My last article for tonight is a bit of a special tribute Reminiscings of Youth article for iconic UK synthpop band Depeche Mode since keyboardist Andy Fletcher sadly passed away on May 26th a few days ago at the age of 60. I've already given my thoughts on the band vis a vis my nights at the disco through the first ROY on them, "Strangelove" but I found another ready choice.
"Master and Servant" was recorded in May 1984 and released some time afterwards as the band's 11th single, and yep, I kinda found out about what the song was about right on the dance floor at The Copa here in Toronto. While we were all bopping about, I just had to ask my friend:
J-Canuck: Uh, is Depeche Mode singing about S&--?
Friend: Yup.
J-Canuck: Whips, chains, rubber ma--?
Friend: Yup.
J-Canuck: Well, in that case, the safety word is APPLES!
Wow! I guess it really is a lot like life.😋 Anyways, as controversial as it was, personally speaking, I couldn't help but feel that the video and the song were a lot more reassuringly tongue-in-cheek (whose tongue in whose cheek?😉...sorry about that) than anything truly risque. Plus, hey, it's a Depeche Mode song! Tons of fun to listen to and dance to. Additionally, Dave Gahan's voice just had that authoritative British Voice-of-Doom quality as if he were channeling his inner Pinhead from "Hellraiser".
Apparently, "Master and Servant" was banned from a lot of radio stations in America which muted its effect on the Billboard chart by only peaking at No. 87. Not even sure whether it did well in Canada but it did reach No. 2 in Germany.
Now, what was hitting the Top 3 in Oricon's May 1984 chart? I'm sure that the songs were considerably more innocent.
1. Checkers -- Kanashikute Jealousy （哀しくてジェラシー）
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me" (to tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius).
ReplyDeleteActually, that lyric fits quite well. :)
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