Over the last few weeks I've had a look back at Depeche Mode's first fourteen singles. It was a remarkable period for the band really - sudden success, Vince leaving, Martin taking over the song writing, Alan joining, pop music mixing with industrial sounds and sampling and much more left the band on the cusp of global success. While their home country may have been losing interest, Europe was very interested indeed and America had finally taken notice.
Tired after their 1985 tour, the band briefly paused and releaesd The Singles 81-85, later renamed Catching Up With Depeche Mode in North America when it was given a different tracklist just to confuse matters.
They didn't stop for long however and late in 1985 Martin started work on and presented his first demos for new material to the band. The first taste the public got of that work was when Stripped was released on 10th February 1986.
Happily, as I am writing this on 5th February 2021, that means Stripped is 35 years old next week and as that is the next instalment of the singles reviews project, I'll post that as a birthday present to the great tune. Until then, here are links to the first fourteen reviews all of which form The Singles 81-85.
Shake The Disease showed the world that there was a new Depeche Mode sound, a darker, glorious one that would go define the band's next few albums. It was a fine way to round off the first stage of their career and the decision to release The Singles 81-85 made sense as it provided a nice conclusion to that first stage.
Shake The Disease wasn't the only new track on that album however. Following the conclusion of their 1985 festival dates, the band recorded a couple of new tracks this time with Daniel producing alone as Gareth Jones had heard the demo of It's Call...sorry...was busy. One of these new tracks would carry on Shake The Disease's work by honing the new Depeche Mode sound further and focussing primarily on death.
The other was perplexingly chosen as the next single. It features a double 12" with a controversial remix, a terrible video and is not actually that good. If that hasn't whetted your appetite, I don't know what will. This is It's Called A Heart.
THERE'S A LOT OT BE LEARNED - IT'S CALLED A HEART
The Single
The Depeche Mode Information Service Newsletter of August 1985 announced that a new single was to be released on 16th September. The same issue promised a surprise too, saying with grammatical unhappiness "Keep your eye open for some surprises a few weeks after it's release too!" We'll come to the surprises shortly.
Let's be frank at this point. It's Called A Heart is not Depeche Mode's worst single - that is Hole To Feed, it is NEVER anything else - but it's not far from it. It's a poor song, especially by comparison to the previous few singles, and it's hard to disagree with Alan when he says that the song was "a backwards step" and that it was "an ultra-poppy number that did nothing for (DM's) reputation." On the Black Celebration re-issue DVD, Martin pointed out that the song was his "least favourite track that we've ever recorded" though that did predate Hole To Feed.
Having been released on 16th September, the song (BONG9) entered the UK charts on at number 21 on 28th September and the boys opened the 26th September edition of Top Of The Pops as you can see above. It's an odd performance in many respects including the fact that Martin is fully clothed. The set is replete with many of the, erm, tribal things that feature in the car crash of a video and Martin even plays some sort of vertical xylophone thing that doesn nothing at all to add anything to the performance. Where are the hammers and bits of metal? Why is Alan not 100% leather? Why has Fletch got a tiny gong? If you're going for a gong, surely you go for a big gong?
This oddball performance did see the song climb the charts however and it soared to number 18 the next week before dropping to 36, 53 and then, having been in the charts only on loan, fell out of the top 75.
By the way - number 18. That's the same number Shake The Disease reached. Remarkable.
There are good things about It's Called A Heart of course. It's a jaunty enough pop number, but Depeche Mode hadn't done that sort of thing since A Broken Frame. It has some pleasing noises ( I love that "simo-yes" noise for example) in it and, as ever, an eminently hummable melody, but where's the inventive spark that Depeche Mode were adding to every song they released at that stage? It does feel like a backward step, especially after two ground-breaking albums in Construction Time Again and Some Great Reward. The song was played at every date on the Black Celebration tour and the live version is far superior to the 7" version and much more in line with the really rather good Extended mix which we'll come onto. Check dmlive.wiki's Black Celebration tour page to hear some very good recordings of it.
The B-Side was of course Fly On The Windscreen. Again, let's not beat about the bush here - it's the superior song of the two. Alan claims he was outvoted when talk turned to which one of the two should form the A-side and it seems the label were reluctant to include a song that featured the word "death" so prominently. That argument is somewhat watered down when you consider the previous single actually had the word "Disease" in the title.
This blog series is not about the B-Sides however (don't worry - that's bound to come at some point) so we'll leave Fly On The Windscreen there. It has been played live an impressive 221 times making it probably the band's most played B-Side though I know that most of you are currently frothing at the mouth screaming "It's from Black Celebration - look I have the tracklist tattooed on my thigh beside several pictures of someone who looks in no way at all like Dave." I know that but this is a singles blog after all, it did first appear as a B-side and I make the rules. So there.
Finally, neither It's Called A Heart or Shake The Disease featured in the Black Celebration The 12" Singles boxset which makes no sense at all especially when they featured on the Black Celebration reissue and DVD. There's no place this point actually fits in this blog so it's going here. Not including them was a stupid decision.
The Video
Oh for f**ks sake.
Firstly, this video was filmed outside Reading, in England, The lyrics somehow inspired director Peter Care to imagine an Indonesian jungle scene and that's what we open on. A lake, some flames and a sense of quickly deepening dread. We're only four seconds in.
We eventually crawl to shore and then see all four members of Depeche Mode walking through a cornfield led by a singing Dave who Alan is doing his very best to hide behind. If the song had been called It's Called A Cob, and let's face it, it may as well have been, that would have worked. Alternatively, if they'd crawled through a field of artichokes (do they grown in fields? I have no idea), then fine. Corn though - nonsensical. I'm not even sure it grows that near water or in Indonesia. I'm actually surprised it grows in Reading. Anyway, I can't stall any longer - back to the video.
We see Alan banging away on a drum looking very serious in between shots of the walking Mode and it's at this point that some order is restored as we note that Martin is not wearing atop. A leather coat, a dress of some sort and a cowboy hat yes, but no top. Phew. Fletch starts banging a leather cymbal of some sort and Martin plays a lower down version of the Top of The Pops xylophone and you start wondering if this is all a badly directed dream. There's then a bit where Dave is singing and getting followed by the band holding up what I'm going to call lit up voodoo heads and at that exact point, I realise that I'm yearning for the serious art of the Leave In Silence video.
This tripe carries on until we see a small TV playing some odd tribal footage. That's a TV in the "jungle" by the way, a place not known for its electricity supplies. We also see the band mucking around in what is now daylight throwing something to each other. It's bloody ridiculous.
From here, assuming there is any hill left, it goes down it. More TV's, angry wooden voodoo people, presumably annoyed because they'd been told this was actually the A-side, Alan and Andy blowing into something in one of those "here's what we sampled" moments that is clearly a lie.
It mercifully ends but not before the baffling words "Filmed entirely on location in Japan" appear. What? Of course it wasn't. Perhaps I'm the only person that's ever made it to the end of the video and am therefore the first person ever to see that. Someone have a look please. Perhaps I'm now in a coma having watched that video and am imagining things.
This is a very bad video.
The Formats
7BONG9 was available in two different ways. Firstly there was a standard 7" as we see above. The Shake The Disease hairy man has returned and while he may have outrun the turtle chasing him on the rear sleeve of 12BONG8, he's now being eaten by a big pink swan thing. Life is hard.
The B-side art is just feathers. What is nice about this release is the labels. They are really cool.
Keen eyed viewers who observed the poster earlier in the article and Depeche Mode collector nerds (hello fellow nerds) already know the other 7" variation. For those who are still asking (1) why they are reading this and (2) what variation, here it is. Early versions came with a poster and that poster showed the cover photo from the forthcoming The Singles 81-85 showing Martin's left nipple in all its, erm, glory.
12BONG9 is a two track affair with both songs from the 7" version presented in Extended form. The Extended remix of It's Called A Heart is fantastic and very much a hidden gem. Do check it out. The cover art appears to show Mr Hairy either dancing or being attacked by a neon snake.
The Extended mix of Fly On The Windscreen is a really good remix as well. The jiving swan beast on the rear sleeve clearly agrees.
Do you remember the Depeche Mode Information Service newsletter telling you to keep your "eye open" for a surprise (what was the other eye doing?)? Well here it is - the band's first ever double 12", D12BONG9. They wouldn't repeat this trick again until the Fragile Tension/Hole To Feed doubler so, if there's a lot be learned from this, it's double 12" = shoddy single. The front cover shows the jiving swan from the rear of the 12" chasing our hairy friend and above the swan it says "Special Limited Edition Twin Set Costing No More Than Two Pounds & Ninety Nine Pence." That's 75p or so per record. Decent value. The first 12" is the same as the standard 12".
Side 1 of record two, or side 3 as the lovely labels call it, is Fly On The Windscreen (Death Mix). It's great. Side 4 is not great. It features It's Called A Heart (Slow Mix) that is simply a slowed down version of the song which sees it slowed to half speed and played in full. Why? What on earth inspired that? Bloody nonsense.
Picture courtesy of depmod.com
There is a wonderful 12" promo too with a hand stamped label. I've had to use a picture from depmod.com as I couldn't find my own.
The UK CD single from 1991 CDBONG9 takes the tracks from the 7", 12" and the Death Mix of Fly On The Windscreen aside and promises them they can appear on a CD if they forget the Slow Mix exists. They agree.
Let's leave the flaming lakes and voodoo heads of the UK and head to Germany. Firstly, we have the usual red vinyl 7"
It of course features the same tracks as 7BONG9.
The blue vinyl 12" is a splendid thing
Again, it features the same tracks as 12BONG9.
The German blue stripe CD single rather oddly takes the D12BONG 9 tracks and calls itself CDD12BONG9. One for fans of the Slow Mix.
Germany and France had their own vinyl versions of D12BONG9 but in today's "Why on earth do I own this"section, let's have a look at the Scandanavian release (above). It's a doubler as you can see although it issues no price orders on the front. What makes it fancy is this:
It's a gatefold. Yes, it's not only 7" purchasers who can keep their free eye on Martin's nipple - Scandanavian fans can too, this time in 12" form. The record that is, not the nipple. That would be very odd.
This version is available in numbered and unnumbered form. I have no idea why. I have even less idea why I have both versions.
The US 12" is a different affair from the UK one as it features two new remixes - the Emotion Remix and Emotion Dub of It's Called A Heart, both of which feature on the A-Side. They're pretty decent remixes but not quite as good as the Extended remix.
The "flip" side features the Deportation Mix of Flexible which is probably the same as the Pre-Deportation Mix from L12BONG8. I can't remember. It also features the 7" version of It's Called A Heart.
And with that, Phase 1 of Depeche Mode was very much over. A compilation album popped out and the band, rather tetchy with each other by this point anyway, headed off to Berlin to get even more annoyed with each other and record a landmark masterpiece genius godlike album that I refuse to ever be anything other than over excited about.
The first slice of wonder from that album was the band's next single and we'll look at that next.
Farewell Phase 1 of Depeche Mode. Pack away those voodoo heads, deflate the spacehoppers, say goodbye to the milkmen and let's never speak of the Slow Mix again.
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.
