View From Room 101
[Sounds, 11th March 1989. Words: Keith Cameron. Picture: Uncredited.]
101 Depeche Mode (Virgin)
101 is worth seeing merely for a remarkable 14 word summation of what makes Depeche Mode the most redoubtable pop group on earth.
“Martin’s the songwriter, Alan’s the talented musician, David’s the singer and I… bum around."
So speaks the undeniably astute Andrew Fletcher, thus pinpointing the secret of his band’s massive appeal to the hordes of demented American teen-brats who followed them on last year’s exhaustive tour. Depeche Mode prove how special you don’t have to be to make it as a pop star.
And the teen-brats are the key to D A Pennebaker’s on-the-road movie. It is they who provide the rock’n’roll debauchery, thanks to a genius scheme whereby a coachload of New York kids are sent chasing their idols across the continent, armed only with seemingly limitless quantities of drink, drugs and enthusiasm. Add the suggestion of sex and it’s a heady concoction.
101 serves as a fascinating litmus of what motivates the affluent youth of today’s America. As for Depeche Mode – the prime motivators in this case – it’s rather less illuminating, Fletch’s aside excepted.
But maybe that’s the point. After 101 gigs, the trad rock animalisms can’t come easy, least of all to four bootboys from Basildon.
[Competition]
SOUNDS (in conjunction with Virgin Video / Mute Records) is giving away ten copies of Depeche Mode’s 101 video. Just answer the three questions below:
DID DEPECHE MODE PREDICT THE HOUSE REVOLUTION?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Is this a trick question?
WHAT’S DEPECHE MODE’S SEXIEST SONG?
a) ‘Stripped’
b) ‘Master And Servant’
c) ‘Grabbing Hands’ [1]
WHO SEES THEMSELVES AS THE MOST INSTANTLY DISPOSABLE MEMBER OF THE BAND?
a) Dave Gahan
b) Martin Gore
c) Andrew Fletcher
d) Alan Wilder
Send your answers (by March 21) to Scanners 101, Sounds, Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London NW1 7QZ.
[Sounds, 11th March 1989. Words: Keith Cameron. Picture: Uncredited.]
101 Depeche Mode (Virgin)
101 is worth seeing merely for a remarkable 14 word summation of what makes Depeche Mode the most redoubtable pop group on earth.
“Martin’s the songwriter, Alan’s the talented musician, David’s the singer and I… bum around."
So speaks the undeniably astute Andrew Fletcher, thus pinpointing the secret of his band’s massive appeal to the hordes of demented American teen-brats who followed them on last year’s exhaustive tour. Depeche Mode prove how special you don’t have to be to make it as a pop star.
And the teen-brats are the key to D A Pennebaker’s on-the-road movie. It is they who provide the rock’n’roll debauchery, thanks to a genius scheme whereby a coachload of New York kids are sent chasing their idols across the continent, armed only with seemingly limitless quantities of drink, drugs and enthusiasm. Add the suggestion of sex and it’s a heady concoction.
101 serves as a fascinating litmus of what motivates the affluent youth of today’s America. As for Depeche Mode – the prime motivators in this case – it’s rather less illuminating, Fletch’s aside excepted.
But maybe that’s the point. After 101 gigs, the trad rock animalisms can’t come easy, least of all to four bootboys from Basildon.
[Competition]
SOUNDS (in conjunction with Virgin Video / Mute Records) is giving away ten copies of Depeche Mode’s 101 video. Just answer the three questions below:
DID DEPECHE MODE PREDICT THE HOUSE REVOLUTION?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Is this a trick question?
WHAT’S DEPECHE MODE’S SEXIEST SONG?
a) ‘Stripped’
b) ‘Master And Servant’
c) ‘Grabbing Hands’ [1]
WHO SEES THEMSELVES AS THE MOST INSTANTLY DISPOSABLE MEMBER OF THE BAND?
a) Dave Gahan
b) Martin Gore
c) Andrew Fletcher
d) Alan Wilder
Send your answers (by March 21) to Scanners 101, Sounds, Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London NW1 7QZ.
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