Talk:Speak & Spell (album)

Yugoslavia trivia
No links and the strange way it’s written means this might need to be checked over. It definitely sounds plausible though.

TheSturgenator (talk) 19:21, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

name of the album
Was it named after the "Speak & Spell"-toy? 84.149.246.74 03:01, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Lots of articles say that the album was named after the toy. I think this article should mention it, if it's true. https://www.google.com/search?q=was+speak+and+spell+Depeche+mode+named+after+toy&oq=was+speak+and+spell+Depeche+mode+named+after+toy Pulseczar (talk) 11:04, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

Cover art
What is the cover shown in the article from exactly? I have the CD re-release (seems to be from 1988) and it only has a small cut-out of that picture, with the title left of it - like this: link --194.125.106.109 20:51, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

The cover art present is from the original 1981 vinyl release of the album. TheSturgenator (talk) 20:21, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

UK release date
Wasn't this album released in the UK on October 5th?


 * The album was probably released on November 6, 1981. Speak & Spell didn't actually chart on the UK album chart until the week ending November 14th.  They had just had two big hits with "New Life" (#11) and "Just Can't Get Enough" (#8), so it's safe to presume that anticipation for a full-length release was whetted by then.  So, for it to have come out on October 5th and just sit there in the shops for 6 weeks seems VERY unlikely.  Had it entered in mid-October 1981 and had a slow rise up the charts, that would be one thing, but it even entered at its peak of #10 - this implies a significant interest in the album from its release, so a 6-week delay from supposed release to actual chart date is just not very logical.  (Link redirected to OCC website) BGC (talk) 00:55, 12 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't think the 6 Nov date is acceptable, because it is just a guess based on chart performance. It appears that the 5 October, 1981 date isn't correct either. The official Depeche website and the separate discography sections in both major band biographies (Steve Malins: Depeche Mode - A Biography and Johnathan Miller: Stripped) all give the 5 Oct date. However, in both books, in chapters about the early days, it is something different. Malins p. 41: "In November Mute released the band's debut LP." Miller p. 96 (2003 ed.): "As predicted, when Speak & Spell (possibly titled in an unknowing nod to Kraftwerk's Computer World album) was finally released on October 29, not a guitar was to be heard." From the Simon Spence book Just Can't Get Enough - The Making of Depeche Mode p. 183: "Within a week of its late October release, Speak & Spell was in the UK Top Ten on the strength of advance orders of 80,000." The band embarked on a 14-date UK Speak&Spell tour on 31 October to promote the new album. Paul Colbert of Melody Maker joined them for a couple of days and in his article subtitled "Depeche Mode in Birmingham" (Depeche played Birmingham 4 Nov 1981) "third date of the long tour" and "recent release of the album" are mentioned in the same sentence ("Learning the Highway Mode", MM 14 November, 1981). To conclude, the 29 October date seems to be the actual date we're looking for. --Sk4170 (talk) 21:04, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Also Johnny Black writes about "end of October" release in his article "Essential Albums: Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell" for Q magazine (January 2005). Until anybody else comes with better dates (no guesses, please) and sources, I'm changing the album release date to 29 Oct (ref. Miller p.96). --Sk4170 (talk) 22:58, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Depechess.jpg
Image:Depechess.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot 06:41, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Speak&Spell DepecheMode AlbumCover.jpg
Image:Speak&Spell DepecheMode AlbumCover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 21:42, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 06:39, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

'i sometimes wish' cd release
hi. am i reading it correctly that 'i sometimes wish i was dead' was unreleased on cd til '06? god knows stranger things have happened, but that seems almost incredible. it would mean, among other significant things, that the song's original audio has never been released on cd at all, but only an '06-style remastering (DRC, etc). can that really be? there's Got to be some cd release prior to the '06 one that features that song in its original aural incarnation. no? thanks. - 63.142.146.194 (talk) 08:10, 13 March 2018 (UTC)
 * According to Discogs, the first CD release of the song was a 1987 French release from Virgin. — Kawayama (talk) 09:52, 2 July 2020 (UTC)