Depeche Mode (pronounced /dɨˈpɛʃ/ də-pesh) are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andy Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter 1980–81). Vince Clarke left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album, Speak & Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums) with Gore taking over songwriting. Wilder left the band in 1995 and since then Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher have continued as a trio.

Depeche Mode have had forty-eight songs in the UK Singles Chart and #1 albums in UK, US and throughout Europe. According to EMI, Depeche Mode have sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide,[1] making them the most successful electronic band in music history.[2] Q magazine calls Depeche Mode "The most popular electronic band the world has ever known"

Background information
Origin	Basildon, Essex, England
Genres	Alternative dance, Synthpop, New Wave
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Mute, EMI
Associated acts	Yazoo, Erasure, Recoil
Website	depechemode.com
Members
Dave Gahan Martin Gore Andy Fletcher
Past members
Vince Clarke Alan Wilder

Some Great Reward (1984) :

In their early years, Depeche Mode had only really attained success in Europe and Australia, however this changed in March 1984 when they released the single "People Are People". The song reached #2 in Ireland, #4 in UK and Switzerland and #1 in West Germany, where it was used as the theme to West German TV's coverage of the 1984 Olympics.[24] It belatedly reached #13 on the US charts in mid-1985. The song has since become an anthem for the LGBT community and is regularly played at gay establishments and gay pride festivals.[25] Sire, the band's North American record label, released a compilation of the same name which included tracks from A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again as well as several b-sides.

In September 1984, Some Great Reward was released. Melody Maker claimed that the album made one "sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose."[26] In contrast to the political and environmental subjects addressed on the previous album, the songs on Some Great Reward were mostly concerned with more personal themes such as sexual politics ("Master and Servant"), adulterous relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice ("Blasphemous Rumours"). Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad ("Somebody") – such songs would become a feature of all following albums. "Somebody" was released as a double a-side with "Blasphemous Rumours" and was the first single with Gore on lead vocals. Some Great Reward was the first Depeche Mode album to enter the US album charts, and it made the Top 10 in several European countries.

The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg was the band's first video release. It is an almost complete film of a concert from their 1984 Some Great Reward Tour, in Hamburg, Germany.

In July 1985, the band played their first-ever concerts behind the Iron Curtain, in Budapest and Warsaw.[27]

In October 1985, Mute Records released a compilation, The Singles 81>85 (Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US), which included the two non-album singles "Shake the Disease" and "It's Called a Heart".

During this period, in some circles, the band became associated with the gothic subculture, which had begun in Britain in the late-1970s, and was now slowly gaining popularity in the United States. There, the band's music had first gained prominence on college radio and modern rock stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles, KQAK ("The Quake") in San Francisco and WLIR on Long Island, New York, and hence, they appealed primarily to an alternative audience who were disenfranchised with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco hell'"[28] on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp contrast to how the band was perceived in Europe, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs.[29] In Germany and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols and were regularly featured in European teen magazines.