<P> Depeche Mode's origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a Cure - influenced band called No Romance In China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar . 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 rip - off band", The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith . In 1978--79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals . In 1979, Marlow, Gore and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called the French Look, with Marlow on vocals / keyboards, Gore on guitar and Redmond on keyboards . In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals / guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass . </P> <P> Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke heard Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), whose output inspired him to make electronic music . Along with OMD, other early influences included the Human League, Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget . Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesisers, working odd jobs in order to buy or borrow the instruments from friends . Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of David Bowie's "Heroes", and Depeche Mode were born . Gahan's and Gore's favorite artists included Sparks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads and Iggy Pop . </P> <P> When explaining the choice for the new name, taken from French fashion magazine Dépêche mode, Gore said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch . I like the sound of that ." However, the magazine's name (and hence the band's) is "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update" (dépêche, "dispatch," from Old French despesche / despeche or "news report," and mode or "fashion"). </P> <P> Gore recalled that the first time the band played as Depeche Mode was a school gig in May 1980 . There is a plaque commemorating the gig at the James Hornsby School in Basildon, where Gore and Fletcher were pupils . The band made their recording debut in 1980 on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell . </P>

Where does the name depeche mode come from