1996-05-xx - BONG 28:
[Text taken from the now-defunct website
www.sacreddm.net. Thanks to
Maudy for having scanned this BONG issue for the DMTVA!]
LEARNING TO SPEAK AND SPELL
[Words: Katherine Davis / Danny Zerbib.]
Summary: The first instalment of an in-depth band biography, this part covering up to the end of 1981. [2569 words]
This article first appeared in Bong 14 in 1991, but had some slight edits and amendments (mainly stylistic) when it appeared in Bong 28.
With many thanks to Doreen ("Cupido") in Germany for kindly scanning the pages of the original magazine.
The year 1980 marked the beginning of the Reagan era, the threat of a national U.K. steel strike, the assassination of rock legend John Lennon, and the chart success of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It was also a time when electronic wizardry first joined pop music, propelling the emergent Futurist scene and its obscure components into the consciousness of the listening public.
Meanwhile, three unsuspecting British teens tinkered with their first synthesizers in their hometown of Basildon, Essex. In less than twelve months, these musical fledglings would soar beyond their local bar gigs to reach a spot on the popular British music programme, Top Of The Pops, and comfortably roost in the British Top 20 charts. 1980 was the year that synth-pop prototypes Depeche Mode were born.
Vince Clarke was an unsatisfied young musician, drifting between his commitments as one half of a gospel duo and as a member of the band No Romance In China. Vince first met Andy “Fletch” Fletcher, a Deep Purple enthusiast, at a local Boys' Brigade meeting. The two grew closer and Fletch introduced Vince to a classmate Martin Gore, who had been performing at several local night-clubs as he played guitar for two bands, The French Look and Norman & The Worms.
In May 1980, Vince, Fletch and Martin agreed to form a typical guitar-ridden trio, with the added accompaniment of a drum machine. Vince wrote and sang all their early material. The three lads considered some new band names, but Vince’s suggestion, Composition of Sound, was ultimately adopted. As Composition of Sound, Vince, Fletch and Martin played their first show together supporting The Bullies at the Southend bar, Scamps, in May 1980.
The music industry had experienced the Punk eruption throughout the mid to late ’70s, and in these few years, rock’s new rogues excited the status quo with a fervour equal to that of Elvis’ provocative hips in the 1950s. Extremes in every manner characterised the period, from the “Punk” appearance, to the “Punk” technique, to the “Punk” philosophy. These unconventional rockers knocked down the barriers of conformity, and thus surged a flow of new bands driven by the conviction of making music for enjoyment and expression, rather than fortune or fame – a further challenge to the system. The Punk revolt led to a number of fresh music genres, including the New Wave / Romantic movement in which Depeche Mode was so often (mis)placed.
Rock music, however, was truly revolutionized with the popularisation of the synthesizer. First invented in the late 1920s, the musical adaptation of the synthesizer wasn’t fully examined until the mid-60s. Dr. Robert Moog, an American electronics engineer, was the first to attach a keyboard to a synthesizer and, by 1971, a portable instrument christened the Mini-Moog was a commercial success among the leading rock bands of the day.
Young musicians viewed techno-pop as the logical progression of music. They argued that music owed its past (and future) to technology, and only by embracing the new electronic movement would music move forward. The gospel of electro-pop offered a powerful response to the challenge set forth by the Punk movement, dismissing the notion that electronics was the inhuman antithesis of music. By the mid-70s, synth bands like Kraftwerk, Ultravox and Suicide had already popularised musical cybernation and laid the foundation for a whole generation of electronic whizzes.
Sometime between their local gigs and party bookings, Composition of Sound disposed of their guitars for accommodating synthesizers. For these three young musicians, the synthesizer provided a convenient and inexpensive way to produce varied melodies and incredible music sequences. “To us, the synth was a punk instrument,” explained Martin. “Because it was still fairly new, its potential seemed limitless. It really gave us a chance to explore.” Throughout the summer of 1980, the band began to generate a synthesized sound and style all of their own. “I guess we were listening to stuff like OMD, Tubeway Army and Human League when we were getting our sound together,” the band would explain later. And as they slowly discarded their boyish outfits for a wacky wardrobe of patent leather and frilly collars, this new sound and image clearly reflected their enlightenment of the electronic revolution.
Fletch and Martin had since passed their A-levels but had forgone a college education for the sake of the band. Vince had the role of songwriter, vocalist and unofficial front-man and, uncomfortable with his new responsibilities, he suggested that a fourth member should be recruited. The band agreed to wait for the right man to come along.
The “right man” proved to be Dave Gahan, also from Basildon. Vince, Fletch and Martin first spotted their new vocalist in a local scout-hut jam session with another band. In a strong cover of the David Bowie number “Heroes”, Dave so charmed the members of Composition of Sound that he was immediately invited to join the band. [1] Later, Dave would argue, “They only asked me to join because Vince thought I looked good. Bastard!”
Dave had endured a troublesome adolescence, replete with thievery and vandalism which earned him three appearances in juvenile court. He was a bad-boy rebel with a penchant for the music of The Damned, The Clash and Siouxsie and the Banshees. In the six months after leaving school, Dave had gone through about 20 separate jobs, including stacking shelves in a supermarket, toiling on a construction site and working as a packer at Yardley’s Factory. He was currently studying window and fashion design at Southend Technical College. Yet in his trousers hitched high above his waist, Dave appeared as the perfect figurehead for the band. And with his enthusiasm / eroticism in the early performances with the band, it was evident that this was one employment Dave intended to keep.
For a band with a modernized image, an innovative sound, and a new member, a name change seemed only appropriate. During one afternoon rehearsal in Vince’s garage (“We just used to practice at Vince’s place on headphones – and Vince’s mum didn’t even like the tapping noise the synthesizer keys made.”), Dave took a liking to the title of the French fashion magazine, Depeche Mode, which he had been reading in college, and the band immediately assumed this new identity. So the legacy began… Depeche Mode’s first gig as a synth-pop quartet was held at Fletch and Martin’s old school in May, 1980.
Thanks to the interest of DJ Rust Egan, Depeche Mode began headlining the Saturday night electronic showcase at the club Crocs (named for the live crocodile housed in a dance floor pool), in Rayleigh. Vince and Dave had been proudly hand-delivering the band’s demo tape to dozens of club owners and record companies, but Terry Murphy of Canning Town’s Bridgehouse was the only other promoter to recognise their ingenuity with a booking, apart from one Rastafarian who placed the unusual request for Depeche Mode to tour Nigeria with him, decked out in “Dr. Who” outfits. The band, needless to say, graciously but firmly declined.
It was at one of their Crocs shows that they were approached by Stevo, of Some Bizzare, who persuaded them to record a track for his Some Bizzare compilation, due out in February 1981, and it was Daniel Miller who eventually produced “Photographic”, which appeared on this album.
In 1978, Daniel Miller had produced his own single, an unprecedented minimalist pop song, “TVOD / Warm Leatherette”, under the pseudonym of The Normal. But in order to do so, the ex-disco DJ had first built a home studio around a TEAC four-track machine and had begun recording synthesized music on his own label, Mute. Under this new label, Miller pressed 500 copies of his new single before signing the distribution rights over to Rough Trade – an awesome accomplishment for such a small operation. Miller had obviously hit on something big, and with the following success of the illusory Silicon Teens and signing of such bands as Fad Gadget and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Miller’s Mute began to corner the market on the hottest of alternative music trends.
[1] - It was in fact several people singing, not just Dave. When the band approached him and asked if it was him singing, he didn't quite tell the whole truth at first. A year later, they were still teasing him over it.
[2] - From this detail, quite apart from the flow of the article, it's clear that the author has got a lot of material from Depeche Mode by Dave Thomas (Bobcat Books), published in 1986. But granted, this was as far as I know the only band biography in existence in 1991.
Ironically, the next celebrated Mute act was to be Depeche Mode. In December 1980, after Miller witnessed a live performance of this fresh-faced melodic quartet, supporting Fad Gadget at the Bridgehouse, Depeche Mode had themselves a record deal. Although Dave was quick to point out, “We still haven’t signed any formal contract with Mute,” Muller was sincere with his 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement, and devoted his attention to the vision that Depeche Mode could someday be the “ultimate electronic pop band”. Miller’s new outlook was just what Depeche Mode needed to set the wheels in motion, and the events that were to come would only reassure them that there was a future for Depeche Mode.
Shortly before Christmas, the roller coaster ride began. Depeche Mode were led back into the studio by Miller, in order to begin work on their first single, “Dreaming Of Me”. The single was released in February 1981, on a 7” format only. Although it only reached number 57, it was a good start, and according to Miller, who produced the single, it began a long-term crossover trend for Indie releases into mainstream radio. Critics compared the song to Ultravox for its “predictable and well-crafted” style, and to OMD for its “sweetly unassuming slice of electronic whimsy”. To the critics, it was fluffy, palatable cake, and they ate it up, uttering compliments about ingenuity and technique.
The Some Bizzare album was eventually released in March, and although the anthology was considered “the watershed techno-pop album”, introducing such promising acts as Soft Cell, The The and Blancmange, Depeche Mode would later have mixed feelings about their involvement with the the stylised Futurist scene, already seeing their career as something more long term. [1]
In the succeeding months, their time was taken up promoting their new single with nightly gigs. With catchy tunes like, “Price of Love” (an Everly Brothers cover), “Reason Man”, “Tomorrow’s Dance”, and “Television Set”, Depeche Mode was irresistible on the dancefloor, becoming an instant nightclub hit.
With the press behind them, it wasn’t long before Depeche Mode’s popularity grew, and another single was released. Miller thought, rather cleverly, of taking orders in advance, and before “New Life” came out in June, it was already in the Top 75. An appearance on Top Of The Pops gained them a position in the Top 30, and three weeks later the song reached No.11 on the U.K. charts. Not bad for a fast-fashion. From this song the band earned enough money so that Martin and Fletch could quit their day jobs.
In October, the coaster had reached the top of the hill. Success was only a step away, and by this time the band were working virtually non-stop, recording in the studios by day and hitting the club scene by night. Their third single, “Just Can’t Get Enough”, debuted, becoming an international dance hit, and climbing to No. 8 in the U.K. charts. Using a virtually new marketing technique, the band recorded its first video. They were exploding into the scene, and for Vince, it was too much.
“It was the way the whole thing was going,” said an incensed Vince. “It lost its enthusiasm. It was turning into a production line and that was worrying me. The techniques were improving to an extent, the way we were playing, but even then I found there were things in the way, preventing us from experimenting. We were so busy, there was something going on every day and no time to play around.”
Vince, though he never gave a reason, told the band his thoughts of leaving, but with the release of a new album so close he agreed to wait until after the tour. When “Speak and Spell” was released in October, their tour began, and over the course of three weeks, they played fourteen very successful nights throughout the U.K. winding up at the London Lyceum.
The album was good and the press was elated, keeping close tabs on this growing teen phenomenon. From this glamour, suddenly Depeche Mode were wrongfully classified as New Romantics.
“OK, we’re Futurists,” Dave would later surrender to Sounds magazine. “We’ve always been Futurists. For me, Futurists were an extension of punk rock. We never had anything to do with New Romantics. They all looked the same. But call us what you like. Ultra pop. Futurist. Disco. Anything, as long as it’s not New Romantic.”
Rightly enough, Dave’s definition was the clearest to date. “Speak and Spell” was quite correctly an Ultra pop, Futurist, disco album, complete with consistent, predictable drums and layers of sinuous melody. They had taken the sounds of the day and twisted them – perhaps even unconsciously – into a unique brand of Futurist-pop-disco. Paul Colbert of Melody Maker said it was “so obviously bright, so clearly sparkling with new life, it’s a wonder they don’t burn permanent dancing shadows onto the walls”.
On December 12, 1981, Vince Clarke – the main songwriter and drive behind the band – announced he really was leaving. “Breaking the news was terrible,” Vince recalls. “They were expecting it in some ways. I’d been going through a gloomy phase, but I had to go round to their houses and tell them. I knew they knew, but it was still horrible. It wasn’t amicable because there was a lot of bad feelings on both parts and it was about a year before it finally died down.”
Suddenly the press wasn’t interested in “Speak And Spell” anymore. Whether or not the album would become a musical landmark now took a back seat to predictions of the band’s demise. From the mouths of the press, Depeche Mode had become a dirty word.
The fans kept on though, refusing to accept the setback as an end. Some hopefuls, trying to allay fear, said Vince would still be writing and recording for the band. A lie. But in truth, he did offer one song he had written, “Only You”. The band turned it down, but whether they were too proud to take it or the song was too different for their tastes is something best left to question. [2]
“I was frustrated,” Vince confessed. “It was a matter of getting the right balance between playing and experimenting. Looking back, at it, it’s nothing - it’s no real loss. It’s given them a chance to develop their ideas and let me do what I want. No one’s lost anything, but I suppose that’s hard to understand when it’s actually happening.”
Though the future of Depeche Mode seemed questionable, one thing the press could agree on was that Vince would continue making music. He was a man with an entrepreneurial spirit, forever in search of the perfect pop song. His contribution to the band was educational as well as inspirational. Without him, they never would have come this far.
They were just kids, admittedly naïve, and now, arguably without direction. But the loss of their main songwriter did not destroy them as the press prophesied, it merely challenged them. Fletch, Martin and Dave now had to prove to themselves that they could survive. Martin even had 20 or 30 songs already written, dating back to when he was 16. They would probably have to find another member for touring, but they could continue this themselves. The cards were on the table now, and Depeche Mode had learned to speak and spell…
[1] - Or as Vince sniffed at the time "We're not really a Bizzare band."
[2] - Whatever the reason, I doubt it was the second one, because Andy was later to comment that they refused "Only You" because they thought it sounded too much like one of their existing songs. However, as Martin also said: "he came along to a rehearsal with two new songs; he was teaching us how they went, and when he went out to the toilet we just looked at each other and said, 'We can't sing these; they're terrible!' " (quoted in Stripped by Jonathan Miller).
MENDING A BROKEN FRAME
[Words: Mike Ross.]
Summary: Continuation of a serialized band biography, this part covering late 1981 to the end of 1982. [638 words]
This article first appeared in Bong 14 in 1991, but had some slight edits and amendments (mainly stylistic) when it appeared in Bong 28.
With many thanks to Doreen ("Cupido") in Germany for kindly scanning the pages of the original magazine.
After the departure of Vince Clarke, Dave, Martin and Andy restructured the band by electing Martin as chief songwriter. Although Depeche Mode were confident they could continue making music, it was decided that a fourth member was necessary for touring. With this decision in mind, the band placed an anonymous ad in Melody Maker reading, “Name Band require synthesizer player, must be under 21”. After several auditions, Alan Charles Wilder, a classically trained musician from West London was chosen from ten finalists because of his musical background and personality. He later admitted he was actually 22, and when asked, he also admitted that he knew the “Name Band” mentioned in the ad was Depeche Mode.
Always interested in music, Alan was quite busy prior to joining Depeche Mode. In 1978, he helped Daphne & The Tenderspots release their debut single “Disco Hell”. The following year he poured his creativity into Real to Real, for the album “Tightrope Walkers”, and in 1980, he worked with The Hitmen on their single “Bates Motel”. Alan also contributed to “If I Had You”, by the Korgis.
Alan’s first performance with DM was at Crocs in London in January, 1982. Shortly after, the band flew to New York City to play two shows at The Ritz. Upon returning from America, the following three months were spent touring the UK and Europe. This tour had no official name, but is frequently referred to as the “See You” Tour.
Towards the end of February, Depeche Mode played a secret gig at the Bridgehouse as a special thank you to Terry Murphy. He was the only one to give them a booking in the early days of their career. The place was packed wall to wall with little space to breathe but the four encores made the event worth while. According to Paul Colbert of Melody Maker, “…it was packed up to the rotary towels in the toilets. Heaving bodies, flashing feet, and that was just the bar staff.” After the show, Terry tried to pay the band nearly £1,000, but they refused to take it. Instead, they donated the money to the renovation of the pub.
“See You”, written by Martin when he was eighteen, was released on January 29th, 1982, peaking at No. 6 on the UK charts. On March 26th, the second single, “The Meaning of Love”, was released, reaching No. 12. “Leave In Silence” followed on August 16th, and reached No. 18. It was also the first DM single bearing the catalogue name “BONG”. Considering Alan was working without royalties, he must have loved the success of these singles. It wasn’t until the recording of “Get The Balance Right” that he joined the band full-time, finally receiving more than just a salary.
Unlike “Speak And Spell”, “A Broken Frame” was criticized in many reviews for being too moody and depressing. Steve Sutherland of Melody Maker observed, “The lyrics have matured from wide-eyed fun to wide-eyed frustration.” To Steve’s surprise, the “wide-eyed frustration” only made Depeche Mode more popular than before. Steve also found it necessary to criticize Depeche Mode’s new musical direction by remarking, “A Broken Frame sounds sadly naked, rudely deprived of the formula’s novelty.” Admittedly, they were a wobbly table without the fourth leg of Vince, but they still deserved credit for retaining their stability. [1]
Immediately following the release of the album, the band went on tour. The Broken Frame Tour ran from October to December, reaching across the UK and Europe. It was during this tour that Fletch, Dave, and Martin slowly integrated Alan into the permanent frame work of the band. Shortly after the tour, the newly unified Depeche Mode went back into the studio to hammer out a new single. This single would go on to give the band an entirely new sound, image and direction.
[1] - The snideyness in some of these comments is a bit unnecessary. True, no-one wants to hear negative remarks about a band they like, but while many fans today have a soft spot for A Broken Frame, most would probably agree with Sutherland's opinions (even the band, in later years, did do). The author ought to be told that reviewers are there to be honest, not dish out sympathy.
GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT
[Words: Mike Ross.]
Summary: Another instalment of a serialised Depeche Mode history, this section covering 1983. [1067 words]
This article first appeared in Bong 15 in 1991 as "All Of These Insurmountable Tasks", but had some slight edits and amendments (mainly stylistic) when it appeared in Bong 28.
With many thanks to Doreen ("Cupido") in Germany for kindly scanning the pages of the original magazine.
At the start of 1983, with the onset of a growing environmental concern and an increasingly tense cold war between the US and USSR, “Get The Balance Right” seemed, in some people’s interpretation, the ideal song for the time, voicing the need to equalize the scales of power. The song was released in January, and charted at No.13 in the UK, but despite the song’s popularity the band felt rushed with it. It had been five months since any new material was released, too long for the fresh, young Depeche Mode. There was a sense of urgency not to fade from the public eye. The overall effect tendered a final product that fell short of the band’s expectations. “I hate it and I wrote it,” Martin explained. “This was the only time we had to turn out a single whether we wanted to or not.” [1]
With “Get The Balance Right” moving bodies on the dance floors the World over, the band commenced on a Spring tour of North America and the Far East. It was the most extensive tour outside of Europe to date, and the fans flocked to shows to express their gratitude. While in Hong Kong, the band experienced their growing popularity first hand. Before arriving at the airport they sent a scout ahead to make sure the coast was clear. After getting the “everything’s cool” signal they moved out, but lying in waiting were 500 screaming fans, the band were subsequently shaken up quite a bit. It was the first time anything of this magnitude had happened and it clearly exhibited Depeche Mode’s ever-increasing popularity.
After a few months’ rest to counteract the effects of touring, the band went at it again. “Everything Counts” made a debut on July 11th, 1983, finding a ready market of grabbing hands to buy it up. The song had its heyday on the UK Charts, getting as high as No. 6. It reflected the growing egocentric and competitive nature of capitalism. An impressed Mark Cooper wrote, “This is their strongest melody in a long while and a compelling picture of business Britain.”
"Construction Time Again", released in August, was a representation of the band’s lasting influence. With the virtually unlimited uses found in newly available boards like the Synclavier and Emulator 1, the album had a more potent and refined sound. Many objects had been sampled for the album.
Depeche Mode’s third studio album was also the first full-length endeavour to include the expertise of Alan Wilder. Alan not only added his musical talents to “Construction Time Again” but also took his first stab at song writing for Depeche Mode. Album tracks “The Landscape Is Changing” and “Two Minute Warning” and “Fools”, the B-side of the “Love, In Itself” single, were the product of Alan’s ever-increasing contribution to Depeche Mode. The songs gave a new dimension to the band’s growing catalogue of music.
“I like the fresh naivety of the sampling and the grainy sample sounds of the Emulator 1” reflects Alan. Sampling was slowly being accepted by the music industry as a legitimate way to make music. The growing popularity of electronic bands such as Yazoo, New Order and Howard Jones clearly showed that the music had a ready audience and it wasn’t just a passing fad. DM were leading the way in this explosive form of expression.
“I think we all like the idea. When we actually made an album we did go on a sound hunting expedition,” Andy commented to Melody Maker. “We went down Brick Lane and just hit everything and then recorded it and took it back to the studio and put it into a keyboard. That’s how we made the track “Pipeline”. We were smashing corrugated iron and old cars. The vocals were recorded in a railway arch in Shoreditch…” The sampling was done mostly in the East End of London because of the area’s close proximity to the recording studio. The Garden Studios provided the perfect atmosphere for the initial recording, but it only offered a 24-track mixing board. So for the final mixing the band relocated. “We had used so many channels on the recording that we couldn’t possibly have mixed the record at the studio we recorded it,” explained Dave. “Plus, we wanted to sample a different atmosphere. If you work in just one place it can get quite boring.”
Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany, with its 56 channel mixing board (the only one like it in the World at the time) seemed an ideal location for the album’s final mixing. With so much sampling on the record, the studios in Germany offered the band a cornucopia of choices in deciding how the final product would sound. Berlin and its surrounding countryside also provided the perfect location for the first video shoot, and as Dave would later explain, the “Everything Counts” video was the first in which they were truly happy.
The next single, “Love, In Itself”, while straying slightly from the direct approach to political and environmental concerns, retained these qualities while adding an emotional fringe. The song made a record store appearance on September 19th, 1983, and although destined to become a chart buster, it climbed no higher than No. 21.
But even with the nominal success of “Love, In Itself”, the band found a ready following of devoted fans popping up all over Europe. The album made a powerful impression on the public, especially in the UK where it sold enough copies to go Gold. “It was the first step in the right direction,” explains Martin. “I agree with Martin, and also there were a lot of fresh ideas” adds Alan.
With the songs of Construction Time Again still fresh in the minds of fans the band started an album tour of the UK. They wrapped it up in early October with three nights at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Then, with little more than enough time to catch a breath, the band commenced with a tour of the globe. This leg catered to the growing number of fans in Europe, North America and the Far East, thirsting for a live performance, and the messages of the album sparked a fascination in fans the World over.
“We’re not trying to change anything,” explained Martin. “I don’t think our music’s going to change anything at all, we’re just trying to make people think a little bit.”
[1] - It's one of life's ironies that the 12" version of Get The Balance Right would be hailed as a dance classic by House pioneers a few years down the line.
STORY OF OLD
[Words: Danny Zerbib.]
Summary: The fourth installment of a serialised Depeche Mode history, covering 1984. [1243 words]
This article is a considerably edited and re-written version of the original, which appeared in Bong 15 in 1991.
With many thanks to Doreen ("Cupido") in Germany for kindly scanning the pages of the original magazine.
It wasn’t long after “Construction Time Again” that Depeche Mode were at it again. Martin, working alone in his rented Berlin flat, immersed himself in writing love songs for the next album. This did not come as a surprise to the other members, though. “Martin’s in love again, see?” Fletch informed Melody Maker in an attempt to explain why the new songs did not wear the same political and environmental guise as the last album. He had taken a particular liking to the new material. “The point is too see something important and to write about it honestly, even if it’s only important to yourself. Some people tend to think that love songs shouldn’t be treated seriously, that it’s only if you’re writing about social problems that a song becomes serious.”
As if to contradict that point, “People Are People” was released in March, 1984, as the next single. Although it was arguable the weakest track on their forthcoming album, the song barrelled its way to No.4 on the British charts with little hesitation. In spite of (because of?) the song’s political and social implications, “People Are People” also succeeded in holding the No.1 spot in Germany for three weeks and punctured a hole into the U.S. Top 40, peaking at No. 13. Incorporating the use of the Synclavier, a machine which enabled the band to sample many different sounds and combine them together, this song contained samples of everything from acoustic bass drums to an airline hostess going through a pre take-off drill, and Peter Martin from Smash Hits was clever enough to suggest “It tends to induce movement in bodies that normally wouldn’t be seen dead on a dance floor.”
The success of “People Are People” was followed by a concert on June 2nd, where they shared the bill with Elton John, to a crowd of 50,000 in Ludwigshafen. The single, “Master and Servant” was released in August, and climbed to No. 9 in the U.K. bringing with it nothing but trouble. “It’s a song about domination and exploitation and we use the sexual angle to get that across,” Martin explained, at the same time trying to defend the song against accusations of indecency and obscenity. Interestingly enough, the sound of a snapping bull whip at the song’s intro was nothing more than Daniel Miller hissing and spitting into a mic. The band had to settle for this archaic alternative when attempts to sample a real whip [were] deemed hopeless.
“Some Great Reward” hit stores immediately afterwards, and the band found themselves genuinely satisfied with the end results. “We spent days doing just one or two sounds or rhythms this time – we went over the top really and it cost us a few bob, but it’s paid off because this is the first album we’re all really proud of. Not that we don’t like the others, it’s just that this one is so much better in terms of sound quality.”
Dave commented to Melody Maker: “I’m very pleased with the vocal sound on this one – it’s a lot to do with having confidence and a lot to do with being comfortable with the engineer (Gareth Jones – DM’s engineer since “Everything Counts”, who also co-produced Some Great Reward with the band and Daniel Miller). Also, I took a couple of lessons with Tona deBrett, scales and things, and I didn’t see much application to singing pop songs, I wanted to learn more about breathing control.”
Their next single, “Blasphemous Rumours”, a controversial and thought-provoking track, received mixed reviews and more attention than it deserved. After promoting the song by singing it on Top Of The Pops, the band received dozens of complaint letters, and were told they could never perform that song on T.O.T.P. again. “Religion seems to be a very touchy subject,” Martin commented. “You can sing about sex and nearly get away with it, but religion seems to stir people more. It wasn’t really intended to have that sort of effect. Because of the apparent controversy surrounding “Blasphemous Rumours”, (Melody Maker described the song as “a prime candidate for some official censor”), the band released it as a double A-side together with “Somebody”, a love ballad featuring Martin on vocals and Alan playing accompanying piano. Perhaps it was the empathy the single evoked, or the growing awareness of Ethiopia’s famine problem that spurred the song up the charts, but whatever the case, “Blasphemous Rumours” crept up to No. 16.
“Some Great Reward” was a smooth and calibrated album. As a “together” album, it was clearly their best work to date, but Andy imparted, “We’ve still got a long way to go before people will be proud to have Depeche Mode albums in their collection.” Maybe so, but probably not as far as one may think: the album clinched a No. 5 spot on the British charts. Journalist Penny Kiley commented, “The packaging of the LP, “Some Great Reward”, is an opposition of work and romance, real life and illusion. On stage, the package extends that opposition with the same quasi-industrial background and, out in front, pop stars.”
Riding on the success of their new album, Depeche Mode embarked on a three month tour of the UK and Europe, the Some Great Reward Tour, filming a sold-out show in Hamburg for a future video, and finishing just before Christmas 1984.
In March 1985, they embarked on a five week stint in America, finally carving out a place for themselves in the U.S. Charts. They became so popular in fact, that Sire Records released a compilation LP titled, “People Are People”, which featured various past singles and B-sides, re-introducing Depeche Mode to North America.
This was followed, in July, by a month of touring in Europe, but this time including some large festivals, with bands like U2 and the newly reformed Clash, as well as their own shows in Budapest and Warsaw, Depeche Mode’s first time in the “East”. In fact, it was on his 24th birthday, July 23rd, that Martin stood, with the rest of the band, on the stage of the Volan Open Air Football Stadium in Budapest, Hungary and listened as thousands of fans sang “Happy Birthday” to him. It was also on this final leg that Depeche Mode played their largest venue to date. Accompanying The Stranglers, The Cure, The Clash, Nina Hagen, Talk Talk, and the headlining Culture Club, DM played to 80,000 people in Athens, Greece. [1]
It was during this period that these “out in front pop stars” strayed from their “teeny wimp” image, dubbed by the media, and had taken to wearing leather and bondage gear. The critics began calling it Depeche Mode’s kinky phase, and referred to it as the “Southend Boys Bondage Look”. This didn’t bother the band though, their new image was as much a part of their history as the music they made. Besides, Depeche Mode does mean fast fashion…
Melody Maker summed up this album by saying, “It used to be okay to slag off this bunch because of their lack of soul, their supposed synthetic appeal, their reluctance to really pack a punch. “Some Great Reward” just trashes such bad old talk into the ground and demands that you now sit up and take notice of what is happening here, right under your nose.” The band added later on, “We hope that everybody will see it as our best yet, but journalists can be unpredictable. Then again, so can we…”
[1] - Let's just make clear that this was 80,000 people over two nights. This end section of the article has been largely re-written; the fact was clearer originally.
SPREADING THE NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
[From Bong 28, May 1996. Words: Brian Do.]
Summary: An instalment of the continuing band biography, started in Bong 14. This part covers 1987 to the release of "101" in early 1989.
This article is a somewhat edited and amended version of that appearing in Bong 20 in 1994.
With many thanks to Doreen ("Cupido") in Germany for kindly scanning the pages of the original magazine.
Having taken a few months’ break from their Black Celebration Tour, which ended in August 1986, Depeche Mode returned to the recording studios late that year to begin work on their next album titled “Music For The Masses”. Recording began at Studio Guillaume Tell, Paris and finished up at Konk, London, “Strangelove” was the result of extensive work with David Bascombe producing and engineering at Puk Studios, Denmark.
“Strangelove”, released to the public ear on April 13, 1987, went to No. 16, confirming that Depeche Mode were once again asserting their role as one of the giants of Modern Rock. The first single became an immediate favourite, yet it was only a taste of what was to come. The track hinted at the celebration of masochism, a theme that is all too familiar for songwriter, Martin Gore. With the vocals of David Gahan, it portrayed a marvellous marriage of voice and material.
Several months later on September 28, saw the highly anticipated release of “Music For The Masses”, which immediately went platinum World-wide and continued to mount in sales as Depeche Mode made preparations to launch another World tour that would be even more extensive than the previous. The album took the band to new heights with its meaningful lyrics and pounding rhythms. Never before had the group’s material been so consistent and focused. It spoke of pain and salvation, love and despair; the familiar theme of Martin’s lyrics, yet even further defined. Sometimes there would seem to be a hazy line between whether the group questioned faith or inspired it. “I’m a firm believer and a warm receiver / And I’ve made my decision / This is religion / There’s no doubt / I’m one of the devout”. The album reached No. 10 on the U.K. charts and definitely appealed to the masses as sales climbed past the 3 million mark.
The second single, “Never Let Me Down Again” greeted music stores late that summer (August 24) and reached a modest No. 22. David Hiltbrand of Rolling Stone commented, “This is the band’s most lifelike effort to date, and a compelling dance number”. Compelling it was as Martin described, “We’re flying high / We’re watching the World pass us by / Never want to come down / Never want to put my feet back down on the ground”.
Beginning their world tour in Madrid, Spain, the group travelled the globe selling out stadiums and concert halls wherever they stopped. The Music For The Masses Tour brought the foursome together on stage to deliver their passion and soul. Every stage introduction began with “Pimpf”, a classically orchestrated instrumental track from the album.
While the tour was underway, the next single “Behind The Wheel” was released on December 28, 1987 and was added to the list of top 20 hits. The track was undeniably alluring as it became a dance favourite when combined with their remake of Robert Troup Jr.’s classic “Route 66”. The three singles from “Music For The Masses” then went on to appear in every major top 100 radio countdown list of 1988. Quite a remarkable achievement considering they had some of their older tracks already on the lists! The band had proven once again that they could craft music of throbbing power and deliver it with powerful emotions.
As Depeche Mode returned for their last stop at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Stadium on June 18, 1988, the historical event was recorded and filmed for the later to be released movie and live album, bearing the name “Depeche Mode 101”, appropriately titled for the 101st show performed on the tour.
On May 16, 1988, just a month before the tour ended, Mute Records released yet another track from the “Music For The Masses” album, but only in certain European countries, and not in the UK.. “Little 15” became a popular piece among the band’s ballads. Martin’s powerful lyrics pierce the soul with heartfelt emotion: “You could drive her away / To a happier place / To a happier day / That exists in your mind / And in your smile / She could escape there / Just for a while, Little 15”.
A live single of the encore favourite “Everything Counts” kept fans happy even after the tour was over as it was released the following year on February 13, and contained some live tracks from the Pasadena Rose Bowl performance as well as new remixes of “Everything Counts” and “Strangelove”.
Just when everyone thought that they had heard and seen everything, the double compilation album “101” was released on March 13 which showcased the group’s entire performance at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Stadium. This would be the first time that a complete live concert of the group would be commercially available through their record company. The 20-track compilation featured two hours of Depeche Mode at their finest. Another highlight coming after the tour was the opening of the film “101”, which opened at theatres all over the World in March 1989. The film, directed by rockumentarist D. A. Pennebaker, featured eight teenage fans, who, after winning a radio contest, followed Depeche Mode on a tour bus during the band’s North American tour. The contest, held by the Long Island, N.Y. radio station WDRE, was devised by Pennebaker and the band as an idea to explore the elements of pop culture and as a means for less concentration on performance footage of the group. The fans trailed the group on tour across the United States, all the way up to the waiting audience of nearly 80,000 greeting the band at the start of their last show in Pasadena, California. [1]
There would be no material released by the band for quite some time following “101”, but Alan and Martin were busy working on side projects of their own. Alan finished a solo project under the name of Recoil and released his “Hydrology and 1+2” tracks at the end of 1988. Meanwhile, Martin began work on his solo e.p. that was eventually released in 1989 titled, “Counterfeit”.
The Music For The Masses era definitely broke open wider doors for Depeche Mode and further established them as leading pioneers of Modern Rock. The album, the singles, the tour – all of which led way to their appeal of the masses. Depeche Mode spoke – the world listened.
[1] - This figure gets inflated all the time, and this is the most heinous example I've come across yet. Big though the concert was, it wasn't quite that big, the actual attendance figure (as given in the video itself) being around 67,000.
