On 11 November 1985, Depeche Mode released the compilation "Catching Up With Depeche Mode".
October 1985 saw the international release of the album The Singles 81→85, which collected the band's seven-inch singles to that date. Sire Records felt a new album would have to differ from this international release since some of the band's singles had already appeared on the compilation People Are People the previous year. Catching Up with Depeche Mode included the band's singles not already available on People Are People—all except "Leave in Silence", "Get the Balance Right!", "Everything Counts", and "People Are People"—as well as two B-sides, "Flexible" and "Fly on the Windscreen".