There was something in the water in Basildon in the late 70s, where the members of bands that would become Depeche Mode, Erasure, Yazoo, the Vandals plus solo star Alison Moyet all crossed paths as teens, sometimes in the same class together at school. The well-worn tale of how Dave Gahan came to be the singer in Depeche Mode goes that his bandmates, then in a group called Composition Of Sound, were rehearsing and could hear Gahan singing Bowie’s “Heroes” in the next room and decided his voice was strong enough that he should be their vocalist.
But, speaking to this writer in 2017, Gahan threw some doubt on the tale. “I blagged my way into this band from the beginning,” he said. “They were already a band before me – Vince, Fletch and Martin – and they needed a front guy. I was an Essex lad. Vince thought he heard me singing “Heroes” by David Bowie in a rehearsal room next door with this other band. I was singing it, but so was a couple of other people too. We were all on the mic, just jamming along. But when he asked me if that was me, I was like, ‘That was me, yeah’. I had nothing else going on.”
Gahan would go on to be one of the most captivating and exuberant frontmen of his generation, but he said the role never came naturally to him. “I felt very awkward,” he said. “I would say for the first ten years or so. You’re always just trying to fit in. We were very lucky, we worked with some amazing people. We got a lot of creative, amazing people, all due to [Mute boss and band mentor] Daniel Miller. If Daniel hadn’t have found us and took us under his wing, god knows what would’ve happened. We would’ve been some awful fucking Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran-type thing.”
Gahan knows where he belongs these days, though, and you can see him do his thing in London next week. He’ll perform at a tribute show for ex-Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan at the Roundhouse on December 5 alongside Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Soulsavers, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and more.
