Yazoo with Alison Moyet, and over the years there was a tinkering with the line-up – the band are now a trio.
Depeche Mode have been responsible for 45 songs in the Singles Charts, #1 albums in the UK, US and throughout Europe and a staggering 75 million album sales worldwide.
They were named after a French fashion magazine – their first single to reach the UK Top 10 was: "Just Can’t Get Enough" in 1981.
In 1984, they released one of their biggest hits: "People Are People" which broke them in the States and also became an anthem for the gay community.
Their first Gold Single was "Personal Jesus" which peaked at #13 in the UK charts, they went from strength to strength with albums like "Violater", "Ultra", "Exciter" and "Playing The Angel".
Their career had its low points though with band members walking out and Gahan almost dying from drug abuse in 1997. He has since fully rehabilitated.
Their last album was released in 2009: "Sounds Of The Universe", the band continue to tour and are still playing new places to thousands of fans all over the world.
Wendy Gabriel
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Erasure
Erasure was formed from the ashes of Depeche Mode and Yazoo. Vince Clarke was keyboardist and songwriter to both bands before leaving to pursue other projects. He placed an ad in Melody Maker for a singer. Andy Bell responded, auditioned and in 1985, Erasure was born.
The band’s first three singles – ‘Who Needs Love Like That?’, ‘Heavenly Action’ and ‘Oh L’Amour’ - scraped the UK Top 100, although the latter was later covered in 1987 by Dollar and became a massive hit. Success came in 1987 with the release of the single ‘Sometimes’ which climbed to number two in the UK Singles chart. This boosted sales of their second album, ‘The Circus’. Both ‘The Circus’ and the duo’s follow-up album ‘The Innocents’ achieved platinum sales in the UK.
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The duo garnered a huge following, especially among the gay community where the openly-homosexual and flamboyant Andy Bell was an icon. Bell’s voice was often compared with that of Alison Moyet, Vince Clarke’s previous partner in Yazoo.
In 1988, Erasure released the ‘Crackers International’ EP. The lead single ‘Stop!’ gave the pair even more chart success. The ‘Abba-esque’ EP released in 1992 featured cover versions of four Abba songs and gave the band their first number one in the UK Singles chart (be sure to check online for the Halloween-inspired Top of the Pops performance of Take A Chance On Me!). This wasn’t their only foray into cover versions, however: 2003’s ‘Other People’s Songs’ album contained reworkings of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ by The Buggles and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Solsbury Hill’.
Erasure are currently in the studio writing and recording a new album. In the meantime, an EP of remixes and a remastered version of ‘The Innocents’ marking 21 years since its release will be available from August 2009.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
