Just can’t Get enough
“Some songs have the quality to define an entire music genre and even a musical era. Depeche Mode is unanimously considered one of the most influential Synth-Pop bands of all time.”
Unlike many other electronic music bands we covered here on Hip Hop Electronic, they immediately reached great commercial success. Instead, the electronic bands of the 1970s struggled more to impose their sounds on more of a broad audience.
When they released their debut album Speak and Spell in 1981, electronic music had already experienced a decade of musical experiments that helped make listeners and musicians worldwide more and more familiar with the sound of Synthesizers, which were gradually becoming as essential in bands as traditional instruments like bass, guitars, and drums kits.
Released by legendary British independent music label Mute Records, Speak and Spell peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, and the third single, Just Can't Get Enough, reached the UK top ten.
If you watch the music video of Just can't get enough, directed by Clive Richardson and the only one to feature founding member Vince Clarke, it is clear how the focus was almost entirely on the use of Synth. The video begins with a zoom on the riff played on the keyboard. I've always considered Just can't get enough as the real symbol of the Synth-Pop music genre of the 80s, like Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin was the symbol of the Hard Rock Music of the 70s.
This leading role of the Synth in one of the most iconic music videos of the 1980s could have been inspired by the fact that Depeche Mode used a large variety of Synths since the early days of their career, both live and in the studio. ARP 2600, Kawai 100F, Korg MiniKorg 700s, Moog Prodigy, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland SH-1, and a Yamaha CS-5 are listed as their early 80s main gears.
Mute Records founder Daniel Miller approached Depeche Mode in 1980 after seeing them perform at the Bridge House in Canning Town, London, and offered them to work together despite several Major Labels previously not showing much interest in the band. The label's rapid expansion reciprocated their loyalty to Mute to cope with their unexpected success. The songs they started to compose after signing with Mute already had an incredible radio-friendly vibe and were lighter in tone and melody if we compare them with Depeche Mode's later work.
Speak and Spell is the only band's album composed with founding member Vince Clarke as principal songwriter, and the secret of its success might lie in his style. After his departure in November 1981, Martin Gore took over the primary songwriting role, opening the band up to different influences and sustaining their creativity. For sure, the great voice of frontman Dave Gahan, the catchy riffs of Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher's keyboards, and the band's image inspired generations of music lovers and musicians.
