Depeche Mode “Get the Balance Right!” 1983. 12″ single, Mute Records. A stand-alone single released between the albums A Broken Frame (1982) and Construction Time Again (1983), “Get the Balance Right!” went to #13 in the UK and to #31 on the US dance chart. It was the first single to include DM’s new member Alan Wilder. We picked up this 12″ single (with the Combination Mix variant of “Get the Balance Right!”) in London last summer at Flashback Records at either their Islington or Shoreditch location, I can’t remember which. The B-side has the instrumental “The Great Outdoors!” which is weirdly both lushly natural ambient (you know, like the great outdoors) and space-age sci-fi ice-cold synthpop. It also has a live version of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (so many exclamations on this 12″!) recorded on October 25th, 1982 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. I love this song from Depeche Mode’s first album Speak & Spell (1981): it’s both exotically dark and bouncing bright synthpop.