AFTER MORE THAN 40 YEARS IN DEPECHE MODE, THE SAD PASSING OF ANDY FLETCHER IN 2022 LEFT THE QUESTION HE WAS MOST OFTEN ASKED LARGELY UNANSWERED: WHAT EXACTLY DID HE DO? WELL, IT TURNS OUT THAT FLETCH MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN THE ONE MEMBER WHO KEPT THE BAND ON AN ELECTRONIC POP PATH…

ANDY JONES

There’s a moment in a short video interview with Andy Fletcher from 1993, just before Depeche Mode’s famous Crystal Palace gig, when his face drops as he gets asked that question. The journalist has already called Fletcher “another one of the unsung heroes of Depeche Mode”, to which Andy replies, laughing, “Well how many are there?” But then the interviewer – who genuinely doesn’t seem to know who Andy is – follows it up with the question, and one that Fletch already appears to be weary and wary of, even at this relatively early point in his career. “Tell me about your role in Depeche Mode,” the reporter asks, and then adds a little too directly: “What… what is it?”

Andy pauses uncomfortably, but then gamely trots out, “As most people know we manage ourselves, so I like to take care of that side of things, really.” And this would have been fine had he just left it at that. But just like so many other occasions before and since, the ‘Fletch’ side of Andy then comes to the fore – all brutal honesty, with a smattering of dark humour and a twinkle in the eye. So when Andy is then asked, “Is it a difficult role?”, he responds with, “Not really. We have lots of people to help us out.”

Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher, circa 1980

It’s another one to add to that list of self-deprecating Fletch quotes. Everything from an interview in Making Music magazine in June 1987, when he said: “We all have different roles. Al [Alan Wilder]’s the main musician, and I take a back seat generally. Usually on the sofa” to the most famous: “Martin’s the songwriter, Alan’s the good musician, Dave’s the vocalist... and I bum around” quote from the Depeche film, 101.

Fletch was asked the same question relentlessly, yet he rarely defended himself – although he did later clarify to Consequence Of Sound that the 101 quote was more about his famous dry humour (“I definitely said that tongue in cheek”). More often than not, though, it’s been up to his bandmates to defend his role.

“People who think Fletch doesn’t do anything are sorely mistaken,” Martin Gore has said. “Nobody should think that he doesn’t pull his weight. He absolutely does.”