See description of Tribute Album to Depeche Mode (taken from MTV)

Thursday, August 27, 1998

Depeche Mode books Cdn. dates for fall

Depeche Mode will embark on its first North American tour in five years, which will include three shows in Canada, according to MTV News.

The band will play the SkyDome in Toronto on Nov. 5, the Molson Centre in Montreal on Nov. 6, and Vancouver's PNE, Dec. 4, the network reports.

The tour kicks off Oct. 27 in Worcester, Mass., and winds up Dec. 18 in Inglewood, Calif.

On Oct. 6, the band will release a two-CD compilation, "Best Of: Singles 86-98", which features one new song, "Only When I Lose Myself".

- Jam! Music


Friday, 31 July, 1998

Into the tribute Mode

Top bands line up to cover the best of Depeche Mode

By RICK CONRAD -- Halifax Herald

In their heyday, Depeche Mode were the gods of goth, the masters of morose, the sultans of synth.

The British pop band, featuring vocalist Dave Gahan, songwriter and keyboardist Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Alan Wilder also on keyboards, enjoyed enormous success from the mid-'80s to the early '90s, selling more than 30 million records.

On the strength of such singles as People are People, Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence, Depeche Mode enjoyed perhaps their greatest popularity following 1990's Violator CD.

The band, now reduced from a foursome to a trio after the departure of Alan Wilder, still releases albums, though last year's Ultra was a sales disappointment.

With a greatest hits package and a tour set to go in the fall, however, Depeche Mode is gearing up for a comeback.

And Gary Richards, the head of indie label 1500 Records, hopes his new 16-track DM tribute album, For the Masses, will help.

To say Richards is a fan of Depeche Mode would be like saying The Beatles were mildly popular.

"Martin Gore's songwriting, to us, he's like our John Lennon of our era," Richards says from his office in Los Angeles.

"He's going to go down in history as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

"Thirty, 40, 50 years from now, his songs are still gonna be here and people are still gonna be singing them and enjoying them. And I think that's why they deserve a tribute album."

Richards and two friends from the band God Lives Underwater, which covers Fly on the Windscreen, got the idea more than three years ago.

He explains "it was pretty easy" to find acts for the CD.

"Most of them really love Depeche Mode and a lot of them had ideas for songs to cover.

"I don't think people realize how much Depeche Mode has influenced music but there are so many people that just love them and love their style and their songwriting that we would just approach people and they were like, 'Cool'."

Bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Veruca Salt and Dishwalla appear on the tribute album, in stores Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Richards says he wanted to get Nine Inch Nails to do a track, but lead man Trent Reznor couldn't work it into his recording schedule.

Marilyn Manson also wanted to cover Personal Jesus, but it didn't happen.

"At first, I was nervous I was gonna get enough songs to make an album," Richards says.

"And after a while, it was just like now I just want to make the best album possible from start to finish."

The Smashing Pumpkins turned Never Let Me Down Again from a synth-driven epic to a mellower jangly guitar piece.

"There was a quote from Dave Gahan saying how he thought the Pumpkins version was better than the original," Richards says. "I like all the versions. I like the covers and I like the originals."

German industrial group Rammstein changed Stripped from a plea to a command, with Dave Gahan's gentle request replaced by Till Lindemann's drill sergeant snarl.

"They're crazy," Richards says of Rammstein.

"And actually, their album is starting to blow up, they've got a buzz clip on MTV and things are really going well for them right now."

While Rammstein itself has released Stripped as a single, Richards is waiting for American radio to tell him which track should be the first single and video from For the Masses.

"There are so many singles on there," he says.

"Hopefully one song will raise its hand as the main one and then we'll figure it out at that point."

Considering Richards's love of Depeche Mode ("they're a pretty huge band in my eyes"), the project was purely one of homage.

"I don't think the idea was to top (Depeche Mode)," he says.

"I think it was just to reinterpret it."

And by all accounts, the band is happy with the results.

"As far as I know," Richards says, "Martin Gore likes the songs, he likes the renditions and the band is psyched with it."

He realizes that tribute albums aren't usually big sellers, but he says money wasn't his motive.

"We just tried to make a good record because we're fans of the band and if that translates to sales, then hey, cool.

"And if not we got a good record for ourselves."


Thursday, 9 April, 1998

Depeche Mode tribute album imminent

By KAREN BLISS -- Jam! Showbiz

They had to respect the masters and not mess with the music. That was the main criteria in gathering the truly faithful and devoted artists to pay tribute to Depeche Mode by covering one of the British band's songs.
 
 Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Meat Beat Manifesto, Gus Gus, Self, Deftones and God Lives Underwater are just some of the contributors to "For The Masses", (a play on the title of Depeche Mode's 1987 album, Music For The Masses), due Aug. 4, on 1500/A&M.
 
 The idea was the brainchild of God Lives Underwater's Jeff Turzo and David Reilly, a Los Angeles-based techno duo, who were in Toronto this week to promote their latest album, "Life In The So-Called Space Age".
 
 "God Lives Underwater played 'Stripped' whenever we were on tour and it went over really well," says Reilly , describing how the tribute idea came about. "We heard that Deftones were covering a Depeche Mode song live and it just came together like that, by asking around. Everyone seems to like Depeche Mode."
 
 Helping to implement the idea was Gary Richards, God Lives Underwater's manager and the label head at 1500.
 
 "We got the idea out there and then people came to us," says Reilly. "Me and Jeff and Gary have been weeding through the stuff and deciding what we want on the record."
 
 Richards is both passionate about and protective of the tribute. Although he gave interested bands "free reign" to do with the song what they would, he knew exactly what he was after.
 
 "Most of them we approached, the ones who want to do it, a) love Depeche Mode and b) have a song already in mind," explains Richards. "People that really like Depeche Mode and have it in their heart, understand what that band is about and know how to re-create it properly. And some people don't.
 
 "There were a lot of other people who submitted (songs)," adds Richards. "Most of them didn't make it for the simple fact that what we're trying to do is a tribute to Depeche Mode and, more importantly, to Martin Gore's songwriting, and some people changed the melodies around and changed the songs around.
 
 "The idea wasn't just to have a cool compilation of bands that wanted to make fun of Depeche Mode songs or crack open a beer and have a Depeche Mode party. Depeche Mode means a lot to me and to the people who worked on this, and we wanted to try and reinterpret the songs but not change the songwriting or the music or the melody of the song."
 
 To illustrate his point, Richards cites Locust's lounge version of "Master And Servant", done as a duet between a man and a woman, and The Cure's Robert Smith singing "The World In My Eyes", which he characterizes as "pretty insane."
 
 "For The Masses" is scheduled to be mastered on April 23, but Richards says there are still a couple of stragglers that could be added on at the last minute.
 
 "I have a copy of (a song done by) somebody from Veruca Salt, which I'm trying to get taken care of so it makes the record, and DJ Shadow said he wants to do it as well but he won't be able to do it until May, but we'd add it in.
 
 "We talked to Marilyn Manson a bunch of times and he wants to do 'Personal Jesus'," adds Edwards, "but I don't think it's going to come to fruition."
 
 As for the members of Depeche Mode themselves, they are aware of the tribute and, according to Richards, like the idea.
 
 "I met with them and talked with them about it and they seemed honored about it," says Richards. "I can imagine they know their place (in pop music history). Martin Gore is one of the best songwriters period, and I think people forget that.
 
 "But when people hear these songs, they're going to realize it again."


 "For The Masses" tentative track listing:
 
 1."Never Let Me Down Again" - Smashing Pumpkins
 2."Fly On The Windshield" - God Lives Underwater
 3."Enjoy The Silence" - Failure
 4."World In My Eyes" - The Cure
 5."Policy Of Truth" - Dishwalla
 6."Somebody" - Veruca Salt
 7."Everything Counts" - Meat Beat Manifesto
 8."Shake The Disease" - Hooverphonic
 9."Master & Servant" - Locust
 10."Shame" - Self
 11."Black Celebration" - Monster Magnet
 12."Waiting For The Night" - Rabbit in the Moon
 13."I Feel You" - Apollo 440
 14."Monument" - Gus Gus
 15."To Have And To Hold" - Deftones
 16."Stripped" - Rammstein
August 24, 1996

Depeche Mode frontman ordered into rehab

 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Depeche Mode lead singer David Gahan, charged with cocaine possession, has been ordered into an outpatient drug diversion program.
 
 The charge will be dropped if he successfully completes the program, a court clerk said Friday. Municipal Court Judge Charles Rubin Friday ordered a progress report on Feb. 21.
 
 Gahan, 34, was arrested May 28 after an apparent overdose in a hotel room. Last month he pleaded innocent to possessing and being under the influence of cocaine.
 
 Gahan was also hospitalized briefly in August 1995 after slashing his wrist in a suicide attempt.
 
 Depeche Mode, a British band, is known for such hits as "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Personal Jesus."


Tuesday, May 28, 1996

Depeche Mode singer arrested after alleged OD

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) -- David Gahan, lead singer of the rock group Depeche Mode, was arrested early today after allegedly overdosing on drugs, sheriff's officials said.
 
Gahan, 34, was arrested for investigation of cocaine possession and being under the influence of heroin, said sheriff's Lt. Steven Weisgarber of the West Hollywood station.
 
His bail was set at $10,000, Weisgarber said.
 
Depeche Mode, a British band, is known for such hits as "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Personal Jesus."
 
Deputies and paramedics, responding to a call of a drug overdose at the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood, allegedly found Gahan passed out on the floor of a hotel room at 1:15 a.m., Weisgarber said.
 
Authorities found syringes in the room and believe Gahan injected a "speedball" -- an intravenous brew of cocaine and heroin, Weisgarber said.
 
The Los Angeles-area resident was rushed to nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was treated for a drug overdose, Weisgarber said. A couple of hours later, he was brought to the West Hollywood sheriff's station and booked. He didn't immediately make the bail, the department said this morning.
 
Gahan was hospitalized briefly in August 1995 after slashing his wrist in a suicide attempt.

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