BIOGRAPHY1998 and 1999
On 9 March 1998 the Recoil single Stalker / Missing Piece was released.
On 2 September - yes, up to this date nothing was to be seen or heard
of the band except for a press conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Cologne to
announce the tour - DM started the Singles-Tour with the concert in Tartu (Estonia).
The tour was split into two legs. The European leg, comprising 32 concerts,
ended on 17 October. This tour was the first one to feature two backing
musicians in place of Alan - the Austrian drummer Christian Eigner, and the
British keyboarder Peter Gordeno. This is still the live line-up up to today.
Because Devotional had been so disastrous the band was careful not to let the
Singles-Tour get out of control.
Martin: "We've got rules that we keep. I only drink two days a week -
you may laugh."
Dave was very nervous before the start of the tour:
"Well sitting here, desperately stopping my body from shaking ...
But I think it is good to be nervous, you know nervous energy can be put
into performing. For me personally, it is pretty important. If I wasn't
feeling nervous then I would think there was something wrong, but yes, I
am really nervous."[1]
Then he, however, could manage it quite well and got accustomed to go to bed
immediately after the concerts.
"I've reached a certain level in life where I can trust myself, but not
completely. To be honest I'm so tired after the shows that I'm asleep within
five minutes of my head hitting the pillow."[2]
The tour went very well then. During the sound-check of the first show in Tartu
the following conversation took place:
"Good crowd tonight ... and lots of
flags. I might grab the 'Union Jack' and wrap it round myself." - "Oh,
very patriotic Dave." - "Not really, it's the nearest one and I'm f*** freezing."
This time there were only small incidents like being held at a small Russian village
for nearly six hours while a customs point "sorted out" some paperwork, a small
cold went through the touring party, trouble for the trucks at the border to Austria,
heavy rain in Berlin, voice-problems in Zurich, and there was the concert in
Birmingham in which near the end of the show Martin realised the zip on his
trousers had been undone.[3]
(Surrender - with friendly permission of © Wojciech Welc)
In the meantime, on 7 September, the single Only When I Lose Myself /
Headstar / Surrender, for which they had worked together with Tim Simeon
again, was released. Beside the original versions of the three songs, there
were many different remixes available. Headstar is an instrumental track,
while Only When I Lose Myself and Surrender were both sung by Dave.
The video for Only When I Lose Myself was directed by Brian Griffin.
On 28 September The Videos 89-98 and The Singles 89-98 were released.
For these releases Alan was involved, but he didn't talk to any of the remaining
band members (just to the record company and management, etc.), although he had
his input on the box sets, which versions were to be used, artwork, label copy,
promo items, marketing ideas, etc. Nevertheless, he was ignored by most journalists.
Alan: "I never pushed myself forward as a member of the band and the media
tends to concentrate on lead vocalists and songwriters - to a lot of people, the
'techno-nerd' in the studio isn't really that glamorous. I also haven't been to
death's door and back and more importantly, I committed the heinous crime of
leaving the band - so, out of sight, out of mind. I can accept all these things
but I was annoyed in particular with the DM Singles E.P.K (a short film) which I
thought was extremely imbalanced - to have 10 years of one's hard and dedicated
work represented by about 30 seconds out of a 20 minute piece is pretty insulting.
I was also excluded from (and not even advised about) the interview with Anton
Corbijn where the other band members discussed his videos for the singles -
the same singles that I worked and performed on."[4]
The American leg of the Singles Tour started on 27 October, comprised
33 concerts and ended on 22 December in Anaheim.
Dave: "Before we went on that tour I thought maybe this is going to be
the last thing that we do together. I was ready to move on and felt totally
okay with that. During the tour I realised how much I loved performing. It was
overwhelming every night how much support I felt from the fans."[5]
Fletch: "It was great. A real buzz. We felt like a band again, no
stupid arguments, no ego-ridden rubbish."[6]
One can and should see this as a general remark, not least because all band members
admitted at a certain point to being ego-driven during Devotional. But one can
also understand it as a mocking remark to Alan. Taking all these remarks from the
Ultra period together, one shouldn't wonder that some fans think Alan had
been mobbed out, because it sometimes seems as if he had been blamed for everything
that went wrong.
For some fans the new presentation of "sober", (from the second half of Touring
the Angel onwards even completely, when Martin gave up drinking) meant that DM's
live performance wasn't exactly brilliant. There were a lot of changes: Alan was
no longer in the band, a permanent live drummer, a new stage keyboarder, the
whole thing became rockier and more conventional. Many fans think that "they lost
something of their former magic" and many more people are not really happy
with the current live versions of the songs.
But although there are fans who say that "Gordeno gets on my nerves", "the visual
effects were much more impressive in the old days", that it is "a too often seen
play without any spontaneous ideas" and that "Dave's voice was much better in
former days", they will nevertheless go to the concerts. The band is still
fascinating and there's something magnetic. It must be the reason why the "old"
fans can't get away from them - as much as they might moan. And it must be the
reason why there are many new fans, people who didn't know DM with Alan at all.
They are tempted by this special charisma that some people tried to explain by
saying "interaction with the fans and on stage is much better today" and "Mart has
really developed". It's on the whole "still a great event to see them live".
Some fans say that DM is a "philosophy of life", I have the suspicion that it's
some kind of drug. They are able to attract a large audience and this is a fact
that can't be ignored when it comes to discussions about DM's live performances.
(with friendly permission of Mute/EMI)
In 1999 Dave got married for the third time, to Jennifer, and became a
father for the second time, to Stella Rose. He also took on Jennifer's son Jimmy,
(he adopted him officially in 2010), so that he calls the three children
"his own" now.
Also in 1999, Martin got the Ivor-Novello Award, awarded by the British
academy for composers and songwriters - probably the only good award DM ever got,
because they are often ignored and neglected when it comes to awards.
References:
[1] 20th April 1998 Depeche Mode Press Conference, Bong 36, June 1998
[2] Cleaning Up, Q, November 1998. Words: Nick Duerden
[3] Information were taken from: Singles Diary, Bong 40, June 1999. Words: Jez Webb
[4] recoil.co.uk
[5] In the Mode for Love, Time Out, April 4th 2001. Words: Omer Ali
[6] The Basildon Bond, The Times Magazine, April 14th 2001. Words: Paul Connolly
