DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 17: A QUESTION OF LUST

As Depeche Mode embarked upon their first full UK arena tour, a new single appeared. Like Somebody, this song featured Martin on vocals and, as we'll see, Dave was once again relegated to a Bez like role in the video.

A Question Of Lust would see the band fail to make an impact on the charts, release a single on a new format (Depeche Mode) and give us all the chance to almost see Martin naked.

What more could you want eh? Oh yes - Alan kissing someone on the cover of the single. Is it Alan though? Would anyone care? This is Depeche Mode - of course people cared. All this and more, though not in the Martin sense, will be revealed below.

ALL OF THESE THINGS AND MORE - A QUESTION OF LUST

The Single

With unrestrained enthusiasm, the top of the third page of the April 1986 Depeche Mode Information Service newsletter said NEW RELEASE. It went on to list the tracks that would appear on the new single A Question Of Lust which was due to come out on 14th April. As with Stripped, BONG11 would appear on 7" and 12" and, repeating the Stripped trick, the 12" would be a 5 track affair though the running time was sadly omitted from the announcement. 

Reviews of the single were relatively positive. Smash Hits said:

"With a "provocative" word in the title and a couple snogging on the cover, one would expect this record to be at least slightly "steamesque" and pervy. But no. They don't take any of their clothes off at all! Once the black electro clanks of the intro have settled down, we are presented with a floating, melancholic tune and a wheezing, breathy voice that's singing about "love" not "lust" (a word employed solely to rhyme with "trust" and "dust"). Moody and pretty but entirely saucefree. What a swindle!"

Nunber 1 Magazine were fans too:

"On first hearing, this sounds like it should never have been released as a single, but a few plays later and the first fully fledged DM ballad really begins to have an effect. It's a s-l-o-w, hauting track, mournful without being depressing and more proof of their increasing maturity. A nice twist to all the usual love songs, too. 4 stars"

David Quantick at Melody Maker got it all so very wrong though, even down to the identity of the singer:

"Like unwilling bedfellows thrown together by sheer happenstance, Depeche Mode and yours truly meet for the third time on the singles page. Each successive release convinces me afresh that the only factor impeding this groups' ascent to ultrastardom is the unrelenting glumness of singer Dave Gahan. A less oafish reviewer would recognise his juiceless tones for the affirmation of his sensitivity they obviously are; I hear a pretty good song, which incorporates the swelling grandiosity of Godley and Creme's "Cry", rendered stultifying by Gahan's pallid murmer."

Sounds seemed to suggest Depeche Mode's best days had passed:

"After a series of, shall we say, disappointing singles, the Deps have wheeled out a more moody, atmospheric track than many of late. While their golden period seems to have vanished in the haze, this shows that at least their emotion hasn't deserted them too. Walks along the towpath of your auditory canal rather nicely, yet sadly never releases the floodgates."

The Deps indeed. 

Despite the fact the band were actually in Britain when the single was released, they didn't appear on Top Of The Pops perhaps due to the song entering at a lowly number 29. The next week it sprang up the charts to 28 from where it fell to 30, 41 and then 71 before the charts make the stupid mistake of letting it go (if you know what I mean). This was their lowest chart placing since Dreaming Of Me.

We have no Top Of The Pops to laugh at so instead, let's zip forward to the 23rd of July and this birthday cake fuelled performance on Japanese TV show Yoru No Hit Studio Deluxe.

There's a lot to take in here. The band's introduction at one minute or so in is sensational. A group of Japanese women applaud them as they descend the stairs to an incredibly jaunty studio band version of A Question Of Lust. I wish, no I demand, that this version is used on the next tour. Once they finally appear, Martin, who is naturally wearing some sort of bondage thing and a pair of handcuffs, is presented with a bouquet of flowers what with it being his birthday. Sartorially, the rest are dressed as you'd expect with Alan having a fairly low leather percentage of around 46%. 

At two minutes in, a birthday cake is wheeled out and a visibly embarrassed and perhaps slightly refreshed Martin looks on. Fletch finds the whole thing hilarious and rightly so knocking Martin's hat over his head at one point and then lifting him up at the end as Alan kisses our birthday boy. Inexplicably, Martin takes a few steps back and then runs at the cake to blow the candles out. He's only wee so that fails. Dave, being the responsible lead singer, takes control and quietly deals with the remaining candles. By this stage, no-one seems to know what is going on. It's not the See You chicken episode by any means, but it's very odd.

There's then an interview which seems to amuse Fletch greatly. The song finally begins with Dave on drums and Martin sings, dancing as if he really, really, needs to go for a pee. Alan batters away on a set of metal pipes from time to time and Fletch plays his keyboards enthusiastically.

It's a unique Depeche Mode moment and one well worth watching. Thanks to Moto for the upload. Do check out his other Depeche videos too by the way.

A Question Of Lust may not have lit up the charts, but it's become a live favourite. It's been performed 402 time initially featuring on every date of both the Black Celebration and Music For The Masses tours. It returned in 1993 and 1994 before appearing in varying degrees on all subsequent tours with the exception of the Exciter tour. The 101 version remains a favourite of mine just in case that sort of information is of any use to you.

The B-Side is yet another Martin and Alan co-write. Christmas Island is a remixed version of the Slade classic Merry Christmas Everybody with Fletch on vocals and Dave on lead guitar. Alternatively, and actually, it is a quite marvellous booming instrumental full of the sort of satisfying noises Depeche Mode specialised in around that time. This was the song that was the Pimpf of the Black Celebration tour and the tape was started with that 74 times. It's not featured live since, not even at gigs around Christmas time when its festive....oh wait. Never mind.

The Video

In an era where videos were becoming almost as important as anything else when it came to selling singles, you needed to make an impression. Oafish bands like Duran Duran would spend ridiculous sums on videos like Wild Boys for example, though that was no doubt more to distract you from the sheer horror of the music. With A Question Of Lust, Depeche Mode chose to make an impression by showing a drunk, naked Martin standing on a table while his bandmates attempt to once again get him to put his clothes on. Only the head of security man Andre, some well placed postcards and a bouncing Fletch stop us from seeing Little Martin. Thank you Andre and co. Martin then leaps onto Fletch's back and everyone tries to move on from there.

The pissed up nude message is perhaps inspired by the "I need to drink more than you seem to think" line in the song but as the next line doesn't say "Before I get my kit off again in a club, yes I know I said I wouldn't do that again, this IS the last time honestly" that's unlikely.  I wonder how many times a naked Martin jumped onto Fletch's back on the Black Celebration tour? As there were 76 dates, I reckon at least 77 times, if you include the post rehearsal piss up that inevitably happened. 

From there, the vocals kick in and we see a contrite Martin pretending none of the night before happened. Dave Bez Gahan then appears, slapping away on a tambourine as Martin croons in the background and then all of a sudden....

We are on-stage! The glorious Black Celebration tour set appears as Martin sings the chorus and Alan bangs away on that odd metal sun thing quite marvellously. Martin is very conservatively dressed which is oddly disappointing. The camera reveals a crowd and so, we have an actual filmed in front of a live audience video on the go. It was filmed at the band's April 2nd gig at the RDS in Dublin and the outdoor shots of Dave "Tambourine" Gahan were filmed the following day south of Dublin. 

We get a few tantalising glimpses of actual tour footage and then we're outside again for the next verse with Dave and Martin now joined by Alan (76% leather, hair medium to high) playing some metal xylophone thing with hammers naturally. He is then seen hitting a drum before we return to the RDS and the live set up.

It continues to veer between outdoor and indoor shots from there really. We see Dave with a drum, Alan playing some bottles and Fletch playing a xylophone in the most aggressive way anyone has ever approached that instrument. 

Just when you think it's done, the Basildon Boyzone reappear, this time joined by Dave. All four members stand in a line ringing bells and it's really very, very odd.  It does eventually end, on a shot of Dave in front of a rapturous Dublin crowd.

It's not the band's best video but by far from the worst. The tour footage is what saves it here.

The Formats

7BONG11 features the two tracks we mentioned earlier. The sleeve photo shows a couple kissing and one German fan was enraged, contacting German magazine Bravo to ask why this woman had been allowed to kiss Alan. Happily for her, the magazine did some pre-internet detective work and found it that it was a bloke called Gary who was embracing the woman (called Nikki incidentally). Whether Gary had a high hairdo and wore nothing but leather clothes from 1984-1988 was not confirmed.

The rear sleeve shows the band on the stairs at Hansa Studios. I've been there and recreated that and most, if not all, of you who are reading this and have been to Hansa have done the same. Quite right too. The labels of the 7" are lovely with their big fat lettering and the logo appearing on the front and on the A on the A-Side label is one of the Black Celebration cover logos. The one with the arrow pointing to the explosion. I have no idea how that relates to lust or indeed questions about lust.

As I mentioned earlier, 12BONG11 is a 5 track affair. Side A (above) features the single version of A Question Of Lust and Christmas Island (Extended). As you might expect it's a longer, remixed version of the B-Side and very enjoyable it is too.

The B-Side artwork shows Nikki pulling away from Gary's embrace having just learned that he is only in fact an Alan Wilder impersonator. She had noticed that his socks weren't leather and quickly worked it out. There are three tracks on the B-Side. Firstly, a live version of People Are People from 30th November 1984 in Basle which is rather nice and that's followed by another Depecheoke special, an instrumental of It Doesn't Matter Two. I don't know how many times I've sung along with that. Finally, we have the Minimal mix of A Question Of Lust by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones. 

This advert appeared - what on earth was going on? All of a sudden, Depeche Mode had released a new format - the cassette single. Cassette singles weren't new of course. They'd been around for a while but at that point in time, they were fairly rare. The idea with a cassette single was that you could slip it in your pocket to pop into your Walkman. Never afraid to take on logic, Depeche released theirs in a packet slightly larger than a 7" single and stuck a booklet and a badge in too.

It's a really nice package. The front of CBONG11 features a checklist that confirms your cassette, booklet and badge are contained inside and it lists the tracks you're about to listen to. It also confirms that this is a limited edition. Side A features the wonderful Flood Mix of A Question Of Lust and Christmas Island. It should have been called Minimal Mix. Apparently Mute forgot to send him all the multi-track tapes so half of the single's sounds are missed off as he didn't have access to them in the first place. The "Full Colour 5 Page Booklet"  features photos of our heroes relaxing and Martin is of course naked from the waist up. The badge is a nice touch too, a question mark with the word Lust imposed over it. Finally, the lyrics to all five songs on the cassette (well four really - Christmas Island and all that) also feature.

Yes, I have an opened one and a sealed one. What else did you expect? The pack is sealed with magical dM sticker which I ruined first time round when I was just a normal fan and not the oddball I now am collecting a stack of things I never play. The rear of the booklet is displayed above, The 3 tracks on the B-Side were all recorded live in Basle on 30th November 1984 - Shame, If You Want and Blasphemous Rumours. They are all ace.

Brilliantly, the Black Celebration 12" Singles box turned this cassette single into a 12". It is a magical thing and I wrote about it and photographed it here - click.

The single was given a digital overhaul in 1991 of course. It only features the 7" and 12" tracks.

Did the Germans give us any coloured vinyl? Of course they did. First up, we have the red 7"

You know how it goes - same tracks as 7BONG11

The coloured vinyl version of 12BONG11 is another marbled vinyl.

The same tracks as feature on 12BONG11 populate its marbled goodness.

There was no cassette single in Germany but who needs a cassette single when you can have this outrageous yellow vinyl version? It is an absolute stunner. As the checklist on the front confirms, and as you can see yourself, it includes a booklet. They clearly didn't feel the need to indicate that it also included the record. There is no badge however.

It features the same five tracks as CBONG11 with the A-Sides on the A-Side and the B-Sides right where you'd expect them. It's fairly hard to get hold of now and it'll set you back at least £120 on Discogs,

The blue stripe CD features the 12BONG11 tracks.

The French CD single was highly sought after for many years as, until 2004, it was the only place you could get your hands on a digital version of the Flood Mix. Even today it is still pricey - there is one currently on Discogs for £74 or so. 

A Japanese 7" is available in standard and promo form, The standard one is pictured. It has a shiny inseet which shows the 7BONG11 front and back pictures on one side.

The other side features the lyrics and a picture of the birthday boy and his bandmates.

The single was only released on 7" in the US, though this promo 12" featuring an edited version of a Robert Margouleff remix appeared. A Question Of Lust then featured as half of a 12" when A Question Of Time was released in the US.

This is the rear of that 12". The only track it features from this single release is the Minimal mix of A Question Of Lust, wrongly named Extended Version here.

A Question Of Lust is an odd one really. It's a superb song but failed as a single. It had a nice new format and excellent tracks across all releases and has ultimately proved very collectible. It's turned into a much loved live song and it's one of my, many people's, favourite Martin sung songs. 

This video was something of a landmark though. No, not because we nearly saw Martin's tadger, but because it was the last time for a long time that the band used anyone other than one director.

Enter Anton Corbijn. Next time, we'll have a look at A Question Of Time, the point that Depeche Mode suddenly gained visual credibility.

The usual videos section is about to get a lot shorter.

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....

DEPECHE MODE MUESO PART 1 - EVERYTHING COUNTS LIVE LIMITED EDITION FILOFAX PACK LCDBONG16

The Spanish word museo means museum in English and, like far too many things in my life, I discovered that word via Depeche Mode. It appears in the video for Pimpf, as you can see above, where the lads are having a wonderful time, laughing and enjoying another Anton Corbijn videoshoot. Anyway, the idea of a Depeche Mode museum is something that appeals to me and, if you've read this blog for a while, no doubt you too, so this is my attempt at it. Kind of. 

Every so often I'm going to write a blog that has a look at unusual releases in the Depeche catalogue. Some are rare, some stupidly rare and others fairly standard, but overall hopefully interesting. I know that when I started collecting DM items, I always loved looking at photos of what I still had to collect and that's still true now even though my collection has grown somewhat in the last few years. Other people seem to like that sort of thing too, hence the Depeche Mode Museo series. 

1. EVERYTHING COUNTS LIVE - LIMITED EDITION FILOFAX PACK LCDBONG16

LCDBONG16 front

Ah the 1980's. During that decade, Britain was ruled by a tyrannical beast named Margaret Thatcher whose hobbies included crushing the working class, closing or selling off most forms of traditional British industry and inspiring a culture of greed which resulted in the emergence of a group of people known as "yuppies." Primarily, they were young, increasingly wealthy city workers who wore red braces, drank champagne and generally acted offensively as many parts of the country suffered under the rule of Thatcher. One thing they were noted for was their use of Filofaxes which were essentially diaries with mini ring binders in them allowing you to store all manner of things from the address of your coke dealer to the price of rare champagne. 

Never ones to be blind to a trend, Depeche Mode released a bewildering limited edition remix cd pack as part of the Everything Counts (Live) release known as a Filofax pack. As you can see from the pictures, the release complete complete with holes, if that's not a contradiction in terms, allowing you to safely pop it into your Filofax. Quite why anyone would want to do this is beyond me. Perhaps it would make sense to do that if you'd just bought the Filofax pack and you wanted to keep it safe until you got home? I really don't know.

LCDBONG16 rear

The Filofax pack came with a 3" cd containing three rather excellent, brand new remixes of Everything Counts, Nothing and Strangelove. As you can see, that cd was housed in the lower of the two slots on the rear of the release. The upper slot was there to hold the standard release 3" cd on which you'll find live versions of Everything Counts, Nothing, Sacred and A Question Of Lust all of which were of course recorded at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on 18 June 1988. My version of the standard cd (CDBONG16) remains in its own case, as I've never quite felt the need to add it to my Filofax pack. Getting the LCDBONG16 out of its cardboard home is tricky enough as the pack isn't what you'd call robust and I'd rather preserve it than damage it.

LCDBONG16

Ultimately, the Filofax pack is a nice, quirky release. I've done a lot of looking but can only find one other Filofax release, Wire's Silk Skin Paws (https://www.discogs.com/Wire-Silk-Skin-Paws/release/309818). Interestingly, that was also on Mute. It seems someone at the label must have had a problem involving love of a Filofax and storage of cd's and this was their solution.

Given that LCDBONG16 was a limited edition release, finding a copy now is pretty tricky, especially if you want a copy in mint condition. At the time of writing this, Discogs have four for sale starting at £58 (https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/59504?ev=rb) but none of them seem to be in mint condition. As you can see above, mine has a few creases but overall it's in decent shape. 

On the wonderful depmod.com, there is some debate as to whether or not a few LCDBONG16's were released in a card sleeve alone i.e. not as part of the Filofax thing and without holes. Most people say no, but some say yes. Even when photos of this apparent release are produced, it's generally thought that the package has been skillfully cut from the Filofax pack. I've never seen any version of LCDBONG16 other than the Filofax pack, so I think a separate LCDBONG16 card sleeve release is unlikely. If you have it though, and if it's definitely not harvested from the Filofax pack, do let me know.

So there we are. The Depeche Mode Museo is officially open and the first artefact is the curious, almost pointless, but ultimately lovely Filofax pack. The next addition to the Museo will be along soon..

THE BLACK CELEBRATION ERA RARITIES

As you will have seen I've mentioned in earlier posts, there were a number of rare Black Celebration era releases that were limited and are fairly hard to find these days. Below, I've picked a top 11 of the releases I own to show you, as I know that some people reading this may only have one or two of these things at the most and, as I always enjoyed seeing pictures of things Depeche related, I hope you might too.  I think the rarest thing you'll see here is either the Stripped promo or the West German Stripped white vinyl 12". As I've only included things I own, there are none of the wonderful Japanese releases from the era, nor is there the near impossible to find French A Question Of Lust cd single or the slightly easier to find French A Question Of Time numbered cd single. 

All these photos are from my collection - to see more, and indeed, better pictures of all this era's releases, head to depmod.com, Depeche Mode Classic Photos and Videos or pick up the unbeatable Monument book which covers every conceivable angle Depeche release wise. If you don't know what Monument is, you should put this blog down, head to the Facebook page devoted to the book (https://www.facebook.com/DepecheModeMonument/?fref=ts) and grab yourself a copy. The Black Celebration section should be your first stop to keep with the current theme. There, you'll find all you could ever want to know about that era's records, cd's and much more. The book is written by Dennis Burmeister and Sascha Lange and Dennis took the time to answer a few questions about Black Celebration.

APA: What is your favourite rarity from the Black Celebration period?

DB: Well... I would say the award (gold) for more than 250,000 sales in Germany

APA: Do you know why Intercord chose to release two different coloured vinyl 12" singles for Stripped?

DB: These two nice 12" singles were released in 1987 as part of the so called "The Colour Collection," a special sales campaign by the German label Intercord. I don't know why two were released for Stripped.

APA: Does anyone know how many copies of each coloured 12" single were released?

DB: No. I don't think anyone could accurately provide that information after all these years.

APA: What do you think is the rarest Black Celebration era item? Is it perhaps the white vinyl Stripped 12" or one of the Japanese releases?

DB: It took me a long time to find RRBONG10, a stamped white label 12" promo for Stripped which was released in very limited quantities. I've actually seen the white vinyl 12" quite a few times. 

APA: Looking at Black Celebration itself, how important was that for the band in Germany? Did it make them even bigger than they were after Some Great Reward?

DB: I'm not sure, because People Are People was a huge hit in 1984. Black Celebration saw their status grow though, as they were now international pop stars from the U.K.

APA: Finally Dennis, what's your favourite track from Black Celebration?

DB: Definitely A Question Of Time. This track really had a big impact on me. There was this television show called Ronny's Pop Show, a programme that featured a speaking monkey! It was on that show that I first saw the video for A Question Of Time. That was in 1986 and it was one of my first lightbulb moments!

Thanks very much to Dennis for the interview. The English language version of Monument is still available on Amazon and there are releases in a host of languages, the most recent being the Czech language version. I can't recommend the book highly enough.

You've heard from a true Depeche expert, now it's my turn. Here are my top 11 Black Celebration rare releases (note to Mode pedants - I left out the red vinyl 7" singles from West Germany to keep this as short as possible):

1. DRESSED IN BLACK (PRE RELEASE VERSION)

On 8 February 1986, U.K. music magazine Record Mirror gave away a free 7" e.p. featuring four exclusive tracks, one of which was a pre-release version of the then unheard Dressed In Black. It doesn't differ hugely from the album version but is a bit rawer and has fewer sounds. This 7" isn't too tricky to find and, if you want it, you can get it for as little as 40p on Discogs

https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-RM-EP/release/222823

2. STRIPPED - 12" PROMO RRBONG10

This is a two track 12" sent out to promote Stripped. It features two tracks - the Highland Mix of Stripped and Breathing In Fumes. The label is stamped by a specially made rubber stamp. The promo sheet that went out with it said that Breathing In Fumes was "an aggressive dance track" and "a much better dance prospect" than the Highland Mix of Stripped.  How does one aggressively dance to Breathing In Fumes? As Dennis mentioned above, this is a rare one.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-Stripped/release/1403622

3. STRIPPED - BLUE VINYL 12" INT 126.835

This is one of the loveliest coloured vinyl releases from the band's West German label Intercord's coloured vinyl campaign in 1987. It features the same tracks as the U.K. 12" and looks stunning spinning around on your record player.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-Stripped/release/1094644

4. STRIPPED - WHITE VINYL 12" INT 126.835 

As above really, but white. Oh yes and incredibly hard to find. Ridiculously so in fact. Along with the grey 12" of Just Can't Get Enough, this one drives Depeche completists mental.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-Stripped/release/1094661

5. A QUESTION OF LUST CASSETTE SINGLE  CBONG 11

I've mentioned this one already in the A Question Of Lust piece, and really, these pictures don't do it full justice. It's all there though - badge, booklet, cassette and dreadful band pictures in which they all look hugely hungover. 

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Lust/release/56295

6. A QUESTION OF LUST BLACK AND WHITE MARBLED 12" INT 126.841

Some say grey marbled, I say black and white marbled. Again, this is from Intercord's 1987 coloured vinyl campaign and it's another beauty. All coloured vinyl is really isn't it? It has the same 5 tracks as the standard U.K. 12"

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Lust/release/1074010

7. A QUESTION OF LUST YELLOW VINYL 12" INT 126.844

Those West Germans weren't daft. They may not have got the cassette single, but Intercord instead came up with this version. Same tracks, same booklet but no badge which seems incredibly harsh. The checklist on the front is there too but it just says "Including Booklet" which really rams the no tape and no badge point home. The record is a cracker though - playing it is like having a huge rotating sun singing to you about lust. Lovely.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Lust/release/1094569

8. A QUESTION OF TIME - UK 12" PROMO L12BONG12

This is a numbered 12" promo for the L12 release featuring the same tracks as that record. This one isn't too hard to track down. There is also a stamped 12" promo for the normal 12" release but I haven't got my hands on that yet. I did have it lined up the other week, but the seller emailed me to say that his son had "wrecked" the record as he was readying it for posting. Highly implausible nonsense. I'll get it though.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Time/release/1276163

9. A QUESTION OF TIME BLACK AND WHITE MARBLED 12" INT 126.850

Again, some say grey marbled, but what are you going to do. Intercord strike again with a release that is hypnotising to watch spin round and round and round. Same tracks as the U.K. 12"

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Time/release/1094589

10. A QUESTION OF TIME GREY VINYL 12" INT 126.853

The U.K. Limited Edition 12" tracks appear on this slab of greyness that is actually quite beautiful in a way. Intercord again, but you know that by now.

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-A-Question-Of-Time/release/1276180

11. BLACK CELEBRATION GREY VINYL LP INT 146.818

I had to make the list 11 entries long as I'd forgotten about this. None of this would be happening without the actual album, so it has to go in here. Grey vinyl again and it's a lovely thing

Discogs link https://www.discogs.com/Depeche-Mode-Black-Celebration/release/337922

To conclude then, these are my top 11 Black Celebration era releases. Not the biggest haul of rarities in the world, but I hope that you enjoyed having a look. It's the sort of thing I enjoy and, given that I'm what you'd probably call a typical Depeche Mode fan, I'm sure you enjoyed it too.