#in your memory

[mournfulroses]

Emilio Prados, from "In Your Memory," featured in Spanish Poetry: A Selection from the Cantar de Mio Cid to Miguel Hernandez

[inanotherunivrse]

in another universe you were still alive and we’ve published our story. it was a bestseller.

[dandelionscarf]

Old illustration for the fanfiction "The King of the Star".

Старая иллюстрация к фанфику "Король звезды".

[lumpef]

Header 2022 ✨

[12singlesemixesreevaluated]

No.2. Depeche Mode-People are People(1984)

This single for me remains the sound of a kind of harder Depeche Mode sound that they would move towards on the ‘Black Celebration’ album about 2 years later.  Back in the days of early Depeche Mode when they were moving away from the kind of teeny bopper sound and the band became three. The band had to rethink, with Daniel Miller who was head of Mute records they were allowed to regroup and this meant that Martin Gore was pushed more into the role of songwriter. This was a bit of a kind of painful listen at times, but they found their feet with certain tracks on ‘A broken frame’. Which in terms of the Depeche Mode discography is normally ignored, but perhaps a album that is integral to what they were about to go onto achieve.

The Mute label always had links to artists like Fad Gadget and other industrial bands , so at the time in 1982 on one had you had bands like Depeche Mode with their sound. Then you had bands starting to impliment the true sound of industrial sounds. So bands like Einsturzende Neubaten and Die Krupps, DAF. There was so many different sounds coming out at this time. In the UK alongside New Order, Depeche Mode were sort of following a truly Synth path, where as New Order would incorparate rock elements. With Depeche Mode they were obviously picking up on sounds, add this to the fairlight technology and emulators that Gore was now using. What added more depth to the situation was the introduction of Alan Wilder in 1982. The band went from being slightly awkward live to more confident. The band sort of went to sites and started to sample found sounds and this was evident on the album that followed in 1983 ‘Construction Time Again’. 

Hits followed like ‘Everything Counts’ but by early 1984 they released the single ‘People are People’. I think looking back I can remember people not liking the songs main chorus ‘you and I should get along so awfully’. That was the thing with Depeche Mode in the period 1982-84 there were parts lyrically that worked, other parts just did not. Now going back to the Single it was Martin L Gore’s song, but on the B side was an Alan Wilder ‘In Your Memory’. The band was sort of recording at Hansa studios in Berlin and were sort of making industrial music and sound work for them. This went onto the following album ‘Some Great Reward’, I think its fair to say they were having greater success in Germany at this point as well. The bands record label Mute classed as an indiependent, but with no real problems with distribution like many of the other record labels in the indiependent sector allowed Depeche Mode to follow their own path and develop at their own pace.

I think with ‘People are People’ they started to use outside production and remix bands, so I seem to recall People are People would features the Adrian Sherwood Remix. That was the thing back then Depeche Mode were quick to recongise other artists that were starting to get better. The success of Depeche Mode and later erasure would enable Mute to add other acts more varied.

The band at this time as you can see everything was Grey at the start of 1984 even the clothes, by the late 1984 period it went a but more Blue/Grey. Before the ‘Black’ Period. There is a kind of gothic ness to their industrial beats of this time, maybe due to the environment they were producing and working in.

I am including the Tube appearence they did in early March 1984. They perform ‘Told You So’ which is a good track, with those kind of weak lyrics I was referring to earlier. 

There is a part on the performance of ‘People are People’ where I think Alan Wilder has the wrong sound and you can see him looking over at the rest of the band. The band obviously have a backing track but are improvising over the top of it. 

Now going back to this period of Depeche Mode, from a purely personal point of view and my 12-18 year old self back in those days. The work of Depeche Mode had great reasoning. In that the ‘Told You So’ track sort of mirrored what was happening at the time. I think back then there was not a lot of tollerence and understanding with things in general , it was almost with such high unemployment you were expected to fail by teachers and superiors. Without realising it Depeche Mode were relating to their audience by singing of feeling slightly divoced from things. I think other tracks like ‘Something to Do’ centered on Surburban Isolation.  Also at this time they managed to get airplay for ‘Master and Servant’ , maybe they saw what Frankie did and tried to get banned. But at the time it was getting certain Djs backs up , namely in the UK Steve Wright who was one of the most well known DJ’s. He hated the band , classing them miserable and refused to play their tracks. That is what makes the success of Depeche Mode at this time even more remarkable that they were not getting airplay from Peel, Long etc. 

The B Side which was an Alan Wilder track is very different. I think it is probably the best Depeche Mode track ever. For early 1984 the track is incredibly hard , beat wise. I think at the time of release I ignored it slightly, but then when I was about 14-18 it meant more. I think it could relate to anything really, universal. The progress of changes at the time “ put up the barriers, shut down your senses”, “reaction levels strangely muted”. Its quite a driving song. Also seemed to fit into the industrial/EBM era, even though that was much later.

The track ‘People are People’ was always played well by Depeche Mode in the 101 album, which was quite a fast version. Not sure if its in the current sets. But the sound of Depeche Mode was a band in a state of transition. Maybe a little but of Naive songwriting, but was songs they were. But that was part of the learning curve and thankfully Depeche Mode had time to develop. Now I suppose Gahan would concentrate more on hip thrusts and ‘cmons’, but this was a time that the music was becoming more serious. It remains a powerful track from a time when their music and approach was hardening. It was quite driven music, the drum sound was louder and a hardening approach. The band was growing up in the public eye, musically that is.

[heartsmade4more]

**this song has been altered to convey a different meaning than what the artist originally intended.

[thatkdramatho]

In the promo when Tae Eun's father asked Jeong Hoon how he could just move on to another girlfriend