the latter becoming Mute labelmates in 1983
and the following month the band began their 1982 tour.
A Broken Frame was released that September
Alan Wilder , a classically trained keyboardist from West London, responded and, after two auditions and despite being 22 years old, was hired in early 1982, initially on a trial basis as a touring member.
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.
Since joining in 1982, I have continually striven to give total energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the furthering of the group’s success, and in spite of a consistent imbalance in the distribution of the workload, willingly offered this. Unfortunately, within the group, this level of input never received the respect…
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Clarke began to voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking, saying “there was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions”. Clarke also said he was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was “bullshit to be quite honest”. Gahan…
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R.E.M. recorded the Chronic Town EP with Easter in October 1981, and planned to release it on a new indie label named Dasht Hopes. However, I.R.S. Records acquired a demo of the band’s first recording session with Easter that had been circulating for months. The band turned down the advances…
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The band’s next single was ” Just Can’t Get Enough “. The synth-pop single became the band’s first UK top ten hit. The video is the only one to feature Vince Clarke. Depeche Mode’s debut album, Speak & Spell , was released in October 1981 and peaked at number ten…
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In April 1981, R.E.M. recorded their first single, ” Radio Free Europe “, at producer Mitch Easter ‘s Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , after a recommendation by Peter Holsapple . Initially distributing it as a four-track demo tape to clubs, record labels and magazines, the single was released…
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