DEPECHE MODE - THE SINGLES 1981 TO 2021 PART 28: WALKING IN MY SHOES

 

On 26th April 1993, Depeche Mode finally released a single that was a worthy follow up to another single released on the same day, eleven years earlier.

Walking In My Shoes took over where that single left off, matching it in depth, tone and gothic genius. It could never be rationally argued by anyone that Walking In My Shoes is quite as dark and mysterious as its predecessor but it tried its best.

We have however already looked at The Meaning Of Love, so let's focus on its twin, albeit a twin born 11 years later, instead.

Stumble this way - it's Walking In My Shoes time.

MY INTENTIONS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN PURER - WALKING IN MY SHOES

The Single

NME advert - courtesy of Michael Rose/depmod.com

Walking In My Shoes, BONG22, was the second single from Songs Of Faith And Devotion and was released on 26th April 1993. For many people, it was already a highlight of the album and it's a song that has long been a favourite of many Depeche Mode fans. For the UK music press, it was the usual story.

The NME seemed to like it, saying "Disguised as a small book, with gangs of silly pictures from some video, the new Depeche Mode single is best enjoyed as part of its overpoweringly moody LP Songs Of Faith And Devotion, rather than in this format, where it is not quite tough enough to be a single. Eerie and powerful for all that, though."

The video they refer to is, of course, the actual video. Over at Melody Maker, we got this typical slice of Melody Maker wisdom:

"Oh, come on guys! We all saw that Enjoy The Silence video a couple of years back, where a clearly demented Dave Gahan cast himself as King Canute. So now, obviously, he's gone the rest of the way round the twist, and you've had to have him locked up. But did you honestly think we wouldn't notice when you got Zodiac Mindwarp in to replace him? Dave/Zod pleads that we should never judge him too harshly, because we can't possibly imagine how hard it can be being an international pop star and sex symbol for the young and tasteless. The hearts of the homeless haemorrhage, I'm sure."

I was taught that if I couldn't say anything nice, I was not to say anything at all so I'm not going to comment on that lunacy.

One person who is a fan of the song is Bono. During his 60th birthday celebrations on U2.com, he sent letters to 60 artists whose work he had admired. Depeche Mode got a letter and it was about this song:

That's certainly the best review of the song I could find, this blog aside of course.

Promotional postcard

As we saw last time, there was only one in-studio promotional appearance in the whole Songs Of Faith And Devotion era so there is no Top Of The Pops appearance to dissect here. As a bonus then, let's enjoy this performance on the song from 2009 on Later....With Jools Holland, a performance that is unique as both Martin and Andy were too busy to perform on TV, so they were replaced by Dame Barbara Cartland and Elton John for one night only

The single was the only one of the four Songs Of Faith And Devotion singles not to crack the UK Top 10, despite arguably being the best of the bunch. It entered the charts at number 22, climbed to 14 and then fell, firstly to 41 and then even the Lord blushed as the song tumbled to 61 and then into the post chart darkness after that. A poor showing for a mighty song.

And what a mighty song it is. Walking In My Shoes has been a mainstay of Depeche Mode gigs since 1993 and has been played 786 times by the band on every tour since with, for the purposes of the pedants sharpening their pencil, the exception of the Ultra parties. I know they were not actually a tour but one of you always points out something about these blogs so I have to cover every base. This isn't easy you know. Bloody Depeche Mode fans. I know it's boring, but the Devotional version of this is still my favourite. It's a towering version of the song with a mental video played on the mental screens on the mental stage set. Glorious. As each tour passes, the tom toms get louder but they still don't detract from the power this song radiates when played live. It's a very special song, very special indeed.

This single also had a B-Side of course and it's a cracker. My Joy is a wonderful song and one that, for many years I was convinced had a chorus that said "I'm not about to know...you move me." for some reason. Had I given it any thought, I would of course have realised that it actually says "I'm not a mountain no, you move me" which makes more sense, at least in a way. It's a song that many people such as Kevin May, the co-author of the more details coming soon book Halo, feel merited a place on Songs Of Faith And Devotion. Kevin is biased however as he loves the song in an almost alarming way. You do wonder what the album would have sounded like with this track instead of, say, Get Right With Me for example. I like both songs though, so I'm not opening this can of worms. My Joy has never been played live and, let's be honest here, it never will. Sorry Kevin.

The Video

After the shock of 1980's sit-com stars appearing alongside a bearded Dave in I Feel You, what were we in store for next? The cast of Bread playing keyboards with Fletch? Thankfully not. Instead, and quite logically, the band turned to ice skating chicken head beasts. It was the obvious move.

We open with Dave, crouched over in the corner of what looks like a very unpleasant room, looking ashamed. No wonder. He'd just played the band the demo of Hole To Feed and they demanded he go and stand in the corner of the room and really think about what he'd done and why they were so disappointed in him. They weren't angry, they just felt let down. He's quickly joined by two people with the big Walking In My Shoes chicken beast heads on and they're both wearing robes so there's nothing to see here. I previously suggested that this song's younger twin bother's video was "on drugs" - this video has found several other stashes and necked them all at once.

We see Dave again, the some sort of priest type chap and Dave storms off, turns blurred and red and starts singing in front of the two chicken head beasts and his Big Castle. He was in a right mood by now and, if you look closely enough, he's not in fact miming "I would tell you about the things they put me through" but is instead mouthing "We are here, we can love, we share something."

The priest reappears and is seen reading one of the 34 additional books that would later feature in the Sounds Of The Universe deluxe boxset, before he's joined by a female colleague and they shyly, and rather sweetly, hold hands while Dave continues his one man singing protest.

At this point, I should point out that I am not going to start talking about the extras that feature in the video as that's simply not fair. I've been at enough Depeche gigs to have seen plenty of you. People in glass houses and that.

As the first chorus arrives, we see the whole cast on the steps of Dave's Big Castle as he mouths "Words can leave you broken inside" as the song plays, The flirting priests keep flirting and everyone keeps looking around in a shifty manner. They can all hear what Dave is singing - they just can't believe it. One question leaps out however - where are the other three?

Well, one minute and thirty seconds in, we find out. Remember the perky Basildon Boyzone who we saw in the Everything Counts video, singing and a-swinging as they jauntily sing along? Well, ten years later, they are older, more miserable and definitely hungover. We seem them in that state, imprisoned in Dave's Hole to Feed Corner with the lead singer having exacted his revenge and placed them there while the demo plays at Metallica like volume over bis Big Castle's stereo. Dave pops up and then we see Alan alone, looking like a bit miserable puppet with its strings cut.

The Basildon Boyzone then turn up again, this time with naked women sitting on their knees as morality frowns upon them and rightly so. Dave is determined to make this all about him, so he turns the front of his Big Castle into the set of Hole To Feed - The Musical and we see the whole cast stand again as he sings along ("Shame has a hold, that's kept us frozen"). The musical mood is disturbed by class clown Gore pressing his face up against the camera. Behave Gore, you'll only encourage the others....oh STOP IT Fletcher and Wilder. Get back into Hole To Feed Corner. 

At two minutes and 48 seconds, Dave introduces the finale of Hole To Feed - The Musical as the ice skating scene begins. As he raises his arms, the two flirting priests don their chicken beast heads and start ice skating. Gore and Fletcher are rightly placed back in Hole To Feed Corner and the priests finally get married in front of the cast and two chicken head beasts. It the wedding everyone dreams of. The video plays out as the happy couple ice skate in front of Dave's Big Castle.

Do you know something? Watching that video for the first time in ages really was moving. What a video and what a song. As I type, I feel like I felt when I heard the song for the first time. It is an incredible and hugely moving song and I seem to have something in my eye. What a special band.

The Formats

There was no official 7" single released in the UK this time. There is a "Jukebox Promo" version however, so called because the central hole is designed to fit a jukebox. Whether or not anyone was using a jukebox in 1993 is another question. The catalogue number is BONG22, and Side A features the 7" Mix of Walking In My Shoes, a decent remix edit of the album version.

Side B features My Joy and a picture of my hand although it's not known if that features on all copies.

While we are on promos then, here is P12BONG22, the 12" promo. It features the 7" Mix of Walking In My Shoes on the A-Side together with the, sigh, Grungy Gonads Mix. Really? Side B features two mixes of My Joy - 7" Mix and Slow Slide Mix.

CBONG22, the cassette single, contains the same two tracks as the promo 7". Like everything else officially released for this single, the packaging is wonderful.

The chicken head beast returns for the cover art for the single and it is, of course, naked save for its big mad head.  12BONG22 featurs the same four tracks as P12BONG22 so that means Side A contains the Grungy Gonads Mix. The mix is good, the name is not.

The B-Side features the two versions of My Joy. 

CDBONG22, my well worn copy above, comes in a matt and glossy in places digipack.

Chicken head beasts aplenty here.

The CD features the same four tracks as 12BONG22.

As sure as night follows day, an L12 follows a 12, so here is L12BONG22. I have a T-shirt with that cover that has somehow survived 28 years. My friend Stuart got one with the 12BONG22 cover at the time of which I was always jealous.

The single comes in a gatefold sleeve with a "luxury" inner sleeve. That doesn't mean that it comes with free room service, all it seems to mean is that it is shiny. It is very nice.

The rear of the sleeve and its luxury inner are a tad sparser than the rest of the package.

The Policy Of Truth nudity score is beaten here.

In actual music news, the record features four remixes of Walking In My Shoes. On Side A we have the Extended Twelve Inch Mix (epic and glorious) and the Random Carpet Mix (odd name, good remix). On the other side, we get the Anandamidic Mix and the Ambient Whale Mix, with the former taking the "best remix of Side B" prize.

LCDBONG22 is another matt/glossy digipack. I really like the black CD.

The art is very similar to the L12 art.

The CD itself features the same four remixes as L12BONG22.

The 2004 reissue, CDBONG22X, puts all eight tracks together in one place.

Away from the UK. Germany was one of a few countries sensible enough to release a 7". Isn't it lovely?

Sweden, France and Belgium did the same. The 7" singles feature the same tracks as the UK promo 7". I don't have that any version of this single really. Do check depmod.com for a full run down of all available formats and look out for the 2 track card sleeve CD singles from Germany, Belgium, France and Sweden as they look rather lovely. 

In the US, a promo CD was released containing the Album Edit and Single Edit, both of which appear to be the same length so who knows what is going on there.

The US CD single helpfully contains all 8 remixes from the various UK formats we've seen.

The US 12" singles from this era were a joy as they are basically as long as many albums. Side A here features the Extended Twelve Inch Mix, Random Carpet Mix and Grungy Gonads Mix.

Side B contains the Anandamidic Mix and Ambient Whale Mix alongside the Slow Slide Mix of My Joy.

Let's end in Japan with one of their typically full of things CD singles. The songs featured are those on CDBONG22 but you also get an OBI, a card to order something and a lyric sheet in both English and Japanese. Lovely.

Walking In My Shoes is quintessential Depeche Mode and a track that is rightly loved by most, if not all, Depeche fans. It night have been the more obvious choice for the first single for the album but Depeche Mode don't do that.

What it turns out they did do was their own take on gospel music. That will take the stand next time.

MY JOY - DEPECHE MODE: SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION: THE 12" SINGLES

 

When Songs Of Faith And Devotion was released, any lingering perceptions people held of them being a weedy electronic act were finally and permanently dispelled. Despite Violator's all conquering performance, Depeche Mode were still viewed with suspicion in their homeland and when I Feel You first appeared, it shocked not only Depeche Mode fans but also everyone else who heard it and was told it was Depeche Mode. While Songs Of Faith And Devotion is not as universally acclaimed as Violator is, it is still a hugely important album and one that is still an enthralling album from start to finish. The album's singles were all wonderful and three of them even charted in the Top Ten in Britain, their best singles-from-an-album chart performance ever.

The newest boxset in the Depeche Mode 12" reissues is the Songs Of Faith And Devotion one and that has been released today. Let's see what's inside.

As with the previous 12" boxsets, it recreates and celebrates the era quite marvellously. The front of the box (above) is a new take on I Feel You's iconic artwork.  Martin is on the left and Dave on the right (more of how we know this below) and Alan (beside Martin) and Fletch have been decapitated for some reason. Harsh. The back of the box looks like this:

As ever, it comes with one of those pointless paper menu things which acts like a picture menu in a restaurant where you don't speak the language? "How do you say play the limited edition 12" of Walking In My Shoes?" "I don't know - just point to it."

"No I said CONDEMNATION. God, don't these people speak (insert language?)"

The 12" singles are, as ever, beautifully and faithfully (lolz etc) reproduced. When I Feel You came out I was in my first year at Aberdeen University. The song debuted on Simon Mayo's Breakfast Show on Radio 1 and I recorded it and then played and rewound the tape (ask your grandparents) endlessly and much to the increasing distress of those who could still bear to hang around with me. When the singles came out, I bought and played them endlessly too, all the time wearing a selection of Depeche Mode t-shirts and being known as "Depeche Mode Dave" to some because I wasn't mature enough to wear actual adult clothes.

Fast forward 27 years and I'm currently listening to I Feel You on 12" while wearing a Depeche Mode t-shirt and relaying that anecdote to a bunch of people who know me as the bloke who writes a Depeche Mode blog. That's progress. I think.

Anyway, I'm not reviewing me thank God, I'm reviewing the singles. Future blog episodes will look at each single in turn (wait...come back) so I'm not going to review all the remixes today. Here's the I Feel You 12":

The cover shows the drawings of the band that would become the terrifying large metal things that hung behind the Devotional stage. Top left we have Alan with Dave to his right. Andy is below Dave and Martin bottom left under Alan. How do I know this? Well, other than Martin's picture having something like his hair, each drawing has the band member's birthday in the bottom right. Presumably Anton did this so that the permanently drunk band would be able to remember birthdays on the Devotional tour - either their own or everyone else's. The back of the 12" features Dave looking moody in Hamburg:

There is no inner sleeve here, just a paper one. Here's Side A of the record:

Even though that is just a big purple blob, I do like that. Side B  has another lovely label and tells us the tracks:

The Throb Mix is the standout for me here. The Babylon Mix is good but has a daft name. Not as daft as others in this box however. There was of course a limited edition 12" and it is a lovely looking gatefold. Here's the cover:

Alan and Dave minding their own business there while Martin and Fletch slope off to chat all things Basildon on the back:

The gatefold inner features two pictures:

On the left we see Alan and Dave back in Hamburg with a lifesize topless cartoon and on the right, all four lads together, all clearly hungover and with Martin standing in a very odd way. The front of the inner sleeve is wonderful:

It's a lovely thing. The other side of it is, well, black:

I show that for completeness sake and nothing else. The labels are again fantastic - here is Side A:

As you can see, it mirrors the image on the inner sleeve. Things like that probably shouldn't make me happy, but they do. If you are reading this then you are likely nodding in agreement. The B-Side label is below:

Fantastic. These 12" singles were easy to get at the time, unlike the In Your Room ones and the recreations here are spot on. There are two Brian Eno remixes on this 12" by the way which are quite interesting. They Eno here and there, burbling and glugging around in that Eno-y way but are pretty decent if you like that sort of thing.

The second single, and the only one to fail to crack the UK Top Ten fact fans, is the godlike genius of Walking In My Shoes. The standard 12" has a lovely shiny sleeve:

As you can see, it features the topless, terrifying part woman part demonic hellbird that featured on the live footage accompanying the song. The same beast features all over this single. Here she is on the back sleeve too:

The original pressing of the singles had a matt cover with spot gloss (thanks Scott) parts such as the barcode section above and the repressing didn't. The boxset version is a recreation of the original pressing. There is no inner sleeve here, just a paper one and Side A's label looks like this:

Side B lets Side A take the arty glory and instead shoulders the burden of displaying actual information:

On the music side of things, for this is after all about a band who play music, the b-side My Joy is a track you don't want to miss. It's a hidden Depeche classic. There is only one remix of the title track here and that is the Grungy Gonads Mix.

That name doesn't improve with age.

The limited 12" is another wonderful thing and I had, and still have, a T-shirt with this cover:

The back is another matt/spot gloss affair:

Like I Feel You, this is a gatefold 12":

The Page 3 with a demonic bird head theme continues on the inner sleeve:

The other side of the inner sleeve is nudity free; in fact it's free of anything other than the catalogue number - L12BONG22:

I really like that. Side A of the actual record continues the label theme from the standard 12":

Again, Side B tells you everything you need to know:

There are four remixes of Walking In My Shoes on the record and they are all great although the Ambient Whale Mix is a bit bland.

The next single was the much heralded Depeche Mode Do Gospel Condemnation and this release introduced us to the Devotional tour which the band had already kicked off by the time the single came out. The sleeve takes a still from the film used when the song played on the tour:

The rear prints the lyrics which look like they've been drawn by someone holding a pencil between their toes rather than their fingers:

The original issue of the single featured a deluxe inner sleeve and that's what we get here. "Deluxe" seems an odd word to use as it's not as if it gets you access to a lounge or free booze, but its a nice thing anyway. It uses another still from the tour film:

The word "deluxe" is further tested by the rear of the inner sleeve whihc is once again just black:

Perhaps its shiny nature gives the additonal luxury purchasers of the re-pressed version missed out on thus ruining their lives. The record features 5 tracks including the Paris Mix of Condemnation, so called because the remix was finished off in a studio in Dusseldorf (hilarious), the at-that-point unreleased Jazz Mix of Death's Door and three remixes of Rush. The first two tracks appear on Side A

and in a move that will surprise nobody, the other three feature on Side B:

The limited edition 12" was a real thrill when it was released. Instead of being called Condemnation, it's called Depeche Mode Live and it features four tracks, Condemnation, Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence and Halo, all live from the gig at Forum in Milan on 4th June 1993.

It's another gatefold too. On the cover (above) we have Dave in action and on the back, with another matt/spot gloss effort, we see Martin belting his way through Condemnation:

The gatefold shows all four band members in hot live action on the left and Dave captured wonderfully by Anton in full rock star mode on the right:

Wonderful. The deluxe inner sleeve was again only available with the first pressing of the 12". If you bought later pressings, the record was thrown into the street and you were made to pick it up while people laughed at you outside HMV. Thankfully, the boxset reproduces the deluxe version although is it REALLY deluxe if it's just the same as the standard 12"?

The same question applies to the other side of the inner sleeve:

Side A features Condemnation and Personal Jesus

and, ever the traditionalists, the other two songs pop up on Side B:

The final single from the album was In Your Room, released in its Zephyr Mix form, a mix that would haunt live versions of the song for years after Devotional until they saw sense on the last tour. It featured on the 12" in 7" and Extended form along with two other In Your Room remixes and a comically bad remix of Higher Love, the ironically titled Adrenaline Mix. The cover uses the light bulb motif from the Devotional tour film and the song's video:

Here's the rear:

Again, lucky purchasers of the first pressing could bask in the glow of having a deluxe inner sleeve, reproduced here. It looks like this:

"Where's the luxury," you scream, "It must be on the other side. SHOW US DAVID." 

No, it's black too. At this point, I should let you all know that I'm veery much aware that I'm posting pictures of black inner sleeves. It's clearly a very odd thing to do, but I've started down this road and it would actually annoy me now if I knew I didn't have a photo of every sleeve, no matter how black they are. And yes, I have taken a picture of every one. I've not just taken on and re-used it. I am one of you remember and I know what you/we are like. Depeche Mode fans are very, VERY strange people and they'd complain if I tried anything on here. 

Side A of the record looks like this:

Side B is equally straightforward:

The limited edition 12" and final release from Songs Of Faith And Devotion, is a wonderful 6 track affair featuring six superb live tracks - In Your Room, Policy Of Truth, World In My Eyes, Fly On The Windscreen, Never Let Me Down Again and Death's Door. They are all bloody brilliant - the Devotional version of World In My Eyes is one of the band's finest live arrangements of all time and the live version of In Your Room makes your body shiver for hours after hearing it. Incredible. Depeche Mode are hugely underrated as a live band. This record shows just how good they were then. The cover is all lightbulbs, all the time. Here's the front:

Here is the back:

The really quite lovely cover art is one thing, but can you cope with ANOTHER deluxe inner sleeve? You can? Ok, here's one side of it

and here's the other:

The inner sleeve equivalent of a 5 night all inclusive break in a 7 star Dubai hotel. The labels on the record are gorgeous. Here's Side A:

and here is Side B:

Beautiful. As with the Violator singles' cover art, everything about the Songs Of Faith And Devotion cover art is superb with so much thought being given to every aspect of it, deluxe sleeves aside. The recreation of every aspect in this boxset is tremendous work.

I should say that the records sound superb too.

As with other boxsets there is an extra but, sadly, the only extra here is an admittedly lovely reproduction of a promo poster for Walking In My Shoes:

Perhaps we were spoiled with the incredible extras with the Violator boxset, and I'm perhaps being a bit too greedy, but an additional record such as a reproduction of the Rush  12" promo would have been a cool addition. It's a nice rarity from the era like the World In My Eyes promo reproduced last time, The lack of an other extras doesn't detract from how fantastic this boxset is mind you. I think if anything we may have been too spoiled by the last box.

Finally, there's a download card. 

The whole 12" reissue series has been incredible and a real joy throughout. The Violator box was going to be a hard act to follow, but this boxset is very much up to the task. It recreates the original releases perfectly and, when enjoyed and appreciated as a whole, it reminds us just how good Depeche Mode were in 1993.