Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Wiki
Dm 1984

Depeche Mode in 1984.

Depeche Mode are a British pop/rock group founded in 1980 and still active to date. The group is considered one of the pioneers of electronic pop music in the 1980s and also known for translating the genre into a rock context, also through the integration of more conventional instruments such as electric guitars and drums. They are one of the biggest and best known British groups worldwide.

Founder member Vince Clarke was fundamental in defining the group's sound and style for their debut album Speak and Spell released in late 1981, although he left the group shortly afterwards to pursue other projects. The remaining three members Dave Gahan (vocals), Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher (both keyboards) continued with Depeche Mode into 1982, with Gore as their principal songwriter. They eventually recruited a fourth member Alan Wilder, initially for live work and successively as a full band member, also contributing to songwriting.

During the 1980s and up to 1994 Depeche Mode had twenty-eight Top 40 singles and eight Top 40 studio albums in the UK. Global success was also obtained through tireless live work and concerts around the world, most notably the tour to promote Music for the Masses (1987) and Violator (1990). Wilder left the group in the mid-90s, leaving the band once more as a three-piece. They have since released six more studio albums and had fifteen more Top 40 singles to date in the UK.

Links to OMD[]

  • In a 1981 interview for Smash Hits, OMD nominated Depeche Mode, rather than themselves, as representatives of the 'synth-pop' genre, "...they're better than it than us these days".
  • As guest reviewers of the new singles for Record Mirror, issue dtd. 03 November 1984, PH awarded Depeche Mode's Blasphemous Rumours as Single of the Week. AM also stated, "I've got this feeling that Depeche Mode are going to do something really amazing and they're getting pretty close".
  • OMD played as support to Depeche Mode on the final US leg of their Music For The Masses Tour, beginning in April 1988.