Happy Anniversary: Depeche Mode, “See You”

33 years ago today, Depeche Mode released their fourth single, a little ditty which served as the record buying public’s first taste of their second-full length effort (A Broken Frame) and, perhaps more crucially at the time, the first song to emerge from the band’s camp since Vince Clarke had decamped to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet.

“See You” is certainly catchy enough, but let’s face it: it’s also pretty slight. Still, the masses liked the music – it hit #6 on the UK singles chart – and slight or not, it was substantial enough to serve as confirmation that Martin Gore, who’d stepped up as the band’s predominant songwriter when Clarke hit the road, knew his way around a pop hook.

The video for the song, which was directed by Julien Temple (The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle), was also the first time keyboardist Alan Wilder could be seen in the lineup of the band. Unfortunately, it’s also a video that the band disliked intensely enough to leave it off the Some Great Videos compilation, which means that the only place you’re likely to see it is on VH-1 Classic or, ahem, on YouTube.

As for the song itself, one increasingly gets the sensation that they’d just as soon let that be forgotten, too, since it hasn’t featured in their set lists since the Some Great Reward tour (1984-1985), but we still think “See You” is a fun bit of pop that remains very much worth celebrating.