New Life
[No. 1, 13th August 1983. Words: Paul Bursche. Pictures: Uncredited.]
NEW LIFE
They're not the fresh-faced innocents they used to be. They're still making sweet pop but now the songs are about the nasty music biz.
Paul Bursche met the boys from Basildon and copped a quick lesson on the meaning of life.
You could forgive the four Depeches if they were a bit tetchy and bad-tempered these days.
Despite their recent singles showing a growing maturity, the band are still looked upon as no more than teen idols by a lot of people.
Luckily their good humour has remained intact, but Andy Fletcher just can't understand it.
"As soon as people hear the name they start to think that here's another sweet pop single. I hope that people will give the new album a proper listen. They might be surprised."
The new album is called 'Construction Time Again' and that's a good description. It focuses on a band building on past successes while still looking for new avenues to explore, far from their early sugary days.
Depeche Mode emerged from Basildon in 1980 with a string of hits including 'New Life' and 'Just Can't Get Enough'.
They were the first band to perfect the sweet sound of synth, guided by songwriter Vince Clarke.
But when Vince left to form Yazoo he took all the acclaim with him and suddenly Depeche were yesterday's thing - despite Martin Gore taking the mantle of songwriter and giving us great songs like 'See You'.
Their new LP still has all those tinkling synth lines, but they've tried other instruments as well.
"There's a track called 'Pipeline' on the album," says Alan Wilder. "It's got a lot of strange percussion in it. What we did was to just go out and start banging on anything we could find. Dave's vocal was even recorded outdoors."
The album runs parallel with the lads themselves growing up. It was recorded away from their normal nestling ground of Blackwing Studios, in London and Germany.
The boys, similarly, have broadened out.
"All the travelling we've done has certainly helped," admits Dave Gahan.
But Andy doesn't see growing up in such a definite light.
"I still feel the same as I did when I was 16," he says.
"Obviously, though, my friends have told me that I've changed in loads of ways. The same must go for the band. We've gradually evolved into a more mature group."
The reaction in some of the places they have visited has certainly changed ideas about the group. For instance, in Germany, the group are regarded as very hip.
"It's very odd," says Dave. "When we play German cities the word gets around that we're in town as if we're some big hip band. I'm pleased. It shows that our music does have a wider appeal."
All this touring, however, doesn't seem to have led to the sort of on-the-road antics that normally have groups adorning the front covers of the Sun with tales of orgies and debauchery.
Alan sneers. "I think that a lot of groups need to do that for the publicity. It's a very old-fashioned rock thing."
"I'm not saying that we don't get up to these things," adds dashing Dave. "It's just that if we do they don't get out. I mean, most of these groups work for really large companies and there's always someone who will tell the press. Our company is so small that we know it wouldn't leak out."
They do seem to steer away from the wild life, do Depeche. Their last single told us to 'Get The Balance Right', which meant no wild excesses - an attitude totally contrary to the traditional view of rock as rebellion.
Their new single 'Everything Counts' is more an offensive, however. It gets at all the big deals and falseness.
It focuses on the two-faced attitudes that abound in industry. And not only the music biz, but anywhere where money is involved. Gore states that behind all the deals and motives lies pure selfishness.
"I'm not so personally bitter," says Martin. "I lead a good enough life. It's just things that I've noticed."
"We're in a good position to be observers," says Alan. "We're always meeting groups and hearing about dodgy deals. I suppose we're lucky because we're in a position where it doesn't apply to us."
This is because Depeche Mode are still an independent group on the small Mute label.
"We've had our arguments with Daniel Miller (the head of Mute)," says Dave, "but we've been in it together from the very start, so we're a good team."
This closeness within the company has always meant that Mute would support Depeche Mode, so they don't have to be too worried about the whole affair of hits.
They can get on with doing their own thing. This includes the forthcoming album and a British tour in September.
The boys have grown up and are now in a position of far greater control. But they're not prepared to ditch the teenage fans who have put them there. Some groups, like Japan, may have done this but Martin has other ideas.
"Without the fans we wouldn't be in a position to try things. And while our music does explore a bit more it's still commercial."
Enjoy the album.
[No. 1, 13th August 1983. Words: Paul Bursche. Pictures: Uncredited.]
NEW LIFE
They're not the fresh-faced innocents they used to be. They're still making sweet pop but now the songs are about the nasty music biz.
Paul Bursche met the boys from Basildon and copped a quick lesson on the meaning of life.
You could forgive the four Depeches if they were a bit tetchy and bad-tempered these days.
Despite their recent singles showing a growing maturity, the band are still looked upon as no more than teen idols by a lot of people.
Luckily their good humour has remained intact, but Andy Fletcher just can't understand it.
"As soon as people hear the name they start to think that here's another sweet pop single. I hope that people will give the new album a proper listen. They might be surprised."
The new album is called 'Construction Time Again' and that's a good description. It focuses on a band building on past successes while still looking for new avenues to explore, far from their early sugary days.
Depeche Mode emerged from Basildon in 1980 with a string of hits including 'New Life' and 'Just Can't Get Enough'.
They were the first band to perfect the sweet sound of synth, guided by songwriter Vince Clarke.
But when Vince left to form Yazoo he took all the acclaim with him and suddenly Depeche were yesterday's thing - despite Martin Gore taking the mantle of songwriter and giving us great songs like 'See You'.
Their new LP still has all those tinkling synth lines, but they've tried other instruments as well.
"There's a track called 'Pipeline' on the album," says Alan Wilder. "It's got a lot of strange percussion in it. What we did was to just go out and start banging on anything we could find. Dave's vocal was even recorded outdoors."
The album runs parallel with the lads themselves growing up. It was recorded away from their normal nestling ground of Blackwing Studios, in London and Germany.
The boys, similarly, have broadened out.
"All the travelling we've done has certainly helped," admits Dave Gahan.
But Andy doesn't see growing up in such a definite light.
"I still feel the same as I did when I was 16," he says.
"Obviously, though, my friends have told me that I've changed in loads of ways. The same must go for the band. We've gradually evolved into a more mature group."
The reaction in some of the places they have visited has certainly changed ideas about the group. For instance, in Germany, the group are regarded as very hip.
"It's very odd," says Dave. "When we play German cities the word gets around that we're in town as if we're some big hip band. I'm pleased. It shows that our music does have a wider appeal."
All this touring, however, doesn't seem to have led to the sort of on-the-road antics that normally have groups adorning the front covers of the Sun with tales of orgies and debauchery.
Alan sneers. "I think that a lot of groups need to do that for the publicity. It's a very old-fashioned rock thing."
"I'm not saying that we don't get up to these things," adds dashing Dave. "It's just that if we do they don't get out. I mean, most of these groups work for really large companies and there's always someone who will tell the press. Our company is so small that we know it wouldn't leak out."
They do seem to steer away from the wild life, do Depeche. Their last single told us to 'Get The Balance Right', which meant no wild excesses - an attitude totally contrary to the traditional view of rock as rebellion.
Their new single 'Everything Counts' is more an offensive, however. It gets at all the big deals and falseness.
It focuses on the two-faced attitudes that abound in industry. And not only the music biz, but anywhere where money is involved. Gore states that behind all the deals and motives lies pure selfishness.
"I'm not so personally bitter," says Martin. "I lead a good enough life. It's just things that I've noticed."
"We're in a good position to be observers," says Alan. "We're always meeting groups and hearing about dodgy deals. I suppose we're lucky because we're in a position where it doesn't apply to us."
This is because Depeche Mode are still an independent group on the small Mute label.
"We've had our arguments with Daniel Miller (the head of Mute)," says Dave, "but we've been in it together from the very start, so we're a good team."
This closeness within the company has always meant that Mute would support Depeche Mode, so they don't have to be too worried about the whole affair of hits.
They can get on with doing their own thing. This includes the forthcoming album and a British tour in September.
The boys have grown up and are now in a position of far greater control. But they're not prepared to ditch the teenage fans who have put them there. Some groups, like Japan, may have done this but Martin has other ideas.
"Without the fans we wouldn't be in a position to try things. And while our music does explore a bit more it's still commercial."
Enjoy the album.
