They put an ad in the classifieds of Melody Maker reading: "Name Band, Require Synthesizer Player, Must Be Under 21." Alan Wilder, aka Alan Normal, a classically-trained musician with a history of playing in various post-punk bands (including the Hitmen with Juno Reactor's Ben Watkins), is among the interviewees. On the verge of signing an American deal with Sire, the DM camp keeps the news to themselves until the end of the year. He decides to leave the band shortly before the release of Speak and Spell. But the superficial rigor of lip-synching TV performances, autograph and photo sessions, and an overall emphasis on haircuts over the music, loses its appeal for Clarke. A few months later, the punchy "Just Can't Get Enough" turns DM into a UK boy band sensation. "New Life" prompts Gore and Fletcher to quit their day-jobs and Gahan to leave college. "Dreaming of Me" barely cracks the UK Top 100, but the relationship with Mute is rewarding enough for the band to continue recording. With Miller at the mixing desk, the still-teenaged Mode refine their brash, electro tendencies from Some Bizarre to create a melodic, synth-pop signature. They agree with nothing more than a handshake. He proposes to release "Dreaming of Me" with a 50/50 sharing of the costs and no binding agreement to the label. One night backstage, they meet Daniel Miller, the Deutsche-phile producer responsible for the Normal's futurist anthem "Warm Leatherette" and owner of Mute. In one case, a Rasta offers to take Depeche Mode to Nigeria, dress them up in Doctor Who outfits and have them introduce electro-reggae to Africa. The cult success of the comp has everyone from major label reps to shady business tycoons stalking the band. Gahan persuades them to form an all-synth line-up and rename themselves Depeche Mode, the title of a French fashion magazine meaning "hurry up fashion." Their foray into London's futurist/new romantic underground is swift, but they're initially rejected by every indie label in the country (including their future home, Mute Records) until scenester DJ Stevo solicits a track, "Photographic," for his Some Bizarre Album, putting DM in the same company as Soft Cell, Blancmange and the The. Gahan also has a lot of friends, sparking hope the band might win an audience. Clarke spots ex-punk art student Dave Gahan singing at a session and recruits him into Composition, less for his vocals than his good looks. The band rehearse in the storage room of a church, which doubles as a popular jam-spot for various amateurs around Basildon. He invites Gore to join him and Fletcher as a trio, Composition of Sound. Seeing Gore bring a Moog onstage inspires Clarke to pick one up for himself. They perform a few pubs and stick mostly to covers of ∕0s pop, but become much more experimental after seeing two influential bands: the Cure, and Norman and the Worms. Clarke, who had previously been in a gospel act, plays guitar and sings, and the admittedly non-musical Fletcher takes to bass. The pair form No Romance in China in 1977. In Basildon, Essex, a working-class "new town" outside of London, Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher are friends in a church-based, scout-type organization called the Boys Brigade. With Depeche Mode, everything counts in large amounts the music, the money and the madness. When asked to reflect on Depeche Mode's quarter-century legacy, Gore grimly replies, "you want to get real boring?" (He hangs up shortly after.) But as a nearly religious fan since 1987 (exactly half my life), I beg to differ. Gore's second album of cover songs, Counterfeit2. This month sees lead vocalist Dave Gahan breaking away from the Depeche fold with a self-written solo effort, Paper Monsters, and chief songwriter Martin L. Among the many tribute albums, the most unorthodox props range from Johnny Cash's cover of "Personal Jesus" and George Michael's unreleased rendition of "A Question of Lust." Not bad for a bank-teller, an insurance clerk and an art-school scenester with no serious musical aspirations, let alone a proper record contract. And for all of their inventiveness with sampling, their appeal transcends technophile trainspotters. They've never claimed to be as influential as Kraftwerk or Stockhausen, but neither of those progenitors have ever made electronic music sound as sexy as Depeche Mode. Yet these Anglo synth-popsters have been at it longer than any of their contemporaries, outlasting early ∘0s new wave to late ∘0s alternative, ultimately standing in a class of their own. Embarrassing haircuts, gender-bending lyrics and an unabashed dependence on pre-recorded tape have never made it cool to like Depeche Mode at least not for long.
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