Everything Counts

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Everything Counts

"Everything Counts" is Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is an electronic music band formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex, England. The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke ....
's eighth UK single (released on July 11 1983) and third US single (released on November 2 1983), from the then upcoming album Construction Time Again
Construction Time Again

Construction Time Again is the third studio album by the British synthpop band Depeche Mode, released in 1983. This was the first Depeche Mode album with Alan Wilder, who composed the songs "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing" ....
. ]. It was the first in a long line of industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music comprises many styles of experimental music, including many forms of electronic music. The term was coined in the mid-1970s to describe Industrial Records artists....
-inspired singles released by the band, and has been referred to as "arguably...the first English-language industrial pop hit." The single was re-released (in live format) on February 13 1989 (March 25 1989 in the US) to support the live album 101
101 (album)

101 is a live album and documentary film by Depeche Mode released in 1989 chronicling the band's 1988 Music for the Masses U.S. tour and their final show at the Pasadena, California Rose Bowl ....
.

anuary 1983, shortly before the release of the "Get the Balance Right!" single, lyricist Martin Gore

Martin Gore

Martin Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist and keyboardist. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode. His work now spans three decades, but he is best known as the composer of chart-topper such as "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence"....
attended an Einstürzende Neubauten

Einstürzende Neubauten

Einst?rzende Neubauten is a Germany avant-garde music band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U....
concert, giving him the idea to experiment with the sounds of industrial music

Industrial music

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"Everything Counts" is Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Industrial music

Background and themes

In January 1983, shortly before the release of the "Get the Balance Right!" single, lyricist Martin Gore

Martin Gore

Einstürzende Neubauten

Industrial music

Synclavier

The Synclavier System was an early synthesizer and Sampler , manufactured by New England Digital. First released in 1975, it proved to be highly influential among both music producers and electronic musicians, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology and distinctive sound....
, a synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequency....
that not only contained a large number of pre-programmed sounds, but also allowed for samples

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
to be imported. With this, the band proceeded to travel around the neighborhood where they could tape "found" sounds and feed them into the Synclavier, then manipulate the noises to fit into their songs. These sounds consisted mainly of hammering anvils, clanging pipes, running water, and the like. In addition to the "found" sounds used as samples, the single also samples a variety of musical instruments, such as the xylophone

Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family which probably originated in Slovakia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber drum stick#Malletss....
and a melodica

Melodica

The melodica, also known as 'blow-organ' is a free-reed instrument similar to the accordion and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument....
(which Martin has been known to play on stage for the song).

That spring, the band converged in London to begin recording their third album, Construction Time Again, and changed recording studios as well. For the previous two albums, the band had recorded at Blackwing Studios, but would switch to John Foxx

John Foxx

John Foxx is the stage name of England musician Dennis Leigh. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox, before embarking on a solo career in 1979....
's "The Garden" studio. This change, along with the addition of Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones (music producer)

Gareth Jones is a music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einst?rzende Neubauten and Erasure....
to the production team facilitated the band's transition from the hook driven pop songs of their past (a transition that had begun to take shape in 1982 with the more noticeably melancholy "Leave in Silence

Leave in Silence

"Leave in Silence" is the sixth UK Single by Depeche Mode originally release on August 16 1982. It is the first Depeche Mode single in the UK with the "Bong" record label, which is still used to this day....
"). The band continued perfecting their industrial formula over their next two albums, 1984's Some Great Reward
Some Great Reward

Some Great Reward is the fourth album by the British electronic group Depeche Mode, released in 1984. The album peaked at No. 5 in the UK....
and 1986's Black Celebration
Black Celebration

Black Celebration is the fifth proper studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on March 17, 1986, it further cemented the darkening sound that was initially hinted towards on their album Construction Time Again....
.

In addition to the change in the band's musical influence, the single would introduce a transition in lyrical content as well. Construction Time Again would include a bevy of political themes, sparked by the poverty Gore had seen on a recent trip he had taken to Thailand

Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
. These themes were in stark contrast from the inoffensive, love-themed pop numbers of the band's early career. "Everything Counts", specifically addresses corporate greed and corruption in the music industry, as the chorus sings of "grabbing hands" that "grab all they can". Perhaps surprisingly, the single was released at a time when the band itself was not under a formal contract with Mute Records

Mute Records

Mute Records was an independent record label based in the UK. In 2002 the label was sold to EMI....
.

It was also the first song in the band's catalogue which includes both of the band's singers prominently (at different times). Lead vocalist David Gahan

David Gahan

Dave Gahan is the baritone lead singer for the United Kingdom electronic band Depeche Mode, and is also an accomplished solo artist....
sings the verses, while song writer Martin Gore

Martin Gore

Live performances and re-release

The song would quickly catch on as a fan favorite at the band's concerts, and was used as the opening song for the Construction Time Again tour. The first live version of the song to appear on a commercial release came from the Some Great Reward tour in 1984, when a recording from a show in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
appeared on the double A-sided "Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody

Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody

"Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody" is Depeche Mode's twelfth UK single and first double A-side single, released on October 29 1984.Both A-side songs are from the album Some Great Reward....
" single. During the Music for the Masses

Music for the Masses

Music for the Masses is the sixth studio album by Depeche Mode. Released by Mute Records on September 28 1987, it provided the band with mainstream success in the United States for the first time since Some Great Reward, and the new styles of music that appeared on the album and its predecessor Black Celebration formed the founda...
tour, the band used "Everything Counts" as the final encore and in 1989, the song would be re-released as a single in live form, to promote the live album 101. All live tracks from the release were recorded on June 18 1988 at the Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl Game American football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ,...
Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl (stadium)

The Rose Bowl is an outdoor American football stadium in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, California. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl , held at the beginning of the New Year....
during the final performance of the aforementioned Music for the Masses tour. This version of the song is famous for the recording of the crowd continuing to sing the chorus long after the music had stopped.

It also appears in Devotional
Devotional (video)

Devotional is a video release by Depeche Mode, featuring almost an entire concert from their 1993-1994 Devotional Tour, filmed in Barcelona, Spain, Li?vin, France and Frankfurt, Germany....
as the closer. It was played during the first two legs of Touring the Angel
Touring the Angel

Touring the Angel was a worldwide concert tour by Depeche Mode, running from October 2005 to August 2006, spanning over 20 countries and featuring hits from their entire career....
in the first encore, and also appears on the "Touring the Angel: Live in Milan"-DVD.

Music videos

The music video for "Everything Counts" was directed by Clive Richardson

Clive Richardson

Clive Richardson is an English film director who made music videos for the British band Depeche Mode. During the 1980s, he changed careers and began work for a media company in Essex....
in and around Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. The band returned to Richardson after not being satisfied with the work of Julien Temple

Julien Temple

Julien Temple is an England film, documentary and music video director. He is most famous for his work featuring the Sex Pistols....
for the A Broken Frame
A Broken Frame

A Broken Frame is the second studio album by the British synthpop band Depeche Mode, released in 1982. The album was written entirely by Martin Gore and recorded after the departure of Vince Clarke, who had left the band to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet....
singles. Richardson had previously directed the video to "Just Can't Get Enough

Just Can't Get Enough

"Just Can't Get Enough" is the third UK single by Depeche Mode originally released in September 1981. It was also the band's first single to be released in the United States, on February 18, 1982....
" two years earlier. According to Wilder, "It was felt that after the Julien Temple years, we needed to harden up not only our sound but also our image. Clive had lots of new ideas which didn't involve stupid storyboards where we were required to act." In the original music video, the xylophone, the melodica, and the shawm

Shawm

The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the late 13th century until the 17th century....
are played by Alan Wilder

Alan Wilder

Alan Charles Wilder is a Great Britain musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil , started as a side project to Depeche Mode, but when he left the latter in 1995, it evolved into Wilder's primary project....
, Martin Gore, and Andrew Fletcher

Andrew Fletcher (musician)

Andrew John Fletcher , is the co-founder and keyboardist of Electronic music band Depeche Mode....
, respectively. The shawm, however, is produced by a synthesizer on the studio recording, but the band used the real shawm in the music video and television performances for show.

The "Everything Counts (Live)" video was directed by D.A. Pennebaker. The video not only includes portions of the live performance, but also contains various references to the money made from merchandise and ticket sales at the concert, humorously connected to the theme of corruption and greed of the song.

B-side

The original release's B-side "Work Hard" is notable in that it is the first Depeche Mode song (excluding instrumentals) that is credited to both Martin Gore and Alan Wilder (the only other case of this is 1986's "Black Day", an alternate version of "Black Celebration," credited to Gore, Wilder, and Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller (music producer)

Daniel Miller is a United Kingdom music producer and founder of Mute Records....
).

The B-side of the live re-release is a live recording of "Nothing", a track from Music for the Masses. The 12" release also includes live recordings of "Sacred" and "A Question of Lust

A Question of Lust

"A Question of Lust" is Depeche Mode's sixteenth United Kingdom single, released on April 14, 1986.It is the second Depeche Mode single with Martin Gore on lead vocals, after "Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody" and the first to be released in its own right....
".

Song versions

Remixes of "Everything Counts"

On the original release, there was only one remix available. The 12" version of the single is called "Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)", although sometimes (such as on the US release of Construction Time Again) it is referred to simply as the "Long Version".

The live re-release of the single, however, contains a plethora of mixes, from a variety of remixers, despite the fact that the standard 7" and 12" versions contained no remixes. This release is first Depeche Mode single to be released in a 10" vinyl format; the A-side of the 10" inch version is the "Absolut Mix", remixed by Alan Moulder

Alan Moulder

Alan Moulder is one of Britain's premier alternative rock record producers. A major architect of the modern British rock sound, Moulder has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride , Lush and My Bloody Valentine , as well as with many American artists, including Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle,...
(certain versions refer to this mix as the "Alan Moulder Mix"). The B-side included the original release's 12" version as well as the "Reprise", a 55-second reprisal of the song's chorus originally placed following the final track ("And Then...") on the Construction Time Again album. Specifically, it is the ending of "Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)" with the beat removed.

The limited edition 12" version is the "Bomb the Bass

Bomb the Bass

Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as Electronic Dance music or dance....
Mix", remixed by Tim Simenon

Tim Simenon

Tim Simenon is a musician, composer, record producer, and label boss, most famous for his work as Bomb the Bass....
and Mark Saunders

Mark Saunders

Mark Saunders is a United Kingdom record producer who has worked on a number of albums. Mark relocated to New York in 1996 and currently works from his facility in Manhattan....
. Simenon would eventually be used by the band as a producer, for the 1997 album Ultra
Ultra (album)

Ultra is Depeche Mode's ninth full-length album, which was released by Mute Records on . The album is the first after the departure of Alan Wilder from the band, who left to focus on his solo project Recoil ....
.

B-side remixes

A variety of mixes of other songs would appear on these single releases as well. On the 1983 release, the 12" B-side contains an extended version of "Work Hard" titled the "East End

East End of London

The East End of London, known locally as the East End, is the area of London, England, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries....
Remix".

Two remixes of "Nothing" appear on the 1989 release as well, including the "Remix Edit" (sometimes referred to as the "US 7" Mix" as it was the 7" B-side to the US-only single "Strangelove '88

Strangelove (song)

"Strangelove" is Depeche Mode's eighteenth United Kingdom single, released on April 13, 1987, and the first single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses....
") and the "Zip Hop Mix" by Justin Strauss.

A remix of "Strangelove" also appeared on the B-side of the limited edition 12" vinyl, referred to as the "Highjack Mix" by Tim Simenon and Mark Saunders, who also mixed the A-side.

Track listing

1983 release

7": Mute / Bong3 (UK) & Sire / 7-29482 (US)

"Everything Counts" (3:58)
"Work Hard" (4:21)

12": Mute / 12Bong3 (UK)

"Everything Counts [In Larger Amounts]" (7:18)
"Work Hard [East End Remix]" (6:57)

L12": Mute / L12Bong3 (UK)

"Everything Counts [7" Version]" (3:58)
"New Life [Live]" (4:12)
"Boys Say Go! [Live]" (2:36)
"Nothing to Fear [Live]" (4:28)
"The Meaning of Love [Live]" (3:14)

CD (1991 Box Set): Mute / CDBong3 (UK)

"Everything Counts" (3:59)
"Work Hard" (4:22)
"Everything Counts [In Larger Amounts]" (7:21)
"Work Hard [East End Remix]" (6:58)

12": Sire / 0-20165 (US)

"Everything Counts [In Larger Amounts]" (7:18)
"Work Hard [East End Remix]" (6:57)

1989 live release

7": Mute / Bong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Live Full Version]" (6:45)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:35)

10": Mute / 10Bong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Absolut Mix]" (6:04)
"Everything Counts [In Larger Amounts]" (7:31)
"Nothing [Remix Edit]" (3:57)
"Everything Counts [Reprise]" (0:55)

12": Mute / 12Bong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Live Single Version]" (5:46)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:40)
"Sacred [Live]" (5:12)
"A Question of Lust [Live]" (4:12)

L12": Mute / L12Bong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Bomb the Bass Mix]" (5:32)
"Nothing [Zip Hop Mix]" (7:01)
"Strangelove [Highjack Mix]" (6:33)

CD: Mute / CDBong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Live Single Version]" (5:46)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:40)
"Sacred [Live]" (5:12)
"A Question of Lust [Live]" (4:12)

LCD: Mute / LCDBong16 (UK)

"Everything Counts [Bomb the Bass Mix]" (5:32)
"Nothing [Zip Hop Mix]" (7:01)
"Strangelove [Highjack Mix]" (6:33)

CD (2004 Box Set): Mute / CDBong16X (UK)

"Everything Counts [Live Single Version]" (5:46)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:35)
"Sacred [Live]" (5:12)
"A Question of Lust [Live]" (4:12)
"Everything Counts [Bomb the Bass Mix]" (5:32)
"Nothing [Zip Hop Mix]" (7:01)
"Strangelove [Highjack Mix]" (6:33)
"Everything Counts [Absolut Mix]" (6:04)
"Everything Counts [In Larger Amounts]" (7:31)
"Nothing [Remix Edit]" (3:57)
"Everything Counts [Reprise]" (0:55)

7": Sire / 7-22993 (US)

"Everything Counts [Live Radio Edit]" (4:50)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:35)

12": Sire / 0-21183 (US)

"Everything Counts [Bomb the Bass Mix]" (5:32)
"Everything Counts [Live Single Version]" (5:46)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:42)
"Everything Counts [Absolut Mix]" (6:00)
"Sacred [Live]" (5:13)
"A Question of Lust [Live]" (4:13)

Cassette: Sire / 4-22993 (US)

"Everything Counts [Live Radio Edit]" (4:50)
"Nothing [Live]" (4:35)

Everything Counts

Background and themes

Live performances and re-release

Music videos

B-side

Song versions

Remixes of "Everything Counts"

B-side remixes

Track listing

1983 release

1989 live release

External links