Friday, March 7, 2014

UK Indie Hits: 1980-89 (No. 48)

I'm counting down my top 50 singles from the golden age of the UK Independent Charts.

48. Depeche Mode - "See You"

Other Contenders: There were 23 charting singles during this period, more than any other band, but I only seriously considered the first five for this spot. It could have been any of them.

Chart Entry: Feb. 13, 1982

Peak Position: No. 1

Comment: After more than 800 posts with barely a mention of the band, it's time to make a musical confession: I liked Depeche Mode quite a bit as a lad. If this was an albums list, the fellas would never stand a chance, but my record collection doesn't lie. I own 18 12" singles. That's a lot of vinyl to hide. I much preferred the early songs that were chock full of bounce and simplicity. I mean, c'mon, "all I want to do is see you, don't you know that it's true" isn't exactly going to make you think, but I didn't care about any of that when I listened to them. It had a good beat, and you could dance to it, as the kids on "American Bandstand" used to say. One of my fondest memories was the pure bliss of popping in a cassette of 'Catching Up With Depeche Mode' as I drove my mother's station wagon unsupervised for the first time. I know there are many of you out there shaking your heads right now, but without Depeche Mode my list would have no integrity.

While listening to this extended version of "See You," take just a second to remember dancing with your chums without a care in the world. It's a smile.

Buy "See You" on 'A Broken Frame.'

5 comments:

Sean Maloy Eno said...

Thanks for this. Yep, me too. Same tape, different mom-station-wagon. Let 'em shake their heads.

Anonymous said...

First band i saw live around time of construction time again. Black celebration is my fav but lost interest after violator when they went all a bit rock and roll

Brian said...

Thanks for checking in, Sean, my brother from another wagon.

FORW,
Not a bad era to see them at all. Great singles band for much of the '80s. Like U2, R.E.M. and others that "made it" on inferior work, these more recent sins make it difficult for me to listen to them at all, but that's my problem.

Echorich said...

See You, where DM prove they can create a great song without Vince Clarke! I never had much time for Speak & Spell and just love A Broken Frame, but will admit over the last few years I have come to really appreciate the debut album. For me, DM had two debuts - with Clarke moving on after just one album and proved themselves on both.

Brian said...

Greetings, Echorich. As you might have guessed, Vince Clarke will pop up on this list. DM did prove themselves with the second album, and Clarke did quite well for himself as well. Great talent.