Trivia / Depeche Mode

• Breakthrough Hit: The band primarily got its publicity from Violator, though especially "Enjoy the Silence".
• Content Leak:
  • The first case of this occurred with 2009's Sounds of the Universe. "Come Back" initially had a first version that was Lighter and Softer, which was initially planned to be included in the album before it was leaked, requiring the band to re-record it with a different version.
  • A heavy case of this in 2023 pre-release of Memento Mori. The song titles (by means of the album's back cover) as well as a version of the first single, "Ghosts Again", were leaked by desperate fans who wanted more content from Depeche Mode following the gap between the newest album and Spirit.
• Creator Backlash: Several — The albums Speak & Spell and A Broken Frame, "People Are People" (Martin is now embarrassed by the simplicity and anviliciousness of the lyrics despite the fact that it was a major worldwide hit), Martin's cross-dressing phase (he still has to field embarrassing questions about this 30 years later), the choreography in the "Master and Servant" video.
• Creative Differences: According to founding member Vince Clarke, one factor in his decision to leave the band was frequent clashes between him and the other members; he noted that while he still enjoyed the band's subsequent material, it was darker than what he normally prefers.
• Creator Breakdown:
  • "Precious" is about Martin's divorce; "Clean" is inspired by one of Dave's many rehab visits, and "Barrel of a Gun" is inspired by Dave's attempted suicide.
  • Nearly everything on Songs of Faith and Devotion was the result of tensions between the band members nearing breaking point.
  • Conversely, "Home" is often interpreted as Martin writing/singing from Dave's perspective after getting sober.
  • Memento Mori was recorded in the wake of founding member Andy Fletcher's death and accordingly features dark, oppressive music and lyrics reflective of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore's mourning.
• Died During Production: Andy Fletcher died of an aortic dissection just as the band was starting work on Memento Mori.
• Follow the Leader: Alongside New Order, Depeche Mode were the pioneers in their genre and influenced numerous subsequent acts, including Deftones.
• In Memoriam: The liner notes for Memento Mori contain a dedication to the memory of founding member Andy Fletcher, who died just before production began.
• Missing Episode: Well, missing singles and DVDs, anyway. Since the band don't re-release their singles (besides the 12" Singles compilations started in 2022), their single album releases end up lost media, which also means that physical copies of those singles are rare to find. This is especially prominent in Dave Gahan's solo work, where B-sides "Stand Up", "Maybe", "Closer", and "Breathe" from Paper Monsters, and "Tomorrow" and "Love Will Leave (Das Shadow's Rewerk)" from Hourglass are incredibly difficult to find. And that's not even starting on the single versions of certain songs, either.
• Rarely Performed Song: The band refused to play "But Not Tonight" for decades due to substantial Creator Backlash towards it, having hastily put it together in three hours for the Modern Girls soundtrack. The track wouldn't appear on their setlist until 2014, when Martin Gore put together an acoustic rendition for Delta Machine's supporting tour.
• Real-Life Relative: Dave's wife Jennifer appears in the video for "Suffer Well".
• Real Song Theme Tune "Angel" (More commonly known as "The Angel of Love") is used as the ending credits theme for Injustice: Gods Among Us of all things.
• Referenced by...:
  • In the summer of 2018, Canada's Nicolas Nadeau became the first figure skater in the history of the sport to use Depeche Mode's music in competition; here's his long program. The songs included are: "Enjoy the Silence (Harmonium)," "It's No Good" which later contains lyrics from "Master and Servant," "I Feel You," "Somebody," "Personal Jesus" and "Just Can't Get Enough."
  • The first time a DM song appeared in any context within figure skating was during Jeffrey Buttle's exhibition number, which was set to "Personal Jesus," at the 2008 Canadian Stars on Ice show.
  • Fiona Zaldua & Dmitry Sukhanov performed to "Little 15" and "I Feel Loved" for their exhibition number at the 2013 All That Skate.
  • In The Venture Bros. episode "Tag Sale, You're It!", Dave Gahan was apparently one of the persons attending Dr. Venture's yard sale. The Monarch is shocked to find out he's straight.
    "But it's the guy from Depeche Mode!"
• Sequel Gap: Memento Mori came out six years after its predecessor, Spirit, marking the longest gap between albums in their discography.
• Trolling Creator: Off-duty, Depeche Mode are frequent jokesters and like to mess around with fellow celebrities. During interviews, this is taken to an extreme where they usually apply some capacity of comical Self-Deprecation when describing the process of making a song.
• Troubled Production: Songs of Faith and Devotion. The band had all moved into the same space, which contained their studio, and thus the individual bandmates had no alone time. Furthermore, the bandmates were at very much at odds creatively and as people. The band would go for weeks on end without producing anything usable, to the producer's frustration and their own. Eventually, they gave up on the studio idea and finished the album in a far more conventional manner. Most notably, this was the straw that broke the camel's back for Alan Wilder, who only stuck around to tour in support.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Gary Numan was an early fan and almost wound up signing the band to his label, Beggars Banquet Records, but had been told Depeche Mode already had a record deal.
  • "Fly on the Windscreen" was originally planned to be released as a single in support of The Singles 81→85, but the idea was turned down due to its dark lyrics (with its opening line, "death is everywhere," allegedly seeing particular scrutiny), this being not too long after the controversy surrounding "Blasphemous Rumours". Consequently, it was instead made the B-side to "It's Called a Heart" before being remixed on Black Celebration.

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