Depeche Mode -- Master and Servant

 

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）

2. Akina Nakamori -- Southern Wind （サザンウインド）

3. Seiko Matsuda -- Jikan no Kuni no Alice（時の国のアリス） 

Depeche Mode -- Strangelove

 

Yes, it's Thursday so it's another Reminiscings of Youth article. 

First off, allow me to say that above photo is from a Toronto historical site called "Then and Now ~ Toronto Nightlife History" so if any of you hail from my hometown and are of a certain age (i.e. middle-aged), you can have a look at some of the old dance clubs that were around back then, including The Copa.

Ah, yes....The Copa. It was one of our favourite hangouts, and I believe that I did mention this disco in downtown Toronto from time to time in a few of the articles. In fact, my buddies in the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association (now known as the Japan-Canada Students' Association) often alternated between The Copa & other discos and Kuri the karaoke bar on Friday nights. Although it wasn't all the time, sometimes the bunch of us got there at opening time, around 7 pm (yes I know, not exactly the coolest time to enter a disco) since they also offered a decent-enough buffet for $3 before dancing got really under way past 9 pm. Then, things got truly lively from 10 pm onwards with the best remixes.

Among the various University of Toronto clubs and crowds, there were always a few songs that virtually demanded a rush to the dance floor at places like The Copa. One has already been featured as a ROY article, New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle". Another one is the subject of this ROY, Depeche Mode's "Strangelove".

Depeche Mode is a synthpop band that I knew about almost from the beginning of the popularity of music videos in the early 1980s. Whether it be "People are People", "Master & Servant" and "Everything Counts", Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and the rest of the band had these amazing hooky songs pushed through their synthesizers in tandem with their videos. Ironically, though, I didn't get to see the original video for "Strangelove" until well after my dancing days were over, but the song by itself back in The Copa nights was enough to get all of us flying from our rickety tables and bouncing on the floor. It was usually the original single version but sometimes on a good night, it would be one of the remixes such as the Maxi Mix above.

J-Canuck at The Copa: Well, you know, as for Reagan's involvement in Iran-Cont...OH MY STARS AND GARTERS!!! IT'S STRANGELOVE!!!! ON THE FLOOR NOW!!

I just used nine exclamation marks in that dramatized quote. That's how rabidly popular "Strangelove" was for us. If there had been a film noir made for the late 1980s, this song would have been the ideal theme. The main melody could have become the Orson Welles character all by itself. In Canada, the single got as high as No. 11 on the RPM dance charts while south of us, it hit No. 1 on Billboard's dance club song charts after its release in April 1987.

Strangely enough, the Top 3 on Oricon for that release month are songs that I have yet to cover so I will give you No. 4, No. 5 and No. 8.

No. 4 Miho Nakayama -- Hade!!!（「派手!!!」）

No. 5 Marina Watanabe -- Marina no Natsu （マリーナの夏）

No. 8 Checkers -- I Love You, SAYONARA