12/31/2007

Goodbye 25 Years Ago.


As you know, 1982 was a stand out year for some of Waist High's favorite music.

2007 became the year that we said "Happy 25th Birthday" to some of the greats: The Lexicon of Love, Upstairs at Eric's, New Gold Dream, The Gift, "Shock the Monkey," Special Beat Service, Pelican West, Avalon, Rio, The Golden Age of Wireless, A Flock Of Seagulls, "Love My Way," Shabooh Shoobah, and Combat Rock.

Greatest of all, 1982 was the year that Waist High's favorite Depeche Mode album, A Broken Frame, was released. A Broken Frame has been referred to as the beginning of the band's "so-called dark phase." The least known of their albums, A Broken Frame is a masterpiece.

A Broken Frame was Depeche Mode's second studio album, originally released on Sept. 27, 1982, following the departure of founder member Vince Clarke.

The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher, and Vince Clarke. Clarke shockingly left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album Speak and Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder who was a band member from 1982 to 1995.

Depeche Mode are one of the longest-lived, most successful and influential bands to have emerged from the New Wave era. They have had 44 songs in the UK Singles Chart, and it is estimated that they have sold over 91 million records worldwide as of 2006.

Waist High is happy to report that all ten of Depeche Mode's studio albums in
THE REMASTERS series are now available, and in the final "Happy 25th Birthday" of 2007, Waist High would like to say "Happy 25th Birthday" to THE REMASTERED A Broken Frame.

The remastered A Broken Frame includes 2 CD's. "The first CD was remastered and (except in the USA) was released on a CD/SACD hybrid. The DVD includes the three B-sides 'Now, This is Fun,' 'Oberkorn (It's a Small Town),' and 'Excerpts from: My Secret Garden,' in addition to several live versions of some of the songs from A Broken Frame."

All 10 of THE REMASTERS include a DVD, and the A Broken Frame DVD presents Vince Clark speaking of his departure from the band, a must see for any fan. Not only is this the first time that 25+ year Depeche Mode fan Waist High heard Vince Clark speak of his departure from the band, this is the first time that 25+ year Depeche Mode fan heard Vince Clark speak of Depeche Mode period.

"The re-release preserves the album as it was originally intended. The bonus track 'Further Excerpts from: My Secret Garden' was removed (but unlike earlier re-releases wasn't put on the DVD as an extra) and the version of 'Leave in Silence' is the album version, not the 'Longer' version, making it's debut in the USA. (Like 'Further Excerpts,' the 'Longer' version doesn't appear on the DVD)."

The 27 minute documentary on A Broken Frame called Depeche Mode 1982 (The Beginning Of Their So-called Dark Phase) features interviews with the band "and other important DM figures like Daniel Miller and cover-photographer Brian Griffin. There is also footage of television appearances and live performances, commentary on the three singles, Vince's departure, Alan's joining, the 'See You' tour, the cover, and more. There are excerpts from the three Julien Temple music videos, making this the only time they have been viewable in a public release."

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS! And goodbye to 1982, as 25 years ago.

Material: remasters.depechemode.com & wikipedia.org