SHAKE THE DISEASE DEPECHE MODE AT THE PRECIPICE

In this extract from Simon Spence’s excellent new book, Just Can’t Get Enough: The Making Of Depeche Mode, the band is in danger of collapse and under fire for being too “dark” – despite being on the cusp of global stardom…

In the spring of 1984, following the huge success of the People Are People single, Depeche Mode regrouped to start recording a new album. Work began at the Music Works studio in Highbury, North London – close to Arsenal Stadium, the home of Martin Gore’s favourite football team – where Gore presented the band with demos that were more polished and confident than any he had made before.

In recognition of his growing influence, Gareth Jones was promoted from engineer to co-producer for the new album. “When we got to Some Great Reward, we were renting bigger rooms and massive PAs and just really trying to take another step,” he told me. “The plan was not to repeat what we’d done before. By then I was having a great time working with Depeche. It was fantastic. We were mutually inspiring each other, I suppose. My concerns about making pop music with Depeche had been laid to rest because I felt we were making experimental pop music. This whole sense of experimentation and doing new stuff was a very important part of my creative life.”

After completing the first half of Some Great Reward at Music Works, Depeche Mode returned to Hansa Studios to finish the record. Berlin was already a second home to Jones and Gore, but now the rest of the band were beginning to feel more …

by Simon Spence
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