Depeche Mode “Blasphemous Rumours” 1984. Bong7/Mute Records. 12″ single b/w four live tracks from The Empire Theatre in Liverpool: “Somebody,” “Two Minute Warning,” “Ice Machine” and “Everything Counts.” Side A is at 45 rpm, Side B at 33 rpm which I knew but neglected to change on the record player so heard the chipmunk version of Martin Gore singing “Somebody” for a few moments of hilarity, which was helpful because “Blasphemous Rumours” is really depressing. Both “Blasphemous Rumours” and “Somebody” appear on dM’s 4th studio album Some Great Reward. Technically Depeche Mode released both songs as a compromise-comprehensive single after religious groups were outraged by the lyrical content of “Blasphemous Rumours” where a girl tries to commit suicide, finds God and then is killed by a car. A priest from Depeche Mode’s hometown of Basildon went so far as to rebuke the band for suggesting that “God has a sick sense of humor.” The double-single made it to #16 on the UK single charts. “Two Minute Warning” and “Everything Counts” are from the 1983 album Construction Time Again, one of my favorites, and are darkly industrial. “Ice Machine” goes back to the Vince Clark days of Speak & Spell where it is the B-side to “Dreaming of Me,” and therefore much more synth pop, though still deep and brooding.