DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 13: SHAKE THE DISEASE

 

In just four years, Depeche Mode had come a long way.  They started by instantly mastering synthpop and, despite the sudden departure of the man behind most of that mastery, changed songwriter, invented leather and hammers, finished off synthpop and turned into gloomy purveyors of experimental pop meets industrial music. All in four years. It really was a remarkable journey.

As 1985 dawned, Depeche Mode had a break after the Some Great Reward tour ended. They met up again in Berlin (obviously) and recorded a new song, Shake The Disease. 

Shake The Disease is the moment Martin moved from a great songwriter to become one of the songwriting Gods. It's a glorious song that should have been number 1 forever but, because people wouldn't know good music if it bit them on the arse, it performed badly. I'm annoyed about that, you probably are too, so let's get annoyed together as we look at Shake The Disease.

Press release - courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

I'VE TRIED AS HARD AS I COULD - SHAKE THE DISEASE

The Single

Shake The Disease (BONG8) was released on 29th April 1985. The Depeche Mode Information Service newsletter told everyone the good news in its April 1985 edition, adding the blatant lie that no limited edition 12" would be released.

The band and producer Gareth Jones don't like how the song ended up. Alan said that despite the track being one of his favourites, the band did not "get the best out if it." Gareth meanwhile felt the session hadn't gone as well as the band and his previous sessions.  The reviews however were more positive. Number 1 magazine said "Shake The Disease...is a moody, melancholy track with a haunting chorus - it's deceptively simple but completely charming." Rip It up meanwhile said this:

"I've always thought Depeche Mode made interesting records. The fact the elusive big hit avoids them hasn't induced them to write the number one single still swelling inside them. In five years time when people only vaguely remember Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode will be selling more records than ever."

The reviewer was right about selling more records than ever as the 1990 blogs will prove. Sadly, he was wrong about Tears For Fears as people still remember them and indeed celebrate their quite dreadful music to an extent that confuses and terrifies me in equal measure. A dreadful, tedious band. Anyway, back to a song with the word disease in the title that the public failed to embrace.

Shake The Disease crawled into the charts at number 32 on 11th May rising to 25 the next week and 21 the week after that. The they appeared on Top Of The Pops (above) on 23rd May and that managed to send the single flying up the charts to...erm...the same number it was at the week before. The next week it climbed 3 to 18 before falling to 29, 31, 44 and 67 and then out of the charts, not even remaining there in spirit.

The Top Of The Pops appearance is interesting showing them on the way to their Black Celebration look. Martin of course has no top on, just a leather jacket and is wearing a dress. People always mention this in a "ooh it's funny he dressed like a lady" type way but what Martin chose to wear should be of no consequence. Let us not forget SandleGate  - Dave is the real clothing villain in Depeche Mode's poorly dressed past. Alan bangs drums, Martin appears to play the side of a shopping trolley and Fletch, as ever, looks like he's having a lovely time.

Ok, Shake The Disease is certainly not the band's poppiest moment and perhaps the world wasn't ready for this new type of sound from Depeche Mode but NUMBER BLOODY 18? How on earth did this song not do better? The lyrics are perfect, the melody glorious and the strange noises you'd expect from a Depeche Mode song of that era are strange and therefore magical. In the week that the song reached its peak of 18, the Top Ten was littered with oafs like Jimmy Nail, Billy Ocean and, yes I'm saying it again, Duran Duran with their typically bafflingly rubbish Bond song.  Shake The Disease takes each song in the Top Ten that week outside and single handedly kicks the crap out of them. Number 18 for goodness' sake.

Happily, the band didn't ignore the song live. As well as 8 dates on the festivals tour in 1985, it featured at every gig on the next three tours including the adorable 101 version. From 2005 it became a Martin solo set song and featured on Touring The Angel, Touring The Universe, Delta Machine Tour and twice on the Global Spirit Tour. All in all, Shake The Disease has been played live 392 times.

The B-Side was the much poppier Flexible. The song talks about the effects of fame in a way, although whether being flexible when the boat comes in is a sin is another matter. Martin told Record Mirror in 1986 that the song was written as a joke and you can very much see that. Still, it's fine as B-sides go.

The band have never been flexible enough live to play it however.

The Video

Quick - someone sound the "Good Video" horn. We have a good video on our hands

Directed by Peter Care and filmed in London's Docklands area, then still derelict and free from overpriced housing, the video for Shake The Disease is wonderful at least in comparison to the videos that had gone before it. It starts in a dreadful looking bathroom, the sort you find in a serial killer's house, before 13 seconds in what appears to be a large poodle enters the picture. It is of course not a large poodle - it's Martin with his exploding hair. He's dressed just he was on Top Of The Pops although he's not had the benefit of a make up artist as he did on that show. He appears to have attempted it himself.

This being a Depeche Mode video we are never that far away from our first visual metpahor. 25 seconds in, the noise that sounds like someone running a bit of metal on a fence is illustrated by someone running a bit of metal along a fence. Fair enough. Dave appears in the serial killer room singing the first line of the song and we seem to be all set for the usual Depeche video when....wait a minute....there's Fletch falling down. And there's Dave doing it. What is going on?

We're then back to Dave singing until the chorus kicks in. Fletch again appears, this time with a camera shoved basically up his nose as he sings the chorus. His hair is terrifyingly blonde. Martin gets the same treatment before we see the unasked for return of Basildon Boyzone, thankfully not performing any dance moves. Alan gets hit in the face with the camera, swirling around the room before the "understand me" part when Martin comes into his own, singing those beautiful lines looking part bored and part angry. Alan hits something with a hammer and we're off to verse two.

Verse two is all Dave's bar a couple of shots of a falling Alan and Martin with Martin having sensibly zipped up his coat to avoid catching a cold. Dave even gets the chorus to himself before we are returned to Martin And His Exploding Hair's Understand Me Bathroom. 

And from there, we get more falling, more in your face cameras, a bit more fence hitting and that's that. The falling of course was the result of a rotating pole up the back of each member's jacket. Clever looking stuff and probably the first Depeche Mode video that you would happily watch again rather than punching your laptop until the screen broke. Good work.

The Formats

BONG8 featured the two tracks we've already read about. The artwork is baffling really. I don't know what it's meant to symbolise and the label on the A side (above) seems to show the hairy character from the sleeve attempting to perform an obscene act on the letter A.

The label on the B-Side is much more straightforward.

12BONG8 features only two tracks both advertised as Remixed Extended Versions and that is very much what they are. Shake The Disease (Remixed Extended Version) is a superb remix and one I recommend to everyone. The label is again troubling, especially if you consider where the hole is.

The remix of Flexible is fine and the label mercifully free of obscenity. If anyone can tell me why the hairy chap is falling while being chased by a turtle as displayed on the artwork, then do please get in touch.

For reasons I can't recall, I was obsessed with getting hold of a copy of L12BONG8 (above). I finally tracked it down in a second hand section in a record shop in Aberdeen in 1994 and literally ran home to play it. I was nearly 20 at the time. Despite the Depeche Mode Information Service saying so, a limited edition did pop out and it is a fantastic record, full of splendidness. The A-Side features the Edit The Shake version of Shake The Disease. It is a monster of a remix that is one of my all time favourites. It's accompanied by a blistering live version of Master & Servant recorded live in Basel on 30th November 1984. The artwork is nice too, with the hairy chap confined to a box. The "Special Edition" on the cover is an oddly pleasing touch.

We get two more tracks on the B-Side. There's the Pre-Deportation Mix of Flexible which is again fine and then a stunning remix of Something To Do named Metal Mix. It's noisy, tinny and immense in every sense. Many people dislike it and while no-one can ever dictate anyone else's music taste to them and it would be wrong to do so, they clearly need to take a long look at themselves and admit the error of their ways.

The 1991 CD single reissue CDBONG8 features the 7" and standard 12" tracks adding Edit The Shake and the Metal Mix of Something To Do from L12BONG8.

As ever, let's now head to Germany. We have the usual red 7" which copies the single artwork but not the label artwork. 

It features the same tracks as 7BONG8.

The coloured vinyl 12" (standard black vinyl editions are also available) is a marbled affair.

A beautfiul thing that features the same tracks as 12BONG8

There is an equally marbled and equally lovely version of the L12 too.

It features the same tracks as L12BONG8.

The German blue stripe CD single features the same tracks as L12BONG8 and calls itself CDL12BONG8. There was no blue stripe CD version of the 12".

The French CD single features the L12BONG8 tracks plus the Single Version of Shake The Disease

There was a cassette version of the L12 in France too. One variation features above, the other has a different sleeve which is a cassette sized version of the L12 sleeve.

As ever, there are formats from all over the world. Let depmod.com be your guide. I will happily accept free copies of both Phillipines versions.

Number 18. Ridiculous.

So that was Shake The Disease. Depeche Mode would busy themselves with some tour dates before finishing another two new songs ahead of their first compilation album.

Fly On The Windscreen was one of those and it is a masterpiece. Unfortunately, due to what I can only imagine was an error in the pressing plant with the letters A and B, It's Called A Heart was chosen for the next single and we'll overanalyse that next time.

THERE'S A LOT TO BE LEARNED - DEPECHE MODE'S BLACK CELEBRATION AND MUSIC FOR THE MASSES 12" BOXSETS

Thus far, the Depeche Mode 12" reissue series has been a great thing. The amount of care that has gone into every element has been incredible from Daniel Barassi's impressive work on the audio side of things to the faithful reproduction of the artwork. As we'll see in a while, an extra level of attention to detail has been paid in the Black Celebration boxset which, for people like me, is an absolute joy. There is a problem with the Black Celebration boxset however - it's not complete.

If the purpose of this reissue series is to rightly celebrate Depeche Mode's role as one of the first great innovators in 12" remixing, then the omission of the 12" singles for Shake The Disease and It's Called A Heart is a calamitous oversight that undermines the entire project. "Ah, but they're non album singles," the record company might say. "Neither of them featured on Black Celebration." That is of course true, however, if that is the argument, let's open up the Construction Time Again boxset and take a peek at the two 12" singles in there for Get The Balance Right.  What's odd about them? That's right. It's a single that did not feature on that album. The same point could easily be made about Dreaming Of Me's inclusion in the Speak & Spell boxset.  So the non album singles thing is very much a non starter.

Get The Balance Right is correctly tied into Construction Time Again because it was an important bridge between that album and A Broken Frame. It also features a hugely influential 12" remix and this whole project's purpose is a celebration of that format. Dreaming Of Me is of course very much tied to the Speak & Spell era so, again, its inclusion in that box made sense. For the same reasons then, Shake The Disease and It's Called A Heart surely have to feature here don't they? Shake The Disease is another hugely important Depeche single. As well as being nothing more than one of the most beautiful songs Martin has written, it also ended the band's pop phase and led us in to the dark, leather clad Berlin hammer wielding world  of Black Celebration. It is the very point that Depeche Mode became that thing that we all love. in 1985, two 12" singles were released. It is illogical to ignore them here. Similarly, It's Called A Heart's three 12" singles (the standard and double pack) should also feature here albeit that is only for reasons of logic and not of dark majesty. 

Basically, the omission of Shake The Disease and It's Called A Heart is a cock-up of epic proportions. And with that, we move to the boxsets.

Black Celebration - The 12" Singles Boxset

I'm not even going to attempt objectivity here - this boxset is a thing of quite staggering beauty. There is so much to love about this collection of singles and there are several fan pleasing highlights. For example, the cover of Stripped is embossed, just like the original issue of the record. That's superb. Also, the Limited Edition 12" of A Question Of Time features the Limited Edition sticker on the front, again just like the original issue. It would have been incredibly easy to simply have the words Limited Edition printed on the sleeve as happened with later pressings of the original 12", but the care taken in making these boxsets has extended even to these small details and that is a wonderful thing.

There is one real treat here and, for me, it's the highlight of the series so far. In 1986, A Question Of Lust was released on 7", 12" and a limited edition cassette single. That cassette singles came in a cardboard package and as the sleeve promised, contained a cassette, a badge and a booklet. Here it is both opened and unopened:

The ever resourceful West German label Intercord went one better, releasing a vinyl version of the cassette single in two versions - black vinyl and yellow vinyl. It only contained the booklet however. There was no badge.

It is therefore wonderful to find this version released on 12" for the first time ever in Britain contained within the new boxset. The attention to detail show in the packaging of it is exquisite. Here's the sleeve:

As with the West German release, it says "Special Edition Single 45rpm" at the top right. It also says "L12BONG11" below that. However, as you'll see, unlike the cassette single and the West German 12" there are no boxes ticked that indicate there is either a badge and booklet contained inside (the cassette single) or just a booklet (the West German 12"). What have they done with those then? Wel,, they've done something quite fantastic.

Firstly, the badge has been incorporated into the package as it has been used as the label on the b-side of the record. 

How cool is that? I know that it's probably wrong to get excited about things like this, but I make no apologies for it. The booklet is also here but not as a booklet. Instead, quite brilliantly, it has become the inner sleeve.

It's genius. A masterpiece of repackaging and attention to detail of a level far higher than I could have expected. Beautiful, beautiful work.

The records also feature remixes, b-sides and a couple of live tracks, but you all know them by now and there's no point in me droning on about them. All I will say is that the Stripped 12" is one of the greatest 12" singles released by anyone ever at any time on earth and a record collection without that record in it is being treated very shabbily indeed. The final point to note is the inclusion of a reproduction of the A Question Of Lust promotional poster.

Overall then, despite the ridiculous Shake The Disease/It's Called A Heart situation, this is the best boxset of the lot so far.

Music For The Masses - The 12" Singles Boxset

Just look at that. This collection of 12" singles was already a thing of beauty in its original format - the reissue has polished them up and turned them out splendidly. All the classics are there - Strangelove's orange loud speaker, Never Let Me Down Again's maps and speakers and Behind The Wheel's gorgeous matt sleeves, all sparse and ominous. If you want to get right into Depeche Mode dullard's corner, the labels are simply perfect. I mean, just look at this:

Perfection itself. It also helps that the towering megabeast that is the Split Mix is there too. God, Depeche Mode really were incredible back then. 

The addition of the Little 15 12" is a nice touch. Even though it was not really released as a single in Britain (well, it wasn't promoted at all), the French label released it, as did a few other countries in Europe, causing it to sell well on import here. From the point of view of making this series a comprehensive celebration of Depeche Mode's 12" history, it is only right that Little 15 features here. 

There's also a Strangelove poster reproduction which is cool. 

As with the Black Celebration boxset and indeed the four previous boxsets, this is another gorgeous package, lovingly put together and both boxsets featured in this review are a real treat. Yes they're expensive and, yes they contain something that most of us already have in many different formats, but as a celebration of Depeche Mode at a crucial period in their career, they are fantastic.

If only they'd given some thought to what they haven't put into them....

ARBITRARY DEPECHE MODE THINGS NO. 1 - THE TOP TEN 1980'S REMIXES

In an obvious attempt to pander to my core audience, welcome to the first in a series of no-one's yet quite sure how many pieces of what I'm calling Arbitrary Depeche Mode Things. Not the snappiest title I admit, but we're between albums, I've said all I can say about their discography (I still don't apologise for the Exciter post) and I need to write about what I actually know. So here we go: welcome to Arbitrary Depeche Mode Things No. 1 - The Top Ten 1980's Remixes

(all remixes chosen by me only. You may not agree. Knowing DM fans, you won't agree, I'll be horribly wrong and you'll run screaming to play The Things You Said on repeat to get over the shock but do bear in mind that this is all for fun. Sort of like Set Me Free (Remotivate Me) but good. Anyway, onwards...)

10. OBERKORN (IT'S A SMALL TOWN) - DEVELOPMENT MIX (1982)

Oberkorn is quite literally a small town, situated in South-West Luxembourg and with a population of only around 5,000 people. Depeche Mode's tourbus drove through there in the very early days and Martin was, presumably, so taken with it that he wrote a song all about it. It's the b-side to the horrific 1982 single The Meaning Of Love and is, unlike it's quite implausibly bad parent tune, an instrumental filled to the brim with dark synth sounds and haunting gothic melodies. The Construction Time Again foreshadowing Development Mix is a 7 minute 37 second imperious beast of experimental electronics that showed that Depeche Mode were far more than the pop tarts The Meaning Of Love showed them to be. Haunting, brooding and just bloody fantastic, Oberkorn (It's A Small Town) (Development Mix) is a hidden treasure in the early DM catalogue

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9. ROUTE 66 - BEATMASTERS MIX (1988)

The first time I properly noticed Depeche Mode was when I repeatedly watched the 101 video at a mate's house. Yes the main tunes were all magic and utterly transfixing, but the cover of Route 66, used as repeat motif throughout the film (hmmm...really?) stood out. An English electronic band covering a song about a big road in America sung by the wee guy that wears make up? Yes, yes indeed. As the imperious World Violation tour was copied by U2's Zoo TV tour, Depeche beat the Dubliners to the whole Rattle & Hum  thing by providing their own take on American music but, because they are Depeche Mode, they did it in a cool way, not a crap way. Route 66 was of course the b-side to the similarly car themed Behind The Wheel and 80's remix crowd The Beatmasters provide a sample filled but, frankly marvellous remix which deservedly makes this seemingly random top 10.




8. MASTER & SERVANT - SLAVERY WHIP MIX (1984)

Perhaps calling this remix the Slavery Whip Mix extended the whole chains, whips and general pervy but not actually that pervy thing too far, but that's easily forgiveable when you have a remix as good as this. As with most of the mixes here, the band did this and they take the 4 minute pop song and effortlessly turn it into a nine and half minute beast of a track. Drums smash, basslines go mental, whips crack and Depeche Mode go from pop to industrial in one fell swoop. It's a thumping belter of a track and what it lacks in subtlety is more than made up in its utterly unquestionable genius. PLUS - there's the odd acapella/double bass bit at the end which is just weird. It's a lot like life indeed.



7. JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH - SCHIZO MIX (1981)

Ah Just Can't Get Enough. The track everyone knows, the track many people think is the only thing Depeche ever did and the track you can no longer play in Glasgow without angering 50% of the people in the vicinity. The single is a landmark piece of prime, pristine, perfect synthpop, but the 12" mix, the Schizo Mix, is the real gem. Transformed from the simple single, this mix breathes new life (I didn't mean that) into the song, turning it into a brooding Kraftwerkian masterpiece that mixes experimentalism with early synthpop in a way that remains magical.



6. EVERYTHING COUNTS - IN LARGER AMOUNTS (1983)

Firstly, let's acknowledge the simple genius of the remix title. You all know the chorus ("Everything counts in large amounts") so it makes more sense than anything else has ever made to call this 12" version In Larger Amounts. It's genius. The mix itself is ridiculously good: the original song's noises get room to breathe, exposing every clunk, thump, metal scrape and odd flute thing (I still forget the name) for the marvels they are. Add to that extra electronics, sampled vocals that found their way into the live version ("The graph...The graph...The graph...The handshake) and you have something very special indeed. If Depeche Mode had stopped remixing their own tracks after this, they'd have been justified in doing so - it's perfect.




5. GET THE BALANCE RIGHT - COMBINATION MIX (1983)

Beyond acknowledging that Taylor Swift's 1989 is an unimpeachable pop classic, I have little interest in what clutters up the charts these days. I do know, however that someone sang relatively recently about something being all about "that bass." Whilst her musical adventures are misguided, she was right in that sense and this remix (don't worry, this is getting to the point) IS all about the bass. Bassline anyway. The band take a relatively ordinary and Martin Gore despised song and transform it into a club masterpiece that bewitched the likes of Derrick May and Juan Atkins and directly influenced their own highly influential music, remarkably enough. This remix gives the original song a power it simply doesn't ordinarily have. Superb.

(NB - Check out the lyrics. You may find the inspiration for this blog's name)



4. SHAKE THE DISEASE - REMIXED EXTENDED VERSION (1985)

It's a universally accepted truth that Shake The Disease is one of the greatest songs ever penned by anyone. This, surprisingly enough, remixed and extended version of the track takes you on an 8 minute 46 second journey that breaks your heart, rebuilds it, smacks some metal off a fence and then breaks your heart again. Titanic, metallic majesty.




3. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE - DIFFERENT MIX (1984)

Frankly, all that you need to know about this remix is that it sounds like a factory waking up with a hangover before it spends a day crushing metal

And that is a very, very good thing.



2. STRIPPED - HIGHLAND MIX (1986)

Stripped is a Depeche song that most people would agree is a classic, and it marks the band's transformation from pop mixed with experimental elements to the full on gloomy synth powered beast that would conquer the world. The whole Black Celebration period is exquisite and, as I've rather pretentiously said before, that album is effectively the manifesto for Depeche Mode fans. Stripped was the album's lead single and it's a perfect introduction to that album. This remix takes the track in a slightly different direction, stretching it and allowing its various parts to shine whilst adding a bagpipe like synth sound (hence the title) to kick it all off. Moodier and perhaps less immediate than the 7" version, the Highland Mix is however an absolute triumph filled with power and gothic angst. It's just what a 12" mix should be and still sounds brilliant.



1. NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN - SPLIT MIX (1987)

There can only be one winner here and the Split Mix of Never Let Me Down Again is it. A song that was already, and still is, among the best and most powerful in Depeche's catalogue is turned into an even more powerful beast. 9 minutes 31 seconds long, it starts with that orchestral sample part which instantly makes every hair on your and anyone else's body within a 10 mile radius stand on end. From then on, you are in heaven as the song you know smashes you around the head before being taken onto several greater levels as it builds to a shuddering climax. It's absolutely mindblowing and if you ever find yourself stuck on a desert island with the choice of only one Depeche Mode remix make it this. The second you start playing it the desert island will be scared into sailing itself towards land again. Powerful, mesmerising and irrefutably majestic, THIS is the best Depeche Mode remix of the 1980's




Thanks for bearing with me. If you disagree, why not tell me how wrong I am on the blog's Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/almostpredictablealmost ) or on Twitter (@almostprdalost)

DEPECHE MODE - IN SPIRIT I'LL BE THERE - THE SINGLES 81-85 & 1985

Having decided they needed time off, Depeche Mode chose not to release an album in 1985. Instead, they decided to bookmark the end of a hugely successful first five years with a singles compilation more of which in a bit. The band did release a new single, however, in the shape of the, at that point, stand alone single Shake The Disease which was released on 29 April 1985. Somehow or other the song only reached number 18 in the UK charts.

Number 18.

Just into the top 20.

Two of the top 10 biggest sellers in the UK that year were I Know Him So Well by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige and Frankie by Sister Sledge. Honestly, there should be some sort of trial where music buyers of 1985 are asked to justify why Shake The Disease was something they chose to ignore. There should be recriminations. Number 18 - madness.

Ranting aside (number 18? Really?) let's try and be objective about the song. Shake The Disease is a bloody brilliant song (bye objectivity...), lyrically, musically, and yes I'll say it even ..er...pictorially as the video itself was.....(drum roll)....NOT TOO BAD BY DEPECHE MODE STANDARDS! Ok, Martin looks really quite strange, Alan's hair is either half mad or brilliant depending on your views, Dave and Fletch are both blonde and someone tries to play a metal fence at one point but I don't care. It has everything that period Depeche should have. Brilliant metallic music, docks, metal, black leather and more metal. The song itself remains one of my favourite Depeche songs and at the time of its release was surely Martin's finest effort. It was played live up until the World Violation era (the version from that tour is well worth checking out) and then was resurrected by Martin on the last two tours as a hugely fantastic part of his solo set. The single came out on the two standard formats of the era - 7 inch (7BONG8 - left) and 12" (12BONG8 - right). The 7" was backed with a brand new b-side called Flexible which isn't great but does the job just fine. I often ask myself if it is indeed a sin to be flexible when the boat comes in purely as a result of having heard that song. I am yet to find the answer. The 12 " contained a princely two tracks - Shake The Disease (Remixed Extended Version) and Flexible (Remixed Extended version) both of which chose to lengthen and sonically re-arrange the 7 inch versions i.e they remixed and extended them. The remix of Shake The Disease is great and still one I play. The Flexible one isn't that good but again is ok. The Limited Edition 12" (L12BONG8) is a different beast entirely. It houses a whopping 4 tracks, is beautifully packaged (below) and really is a rather fantastic thing. Because I was a Violator era convert I had to play catch up with Depeche Mode and for some years this 12" was something of a holy grail for me. I eventually found it in the second hand section of One Up in Diamond Street, Aberdeen for £2.29. I was 20 at the time but when I found it, paid for it (Me - "I cant believe you're only charging £2.29 for this" Beyond Indifferent Assistant "Its only Depeche Mode mate") and left the shop I actually ran back to my flat to play it. I still would too. Anyway, the tracks - Shake The Disease (Edit The Shake), Master and Servant (Live), Flexible (Pre-Deportation Mix) and Something To Do (Metal Mix). The Shake The Disease mix is good, the live version of Master and Servant great to hear and the Flexible mix passable but the star here is the remix of Something To Do. It's abolutely fantastic albeit dont listen to it on headphones at a loud setting initially as the first 15 seconds will cause you some form of hearing loss. This remains one of the great Depeche Mode vinyl releases and I demand you all get it if you can. The German releases didn't let the side down either with a red 7" and a lovely black and white splatter vinyl of the standard 12 " and the same splatter vinyl for the L12". As with the UK release the star of the show is the release of the limited edition which in Germany came on cd. And it only got to number 18! My vinyl collection is pictured below

To show the UK record buying public that they were cloth eared buffoons the band decided to release another new song on 16 September 1985 to promote the forthcoming singles compilation. This song was going to be a huge smash that would entrance everyone who heard it giving the band their long overdue first number one. Due to an error at the pressing plant however, It's Called A Heart was released instead.

Or at least that's what I presume happened. Compared to Shake The Disease, It's Called A Heart is a baffling choice of single. The lyrics are shocking albeit medically accurate (a heart is inside the body and does indeed beat), the music's all clunky and a tad novelty and the video is nothing more than a horrorshow with voodoo people, an oddly tanned Dave and lots of running about in fields. I just dont get it. The song is even more baffling when one considers its b-side (7BONG9 - right) Fly On The Windscreen. This must rank as the band's best ever b-side and is a song so good that it popped up on Black Celebration, will feature on the new remix album and was played live in 1986 (AMAZING version - you have to find it), 1993 (the slower version which is still good) and 2009 (great apart from (1) the trumpet sound which is a bit Bontempi and (2) the fact they dropped it from the set before I saw the tour). It's 1000000 times the song It's Called a Heart is. My version of the 7" comes with a poster - I dont know if all versions did and would be delighted of someone could let me know. (EDIT - not all versions came with a poster) The 12" version (12BONG9 - left) added an extended version of both tracks both of which are absolutely fine and it could be said that the extended version of the lead track improves it somewhat. I should say that for all my badmouthing it, the live version of It's Called a Heart from the Black Celebration tour is pretty good too. Instead of an L12 this time the band upped the stakes somewhat and issued a D12 - not an early version of Eminem's chums but a double pack 12" featuring two 12" singles. As the label on the record said it was a Special Limted Edition Twin Set and it was to retail for no more than £2.99. Tell that to ebay. This bumper pack of fun (D12BONG9 - right) featured four tracks - the two Extended versions from the normal 12", the fantastic Death Mix of Fly On The Windscreen (set to feature on the new remix album) and the horror show war crime of It's Called A Heart (Slow Mix). It was a slower version of the title track akin to when you play a 45 rpm record at 33rpm but nowhere near that good. Honestly lads (if you're reading this (which I doubt) (but if you are I hope you like it)) what were you thinking. Alan is on record as saying he cant stand this version and I agree entirely. The German editions here are the red 7", a lovely blue vinyl 12" and a cd version of the double pack albeit with only one cd.

A final point to note about It's Called A Heart is that it reached number 18 in the UK charts. The same as Shake The Disease. I give up.

As I mentioned above the band chose to release a Singles compilation in 1985 mysteriously called The Singles 81-85. This smashed its way onto record and cassette players and into the charts on 15 October 1985 (MUTEL1 and CMUTEL1) reaching number 6. It takes all the singles from Dreaming Of Me, slaps them in chronological order and lays the first few years of Depeche on a plate for your listening pleasure. The sleeve is an absolute disaster, as we can see to the right. There are many things I love about Depeche Mode but I really must question their decision making in the early years. Did they actually see this cover before agreeing to it? The inner notes of the album are a nice touch as they take a bad review and a good review of each song which makes for a fairly amusing read. There are also a load of photos on the gatefold sleeve of the vinyl which I guess must be from the band's personal collections. It really is a top notch compilation which shows the progesstion the band made in only 5 years. The vinyl excludes The Meaning of Love (hoorah!) and Somebody (boo!). There is also a German grey vinyl version. The cd version came out later in the 80's and then the whole thing was reissued and repackaged to misquote Morrissey on 26 October 1998 (left) to tie in with the later singles package. The tracklisting was the same with the addition of Just Cant Get Enough (Schizo Mix) and Photographic (Some Bizarre Version). Get it for the latter track alone. This was a song that featured on the legendary Some Bizarre album and until this release was only available there. The reissued album was available on LP, cassette, CD and MiniDisc.

The Singles 81-85 represented the end of Chapter 1 of Depeche Mode. Filled with highs (Shake The Disease, Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward) and lows (The Meaning Of Love, It's Called A Heart) the band's first five years had seen them gradually grow in popularity globally whilst perplexingly losing support at home. The next few years saw them explode worldwide, the key to which was the classic Black Celebration album which we'll look at in a few days.