Only 16 acts have charted at least 20 songs on Billboard’s Alternative Songs airplay chart, and Depeche Mode is now one of them.
“Where’s the Revolution,” the lead single from the English band’s 14th studio album Spirit (out March 17), debuts at No. 40 on the Alternative Songs chart dated March 18, giving Depeche Mode its 20th song on the ranking all-time and first since “Soothe My Soul” debuted at No. 35 (April 13, 2013) and peaked at No. 27 (May 18, 2013).
The Dave Gahan-led group -- which made its Billboard chart debut in 1981 -- first entered the Alternative Songs chart in April of 1989 with “Everything Counts.” Seem late? That’s because Alternative Songs did not begin as a Billboard chart until September 1988, by which point the band had already released six studio albums, including classics such as Black Celebration and Music for the Masses.
In fact, by the time “Everything Counts” hit the Alternative Songs chart on April 15, 1989, the band had already established a sizable presence on Billboard’s charts: 11 hits on Dance Club Songs, five entries on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (including the No. 13-peaking “People are People” in 1985) and nine albums on the Billboard 200.
Among its total number of Alternative Songs hits, the band has four No. 1s, most recently “Walking in My Shoes” (May 15, 1993).
Further, the band continues to be one of the few acts to have charted a song on the Alternative Songs chart in each of the past four decades ('80s through '10s). They stand alongside Beastie Boys, Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2.
