Depeche Mode's "People Are People"

One Song

This episode serves as Part One of a two-part deep dive into Depeche Mode, focusing on their early years and the creation of their breakthrough hit "People Are People." Hosts Diallo Riddle and LUXXURY explore the band's

Key takeaways

• Depeche Mode formed in Basildon from earlier bands No Romance in China and The French Look before adopting their name from a French fashion magazine.
• Vince Clark was the original lead singer/songwriter but quit after Speak and Spell, later forming Yazoo and Erasure with Alison Moyet and Andy Bell respectively.

Main topics

• Depeche Mode's early formation and lineup changes
• Synth-pop, industrial music, and sampling technology

Notable quotes

"I really don't appreciate the song anymore nowadays. But without it, we may not have been around as a band anymore."

Conclusion

The episode provides a rich historical and technical breakdown of how Depeche Mode

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) What up, One Song Nation? Today we're bringing back one of our absolute favorite episodes of all time. It's part one of a two-parter we did on Depeche Mode. In part one, we track the emergence of the group, and in part two, we track all the ways they handle international fame. And hey, we'll be back October 15th with a brand new, really big, big, big episode. Mark it on your calendars now, October 15th. In the meantime, check out this One Song classic. classic two-parter, started with People Are People by Depeche Mode. Speaker 2 (0:30) Hello, One Song Nation! Just Speaker 3 (0:32) a Speaker 2 (0:32) quick note before we begin, we're splitting our Depeche Mode episode into two parts. That's right, Tiala, we've got so much to say about this incredible band, we needed a little more time to break down two Depeche Mode songs. Time for all the fun facts, synths, samples, stems, all that good stuff. So welcome to part one, where we're going to cover the early years and the genesis of the band, starting with the song People Are People. And Speaker 3 (0:53) next week in part two, we'll cover their later years and break down one of their biggest hits. Now get ready to enjoy... our Depeche Mode episode. Luxury, today's song is by a monumental English band that we absolutely love. This hit reached the top five in several countries in 1984, number four in the UK and Switzerland, number two in Ireland and Poland, and number one in West Germany. West Germany, remember that place? Yes, I remember it. But it was also the first time they got attention outside of Europe. Speaker 2 (1:20) That's right. Over the course of their five-decade career, this group became international superstars. They've been pioneers defining the sound of electronic music with their dynamic approach to using synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers. But before all that happened, it was this song that took them from the underground scene to breaking into the U.S. market. Speaker 3 (1:37) It's one song, and that song is People Are People by Depeche Mode. Speaker 3 (1:47) I'm actor, writer, director, and sometimes DJ, Diallo Riddle. And Speaker 2 (1:50) I'm producer, DJ, songwriter, and musicologist luxury, also known as the guy who talks about Speaker 3 (1:54) interpolation Speaker 2 (1:55) on the internet. Speaker 3 (1:56) And if you want to watch one song, please go to our YouTube channel and watch this full episode. And also, please subscribe. Okay, we're so excited to do this episode. We talked about it. pretty much from the beginning of us doing this podcast. We've admired Depeche Mode for years, but Luxury, I'm interested in what was going on in your life when you first heard People Are People and what does this... band mean to you? Depeche Speaker 2 (2:18) Mode were like the coolest band in seventh grade. Everything about them was cool. I'll never forget the time I was at a party at Kirsten Stromberg's birthday party. You're Speaker 3 (2:27) eventually going to give a shout out to everybody you ever went to school with. I Speaker 2 (2:29) mean, look, seventh grade was a very crucial year for me for many reasons. And that was the same party where I remember Louisa Smith was going on a long diatribe about the importance of Depeche Mode. And I never heard them. She played them at this party. And I was like, you know, just imagine this scenario, a bunch of 13 year olds tooling around in the 80s. Was it Speaker 3 (2:45) this song? It Speaker 2 (2:46) was People Are People. It was Some Great Reward was the album that this is from. And I was smitten, not just because of the music, but also because how cool I knew they were and how important I knew it was. Yeah. Speaker 3 (2:58) I love that. Speaker 2 (2:59) What about you, Diallo? How did you come to learn about Find and Adore? Because I know you do Depeche Mode. Man, strange love. Yeah. That's the song. Listen, Speaker 3 (3:08) I heard Just Can't Get Enough. I heard People Are People. But it was strange love. Speaker 1 (3:23) I Speaker 3 (3:23) remember I always did my homework at my desk. I had my little alarm clock radio. You know, like back in the days when like your radio was just, it was also your alarm clock a lot of times. Was Speaker 2 (3:33) it LED or LCD? Or did it have the little flipping numbers that were actually plastic numbers? No, it was LED. But Speaker 3 (3:39) I remember, I think it was like whatever Atlanta radio station. It was before 99X. It was before they went alternative. But it was the station I listened to. It had all like, you know, Pet Shop Boys. that sort of stuff. Speaker 2 (3:51) And they played strange love. And I remember thinking like, I love that Speaker 3 (3:54) song. And then I don't think I bought music for the masses, but that was the point at which I was like, I love this band. I love their sound. I knew very little about them. Speaker 2 (4:03) Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:04) As people who listen to the show know, I was at an all black school, so I didn't have any goths to sort of ask, you know, like what's Speaker 1 (4:11) up Speaker 3 (4:11) with this group? But, um, I loved it. I just loved it. And I, and I followed their career. ever since and i'm going to just put this out there at the beginning of the episode you know we we don't talk about it a lot but um there is a little bit of a when did you discover this band going on with these two episodes because Speaker 1 (4:27) in Speaker 3 (4:28) 1984 when this song came out i probably wouldn't have been able to sort of get into depeche mode but by the time that i'm listening to strange love and we're going to talk about the violator album uh later in this two-part episode I was fully of the age to really dive into this group, and I stayed with them through Songs of Faith and Devotion. We're going to talk a little bit about the Exciter album, and we're going to talk about this band because they are, as you said, just to this day, one of the coolest bands that has ever been around. Speaker 2 (4:57) We're Speaker 3 (4:57) going Speaker 2 (4:57) to talk about so much stuff, but one thing I do want to address, an elephant in the room, the word goth. When it comes to Depeche Mode... Speaker 3 (5:04) I knew as Speaker 2 (5:04) soon as I Speaker 3 (5:05) said goth, you were going to... Speaker 2 (5:06) I just want to address the idea that there isn't a single band that one would listen to that we would characterize as listeners as goth, who themselves would call themselves goth. It's just one of those genre names that nobody wants to own. But to be fair, I would say that Suzy and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, these are bands that are kind of core goth, and then one level outside of it, I would say, synth-pop, industrially... Depeche Mode is there, but importantly, anyone who is a goth... loves Depeche Mode. They may not themselves be goth, but goths love Depeche Mode. That's what I would Speaker 1 (5:39) go on record to say. In Speaker 2 (5:39) preparing this episode, Speaker 3 (5:40) and by the way, I said goth because I'm talking as 1987. Right, and it was sort of more of Speaker 2 (5:46) a Speaker 3 (5:46) generic Speaker 2 (5:46) term for people wearing black. It was a term for the Speaker 3 (5:49) white kids who dressed in all black. Right, right, right. And who probably did Speaker 2 (5:52) listen to all these bands. And honestly, the band dresses like that in this period. But Speaker 3 (5:57) yes, I feel like nowadays we know that there's a... huge there's a wide difference between suzy and Speaker 2 (6:03) the Speaker 3 (6:03) banshees yeah depeche mode and the cure i think those Speaker 2 (6:05) divisions are far more important in quotes in like major quotes that i air quotes yeah now at the time no one it wasn't really as big of a deal here's what's cool i Speaker 3 (6:14) know so many black people who love depeche mode like i always say that the the instruments and the and the the the machines use let's Speaker 1 (6:22) say Speaker 3 (6:22) to create uh hip-hop and to create pop and to create industrial they're Speaker 2 (6:29) all the same thing you Speaker 3 (6:30) know what i mean like that's right so when i hear those mechanized drums and i hear those you know like it might as well be like an old junior track yeah like it's Speaker 2 (6:42) all the same instruments giant drums it's and you're absolutely right you're hitting the nail on the head we're going to get into that when we talk about the sound and the stems a little later on but the connections are real there we're Speaker 3 (6:51) even going to talk about the black person in Depeche Mode. Speaker 2 (6:55) We are indeed, because there is Speaker 3 (6:57) one. There's some fun facts on the way. First things first, we got to talk about how prolific Depeche Mode is. They've sold over 100 million records worldwide. They've had 54 charting singles. All of their studio albums have reached the UK top 10. And along with U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Depeche Mode has charted at least once. on Billboard's alternative airplay chart in every single decade since its debut in 1988. I did not realize that about Speaker 2 (7:26) the Red Hot Chili Peppers being in the same can. That's another episode. That is another episode. May Speaker 3 (7:31) or Speaker 2 (7:31) may not be another episode. Speaker 3 (7:32) Like we mentioned, Depeche Mode has defined the sound of electronic music. And listen, some people, we just talked about this, some folks call them synth pop, some call them post-punk. Are they party goth? Which is the Speaker 1 (7:44) term. Speaker 3 (7:44) I have never heard that expression. I think I made that up. Speaker 2 (7:47) Okay. I love it. That's my new favorite genre. Well, listen, if you go back Speaker 3 (7:50) and you watch Speaker 2 (7:50) 101, which Speaker 3 (7:51) is like Speaker 2 (7:52) an amazing documentary, Speaker 3 (7:53) there are so many scenes of like people. Literally throwing down hard on the dance floor. Speaker 2 (7:59) 101 Just Reboot. Oh, no, that's the documentary that came out in 88 or 89 based on their 1988 Rose Bowl live show that Depeche Mode did. But what's interesting about the movie, it's directed by D.A. Pennebaker, is that it is also kind of an early MTV-like reality show. Yes. But they've got Speaker 3 (8:15) these Speaker 2 (8:15) eight concert winners. Speaker 3 (8:16) Right. They follow them to the show. Who go across the country. So Speaker 2 (8:19) this film goes back and forth between watching these eight teenagers in 1988 and the band. I Speaker 3 (8:24) love how VHS-y. Like it literally starts with start the tape. It's like, like you see that old like VHS thing pop up. Listen, not only are we learning new things, we're actually putting new things out in the universe. Party goth might be a thing. Cyber goth. Already a thing. Before we go any further into talking about people where people, let's talk about the band's origins. For starters, Depeche Mode wasn't even the first name that the band chose. Luxury, walk us through the early days of Depeche Mode. Speaker 2 (8:49) Very, very brief overview of the origins of this band leading up to this song. So it starts in Basildon, which is about 30 miles to the east of London. And Vince Clark and Andy Fletcher are a couple of guys in high school. And they start a band. They're big Cure fans. They start a band called No Romance in China. What a great name. It's Speaker 3 (9:09) a Speaker 2 (9:09) great name. I mean, it's so new romantic. It's so of Speaker 3 (9:12) the Speaker 2 (9:12) time. Like literally it's got romance. And China, like there's a band called Japan, which is probably one of their favorites, one of my favorites. But when I hear no romance in China, I'm like these guys, in addition to their stated love for Sparks and OMD and the Human League, they also like Japan. Anyway, that's for another day. What I will say is that at the time, it was just the two of them. And at the time, Andy Fletcher, who we'll talk a little bit more about, he's a little bit known as the mysterious. fourth member sometimes. But at the time, he was the bass player in this earliest incarnation. Vince Clark was the singer and the main songwriter. And at a certain point, they meet Martin Gore, another young, I think they're all in their late teens at this point. And they merge forces because Martin's in another band called The French Look. The French Look. They've already got the French thing going Speaker 3 (9:58) on too. Speaker 2 (9:59) They already know who they are. They become composition of sound. So this is Vince, Andy, and Martin. Now, I've heard the story, Speaker 3 (10:06) or maybe I heard Martin tell it, that... the only reason they wanted to work with him was because they heard he was a guy who had a synthesizer. Is Speaker 2 (10:13) that true? I Speaker 3 (10:13) think at the time, Speaker 2 (10:14) that stuff's really important. Yes. No, I think, listen. Access to Speaker 3 (10:17) equipment. They were like, that guy's got a synthesizer? Right. Who is this Martin Gore? Right. And at a Speaker 2 (10:22) certain Speaker 3 (10:22) point, they realize, Speaker 2 (10:22) because they're all Human League fans, Speaker 3 (10:24) and this is the Speaker 2 (10:24) moment where all these early synth pop bands are starting to exist. And I think they might even see the Human League live. But if not, it's certainly on TV where they become aware that you can be a band but not have a drummer. Because they have this issue of having to rehearse, but they don't have to rehearse. of a rehearsal space. So they're like, wait a second, we can just get like a drum machine and we can rehearse with headphones in our living room. So the earliest incarnation of this band, part of the reason why they're not using live drums is because they think it's cool because the Human League do it. And also just... they need to not have a drummer to wake Speaker 3 (10:56) grandma up. I Speaker 2 (10:56) didn't realize that. So Speaker 3 (10:57) Depeche Mode has never had a drummer. Depeche Mode in their early years. In Speaker 2 (11:00) the traditional Speaker 3 (11:00) sense. Speaker 2 (11:01) Right. Later on, and in our next episode, we'll get into their later years a little bit more. Wilder, who hasn't joined the band yet, just a little foreshadowing, he does play some live drums on Songs of Faith and Devotion, and he plays them live. To this day, there actually is a live drummer playing with the band. Of course, of course. Speaker 3 (11:17) Yeah, but it is interesting because, you know, we're drummers. Yeah. And I feel like most of the music that I've ever loved, one of the reasons it's been so hard for me to get into singer-songwriters is because there ain't Speaker 2 (11:26) no percussion. Speaker 3 (11:27) I like percussive music. Yeah. Whether it's freaking Luther Campbell and Two Live Crew. You need that rhythm. Or it's Depeche Mode. Or rhythmically Speaker 2 (11:34) centered music, Speaker 3 (11:34) right? Yes, yes. Me too. The Speaker 2 (11:36) drums on Never Speaker 3 (11:37) Let Me Down are so prominent. So it's weird to think of this group as starting out without a guy sitting Speaker 2 (11:42) down. Speaker 3 (11:43) Right. At the base and Speaker 2 (11:44) the snare. Because that was a new thing you could do. Because that template had already been formed. And Human League, even if they Speaker 3 (11:50) weren't Speaker 2 (11:50) bold enough, they went on TV in early footage. And they had this reel-to-reel teak tape deck. They weren't trying to hide that they had no drummer. They were really up front and like, this is a new avant-garde thing to do. You get the sense that in this Thatcher Speaker 3 (12:03) -era Britain, that everybody was really excited about the new music machines. And by the way... Love Human League, whether it's Don't You Want Me or Human, like, what a great group. Speaker 2 (12:23) I think at the end of the day, like, this also reminds me, we're talking genre early, none of these genre names exist. There's punk, and this is maybe post-punk, new romantic, there's kind of these ideas floating around. I Speaker 3 (12:33) think post Speaker 2 (12:33) -punk, I'm thinking Gang of Four, Speaker 3 (12:35) but I guess, you know, even like those early U2 things, like, clearly punk had, like, just completely... change the landscape of how you look and how you sound on a record. But Speaker 2 (12:46) now the idea is you can start incorporating these other styles of music, like dance music. Like, this is dance music. That was one of my favorite scenes Speaker 3 (12:53) in 101, was when they're listening to a bunch of different music on the bus, and at one point this really early dance track comes up, and you're just like, oh, I get it. Yeah. They were listening to a little bit of everything and sort of putting it all into the synthesizers. Putting it all into the Speaker 2 (13:07) mix, that's right. And sort of nothing... Punk has sort of an orthodoxy to it. And in the post-punk years, it's like, you know what? It doesn't have to just be the three chords and guitars and the speed. We can try all these other, we can be danceable. Things can be punk without Speaker 3 (13:18) being the, I was going to say the Sex Pistols, but we know that that's a whole nother can of worms. We're not going there. But talking more about the bands coming together. Speaker 2 (13:30) So at a certain point, they decide they need a singer. So they audition for singers. This gentleman named Dave Gann enters the picture. For Speaker 3 (13:36) everybody listening who might be mispronouncing the name, pronounce his name. Speaker 2 (13:41) Oh, God. Now you put me on the spot. I do believe there's a little bit of a bounce in Gann. So it's not just Gann, but it's not Gahan. It's somewhere in between. Speaker 3 (13:48) Which is what I've Speaker 2 (13:48) probably Speaker 3 (13:49) been saying most of my life. Speaker 2 (13:49) Well, look, forgive me, Mr. Dave, if I'm saying it wrong. But what I've come to understand it to be is Gan. He starts to Speaker 3 (13:57) sound like a Star Wars Speaker 2 (13:58) character. Speaker 3 (13:58) Because the more I say it, the less confident I am that it's Speaker 2 (14:01) right. But I'm certain that people listening to this episode will correct me in the comments on YouTube. Dave is going to come find us. He's going to Speaker 3 (14:08) be Speaker 2 (14:08) like, that's not my name. Speaker 2 (14:11) So Dave, who from here to the rest of this episode and the next one will be known as Dave. So Dave, quote unquote, looked better than we did and had more contacts. And he sang well. Yes. I like that he sang well Speaker 3 (14:24) is the third. Is the third thing that comes up. He had good contacts. Speaker 2 (14:28) That's what Andy Fletcher said. And he comes up with the name because he's, I believe, decorating windows or something. And he's got like a fashion background of sorts. And there's a magazine, a French magazine called Depeche Mode. So he. brings that into the band and says, I think this would be a good name. Boom, that's the name, Depeche Mode. And Depeche Mode in French means? Well, let's see. It means, Depeche literally means hurry up. So it said that Depeche Mode means like fast fashion. But I think the magazine, what it really means in the format that it came from is like. The news, the fashion news. Yeah, I Speaker 3 (15:02) always heard it meant the new fashion. That's Speaker 2 (15:05) what Speaker 3 (15:05) I always heard. Speaker 2 (15:05) Again, like the Speaker 3 (15:06) words, if you break them down literally, Depeche means hurry up. Speaker 2 (15:09) Depeche vu, Depeche vu means hurry up, hurry up. Speaker 3 (15:12) By the way, there was nothing more fun than watching old. news reports about the ban and hearing every type of pronunciation. You Speaker 2 (15:20) heard dead Pesh mode. Speaker 3 (15:22) I remember that one. There was one that was like DePosh mode. I Speaker 2 (15:25) think they were still maybe figuring it out because I've seen early flyers where they have some of the accents. It would be DePesh and whatever. And at a certain point, they're just like, you know what? Let's just not. Speaker 3 (15:33) The news reporters are always like about 20 years older than the music fans. So like, there's always like a little bit of like, you know, disdain on their tongue when they're like, this new band called Depeche Mode. Mark me down as somebody who's not going to be at that concert. Speaker 2 (15:48) It's important you mentioned that too, because there was a lot of rockism at the time. Like all the journalists. What is rockism? Rockism is just what it sounds like. It's this bias towards. guitars and live instrumentation. I thought Speaker 3 (16:00) it Speaker 2 (16:00) was Speaker 3 (16:00) someone who couldn't pronounce racism. And Speaker 2 (16:02) along with it, there's like a whiteness component and there's a maleness component because that's Speaker 3 (16:05) kind of the stereotype. Speaker 2 (16:05) And there's like a sort of like, oh, Speaker 3 (16:07) who are these British guys? Which, by the way, most of those reporters were like huge Beatles fans, so you'd think they would see it as a new wave, but they wanted nothing to do with this group. Speaker 2 (16:16) They are coming out of... especially with British music, this sort of in the 60s, the Stones and the Beatles and the Kinks and the Who and Zeppelin. And that carries on through the 70s. And when Depeche Mode come out and it's synthesizers, and also we've got Soft Cell over there and the Human League, there's a little bit of a like feminization of the sound and the look. And also they're young and Speaker 3 (16:36) pretty looking. They're dealing with Wham! They're dealing with Culture Club. So these journalists, Speaker 2 (16:41) many male journalists from NME and Sounds and Melody Maker have a