55. Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours (Mute)

 

Four weeks at number one from w/e 17th November 1984

A point that sometimes gets missed about Depeche Mode – but seems only too obvious when you get neck-deep into the band’s catalogue – is that three of the group’s founding members (Gore, Fletcher, Clarke) were regular church-goers before they formed, and the other (Gahan) had a mother who was in the Salvation Army.

While Gore has offered strange reasons for his regular attendance at his Basildon church, putting forward the somewhat limp justification that there was “nothing else to do on Sunday” (a situation that applied to most teens, including me a mere five miles or so down the road, but I managed without) Gahan’s response to his mother’s exhortations to go to church on Sunday was less honest, and he instead chose to bunk off and go cycling instead. If you had to quickly characterise the two members with childhood anecdotes, these would be good places to start; Gore being compliant and gently shrugging his way towards group activities he couldn’t entirely see eye-to-eye with, while Gahan’s life was filled with action and rebellion.

Sunday service appeared to fascinate Gore, however, and he developed a morbid obsession with the prayers being offered for the sick parishioners there. “The person at the top of the list [of names] was guaranteed to die, but still everyone went right ahead thanking God for carrying out His will,” he later remarked. Long after Gore had bothered attending church, these memories appeared to feed their way into the group’s twelfth single, and final release of the most commercially fruitful year of their career.

If “Master and Servant” tested the waters topically and almost got banned by Radio One, “Blasphemous Rumours” was, from start to finish, the biggest act of commercial suicide committed by the group so far. A diatribe against the peculiarities and inconsistencies of the Christian faith, there are no gentle metaphors on offer here, Gore instead choosing to tell his tale in plain language as if he’s spluttering in an outraged fashion in the local pub.

“Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her/ Slashed her wrists, bored with life” Gahan rattles off like a telex machine listing the facts. “Didn't succeed, thank the Lord/ For small mercies”. After the first run of the damning chorus about God and his sick sense of humour, we then learn of a girl of eighteen who “found new life in Jesus Christ” and was subsequently “Hit by a car, ended up/ On a life support machine”. It’s not clear if it’s the same girl, whose boredom has been replaced two years later by a sense of virtuous purpose only for her to be killed off in a ho-ho ironic fashion, or a different one – but the effect is the same and God is, as Neil Tennant would later opine in Smash Hits, given a “thorough ticking off”.

If the central message alone was likely to get the church and Christian figures irritated, the song is strangely unsubtle, in places forsaking melody in favour of discordant lines more likely to be favoured by horror film soundtracks, combined with slowly collapsing metallic clangs and gurgling, sucking noises. It not only wants to mention a life support machine, it wants to give you an impression of what one sounds like (I remain thankfully ignorant of whether the group's attempts are accurate or not, but they do seem to strangely imitate a trip to the dental hygienist).

The overwhelming effect is close, lyrically speaking, to second wave punk rock delivered in a synthetic, ambient way. If you took these lyrics and transplanted them to a three chord rant delivered by the likes of Blitz, little would feel out of place; only the context of the mournful pop chorus changes things. “Blasphemous Rumours” is angry in its own strange way, favouring the use of 1984’s sampling technology to get its point across over the previous decade’s brutal and simple lo-fi thrash.

In that respect, it’s hard not to think that Depeche Mode were looking over their shoulders at Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the rest of the gang at ZTT while making their records that year. Blog reader Frederick Heath-Renn recently mentioned his own theory on social media that you can view their 1984 singles as their very own FGTH trilogy, each group taking on the subjects of war, sex and religion (and love). Mode’s singles from this period also beckon you into a world of outrage and horror in a way the group would never really attempt again; they feel much more in tune with the pop culture of 1984 but at the possible expense of their own identities. “People Are People”, “Master and Servant” and “Blasphemous Rumours” all seem to indicate, in their own individual ways, that there was a brief period where they really wanted to be part of the flash-bang zeitgeist rather than doing their own distinct work.

It paid off, obviously. Their presence in 1984 has been unparalleled since in the UK, with possibly only their “Violator” era running it close. Despite this, the parent album “Some Great Reward” remains one of their most oddly unthrilling works, all tinfoil shine, orchestral hits and bright, obvious choruses for Gahan to cavort around to; a slightly cheap, brassy interpretation of New Pop, creaming off the samples and the synthetic hooks and swagger but offering little of the complexity. In the context of that work, “Blasphemous Rumours” acts as a macabre palette cleanser, a much-needed shift of tone and mood, even if I do have some issues with its blank lyrical delivery.

As a single, though, it’s a strange prospect indeed. In common with XTC’s “Dear God”, it seems to have meant a lot to people in the USA desperately trying to come to terms with their atheism, but in the UK, where atheism or agnosticism seem to be the default modern cultural positions, it must have felt like stating the obvious to many. Gore, Fletcher and Gahan seemed as if they were reaching out to their own kind, the people grounded in Christian activities throughout childhood who were now wondering what exactly they had wasted their lives on.

Due to the obvious controversies surrounding the track, Mute and the group opted to give the piano ballad “Somebody” double A-side status in the hope that nervous radio stations might play that instead. In reality, airplay for that track was even less apparent; while Gore’s delivery is as sweet as a handsome young Air Forces officer singing to a likely prospect on a barroom piano, the group can’t help but place an ambient loop of chatter, steam train noises and the excited gasps of a young lady beneath it. Naughty old Depeche Mode. They created their own problems, you know.

The other B-sides generously offered on what it is an EP (in all but name) attempt to push Depeche's live prowess; the Liverpool version of "Everything Counts" supplied here showed it had already undergone a few significant transformations ahead of its more widely known "101" iteration. In fact, this is to all intents and purposes the same arrangement as the Pasadena Rosebowl version, repetitions of "the graph" and "the handshake" and the epic synthetic clarion call at the end all present and correct, just sounding slightly more boxed in. The new phase of the group's career wasn't far away. 

New Entries Elsewhere In The Charts

Week One


17. Mau Maus - Tear Down The Walls EP (Rebellion)


Peak position: 17


18. Four On 4 EP - Trash On The Tube (Big Beat)


Peak position: 12


While the likes of Janice Long and John Peel had a noticeable influence on these indie charts, The Channel 4 music show The Tube was also beginning to make itself felt as a force. One showcase for an act on that programme gave them a reach and audience that a whole year’s worth of touring and occasional Peel plays may never bring them close to.

In this case, Big Beat records were celebrating a recent Tube showcase of garage bands in the UK, giving Billy Childish’s Thee Milkshakes as well as scene heroes The Prisoners, The Stingrays and Tall Boys a track apiece. If anyone supposed that their television exposure would lead to the genre exploding in the UK, they’d have been sadly mistaken – it caused the aforementioned acts to gain a little more prominence and inflated their fanbases slightly, but failed to turn the mid-eighties upside down.





26. Conflict - Live At Centro Iberico EP (Mortarhate)


Peak position: 26


27. Shock Headed Peters - I Blood Brother Be (Él)


Peak position: 16


The music press reported that John Peel had banned this record for its “homosexual paedophilia” lyrics, but Peel disputed this on air, stating “I just didn't think it was a good enough record to play. I don't play Des O'Connor records but you don't see Des O'Connor being interviewed in the papers and saying John Peel's a bastard and he's banned my records."

Oof. Given what we now know about John Peel being sexually abused at boarding school, I have to wonder if he was telling us the complete truth here; if he was indeed deeply upset by the contents of this song, who could blame him given his personal history? 

Despite the brouhaha, the group still managed to get into the indie charts with this record, which is an oddly swinging piece of post-punk, sounding like a gang of beatniks clicking their fingers to some outrageous lyrics set to a jazzy melody. It's not essential listening, though, and in common with quite a few 1984 indie releases, it desperately wants to impress upon us how eccentric it is, making all the right gestures while actually being a little bit ordinary in terms of its arrangements. 

The controversy failed to harm the group in the longer term, and they continued to issue records to a keen cult audience on and off until 1996. 

30. Play Dead - Conspiracy (1984)

Peak position: 13


Week Two


18. The Brilliant Corners - My Baby In Black (SS20)


Peak position: 16

The Brilliant Corners were really beginning to hit their stride by this point – “Baby In Black” is an almost thrilling bit of old school shuffling rock and roll where they manage to sound both cool and slightly in touch with something which might just be pop music. It swings, it grooves, and it’s almost sexy too; the latter quality was very often missing in the indie charts. 

26. Pete Shelley - Never Again (Immaculate)

Peak position: 16

Shelley takes the same hooks and melodic suss which made The Buzzcocks work to a synth-pop environment, but fails to repeat Feargal Sharkey’s success with The Assembly. It’s a delicious single nonetheless, with only some of the aspects – Shelley’s more twee vocalisms, the parping sax – working against rather than for its progress into your heart.




28. Newtown Neurotics - When The Oil Runs Out (No Wonder)

Peak position: 18

I wouldn’t have predicted that sprightly environmental singles about the UK’s oil resources would have featured in the 1984 indie chart, but here we are. The Neurotics ask some key questions about car and even vinyl pressing plant dependency while playing bright power pop melodies, and maybe even predicted the political and economic future on the way – Nostradamus punks with melody on their side.

 




Week Three


11. Subhumans - Rats (Bluurg)


Peak position: 3


One of the monster anarcho-punk hits of 1984 (as far as these things went), “Rats” is a furious rant, seemingly about the failure of the anarchists to take on the City of London in recent street protests. “If you act like rats you get treated like this/ Said a policeman like we didn't exist” bark the group, swearing revenge.

All of which would be clear enough, but the drawn out keyboard ending to this song shows they weren’t averse to a bit of filmic drama among the chaos. It may have come out on Bluurg, but this one was good enough for Crass Records.

19. The Enemy Within​ -​ Strike! (Rough Trade)

Peak position: 6


Adrian Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc set samples from the miner’s strike to industrial and hip-hop beats, creating a record which doubtless felt incredibly modern and empowering at the time, but seems like a slightly basic sticklebrick creation by today’s standards (a problem also shared by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu’s earliest work).

It was certainly worthy; all profits from the sale of this record went to the Miner’s Strike fund, ensuring that unlike many indie releases, this one wasn’t just paying lip service to the cause.




22. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Hollow Eyes (Red Rhino)


Peak position: 7

The Lorries may not have moved on significantly from their obvious Joy Division influences here, but in terms of execution “Hollow Eyes” is their strongest single so far, stabbing away at the listener with its needling guitar riffs and repetitive, inconclusive lyrics. Hypnotic and slightly unnerving.





24. !Action Pact! – Cocktail Credibility (Fall Out)

Peak position: 14


27. Poison Girls - I'm Not A Real Woman (Xcentric)

Peak position: 25


28. Black Lace – Do The Conga (Flair)

Peak position: 5

“You you you/ come on and do the conga/ Choo Choo Choo!” insisted the funtime boys, hoping for a festive hit to rival “Agadoo”. In the event, this only just made it into the national top ten, outshone by the likes of Band Aid, Wham!, Paul McCartney’s Frog Chorus, Madonna, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and (Yewtree klaxon) Gary Glitter. Up against the might of the finest and most dubious names British showbiz had to offer at the time – even Alvin Stardust had a record out at the end of 1984 - the ex-holiday camp performers found themselves faintly disappointed.

Also resting high above them in the hit parade was the next indie number one, an effort you could uncharitably argue took Black Lace’s family friendly idiocy and went one step further, but let’s not spoil the surprise just yet.





29. English Dogs - To The Ends Of The Earth (Rot)


Peak position: 10


Week Four


17. A Certain Ratio - Life`s a Scream (Factory)

Peak position: 17


19. ​Balaam And The Angel – Day And Night (Chapter 22)


Peak position: 17


29. The Cult Maniax - The Amazing Adventures Of Johnny The Duck And The Bath Time Blues (Xntric Noise)


Peak position: 20

From Torrington in Devon, The Cult Maniax were proof that punk’s influence had spread to every unlikely town and village by the end of the seventies. Their debut single “Black Horse” was incredibly localised in its concerns, focusing on a Torringtonian pub landlord and his treatment of punk rockers trying to grace his establishment. That had to be withdrawn from sale when the disgruntled puller of pints caught wind of it and took legal action. If he hadn’t wanted punks to frequent his establishment, you have to wonder why he cared so deeply about the contents of the record; perhaps he was an open minded sort after all, or maybe he just didn’t like being referred to as a fat bastard. Slanderers! ITV regional station Westward got hold of the story and gave the group some brief television exposure as a result.

“Johnny The Duck” is even more ridiculous, being (as the title suggests) a bluesy swagger about bathtime fun and games. The Maniax were proof that fresh punk rock could still shift a few thousand copies in 1984, but anyone looking for innovation here would be wasting their time; it’s old-school and unashamed.




30. Riot/Clone - Blood on Your Hands? EP (Riot/Clone)

Peak position: 24

For the full charts please head over to the UKMix Forums

Number One In The Official Charts

Chaka Khan: "I Feel For You" (Warner Bros)

Jim Diamond: "I Should Have Known Better" (A&M)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: "The Power Of Love" (ZTT)