Episode #251 | 9.24.25
Depeche Mode: Pleasure, Pain, Death, and Resurrection
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In this episode
Machines, eyeliner, ecstasy, and a West Hollywood overdose that left their frontman clinically dead—Depeche Mode were never just a synth-pop band. From cops in riot gear to an onstage heart attack, from stigmas about softness to the hard edge of addiction, this is the story of Dave Gahan’s descent into heroin, his two minutes on the other side, and the band’s unlikely resurrection as one of the most dangerous—and enduring—acts in rock history.
Sources
Depeche Mode: A Biography, by Steve Malins
Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward, by Dave Thompson
The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Depeche Mode (Grunge)
Cash for Questions: Dave Gahan (Q)
Depeche Mode: The Interview Sessions (KROQ)
This much I know: Dave Gahan, singer, 45, London (The Guardian)
Depeche Mode Singer Arrested After Overdose (LA Times)
Dave Gahan: 'People would throw bags of drugs on stage' (The Guardian)
1990-03-20 Wherehouse record store incident (Depeche Mode Live Wiki)
Los Angeles: Firm Pays for Unruly Fans (LA Times)
Dead Man Talking (NME)
Dave Gahan Of Depeche Mode’s Inspiring Journey To Sobriety Since 1996 (The Sober Curator)
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy edited by James Sullivan.
Mixed by Matt Beaudoin.
Produced in partnership with the Exactly Right Network and iHeartPodcasts.
DISGRACELAND theme song, “Crenshaw Space Boogie,” written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava, and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak