[atlantaprog] Re: Depeche Mode...Underrated great?

Uncle Eggsy:

Do you have Martin Gore's solo EP's?
I play his songs and even some DM on the air occasionally and I have a prog 
radio station.

DM is one of the bands that helped pay my bills back in the '80's new wave 
days.  Filled dance floors at the clubs where I DJ'd.  At that time, they could 
have recorded 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' and sold 250,000 copies of the remix.  ;)

Live, they were interesting --- Sure it was all 100% programmed synths with no 
other instruments on stage, but they had a great stage show and presence.  When 
they added real guitars and drums to the mix for the recordings and tours (1988 
and on), the band took on an edgier sound that split their fanbase.  I'm amazed 
that they're still together.


Kenneth L. Solomon
V.P.  Artist/Label Coordinator -- Progressive Soundscapes Radio
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Booking Contact for Nektar and Caravan 2004 North American Tour

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: UncleEggsy@xxxxxxx 
  To: atlantaprog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 10:36 AM
  Subject: [atlantaprog] Depeche Mode...Underrated great?


  As an 80s teen who was obsessed with manly guitar music and "hairy armpit" 
classic rock the only thing I really knew about Depeche Mode is that they were 
the wimpy band who didn't even play real instruments who did that "People Are 
People" song.  I also knew that most of the girls who listened to their music 
(along with The Smiths and The Cure to complete that "Holy 80s Trinity Of Mope 
Rock") were the very hottest girls, bar none, in my high school even though my 
admiration was tempered by the certainty that my chances of actually attracting 
their attention hovered constantly just above zero.

  Over the years, I gradually got over my synthphobia and finally reached a 
point where I could comfortably listen to electronic oriented music without 
reflexively reaching for either my guitar (to demonstrate how much better that 
stuff would sound with *guitar solos*, dude!) or my copy of Houses Of The Holy. 
 Trent Reznor was the first because he could make his synths sound just like a 
nasty wall of distorted guitar.  Then Kraftwerk found their way into my CD 
collection.  So did Richard D. James, AKA Aphex Twin, Tom Jenkinson, AKA 
Squarepusher, and others too.

  I never bothered to revisit Depeche Mode until one day a couple of years back 
when I was in an 80sish mood and I spied a copy of 101 in the used CD bin.  I 
bought it on a lark, took it home, threw it on and darned if there weren't some 
surprises waiting for me.  The electronics and the dark atmospherics were 
there, just as I expected.  However, I was completely blown away by the quality 
of the songs...great tunes, interesting and thoughtful lyrics and a very unique 
musical approach that has been imitated quite a bit over the last 10-15 years.  

  I gradually went down the line and checked out the entire Depeche Mode 
catalogue and darned if these cats aren't a really good band.  I found Some 
Great Reward, Black Celebration and Songs Of Faith And Devotion to be 
particularly amazing.  I also really liked Speak And Spell, which is kind of 
like their Piper At The Gates Of Dawn with Vince Clark playing the Syd Barrett 
role.  Even the most recent one, Exciter, is a much better album than most 
artists from the same era can pull together these days. 

  Is it just me or does Martin Gore's name rarely come up when it's time to 
rattle off that list of great pop/rock songwriters?  Is it the goth thing?  Is 
it because he's in a band that relies on synths for its most dominant 
instrumental textures?  He's certainly a heckuvalot more interesting than Bruce 
Springsteen, who always makes that danged list.  I'm not a teenager anymore.  I 
still like manly guitar music and classic rock.  And, oh yeah, the women are 
still beautiful, but still don't know I exist.  I must confess, however, that 
I've done a complete 180 on the Depeche Mode issue.  

  CH

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