It is exactly a year to the day since I last posted anything in this series, which was supposed to be me picking 50 acts that I hated when I first heard them, but now rather like.
The idea was to post all 50 before my 50th birthday.
Later this year, I turn 53, which tells you all you need to know about how good I am at hitting self-set targets.
I'm prompted into this one by the news of the very sad death of Andy Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode.
Now, back in the early 1980s when they first emerged, Depeche Mode were the very antithesis of all that I loved: they played keyboards and nothing but electronica, I still, stupidly (and it took me a long time to shake this off) wanted "proper" music, by which I meant "songs with guitars on them".
But I noticed them, how could you not? From the playful pop riff of Just Can't Get Enough to the S&M overtones of Master & Servant, I knew they were there. But not for me.
And then they released this as a double A-side:
Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours
At the time, I'd never heard a record so dark, so scathing. I remember poring over the lyrics printed on Smash Hits and being blown away that somebody would write about such a subject. Years later, it occurs to me that the first verse is She's Leaving Home, rewritten as a suicide note.
But did I buy it? Nope.
The years progressed, and the band continued to release dark and moody electronica, such as this absolute beauty:
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
But did I buy it? Nope.
Still I resisted, until the Greatest Hits albums came out, a mix of wonderfully upbeat pop singles, becoming increasingly dark and menacing, which I finally succumbed to and admitted I needed some DMs in my life.
RIP Andy Fletcher. Sorry I didn't buy your brilliant, ground-breaking records sooner.
More soon.
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