Depeche Mode “Shake the Disease” 1985. Mute Records. Special Edition UK 12″ single, includes “Shake the Disease (Edit the Shake),” “Master and Servant (live),” “Flexible (Pre-deportation mix),” and “Something To Do (Metalmix).”

I purchased this soon after its release in 1985 while on a visit to Los Angeles. While there I heard “Shake the Disease” on KROQ and was thrilled to be hearing the new Depeche Mode single before my friends back in the Midwest – radio stations in small-town Wisconsin did not play such dark gothy music back then but rather fed us a steady diet of Journey, Supertramp, Styx and the like.

This “Shake the Disease” 12″ marks a transition in Depeche Mode’s recordings. It bridges the synth-pop industrial sounds of their earlier albums (“Construction Time Again,” “Some Great Reward,” etc.) and the movement toward a darker vibe (“Black Celebration”). “Shake the Disease” is dark, moody and dangerous, while “Flexible” has just a few of those darker qualities but overall is more danceable and poppy. “Something To Do (Metalmix)” highlights the perfect mixture of a haunting industrial sound in a minor-keyed danceable mix.