I was never that arsed but then I belatedly realised how epic Gahan’s voice sounds in a club. They’re really unusual as a ‘cult’ band that still manages to sell out stadiums. they’re completely immune to fads or anything else going on in music.
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First ever gig was depeche mode at the brighton dome, master and servant tour, probably 1984/85.
I remember thinking Martin Gore was a lady backing singer. 
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It took going to Russia in the late 90s for me to ‘get’ Depeche Mode. They are inescapable in Russia, people are nuts for them. Something about the aesthetic just gels.
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I think they’ve made some fantastic records. I was never fussed about them when I was younger and all my friends were obsessed with them.
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I always thought DM were OK, just a bit of a crap version of Joy Division/New Order until an ex-girlfriend battered me to death with the live 101 album and video. Dave Gahan’s a proper rock star.
And then also hearing Enjoy the Silence while ‘recreationally’ enhanced at the Limelight in Shaftesbury Avenue some point in late 89/early 90. Changed my mind on them totally.
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Enjoy the silence is a masterpiece of a tune.
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when villalobos remixed sinner in me, it briefly hinted at a way out of the creative (k)hole minimal had sunk into. It sounded to me like one of the genuinely innovative tunes of the 2000s, welding together this incredibly dystopian music with that astonishing vocal that appears out of nowhere halfway through. I think it is deffo an acquired taste, perhaps you have to be in the zone or with the zombies but it intrigued me for a long time.
Depeche Mode were massive in South Africa and David Gahan is a proper frontman. Seen them a few times now over the years and every time they’ve been excellent.
Innee bold!!!
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In 1981 if you weren’t playing Just Can’t Get Enough on your Casio Calculator at break time you were nothing.
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Always loved this one
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Was aired at the last convenanza weatherall played at in 2019 and totally captivated everyone in the castle. A moment to remember. He also played Frankie goes to Hollywood welcome to the pleasure dome from the very start with the rainforest noises. Place went fucking mental.
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Shocking scenes😳 I don’t think I would last a hour somewhere like that… Definitely wouldn’t buy a ticket…
of course, but much of polari has roots in other languages, which makes sense. it’s a sort of melting pot of slang.
swapping words with completely unrelated words only because they rhyme seems rather simple. there’s no irony, or guided references, or even subversive elements, other than being “in the know”. there’s plenty of slang that works well as a secret code (for a time, until it’s deciphered) but using rhyme alone makes the six year olds laugh, and not much more.
as we’ve seen from 50 years of hip hop - you can do some brilliant things with rhyme, but you can also do some dreadfully unclever things with rhyme as well.
i’ll admit, i thought they were super corny in the 80’s. the leather and bondage and only-slightly pervy elements seemed pretty novelty to me.
of course, they were huge in the clubs that i grew up in, so once i started playing there i had to play a lot of them. some tracks really aged well for me, others are just wallpaper. but i do appreciate their ability to craft a good hook, and some of the noises they came up with are amazing.
if i have it close by, i still use the “beat box” mix of “policy of truth” to tune sound systems. it’s got allll the frequencies, with excellent separation.
Might be a highly unpopular opinion, but Peaky Blinders …
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Are we Dep-esh mode or Dep-eshay mode?
I’m depeshay mowday. Just to be different.
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“you’ll dance to anything, by dee pesha mowed”
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It can be tribal, or used to be, better than everyone speaking RP. London accent is constantly evolving, like most in the UK do and rhyming slang is just one part of it. Most Londoners I know don’t use it other than in jest tbh.