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MELODY
MAKER, 26TH FEBRUARY 1983
[Words:
Dave Gahan, Andrew Fletcher. Pictures: Uncredited.]
" ...it’s awful. It’s non-inventive, it’s like a million other things, it’s nothing. I’m gonna smash it. "
Summary:
Unusual item in which Dave and Fletch
review the week's single releases. Dave warms to the task a little more than
Fletch and while they begin optimistically enough, they soon become discouraged
by the standard of the songs, making a brave effort at finding positive remarks.
Nonetheless the different angle of the piece gives us an insight we wouldn't
otherwise have had into the band's preferences. [2113 words]
View pages: page 1
Try
also: "Apocalypse
Jukebox: Dave Gahan" [Q, June 2005]
"Music Is The
Answer" [Mixmag, November 2005]
Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode were nervous and apprehensive about
passing judgement on their fellow artists. Their shock at discovering just how
much dross gets churned out by record companies quickly loosened their tongues,
however, and they retreated to Basildon severely disillusioned by the state of
the record industry.
The
The: “Perfect” (Some Bizzare).
Dave: Lou Reed! Great voice though, great voice. It has a harmonica sound
like the Feelgoods and it mixes a lot of styles brilliantly. Very impressive the
way it merges harmonica with electronics – an exceptionally clever record. It
has Lou Reed written all over it but that doesn’t matter – Matt Johnson
sings it superbly, and it has a really catchy chorus. There’s a Sixties feel
about it but it’s brought right up to date by the electronics. Matt
Johnson’s done a lot of good stuff before, but this is the best.
Robert
Gorl: “Mit Dir” (Mute).
D: This is a German man, ex-DAF. We’ll probably be accused of being biased
because it’s on Mute, but we genuinely think it’s a great record.
A: Brilliant. One of my all-time favourites. We have heard it before of
course. I played it about ten times before I came out.
D: “Mit Dir” means “with you” – it’s a German love song.
That’s the only thing against it – it’s sung in German, so obviously
people here won’t understand the lyrics, and the lyrics are quite important to
us. But then Robert Gorl doesn’t need to put English lyrics to it because DAF
are so big in Germany.
A: A very simple song, but it has this warmth. A lot of atmosphere. I’d
like to think the English radio stations will play it but I doubt if they will
simply because it’s sung in German.
Bow Wow Wow: “Do You Wanna Hold Me?” (RCA).
D: Ha! For a band who slagged us off for being wimps, this isn’t very
tough at all. One of them’s got a big mouth, but after this I can’t see how
he can call us wimps. They’ve definitely been sweetened up since “I Want
Candy” – Mike Chapman’s producing them now and he’s obviously been told
to do it that way. The cover’s awful as well.
A: It’s terrible. I liked some of their other stuff, but this is so
sweet and weak. It’s a shame because Annabella’s got a really good voice.
D: It’s quite a good pop song, though, and it stands up on that basis
alone. It would have been a good follow-up to “I Want Candy”.
Wall
Of Voodoo: “Mexican Radio” (Illegal).
A: A mess.
D: Sounds as if the singer’s trying to be Lou Reed or Iggy Pop – like
a lot of bands around now it’s a total rip-off of Lou Reed or Iggy. The lyrics
mean nothing – I’ve never even heard Mexican radio. It’s a non-thing to
sing about. And it has a lot of gimmicky things – yee-haws and stuff – in
the middle. The name gets me a bit as well. With a name like that I thought it
was going to be very dark and gloomy – they should change their name if they
wanna go for commercial success.
Crown
Of Thorns: “Kingdom Come” (Illegal).
D: There’s a lot of holes in the song which they’re trying to fill up
with a string sound going through the whole thing. The singer sounds like Simon
Le Bon. This group is supposed to be mean but there’s nothing mean about that.
The only mean thing I’ve heard recently is the Birthday Party and that is
mean. I’m sure all these groups would like to be poppy and on “Top Of The
Pops”, but they’re also trying to keep their cult reputation.
It seems to be an anti-nuclear song from the lyrics, but I don’t agree with
that either. There’s a lot of groups trying to jump on that bandwagon. I
believe it’s an important issue but I don’t see that these sort of bands
really believe in it themselves. If you asked them a lot of detailed questions
on the subject they wouldn’t know what the hell they were talking about, and
that’s what annoys me. This just sounds like another pop band who haven’t
got a very good song.
Samson:
“Red Skies” (Polydor).
A: Our favourite magazine is Kerrang! We really like heavy metal – we
think it’s funny. When we’re in a studio we often buy Kerrang! and pin up
pictures of Ozzy Osbourne because it’s so comical. [1]
They have a page where one of them talks about his most memorable solo and stuff
like that.
D: This is disappointing because basically it just isn’t heavy metal. It
sounds more like the Eagles. It’s too serious. Heavy metal shouldn’t be
taken seriously. They seem to be going for an MOR market with this.
Lurkers:
“Frankenstein Again” (Clay).
D: Early Lurkers stuff was really good – I used to be quite a fan, I got
my free gold vinyl flexi-disc and everything. But this is weak compared to their
early stuff. It’s a naff song – I mean, who sings about Frankenstein? A lot
of punks will like it, but what they were doing four or five years ago was much
rawer. I’ve just got that Birthday Party EP and to me that’s real raw
energy. All the young punks around now just don’t know what punk is. Punk now
is just re-hashes.
Gardening
By Moonlight: “Strange News” (Imperial).
D: One of the better singles of the week. It’s not aimed at being a hit,
but they’ve put a lot of work into the recording and the cover, and they’ve
come up with quite an unusual sound. It’s well produced and there’s a lot of
interesting things being done with the stereo – it’s a shame but I just
can’t see it getting airplay because it’s so different. Peel and Jensen will
play it obviously but they must know themselves that they’re not heading for a
commercial market.
Annabel Lamb: “Once Bitten” (A&M).
D: There’s a riff in it that’s a total rip-off of Eddy Grant’s
“Living On The Front Line”. The cover’s better than the record – I
don’t like it at all. Good cover, rotten record.
A: I quite like the voice actually. They have put her in a studio with all
the right modern sounds but it’s lacking in… power.
Wide Boy Awake: “Bona Venture” (RCA).
D: If it gets the airplay it could easily be a hit because this group have
got a look, and that seems to control a lot of what goes in the charts and what
doesn’t.
A: It’s an attempt at a modern type of country sound.
D: They’re going for the Malcolm McLaren thing, and it’ll do well in
that area. Don’t know what it’s all about though – what does “Bona
Venture” mean? It’s quite different to their last single which was based
round African rhythms – it sounds as if they’re trying to cash in now on the
new Malcolm McLaren sound.
Landscape:
“So Good So Pure So Kind” (RCA).
A: It reminds me of Barclay James Harvest. Which isn’t a slag-off. When I
was younger I used to listen to Barclay James Harvest a lot, and this has the
same sort of atmosphere. It’s the sort of record you listen to sitting in the
middle of the room with the lights off. Totally different to what Landscape have
done before; there are none of the usual Landscape electronics.
D: Very MOR, but if that’s what they’re going for now, fair enough. They
do it quite well. I can see it being a hit.
Johnny
Briggs: “Warm” (MVM).
D: A song for Deirdre! I can imagine Johnny Briggs being a boy soprano.
I’m a big fan of “Coronation Street”, actually – I watch it every night.
And this is Mike Baldwin, who’s having an affair with Deirdre. It’s a trash
record, but he’s singing it for Deirdre and if his heart’s in it that’s
okay. Ken Barlow should get a record out quickly because otherwise Johnny’s
going to steal Deirdre’s heart with that one. Other than that it’s trash.
Marine Girls: “Don’t Come Back” / “You Must Be Mad” (Cherry Red).
D: It’s better than the Gymslips. The singer has a very good feel to her
voice, but it could do with some drums.
A: I think it’s quite good that they don’t use drums.
D: Yeah, but this needs drums. If it was a song purely going for a vocal
sound it wouldn’t need drums, but this isn’t. It just chops along like loads
of edits put together and it’s a bit blank. Sounds empty.
Peter
Godwin: “Emotional Disguise” (Polymer).
D: It’s very short. Good production and quite a nice song, but what lets
it down is his voice. It’s very stylish and sounds like Japan and Roxy Music,
which ruins it. As soon as he starts singing you think “Oh blimey, another one
of those.” There are a lot of Heaven 17 overtones, and even a bit of ourselves
and Yazoo.
I don’t mind him ripping us off… as long as it’s not a hit!
Kids
From Fame: “Friday Night” (RCA).
D: This is the sort of thing that clutters up English music. English music
is the best music and this is the kind of record that ruins it. It’ll be a hit
simply because it’s the Kids From Fame, but it’s awful. It’s
non-inventive, it’s like a million other things, it’s nothing. I’m gonna
smash it. I don’t think anyone who reads a music paper would go out and buy
that. If they did they should get their head seen to.
Dionne
Warwick: “Yours” (Arista).
D: You can’t knock somebody with a voice like that – it’s a great
voice – but the music means nothing. Produced by Barry Gibb, and the backing
and everything else is terrible… they should just put her voice on and leave
it at that. It’ll be a big hit, though, no doubt about that.
Shriekback:
“Lined Up” (Y Records).
D: This is the band that features Barry Andrews, who used to be in XTC. A
12-inch disco mix, by Dick O’Dell.
A: There’s a lot of Talking Heads in it. The vocal isn’t as
pronounced as David Byrne, but it has the same sort of feel – the arrangement
and so on. According to the promo stuff that’s come with it, this is the band
that the Daily Mirror and The Sun have picked out as stars of the future. I hate
to disagree with them, but I can’t see it. Not with this single.
Matchbox
with Kirsty McColl: “I Want Out” (Magnet).
A: Matchbox have just come back from a sell-out tour of Yugoslavia,
apparently, so there must be something good about them. Don’t know what it is
though. Don’t know what Kirsty McColl is doing on there either – I don’t
think it’s the type of thing that she’s really into.
Roman Holliday: “Stand By” (Jive).
D: Glenn Miller speeded up with modern drums. Maybe there’s going to be a
revival of swing – Animal Nightlife are doing quite well, and the Stargazers.
We played with the Stargazers a few times before we were known and they were
really into it – they lived the Fifties. Then CBS signed them, put them in a
big studio and did a lot of publicity on them, and I think they lost the sound
that they really wanted.
I’m not so sure about this lot. If there is a revival, then these look like
being the first to jump in on it. It’s the usual single hype job. They don’t
even look the part.
Pete
Shelley: “Telephone Operator” (Genetic).
A: Produced by Martin Rushent. It sounds like the Ruts. I was always a big
fan of the Buzzcocks, but I don’t think any of Pete Shelley’s solo stuff has
been very inspired. This isn’t any improvement. A very ordinary song –
production is the best thing about it.
Scarlet Party – “Eyes Of Ice” (EMI).
A: Terrible. Rubbish. Pure Beatles copy, but badly done. It’s so awful I
can’t bring myself to say any more about it. There’s a lot of bad records
about aren’t there? I thought the charts were bad, but when you listen to what
actually gets put out you realise the charts are actually the best.
Rock Goddess: “My Angel” (A&M).
A: We’ve always wanted to meet this group, we’re big fans. This is more like it. Samson were a big let down, but Rock Goddess have redeemed the heavy metal fraternity. We’ll look forward to reading about Rock Goddess in Kerrang!. The real question is does Jody Turner have a bigger tongue than Gene Simmons?
[1]
- Obviously I could always be wrong, but I just can't see this somehow. I'd take
it with a big pinch of salt if I was you. [continue]