The album.
The singles. The songs. The tour.
Photographic
The first
ever Depeche Mode song to appear on a record in early 1981. The record was a
compilation called Some Bizzare (by the label of the same name, probably
misspelled to make you notice just how bizarre it was), and the song is
presented in its original form, which may not be their best, but a good
indication of their sound at the time. Although never released as a single, it
was obviously much more than just another album track – on various tours, it
appeared in key positions (opening song, encore, closing song) and stayed in
the setlist for quite a while, even making a return in 2006.
Dreaming Of Me
The first
single, February 1981. As a debut release, they didn’t go for the catchiest or
most accessible song, but a sort of middle ground between the poppier and
moodier tracks. To be honest, the song never impressed me much, probably due to
the very thing that made it first single: being a bit generic.
Ice Machine
Now that’s
much more interesting! Well, for me, at least. This is definitely one of my
favourites from the Vince Clarke-era, a wonderfully dark synth-pop piece. The
live version from the Some Great Reward Tour (available on the Blasphemous
Rumours / Somebody single) is the definitive version for me, but the original
is also very good.
New Life
Second
single, June 1981. After the relative success of Dreaming Of Me (it went into
the Top75!), the first proper hit with their first Top Of The Pops appearance,
almost breaking the Top10 (peaking at #11) and selling enough to convince the band
members to quit their day jobs. The song always felt very “young” and “first
album” for me, and the vocal harmonies at the end give it a kind of 60’s feel.
The remix
found on the band’s first 12”
release is not too different from the 7” version, the extended drum intro make it
more suitable for clubs.
Shout
The B-side
to New Life isn’t a very memorable track in its studio form, luckily later live
versions showed some improvement. The “Rio
mix” is their first ever proper extended version.
Just Can’t Get Enough
Third
single, September 1981. The first video, the first Top10 hit, the first song to
get some recognition outside the UK, and a wonderfully silly pop song that’s
become a proper legendary tune, used in adverts, covered by hundreds (suitable even
for a girlband’s charity single), and turned into football chants. It’s so
repetitive that you can (and feel the need to) sing along after hearing the
first 30 seconds, resistance is useless. It never fails to put a smile on my
face.
The “schizo
mix” feels a bit too long for me, but the additional melody at the end is nice.
Any Second Now
The B-side
is the first instrumental from Depeche Mode, and a quite lovely one.
SPEAK & SPELL
October,
1981. This album is obviously quite different from anything else by the band,
being written by Vince Clarke (except for 2 tracks) who left shortly
afterwards. Recording in an 8-track studio and lack of experience meant some
limitations, but overall it’s a fine debut.
New Life
The album
was bookended by the two big hits, this is alright as an opening song.
I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
God knows
where that title came from! A typical early DM-song in slightly reworked form,
the original version came out on a flexidisc with Flexipop magazine. The US release
replaced this song for Dreaming Of Me, which – somewhat surprisingly – wasn’t
originally included on the album.
Puppets
This is
clearly the standout track on the first side of the album for me. It feels very
Kraftwerk-esque, not (just) from a sound point of view, but the title and the
lyrics about being an operator and in control aren’t too far from stuff like “Showroom
Dummies”, “The Robots” or “Pocket Calculator”.
Boys Say Go!
Another
song re-arranged for the album, and apparently a quite popular one – you can
still occasionally hear parts of the audience chanting “Boys say go!” during
recent live shows. I’d never join in, that’s for sure, I wouldn’t even miss it
if it disappeared from the album.
Nodisco
Another
forgettable song, and the first one to disappear from the live set after 1981,
so some might agree.
What’s Your Name?
“The worst
ever Depeche Mode song”, according to 2 band members in an interview from 2005.
I wouldn’t go that far, but there’s not much else to say.
Photographic
Switching
to Side 2, things definitely turn for the better: this radically reworked
version is a huge improvement, turning an OK track into a great one.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The first
Martin Gore-penned track on the album, also completely re-arranged. Probably
the darkest song of the era.
Big Muff
The other
Gore song, an OK instrumental that’s not very different from Clarke’s work.
Any Second Now – Voices
The only
B-side that made it onto the album, altered in an unexpected way: the music
didn’t change drastically, but vocals are added, sung by Martin Gore instead of
lead singer Dave Gahan. The first ever Martin-ballad is a nice hidden gem.
Just Can’t Get Enough
The second
big hit closes the album on a high.
Speak & Spell Tour
Any Second
Now (intro)
Photographic
Nodisco
New Life
Puppets
Ice Machine
Big Muff
I Sometimes
Wish I Was Dead
Tora! Tora!
Tora!
Just Can’t
Get Enough
Boys Say
Go!
What’s Your
Name?
Television
Set
Dreaming Of
Me
The Price
Of Love
The band
played 13 of the 14 songs released up to that point (Shout being the one that
didn’t make it), plus a song left unreleased because it was written by someone
outside the band (Television Set) and a cover (The Price Of Love, originally by
The Everly Brothers). The arrangements stayed the “early” versions, their
equipment probably didn’t make it possible to recreate the studio experiments
of the album on stage. This tour started a long tradition only broken in 2013:
they never played a song in the encore from the (then) current record, even
when they only had one. Any Second Now was the original (instrumental) version,
so Martin’s now usual mid-set section was yet to appear, they played an
instrumental halfway through to give Dave a bit of a breather.
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