"Dreaming of Me" is the debut single by British electronic band
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting).
Depech ...
. It was recorded in December 1980 at
Blackwing Studios
Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio, most notable for early Depeche Mode and Yazoo recordings in the early 1980s.
Background
The Blackwing Studios complex was housed inside a deconsecrated church in south-east London. All Hallows ...
and originally released in February 1981 in the UK via
Mute Records
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grin ...
. It was not commercially released in the United States.
Background
Two versions of the song have been released, one which fades out, and one which does not (cold end). The cold end version is on the 1988 CD re-release of ''
Speak & Spell'' in Europe, while the American ''Speak & Spell'' (and all singles compilations containing the song) has the fade out version. The 2006 re-release of ''Speak & Spell'' also has the cold end version and was released in all regions.
The B-side, "Ice Machine", is similarly available in a fading version, and one with a cold end. The 1988 and 2006 CD re-releases of ''Speak & Spell'' (where the song is a bonus track) use the cold end version. A live version of "Ice Machine" (recorded during the ''
Some Great Reward
''Some Great Reward'' is the fourth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 24 September 1984 by Mute Records. The album peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 51 in the United States, and was sup ...
'' tour) is available on the 12" version of the 1984 single "
Blasphemous Rumours
"Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody" is Depeche Mode's twelfth UK single and first double A-side single, released on 29 October 1984. Both A-side songs are from the album ''Some Great Reward''.
Song information Blasphemous Rumours
The verses to " ...
".
Due to a poor chart placement in the UK (number 57), "Dreaming of Me" did not originally appear on ''Speak & Spell'', but did show up in the CD re-release as a bonus track. However, in the United States, "Dreaming of Me" was on the original pressing of the album, replacing "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead". On the 2006 re-release of ''Speak & Spell'', it was placed at the end of the album, with the original UK track list preceding it.
Exactly 30 years after "Dreaming of Me" was first released in the UK, a flash mob action tried to push the track back into the charts by downloading it online. The action failed except in Germany, where the track entered the singles charts for the first time at number 45, giving the band its 47th chart entry.
" Depeche Mode: Fan-Flashmob hat Erfolg"
''GfK Entertainment'', 1 March 2011
Formats and track listings
All songs written by Vince Clarke
Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...
. These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Dreaming of Me":
7": Mute / 7Mute13 (UK)
# "Dreaming of Me" (fade out version) – 3:46
# "Ice Machine" (fade out version) – 3:54
CD: Intercord Ton GmbH / INT 811.868 (W. Germany) released in 1988
# "Dreaming of Me" (cold end version) – 4:03
# "Ice Machine" (cold end version) – 4:06
CD: Mute / CDMute13 (UK) released in 1991
# "Dreaming of Me" (fade out version) – 3:46
# "Ice Machine" (fade out version) – 3:54
CD: Sire / 40289-2 (US) released in 1991
# "Dreaming of Me" (fade out version) – 3:46
# "Ice Machine" (fade out version) – 3:54
Charts
References
External links
Single information from the official Depeche Mode web site
AllMusic review
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1980 songs
1981 debut singles
Depeche Mode songs
Songs written by Vince Clarke
Song recordings produced by Daniel Miller
Mute Records singles
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles