The song sounds futuristic. The video looks futuristic. The hair.....maybe the future is not what we think.
Again, this was one of those songs and videos that was EVERYWHERE back in the early 80's. The guitar sounded like a spaceship laser weapon. The guitarist looked like a computer programmer. The bass thumped along like a rocket. The drummer was playing plastic plates!! The lead singer (Mike Score) was dressed really cool (I wanted a shirt that buttoned up like that for the entire decade of the 80's). His voice sounded like it was coming out of the Aurora Borealis. The camera was moving the whole time and spinning. The set was mirrors and aluminum foil. The girls had futuristic makeup and were wearing plastic bags as dresses. But the song....it was awesome.
The band was formed in 1982 by a former member of The Motels. This was their only hit. Back in the early days of MTV, videos were in short supply but very high demand. Because of that, anything that was available got on the air....in some cases, that led to hidden gems...like this.
If you want to know what the early 80's punk sounded like....well, this pretty much covers it. Political anger, social angst, and really good guitar rock. Add to that a great tune.
The song was released in December of 1979 and charted in the US at #30 in early 1980. The video was straight forward and included a London rain while the band thrashed away on the song along the Thames River....all classic.
The Breakfast Club was notable for being the band that had Madonna as a member before she was famous and Stephen Bray (the drummer) co-wrote many of Madonna's early hits. But in 1987 the band finally got their chance to shine. They had a minor hit with Right On Track, which I love, but this was a song that needed some more love....and now you can give it some.
Released on March 17th, 1986 this album showed not just a darker direction for Depeche Mode but a new found confidence in the song writing of Martin Gore. Add to that the power of Dave Gahan's vocals and the exciting sampling of Alan Wilder and this was a masterpiece of music for the mid 1980's. It also opened up the floodgates that would be 1987's blockbuster Music For The Masses and its follow up, Violator. So the road was being paved.
Lets take a look at the tracks:
Black Celebration - Dark and atmospheric, a song about how the fringe kids, the loners, the "wierdos" are still connected to happy times and being with the one that makes the blackness go away. I'll drink to that.
Fly On The Windscreen - Talk about dark. Its bleak, its haunting but lie on the floor with headphones on (trust me) and be transported to Martin Gore's view of love during the apocalypse.
A Question Of Lust - Martin Gore lays all his cards on the table in the game of love and lust.
Sometimes - We found our depression and we want to share it...
It Doesn't Matter Two - This is what young lust fulfilled sounds like.....with its awkward ending and all.
A Question Of Time - Disturbingly creepy but very danceable (and that makes for much confusion). He's protecting the 15 year old by taking them "under his wing"?
Stripped - Very atmospheric. But here's an electronic band talking about shedding all modern things and escaping back to nature if even just for one day as the keyboard swells and entices. What a statement!
Here Is The House - A look at domestic bliss...but I suspect not everything is all sunshine and roses...it is Depeche Mode, after all.
World Full Of Nothing - Well, here it is...the thoughts that go through every young couples head when they finally pass that first, big barrier and experience lust. Oddly we usually look back on this moment with less fond memories.
Dressed In Black - What do you do when you fall in love with your bondage master?
New Dress - An indictment of the British press in the mid 80's. The world is going to hell in a handcart and the press reports on the trivial, The power of the press should never be underestimated.
......Wow!!
All of those are great songs. And listening to them 30 years later, there is no drop in quality and the use of all of the range of the stereo effect is amazing. Alan Wilder used the whole spectrum of effects to paint a huge landscape of sound.
The band also released a few singles before the album was ready for market.
It's Called A Heart - Probably the most straight forward love song Martin Gore ever wrote.
But Not Tonight - The band handed this over to a movie company that used it as their theme...the song is much better than the movie. Even someone as pessimistic as Martin Gore can smile when he sees the stars.
Flexible - Someone sounds like he questioning his commitment to his views now that he's becoming a rich rock star.....probably not.
Shake The Disease - My favorite DM song of all time. In fact, lets watch the video now...
