Speak & Spell

Speak & Spell
Depeche Mode studio album
Publication (s)	5th October 1981
admission	1980-1981
Label (s)	Mute Records Sire Records ( USA / Canada )
Genre (s)	Synth pop , new wave , pop
Title (number)	11 (LP)
running time	39:40 (LP)
occupation	Dave Gahan - vocals Vince Clarke - electric guitar , electric bass (" Big Muff "), synthesizer , backing vocals , drum computer Martin Gore - synthesizer , backing vocals , vocals (" Any Second Now (Voices) ") Andrew Fletcher - synthesizer , backing vocals
production	Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller
Studio (s)	Blackwing Studios, London
Location (s)	London
chronology - Speak & Spell A Broken Frame (1982)
Single releases February 20, 1981 Dreaming of Me June 13, 1981 New Life 7th September 1981 Just Can't Get Enough

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Speak & Spell   DE 49 02/22/1982 (8 weeks)   UK 10 11/14/1981 (33 weeks)

Singles

Dreaming of Me   UK 57 04/04/1981 (4 weeks) New Life   UK 11 06/13/1981 (15 weeks) Just Can't Get Enough   UK 8th 09/19/1981 (11 weeks) Dreaming of Me ( Reissue )   DE 45 03/04/2011 (1 week)

Speak & Spell is the first studio and debut album by the British synth-pop band Depeche Mode . It was published on 5 October 1981, was in the UK already reached the 10th place in the charts. It is the only album the band had with Vince Clarke before he left the band.

Track list

1. New Life - 3:43
2. I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead - 2:16
3. Puppets - 3:55
4. Boys Say Go! - 3:04
5. Nodisco - 4:12
6. What's your name? - 2:42
7. Photographic - 4:44
8. Torah! Torah! Torah! - 4:34
9. Big Muff - 4:21
10. Any Second Now (Voices) - 2:35
11. Just Can't Get Enough - 3:40

The international version of the LP in 1981 contained the title Dreaming of Me instead of I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead . The CD release from 1998 corresponds to the English edition plus four bonus tracks: Ice Machine , Shout , Any Second Now and Just Can't Get Enough (Schizo Mix) .

All titles are written by Vince Clarke except Torah! Torah! Torah! and Big Muff , which Martin Gore wrote. Gore sings the song Any Second Now (Voices) , all other songs are sung by Dave Gahan . Big Muff and Any Second Now are purely instrumental pieces .

Single releases

Dreaming of Me

Daniel Miller , founder of the label Mute Records , discovered Depeche Mode in late 1980 and wanted to record a single with the band. The result, Dreaming of Me , appeared in February 1981 and reached number 57 in the UK. The B-side of the single was Ice Machine .

Since Dreaming of Me was not included on the original version of Speak & Spell , it is considered a non-album single. The later released international versions of the album included the song.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the single, a grassroots campaign was initiated via Facebook and a specially created website to bring Dreaming of Me back into the charts. In Germany the campaign was successful, Dreaming of Me entered the German charts for the first time and reached number 45.

New Life

The band's second single release brought their breakthrough in the UK. New Life - released in June 1981 - rose to number 11 on the British charts, the band made their first television appearance on the show Top of the Pops .

As a B-side, the single contained the song Shout! . His “Rio Remix” was the band's first 12 "Extended Mix.

Just Can't Get Enough

Just Can't Get Enough was released in September 1981 and gave the band their first Top 10 success in Great Britain at No. 8. The song is the last single from Vince Clarke.

In European publications of Just Can not Get Enough the instrumental formed Any Second Now the B-side, in the United States instead was Tora! Torah! Torah! elected. “To ra!” Was the radio command from the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor (“to” from “totsugeki” (to attack), “ra” from “raigeki” (torpedoes / torpedo bombers)). American radio operators who intercepted the signal understood “to ra” as “tora” (tiger), so the radio message was changed to “Tora! Torah! Torah! ”(See the war film of the same name ).

Republication

• On April 3, 2006 the album was re-released as SACD and DVD. It contains the regular songs from the CD album in multi-channel sound as well as the documentary Depeche Mode 1980–81: "Do we really have to give up our day jobs?"

Setlist of the Speak & Spell Tour 1981

1. Any Second Now
2. Photographic
3. Nodisco
4. New Life
5. Puppets
6. Ice Machine
7. Big Muff
8. I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
9. Torah! Torah! Torah!
10. Just Can't Get Enough
11. Boys Say Go!
12. What's your name?
13. Television set
14. Dreaming of Me
15. The Price of Love

The songs Television Set and The Price of Love date from when Depeche Mode was still called Composition of Sound .

Web links

• Speak & Spell , Dreaming of Me , New Life and Just Can't Get Enough on the official band homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Dreaming of Me" was not included as a non-album single on the UK edition of Speak & Spell . On the international LP variants, Dreaming of Me replaced the song I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead .
2. ↑ Chart sources: DE UK
3. ↑ dreamingofme.eu
4. ↑ Depeche Mode: Fan flash mob succeeds. Media Control , March 1, 2011, accessed July 7, 2013 .