A PAGE FROM THE EMPTIEST STAGE
Author: Daniel Cassus
NEVER LET ME GO DOWN AGAIN
When Placebo dropped their first single from their upcoming new studio album since 2013’s “Loud Like Love”, I was positively surprised. The title reminded me of the silly “Little James”, Liam Gallagher’s first contribution to Oasis about his then-stepson. It’s as silly as you’d expect for a Liam Gallagher track. But title coincidences apart, it was a very good return. So I waited for the album, which was released last March. But I didn’t get the memo on the second, third and fourth singles. All released prior to the album. I guess that’s the new normal in the 2020’s: just drop all singles ahead of the album. Singles aside, I found more coincidences. “Forever Chemicals” starts with the sounds of pots and pans like “People Are People”. And “Fix Yourself” has a synth line that reminded me a bit of “Cover Me”. But the album didn’t impress me right away. Maybe it’s a grower. It’s better than the two albums they released when we were on a break (“Meds” and “Battle For The Sun”). For now I’m just gonna let it sink in and wait for the placebo effect to kick in.
HALO IN REVERSE
The book is an oral history of the career-defining album and era for electronic pioneers Depeche Mode, stretching from August 1989 upon the release of the first single Personal Jesus to November 1990 and the end of the World Violation Tour.
Written and published by Kevin May and David McElroy in association with UK-based Grosvenor House Publishing, Halo features interviews with those who had key roles during the making of Violator and the subsequent tour.
David and Kevin also hear from those involved in the iconic artwork of the album and its single releases, videos, publicity and other figures associated with the band before, during and after Violator’s release in March 1990.
Each of the book’s eight chapters includes a first-hand account of the era from fans (“Devotees”, as they came to be known), exclusive photographs and a detailed timeline of an extraordinary period in the British band’s history.
Those sharing their stories include Francois Kevorkian, Steve Lyon, Andy Franks, Roberto Baldi, Pino Pischetola, Nils Tuxen, Paul Kendall, Richard Bell, Richard Smith, Pam Heffer, Angela Shelton, Gareth Jones, Neil Ferris, Bruce Kirkland, Billie Ray Martin and many more.
Halo will be available in paperback print and e-book formats.
Pre-order details and a list of online retail outlets where Halo will be available will be shared ahead of the August 5 publish date.
David and Kevin, commenting on the release of Halo, remark: “We’re both thrilled and excited to be releasing Halo. We’ve tracked down and interviewed a wide range of figures involved in this remarkable era for Depeche Mode, from engineers and musicians in the studio at the time, to publicists, support bands, designers and even extras from some of the videos.
“This oral history is for fans and general music lovers who are curious about how a masterpiece was created. It’s an opportunity to learn first-hand from many of those involved in the making of Violator, in their own words, how this seminal album was made, marketed, toured and the impact it had on music and fans.
“This book has been a long time in the making, delayed by life, injury, a pandemic, work and all sorts, so we’re extremely grateful to those who have given us their patience to complete proceedings!”
Stay tuned for more details.
IMPOSTER
So more than a week later I get to post about the Berlin stop of Dave Gahan and Soulsavers’ Imposter show sponsored by Telekom, who was kind enough to let me win their online contest and attend the gig. What can I say? You can watch it for yourself here (well, for now). Dave presents his songs in the same order as the album and, if you pay attention to the lyrics, they kind of tell a story. Which could be his. Or not. You can decide for yourself. Other than that, I can only apologize for the anticlimactic crowd wearing mask the entire show. The 2G+ rules were enforced from entry into the theater all the time until we left. Obviously something gets lost in the performer-audience relationship. I hope we soon can enjoy concerts and sing out loud.
CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT WE’VE SEEN THE BACK
I know, I know… This website already has some tumbleweed rolling in the background. In fact, there are a few post in the making. I’m just never 101% satisfied with them to hit “publish”, but I’ll eventually say to myself “if you do it, they’ll come”.
Moving on, our main story tonight is the 2nd anniversary since “Spirits in the Forest” was screened all over the world. Yes, by now only me and my mom watch it on a regular basis. Just kidding, no we don’t. I didn’t get nominated for that Oscar. And just two years ago, life was completely different.
At one point in the film, I say I can only hope things are changing for the better. That statement was caught on camera in 2018 in the context of LGBT rights in Brazil. Since then, I can’t quite say my prophecy materialized as expected. And not just in the intended context, but in several ones. However, as we approach the holiday season of what feels like the 24th month of the year, I hopefully predict 2022 cannot – must NOT – be worse. There can be no worse. 2016 was tough already and we got out if with a new Depeche Mode album and tour.
AC/DM
Your favorite photographer dash director had a RSVP signing session at the local fancy Taschen shop here in the village of Buh Leen. It was supposed to be from 18h to 19h. However, arriving at 18h meant you had go to the end of a line that actually had no end in sight (literally). But it moved fast and just TWO hours later (that is a few minutes in Berlin waiting lines) it was my turn.
I should note that It was very nice of the guest author not to storm out of the store when the clock hit 19h and really stayed longer autographing for every one who arrived until 19h (the line wasn’t infinite, though).
So I finally got to meet Anton Corbijn for the first time in 3 years. He was surprised (because I just appeared unannounced like everyone in the line). In fact, his joy felt almost like nostalgia, as if the project had been ages ago, when, in fact, we last met in October of 2019 in London. (now I got nostalgic about life in 2019). I got to send greetings on behalf of the other SPiRiTS and we even had a chat about the superb work of co-directors Pasqual Gutierrez and John Merizalde in the film.
I didn’t prepare anything special for him to write in the autograph. I could have done it, though. They were taking notes on post-its, but I decided I’d just let the moment flow. I did have “Dear Daniel, f*ck off! Love, AC” as a back up and I did suggest it. It was incredible how he was in such a great mood after the repetitive work of autographing for two hours straight. But he was concise, since he had already made an autograph that had taken almost the entire page. The result is the picture above.
I have 4 of his books in my shelf (well, DMAC XXL edition is not technically on a shelf) and three of them are autographed. First, during in a brief moment while filming, he wrote “Daniel, enjoy the music as much as the pictures, AC” on my “1-2-3-4” (I think he was under the impression I adore him and DM only; not just every artist featured on that book). The Gutemberg Bible edition of DMAC already came autographed. And now the XL edition of the same book. Only my restored copy of the rare Strangers that I bought for 1/3 of what it’s worth remains in pristine condition. No scribbles or doodles on it so far.
(EURYTHMICS) I LOVE TO LISTEN TO
I’m currently trapped between Eurythmics last two albums of the 80’s. The acclaimed “Savage” and the not so well received “We Too Are One”, which, in retrospect, is superior to their later reunion effort “Peace” (let me hide from the rocks here).
“Savage” was seen as a back-to-roots album with lots of electronic experimentation and a departure from their affair with R&B. The album did not have a tour to support it, as the band was exhausted from the previous one. Instead, they released a VHS (old days) with music videos to all songs sort of telling a linear story.
It’s follow-up also had an accompanying VHS (which was the only commercial release of the embarrassing video for “Revival”). I had this tape and I just had to rescue “When The Day Goes Down”. They carefully placed this melancholic farewell as the final song on the album and the home video with images of the final concert they played (until the “Peace tour”, of course).
As a counterpoint, I leave here the exact opposite. “(Beethoven) I Love To Listen To” is the first track on “Savage” and sets the tone of the entire album. There’s no real Beethoven in it, but it’s sure a crazy track with Annie overdubbing the lyrics with a spoken words version of the same lyrics and showcasing her acting abilities. I just love to listen to (and watch) it.
THE FIRE STILL BURNS
I came back from walking my dog this morning when I saw the postman had already passed by my building. Apart from the usual fear of receiving mail at all in Germany (long story, all bureaucracies come by mail and they’re usually bad), I wasn’t expecting anything in particular. I hadn’t ordered any record or CD. An empty box was all I wanted to find. Well, I didn’t. There was a CD/DVD sized envelope inside. I didn’t get to read what it was or from whom immediately because my hands were busy holding my dog on his leash, house keys, gloves (this is being a bit of a hard winter), mask, beanie/knit cap inside the elevator. Once at home, I managed to read what it was and when I saw who sent it, that’s when it hit me. Before the world was taken by this chaos and the band had plans to be in the same place at the same time May last year, something like this would have been fairly easy to get. But that never happened, and it slipped out of my mind because 2020 ended up being taken by one other big issue. But if they managed the logistics of autographing 1986 identical pages of the “DMAC” book being miles and miles away from each other, I can only assume that wasn’t the only thing they autographed. It’s a little treasure (ok, it’s a big deal) that I’m incredible grateful for. I never waited for the band in hotel doors or airports, so I don’t have anything autographed by the entire band for me. Well, now there’s also the book, but that was far more impersonal. Dave, Mart and Fletch, thanks for the gift. Well, actually, there is a long list of people to thank for helping me get this and you can read it all on my Instagram post about it. The Depeche Mode machine never stops giving love.
WEEKS TURN INTO MONTHS
Remember when you were celebrating the new year, some 11 months ago and now it’s almost Christmas time again? Along came Covid-19 and cancelled everything in it’s way. 2020 will enter history as “the year that never happened”. Something our children will learn about in history books (if people still read books by then) and imagine it was like when months were renamed during the French Revolution, or how the Russian October Revolution took place in November, or when they simply skipped 11 days of October in 1582. Except now it will have been 11 months instead… if we’re lucky.
At least we have our lovely internet and zoom calls to make up for all the social distancing and make time pass us by in a split second. Thanks to that, I got to have a second chance the “Depeche Mode Jeopardy Holiday Special”, promoted by Ron Rohm from the Depeche Mode Global Fan Group coordinated with the always incredible Jenna Robbins, and competing against two strong participants: my fellow “Spirits in the Forest” co-star Dicken Schrader of DMK and Brent Meyer from Strangelove the Depeche Mode Experience. And while we’re at it, the Home website now also has a group along with the already existing FB page. Yes, it seems like a lot of us have a lot more time to spend on the internet these days. So tune in for an hour of Depeche Mode trivia. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
AN ASSORTED COLLECTION
I’ve just treated myself to what’s probably the most expensive birthday gift I could have ever bought: the collector’s edition of “DMAC”, or “Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn” as stated on the box. The career-spanning photographic anthology of Anton Corbijn’s collaboration with Depeche Mode. Forget “Strangers”, tour books, music video stills and all artworks he has produced for them. This is all of that… and then some. Starting from their accidental session for NME in 1981 (when he “did not want to touch them”), but really kicking in from 1986 on, Anton has dug deep in his archives to produce this 500-page, 2-kilo+ Gutenberg beast of a book. In case the promotional material released so far hasn’t given the actual dimension of it, bear in mind Anton is a very tall guy and the book is roughly half his height. Mine just so happened to have arrived on my birthday, but I had it delivered to the local Taschen shop. And I had to bring it home by car. I have no idea in which shelf I can fit it. Or even in which room to keep it. Or how many liters of blood I must sell to pay this off. But It’s indeed a wonderful work of art. I did’t go with “art edition” because I’m also running out of walls to hang things. Of course both versions are sold out. But a more affordable edition has been confirmed by Anton himself to be coming sometime soon. I also did a quick unboxing video for the FB “Depeche Mode Global Fan Group” which is for members only, but you can join here. Sorry for not always having the best angle. It wasn’t easy to even fit the book inside the frame.