Depeche Mode Is Not My Favorite Band

My computer crashed the week before last, and I won't be re-installing iTunes for reasons I don't want to get into here. Needless to say, I feel a little disconnected from pop music right now, which is fine, as I have a lifetime of songs I can still listen to on my iPod. All this got me thinking back to my first forays into pop music. I've had a lot of friends tell me that I come to mind whenever they hear Depeche Mode. I want to give a history as to why that may be the case, but also a reason for why the band doesn't even make my top five list. I was raised on my dad's collection of 60's folk and classic rock LPs (Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man is pictured and I talked that album up to all my friends so I don't know why that doesn't make people think of me) and my mom's oldies AM radio station. When we went to my grandparents' cabin, they played jazz standards and showtunes on 8-track, and thanks to them I saw MTV for the first time. I had already seen Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video a year before, but I think they showed that on a regular network channel. We stayed with my grandparents one summer while my parents went to the British Isles and the great thing about that was that they had cable. That's how I saw The Monkees TV show for the first time and the first thing I saw on MTV was either Genesis' claymation "Land of Confusion" or "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. That so far should be enough to make you see that I was not winged on '80s underground.

If not for an older cousin, I might still be listening to nothing but bubblegum and pop rap like the Marky Mark, M.C. Hammer, and Milli Vanilli that I first rebelled against my parents with. You see, around the debuts of those artists, I visited my teenage cousin and his room was covered with Depeche Mode and U2 posters. Now everybody has an older neighbor or relative that they look up to as kids, and for my middle brother and I, that was this cousin. He had a go-kart and a spike haircut and we were lucky enough to get his cool hand-me-down clothes. He had a poster for the Violator album (pictured) and I asked for the tape for Christmas that year. So I have been listening to Depeche Mode for as long as I've been buying my own music. Sentimental, yes. Favorite, not quite. I would put it in the same group as my parents' soft rock and my grandparents' swing. Everybody seems to love Depeche Mode therefore nobody can have that feeling of ownership. There's a difference between the music you like because it reminds you of something, like childhood or a first date, and the music you like because you discovered it on your own, without memories or radio play. I would guess that most people only ever like music for the first reason, not that there's anything wrong with that.

For about five years previous to Violator, my favorite song of all time was "Axel F," by Harold Faltermeyer. (If I had a spare million dollars to produce an album, I would ask Harold Faltermeyer to write some new music and then watch how he works in the studio.) The 100% electronic sound was in complete contrast to my parents' music. It felt fresh, original, and most important, personal. Years later, at my cousin's house again, I heard an electronic beat that rivalled both "Axel F" and Depeche Mode. I asked who was playing and was introduced to my actual favorite band of all time, New Order. The song was "Bizarre Love Triangle" and the CD was Substance (pictured). When I joined the BMG music service, that was my first choice on the introductory offer list (along with MTV Party To Go Vol. 1, Duran Duran's self-titled, P.M. Dawn's The Bliss Album...?, and Megadeth's Countdown To Extinction - these were my very first CDs and they are a fair representation of my current collection). Somehow I didn't buy anymore New Order until college. I think I was too busy anticipating each upcoming release from Depeche Mode. Perhaps that's what people remember about me. New Order didn't come out with any albums while I was in high school but they did right before I saw them at the Coachella Music Festival. Their new stuff is just as good as their old. I can't say the same for Depeche Mode.

By the time I finally caught up with my cousin and got a side spike haircut of my own, my C + C Music Factory and Paula Abdul tapes were already passé. G-funk and grunge were in and '80s music was out. I gave up playing catch up and found a new form of teenage rebellion - following pop groups that your parents don't like and neither do your peers. I was ten years behind when I got into Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys and perhaps that's why me getting into those artists sticks out so much in people's minds (or maybe it's just that I've seen Erasure more than once in concert, but if that's what qualifies performers to be my favorites, then it would be Leo Kottke over Erasure, because I've seen him more times than anyone else). But they were never my all-time favorites. It wasn't until college that I got into my most favorite '80s bands, New Order, The (English) Beat, and Echo and the Bunnymen. The difference between a top five and a top ten band for me is a difference in quantity, not quality. There are many bands that I like most songs from but very few that can do no wrong by me. How could I know the difference if I just bought radio singles? I think this represents an era that is ending. Kids today don't have to worry about buying their favorite band's whole album and only liking half the songs. Music downloading has killed the concept album, but that's a topic for another post. I'll end this post by saying that I'm grateful for iTunes and I miss it right now, but not having it hasn't kept Deerhunter (new album pictured) from becoming my newest favorite band.

OUT TODAY ON DVD: VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (was supposed to have been released today but I think it's been pushed to January)