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Depeche Mode “People Are People”

sfilzen — Mon, 09 May 2022 17:33:40 +0000

Depeche Mode “People Are People” 1984. US/Canada-only compilation album. Today, May 9th, is DM singer Dave Gahan’s 60th birthday (b. David Callcott, 1962). Sire Records released People Are People to the North American market prior to DM’s fourth LP Some Great Reward (September ’84) to help generate more interest in the band and expose the audience to both new and earlier singles. The soonish-to-be hit single “People Are People” leads off the record (it finally charted in the US in May ’85, going to #13). There are a couple of tracks from the their third album Construction Time Again: “Love, In Itself” (#21 UK), “Told You So” and “Pipeline” plus two Construction-era tracks: the ’83 non-album single “Get the Balance Right!,” (#13 UK), “Work Hard” which was the B-side to “Everything Counts” (#6 UK) and the extended version of that single, “Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts).” There’s only one A Broken Frame related song, “Now This is Fun,” which was the b-side to “See You” (1982, #6 UK). I have all of these tracks on other albums, singles and/or 12″ singles but People Are People is a nice addition to my Depeche Mode stash; Allmusic calls it a release that is “solely for the hardcore fans.”

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Depeche Mode “People Are People”

sfilzen — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 20:11:56 +0000

Depeche Mode “People Are People” b/w “In Your Memory” 1984. Yesterday, July 23rd, was Depeche Mode’s primary songwriter, occasional vocalist, guitarist and (one of a few) keyboardist Martin Gore’s birthday (b. 1961). Written by Gore, “People Are People” was the first single released from Some Great Reward and was DM’s first big hit in the US: released in July of ‘84 it finally hit #13 in the US in the spring of ‘85. I loved loved loved this industrial new wave synthpop song and its video, which had heavy rotation on MTV back when I watched obsessively for this and other new wave tracks. Apparently the band has had a different opinion of the song in years since, expressing embarrassment about the naive sociopolitical lyrics. However, as Allmusic states, “Musically, the explicit use of sampled metallic crashes and detailed production throughout makes the song one of the strongest incorporations of industrial music techniques in a more listener-friendly manner.”

The B-side, “In Your Memory,” was written by Alan Wilder and it appeared on the 2006 re-release DVD/CD bundle of Some Great Reward. Like “People Are People” the B-side track is tinged with pipe-clanking industrial effects to a danceable beat.

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