Depeche Mode need no introduction, but in the early days it wasn’t uncommon for them to be called “De-peche-ay.” Dave Gahan used to mangle their French name, too, so the presenter of ITV’s Razzmatazz can be forgiven his synths.
Rare Video of the Week
Shot for Italian TV, this clip of Depeche Mode miming on a boat cruise doesn’t seem to have attracted much attention. That is a pity, because it shows the band in their classic line-up, working one of their best songs.
Skip past the intro with “Just Can’t Get Enough” to see how young Londoners partied back in the day.
The Short Circuit festival dedicated to Mute was a celebration of the label’s diverse but talented roster.
One of the artists to perform was Yazoo, who had toured during a break that Vince Clarke was able to take from Erasure work.
There were many cameras out at the event, including many from Mute, who were archiving it. This footage seems to have crept out without anyone noticing, however.
For cooler and shorter days, we offer this rare footage showing the full Yazoo performance.
Malaria! were one of German’s most important alternative acts. Formed by Gudrun Gut (Einsteurzende Neubauten, Mania D) and Bettina Köster (Mania D), and drawing in such luminaries as Beate Bartel (Liaisons Dangereuses, Mania D) and Eva Gößling (Die Krupps), it was a kind of Berlin supergroup.
The band were managed by Mark Reeder, a Mancunian exile who had arranged Joy Division’s only Berlin show. They toured with The Birthday Party and appeared on CBC’s Brave New Waves.
This footage is from their performance at the Women in Rock Festival in 1981. It includes behind the scenes interview material.
DAF reshaped German electronic music as punks with synthesizers; creating three concise, elemental albums for Virgin before going on the run.
They didn’t live in the shadows, like Baader-Meinhof. Gabi Delgado made a Latin-flavoured solo album for their label, while Robert Görl returned to Mute to make shimmering electropop with help from Annie Lennox.
As the 80s went on, they got back together to make dance music for the clubs; reinventing DAF as a hi-NRG act. With tracks like “Brothers” and a rebooted “Absolute Body Control,” they revved up drum machines for the black leather set.
In this clip from Belgium’s Rox Box, the pair were captured at a PA and given a chance to explain their views on “DAF, sex and mix.”
In 1986, an extraordinary event took place in Vancouver.
For Expo 86, an international fair, the bookers selected a number of industrial bands to perform. On “Britain Day,” Test Department were brought over to hammer and sloganise.
Skinny Puppy’s cEvin Key was involved, as his mentor was the booker subverting expectations. He has uploaded this footage for other generations to enjoy.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty had a number one hit as The Timelords. They took the knowledge they had collected creating their freak novelty hit, “Doctorin’ the Tardis,” and issued a book called The Manual to share it.
In this interview with the late Tony Wilson, Drummond laid out his approach to “getting to the top of the castle.”
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Lost and found, this video for Twice a Man’s “Back on Venus” demonstrates why the Swedish art band have been so influential. With reverb and rhythms at the fore, they were the psychedelic edge of new wave.
The images of an office worker climbing a hill of sand matter less here than the magical, post-prog rock that Twice a Man excel at, but they make you look and they invite you to think.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Recorded at a show in France in 1981, this video shows DAF, reduced to the duo of Robert Goerl and Gabi Delgado, give a storming performance of “Verschwende deine Jugend” [EN: “Waste Your Youth”] in front of a wall of cassette decks.
Cassettes, for those born after 1990, were lengths of magnetic tape encased in plastic shells.
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