Depeche Mode – in concert at Lantaren, Rotterdam – The Netherlands – March 28, 1982 – VPRO-FM
Early Depeche Mode this weekend. Recorded live at Lantaren in Rotterdam on March 28, 1982 by VPRO, the Netherlands Radio network.
Depeche Mode, originally formed by the lineup of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. After founding member Clarke left following the release of the album, they recorded A Broken Frame as a trio. Gore took over as main songwriter and later, in 1982, Alan Wilder replaced Clarke, establishing a lineup that continued for 13 years. The band’s last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within both the electronic and alternative music scenes.
Depeche Mode’s origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called “No Romance in China” with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, “Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in.” In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an Ultravox-influenced band, The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1978–1979, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals.
In January 1982, the band released “See You”, their first single without Clarke, which managed to beat all three Clarke-penned singles in the UK charts, reaching number six. The following tour saw the band playing their first shows in North America. Two more singles, “The Meaning of Love” and “Leave in Silence”, were released ahead of the band’s second studio album, on which they began work in July 1982. Daniel Miller informed Wilder that he was not needed for the recording of the album, as the core trio wanted to prove they could succeed without Vince Clarke. A Broken Frame was released that September, and the following month the band began their 1982 tour. A non-album single, “Get the Balance Right!”, was released in January 1983, the first Depeche Mode track to be recorded with Wilder.
For a reminder of that early period, here is a concert they performed in March of 1982, and faithfully recorded and preserved by VPRO in The Netherlands.
