1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is the 2 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: story about machines, about eyeliner and ecstasy, synthesizers, and subversion. 3 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: This is a story about how one of the softest 4 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: looking bands in pop music became one of the hardest 5 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: to kill, and about how their front man went from 6 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,639 Speaker 1: a teen dream pin up to a clinically dead junkie 7 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: on the bathroom floor of a West Hollywood hotel. This 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: is a story about addiction, about stigma, about the line 9 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: between pleasure and pain, and about death and resurrection. And 10 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: this is a story about depeche Mode, a band that 11 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: made great music, unlike that clip I played for you 12 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 13 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: That was preset loop from my melotron called Gothic Goatee MK. 14 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 2: Two. 15 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: rights to the Crossroads by Bone Thugs and Harmony. And 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: why would I play you that specific slice of Reaper 18 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: on the Mountaintop Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that 19 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on May twenty eighth, 20 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, And that was the day that Dave Gahan, 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: lead singer for depeche Mode overdosed, flatlined, and spent two 22 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: minutes on the other side before dramatically coming. 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: Back to life. 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: On this episode, since sex Stigmas, Speedballs, Salvation and depeche Mode, 25 00:01:47,200 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in this this disgrace, Lady. A giche 26 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: is a kind of piercing that one gets in one's perineum. 27 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: You may know the perineum by its more colloquial name, 28 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: the taint. You know, Tine is Dick Tina's ass. A 29 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: giche is not to be confused with the Prince Albert, 30 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: which is a ring or a barbell that is pierced 31 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: into the head of the penis. 32 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:39,839 Speaker 2: But now I'm getting off track. 33 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: The guiche piercing procedure, as you can probably imagine, it 34 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: is quite painful. You must get on all fours with 35 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: the one doing the piercing sitting directly behind you, and 36 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: when the needle goes into that tender piece of flesh. 37 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 1: For a dude at least, it feels like someone has 38 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: just kicked you in the balls with a peristeel toed boots. 39 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: Guiche piercings hurt like hell, and then, according to those 40 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: who get them, like Depeche modes Dave Gahan, the pain 41 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: eventually turns to pleasure, just like the pain and pleasure 42 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: that lurked in the subtext of great Depeche Mode songs 43 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: like Master and Servant. Also quite like the pain Dave 44 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: experienced when he was written off as some teen magazine 45 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: electro pop flavor of the week, only to experience pleasure 46 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: when he proved himself more dangerous, more subversive, and more 47 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: rock and roll than anyone could have imagined. But Dave 48 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: Gahan wasn't feeling pain or pleasure at the moment in 49 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: his perennium or anywhere else for that matter, because Dave 50 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: Gahan was dead. Years of abuse of an unshakable addiction 51 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: to shooting junk, to doing cocaine had all led to 52 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: this inevitable end. The Depeche Mode front man's tattooed body, 53 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: blue and cold, lay flat. 54 00:03:57,880 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: And motionless on a hospital bed. 55 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: It was shortly after two o'clock in the morning on 56 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: May twenty eighth, nineteen ninety six. The staff at Cedar 57 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: Sinai and Los Angeles were ready to call it. I 58 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: think we lost him, one of the doctors said. Another 59 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: doctor was wiping the sweat from his brow, and Dave Gahan, 60 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: only thirty four years old, had no pulse and no 61 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: signs of life. Earlier that evening, Dave Gahan was headed 62 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: toward the point in overturn. He settled his bar tab 63 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood and made 64 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: his way back to his room. On his arm was 65 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: a beautiful woman that he just met. Following closely behind, 66 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 1: like a dark shadow, was his dealer. Inside his room, 67 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: Dave told the woman to hang tight. He stepped into 68 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: the bathroom, and that dark shadow followed. Out of a 69 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: small bag with a zipper, came the goods, the only 70 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: thing Dave really wanted tonight, even more than the beautiful 71 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: woman who was on the other side of the bathroom door, 72 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: currently reapplying her makeup. The dealer prepped the speedball. This 73 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: right here, this is called red rum. Do some of 74 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: this and you'll be shining like Danny fucking Torrents. Dave 75 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: took the syringe and stuck it into his flesh. The 76 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: needle broke the skin, and Dave ran down the plunger 77 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: and the junk rocketed into his blood stream, and he 78 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: was sent sword toward the very specific sense of euphoria 79 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: that he felt the very first time that he shot 80 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: heroin and had yet to reach again. This time, though 81 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: he was getting closer, he just had to hang on 82 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: a little longer. You could see it, taste it high 83 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: and teased him, and then he was out. All one 84 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: hundred pounds, give or take of Dave Kahan's junkie body 85 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: came crashing down onto the bathroom tile. The dealer had 86 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: seen this kind of thing before, even with smack heavyweights. 87 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: He gave Dave's face a slap. Nothing, come on, Dave, 88 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: he said, giving a few more wax with the back 89 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: of his hand, and still nothing. He shook Dave's lifeless body. 90 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: Fuck. 91 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: Dave wasn't here, man, and the dealer grabbed Dave by 92 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 1: the lapels and burst out of the bathroom, dragging the 93 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,239 Speaker 1: body across the floor. And the girl in the bedroom 94 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: took one look at Dave's sweaty body in the track 95 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: marks and his hands starting to lose color, and she freaked. 96 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: She nearly knocked the phone off the bedside table when 97 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: she grabbed the receiver, Her hand shook uncomfortably as she 98 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: began to dial nine one one, and the dealer saw 99 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: this and dropped Day's body. It was on the girl instantly, 100 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: he slapped the receiver out of her hand and hung 101 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: it up. What the fuck did she think she was doing? 102 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: Nine to one one the fucking police, No way. The 103 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: girl fought back, She pushed, she shoved, she kicked and screamed, 104 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: and the dealer got annoyed and bounced. Problem was hers now, 105 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: and the girl died nine one one once more. Fifteen 106 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: minutes later, paramedics were strapping Dave Gahan's lifeless body onto 107 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: a gurney and loading him into an ambulance bound for 108 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: Cedar Sinai, one and a half miles away. They weren't 109 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: surprised at who they were looking at. Famous in these parts, 110 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: all right, and not just for his music. At the hospital, 111 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: a team of doctors worked to bring him back to life, 112 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: and they performed chess compressions and ready to defibrillator, and 113 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: that's when Dave Gahan's heart stopped. He flat lined. Here 114 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: was a guy who once wore his toughness on his 115 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: sleeve and his music, a guy who went from pain 116 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: to pleasure of time and again, pushing past being pigeonholed 117 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: creatively and pushing through a debilitating addiction and through a 118 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: piercing in his taint, a guy who is now, by 119 00:07:35,160 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: any in all measures dead. Six years earlier, on March twentieth, 120 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, the streets of Los Angeles were overrun with 121 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode fans, seventeen thousand people to be exact, stretching 122 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: out for fifteen city blocks down Los Sianco Boulevard. It 123 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: was merely a fraction of the nearly seventy thousand who's 124 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: shown up at the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena two 125 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: years prior, but that was the final show of the 126 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: van's first true American tour. In this was a record 127 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: release signing for Violator Depeche mode seventh studio album. And 128 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: in this case, it's not like a niche audience was 129 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: showing up for a niche band. It wasn't just girls 130 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: and leather jackets and cut off shirts anymore, or guys 131 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: with kraftwork by way of Jean Vincent fashion sense. It 132 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: was Sportos, Motorheads, slots, bloods, waisteoys, Threevies, and dickheads. Every 133 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,599 Speaker 1: sub click of late eighties era American teenager was in attendance. 134 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Grown Up America, Square America, Crosby Stills in Whoever the 135 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: Fuck America. Those people didn't know who or what the 136 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: pesche mode was. They didn't know what to make of 137 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: the UK band's recent single Person of Jesus, the one 138 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: with the twangy spaghetti Western guitar motif, the swaggering beat, 139 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: the sweaty sounding breathing, and the call to action to 140 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: reach out and touch faith, the song that freaked my 141 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: mother out when she caught me watching it on MTV 142 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: one afternoon. For reasons that I still can't understand, Square 143 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: America didn't know how Personal Jesus was actually connected to 144 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: the past, to their music, to rock and roll history, 145 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,319 Speaker 1: or how the band's primary songwriter, Martin Gore conceived of 146 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: him after reading Priscilla Presley's memoir Elvis and Me. Square America, 147 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: the Young and Restless America, Macho Fucko America could hardly 148 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: fathom how in nineteen ninety this was a new kind 149 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: of Beatlemania, and tonight the human gridlock swallowing up the 150 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: entire street in LA was about to turn into a riot. 151 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: It was nine pm. The latest single from Violator, Enjoy 152 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: the Silence, would cross over and hit number eight on 153 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,439 Speaker 1: the Billboard Hot one hundred in just a month's time. 154 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: Right now, that song was thundering from speakers outside the Warehouse, 155 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: the music store that was hosting tonight's meet and greet. 156 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: A limo rolled down La Sienega. Girls screamed at it 157 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: while the dudes used their bodies to try to stop it. 158 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: But when it finally did come to a halt, the 159 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: limo was directly in front of the warehouse. The back 160 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: door opened and outstepped Dave Kahan, Martin Gore, and Depeche Modes, 161 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,319 Speaker 1: two keyboardists Alan Wilder and Andrew Fletcher aka Fletch, who 162 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: were hustled inside by the security detail. Just a glance 163 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 1: at the quartet and suddenly it was bedlam on the block. 164 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: Thousands of kids surged from the street towards the store, 165 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: their bodies pressed up against the giant glass windows. Some 166 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: climbed trees or TV news vans to get a better look. 167 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: Thousands more took to the Beverly Centers the street, racing 168 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: to the top floors of the structure to lean over 169 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: the balconies for a bird's eye view. As security guards 170 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: struggled to maintain order. Ahalanx of lapd and full rioty 171 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: is steadily closed in marching in tight unison down La Sienaga. 172 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: One hundred cops strong called in to protect and serve 173 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: in moments of extreme danger and right now. On March twentieth, 174 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, the day they released their album Violator, depeche 175 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: Mode were the most dangerous thing going. But back in 176 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one, when they'd released their debut album, depeche 177 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: Mode were anything but dangerous. They weren't even a band. 178 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,679 Speaker 1: They were a joke. Let me explain. If you came 179 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: of age in the nineteen eighties and you were into 180 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 1: alternative music or college rock or whatever we were calling it, 181 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: then then you knew about this band called KMFDM, even 182 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: if you didn't listen to them. KMFDM were a German 183 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: industrial band, and their name was an acronym for you're 184 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: gonna have to forgive my pronunciation here kine meier hate 185 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: fur d might lade, which translates to no pity for 186 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: the majority. But nobody, and I mean nobody knew what 187 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: KMFDM actually stood for. We all thought it meant kill 188 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: motherfucking depeche Mode. Why because Depeche Mode were an affront 189 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: to real bands using real instruments. Where were the guitars? 190 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 1: Where were the drums? Was all synthesizers, It was all machines. 191 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: It was soulless, dead inside music. The pop equivalent of 192 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: five construction workers standing around a hole while one guy 193 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: did all the digging, as a UK magazine Melody Maker 194 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: noted in the review of the band's Jaunt nineteen eighty 195 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: one debut single just Can't Get Enough I can you will? 196 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: At least that was the thinking anyway. In reality, Depeche 197 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: Mode thought of themselves as the opposite. They were punks 198 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: from Basildon, the town just outside London. The synthesizer was 199 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: like Johnny Ramones mos wright guitar or Paul simonon smashed 200 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: p bass. It was diy, It was rough and tumble 201 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: and it was novel. With a few synthesizers, you could 202 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: be in a proper band, but eliminate the age old 203 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: hassle of busting your sorry asked, lugging equipment and all 204 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: that other share around night after night. But although they 205 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: modeled themselves as a poppier version of experimental noise bands 206 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: like Einstraden Neubaden in Australia's SBK, the latter, which eate 207 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: raw sheep brains on stage during a show. Depeche Mode 208 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: was misunderstood by the pop cogniscente as disposable synthetic garbage. 209 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: At least Duran Durand played instruments. 210 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 2: Again. This was the thinking, anyway. 211 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: That was before the group's original co founder and lead songwriter, 212 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: Vince Clark abruptly left around the time their first album, 213 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: Speaking Spell, was released in the fall. 214 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 2: Of nineteen eighty one. 215 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: It was before Fletch and Alan Wilder began to find 216 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: new ways to make their machine sound more human. It 217 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: was before Martin Gore stepped up to fill that songwriting 218 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: void and began to deliver songs that were darker and 219 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: more provocative. 220 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 2: And more subversive. 221 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: Songs like people Are People, blasphemous rumors, black celebration, and 222 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: the aforementioned Master and Servant, songs about s and m 223 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: songs about God's supposed sixth sense of humor, songs about 224 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: death and with a killer. 225 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 2: Beat to boom. 226 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: And it was before Music for the Masses, Depeche Mode's 227 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: sixth album in as many. 228 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 2: Years, that was released in nineteen eighty seven. 229 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: The title was meant to be tongue in cheek, but 230 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: wound up becoming the band's biggest record to date. Ditto 231 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: for the US tour the following that once malign synthpop 232 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: sound was now selling out ninety five percent of the 233 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: seats at the enormous Rose Bowl, an epic final show 234 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: which veteran rock and roll documentary filmmaker Da Pennebaker turned 235 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: into the most excellent concert film one oh one all 236 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: of It, leading to this Violator a smash upon its release, 237 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: already out selling chart mainstays Madonna and Prince. 238 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 2: It also helped that. 239 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: It was the first Depeche Mode record to prominently feature 240 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: Martin Gore's guitar, which helped bridge the gap between the 241 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: mainstream and the goth electropop world from which they emerged. 242 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: But Violator was more than another record. Violator was vindication. 243 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: From inside his safe spot in the warehouse, seated at 244 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: a long table with a black sharpie in his hand, 245 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: a parade of fans streaming by with records and posters 246 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: to sign, Dave Gahan was all smiles. He watched an 247 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: awe as seventeen thousand people shut down traffic in one 248 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: of the busiest spots in La all for his band, 249 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: and then awe turned to fear as the giant panes 250 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: of glass began to buckle from all the bodies pressing. 251 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 2: Up against them. 252 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: Muffled screams could be heard outside as the riot police 253 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: moved in on the crowd and the red lights of 254 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: ambulances rolling in to take injured fans to the hospital. Now, 255 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode's manager was frantic trying to get their attention. Boys, 256 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: We need to go now. It was ten pm and 257 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: the event was scheduled to go until midnight, but LAPD 258 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: was shutting the whole thing down. Square America wanted their 259 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: streets back. Dave, Martin, Allen and Fletch whisked into their 260 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: stretch job. 261 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 2: Waiting outside, the. 262 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: Crowd was ecal parts, confused and angry. So bottles, bricks, 263 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: anything people could get their hands on were now flying. 264 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 2: Through the air. 265 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: They were the LAPDS problem now, and the LAPD dealt 266 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: with that problem swiftly and efficiently. It cost the city 267 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: of Los Angeles eighteen thousand dollars to pay for one 268 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: hundred plus riot police. But when the dust settled, the 269 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: city went looking for someone to foot the bill, whether 270 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: that was the warehouse or caro Q the local alternative 271 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: radio station that promoted the event. Depeche Mode were long 272 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: gone by the time Warehouse poned up the cash. Not 273 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: that the band was concerned about price tags. Not at 274 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: this moment. They were riding high on that vindication feeling. 275 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: Their limo faded away into that March evening, so did 276 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: the stigma that had followed them since the beginning. Something 277 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: else was about to take its place, a crossover success 278 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: fame and Dave Gahan's transformation from synthpop joke to an 279 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: honest to god rock star, a transformation that. 280 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 2: Would kill We'll be right back after this. We're were were. 281 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: The World Violation Tour was massive, eighty eight shows on 282 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: four continents over the course of six months, sold out 283 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: stadiums from New York to Texas to California. Eddie Murphy, 284 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: Sylvester Stallone, You Two's Bono, just a few of the 285 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: pop culture luminaries on the guest list backstage. This was 286 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, the same year that Madonna rocked the piny 287 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,199 Speaker 1: Cone bra on her Blonde Ambition tour, and also the 288 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: year the Rolling Star Stone Steel Wheels Tour. The Stones 289 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,959 Speaker 1: had once been the avatars of dangerous but now they 290 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: were just going through the corporate machinations. The Stones didn't 291 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: shock or offend anymore, not in nineteen ninety. Depeche Mode, 292 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: on the other hand, as popular as they were becoming, 293 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: still gun under the skin walking down some suburban street 294 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: in America. Eddie cochrane hair fingernails painted, black leather jackets 295 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: over bear chest. Martin Gore, in address the androgynist rockabilly 296 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: goth vibe of it all, elicited more than one homophobic 297 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: slur from passing pickup trucks. In fact, Alan Wilder said 298 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:39,959 Speaker 1: in a Rolling Stone interview from this very time that 299 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,719 Speaker 1: he'd been called that slur at least twenty times so 300 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: far that day alone, and Alan was one of the 301 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: more conservatively addressed in the group. Depeche Mode did what 302 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: rock and roll does, real rock and roll. They were provocative, 303 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: They challenged the accepted norms. They pissed people off. Then 304 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: they did it jam cono style in the process, just 305 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,719 Speaker 1: a handful of synthesizers and samplers, smart and Gore's gretch 306 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: white Falcon guitar and Dave Gahan's rock Stars stance. Powered 307 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: by pure adrenaline and also by. 308 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 2: The ecstasy they took each night. 309 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,919 Speaker 1: After the show, Dave in particular went deep into what 310 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: he understood was the rock star's duty. 311 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 2: You didn't cut your hair short. 312 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: Wear a crop top, pasted out T shirt, and flap 313 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,160 Speaker 1: your arms like some old horn dog rooster, as Mick 314 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,239 Speaker 1: Jagger was now doing at forty seven years old. By 315 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: the way, Mick Jaggers shouldn't even be alive at forty 316 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: seven years old. Where were the real ones? Dave Gahan 317 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 1: wanted to know, the ones that burned out and didn't 318 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: fade away, the ones who died before they got old. 319 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: The Jimmy's, the janicis the Jimbos. They were long gone 320 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: and the void they left behind was huge. So when 321 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 1: the World Violation Tour ends, your sole purpose is to 322 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: fill that void. You leave your wife and child in 323 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: London because London is over. La is where it's at, 324 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: and that's where rock stars are not only dead but undead, 325 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 1: roaming the wet streets of Hollywood Boulevard at night like vampires. 326 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 2: So you move to la. 327 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: Only without your wife and child, but with your new 328 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,120 Speaker 1: girlfriend who used to be your publicist, and you let 329 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: your hair go long, you grow a go tea, you 330 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: get wings, tattooed on your back, an old Celtic symbol 331 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: meant to ward off evil. If evil notices, it doesn't care. 332 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: You think some ink on your back is going to 333 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: hold the forces of fucking darkness at bay. 334 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 2: Who are you kidding? You don't even care either. 335 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 1: Long nights of popping e turn into endless days of 336 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: shooting junk. You fix in dressing rooms and bathrooms in 337 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: your favorite place of all, the Blue Room, a small 338 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: room in your house where you can shoot up alone 339 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: if you lose way In Back on the road with 340 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode for the biggest tour of your life. You 341 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: can feel yourself getting weaker. You require daily cortisol shots 342 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: just to get your ass on stage. Had a show 343 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: in Indianapolis. You jump into the audience, cracking two ribs 344 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: and suffering internal hemorrhaging in the process. You have a 345 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: drug induced heart attack while performing in New Orleans, and 346 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: back home you wake up on your dealer's long, strung 347 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: out half naked. Your wallet gone, your silver watch gone, 348 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: your jewelry gone. You waste time and rehab only to 349 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,919 Speaker 1: return home and find more things missing. The whole place 350 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: has been cleaned out. Your Harley's, your TV, your stereo, 351 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: you're recording equipment, all of it scattered throughout pawnshops in 352 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: the Greater LA area. And then Kurt Kobine of all people. 353 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: I mean, the guy didn't even want to be a 354 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: rock star, but he did it. Man, he went ahead 355 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: and beat you at your own fucking game, beat you 356 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: to the punch, which makes you a loser, so unrock 357 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: and roll. But you're not one to be beaten. You're 358 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: just as dark and dangerous and mysterious and depressed as Kurt. 359 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 2: You can prove it, just like. 360 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode proof to the world that they were tougher 361 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: than anyone ever dreamed with Violator. So you dim lights, 362 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: you shoot up, chase some valume with a bottle of wine, 363 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: call your mom on the phone, and then slash your 364 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: wrists with a razor blade. Dave Gahan woke up screaming. 365 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: His head was swimming and Jesus Christ, his wrists were burning. 366 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: Paramedics were on either side of him, violently stitching up 367 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: his bloody two inch lacerations with no anesthetic, not even 368 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: to fucking stick the bite down. 369 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 2: On the indignity of it. 370 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,640 Speaker 1: All, the strait jacket and the padded room. That followed 371 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: the revelation that under local law in Los Angeles, technically 372 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: he committed a crime by trying to end his life. 373 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: But why did he do it? That's what everyone wanted 374 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 1: to know. Of course, why let him all ask? Wasn't 375 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: his job to explain. It was his job to play 376 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: the role of. 377 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 2: The rock god. 378 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,359 Speaker 1: And rock gods didn't explain, and they sure shit didn't 379 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: accept any help. That was the paradox of the thing. 380 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: Rock Stars did not get help because getting help was 381 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: admitting weakness, and weakness was defeat. Rock Stars pushed the 382 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: envelope till the sharp edges dug in between their fingers 383 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 1: sliced him open. Rock Stars bled. A few days later, 384 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: Dave checked out of the hospital, his own wounds no 385 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,199 Speaker 1: longer bleeding and now wrapped in gauze. As soon as 386 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: he did so, he was a known quantity to three 387 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: very specific segments of the population. To music fans, he 388 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: was the tattooed, long hair and the leather vest, virtually 389 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: unrecognizable from the baby face kid who's saying that Peppi 390 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: confection just can't get enough all those years ago. To 391 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: tabloid junkies, he was a beautiful fuck up, a self 392 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,400 Speaker 1: fulfilling prophecy that made you feel better about your own 393 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: shitty life while reading the paper in the morning, and 394 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: to the degenerate underworld of drug dealers, dopers, and thieves, 395 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: the people he hung with the most outside of the band. 396 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: Now that his addiction had isolated him from friends and. 397 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 2: Family, Dave Gahan was a liability. 398 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: His little stunt with the razor blade put a bullseye 399 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: on his back. 400 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 2: Everyone was watching. 401 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 1: Him, the cops press no drug pusher was stupid enough 402 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: to navigate to the nice part of town to the 403 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: famous rock stars Kushpat, only to get clocked by paparazzi 404 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: or worse, so Dave was forced to start making the 405 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: trek to them if he wanted to score. With the 406 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,679 Speaker 1: thirty eight stuffed out his pants, wondering what was around 407 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 1: the next dark corner, or who he'd find inside the 408 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: crackdown that night, attics and varying states of zombification, skin 409 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: and bones, the only dress code, and the smell of 410 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: piss had puked there to guide you, like a ship 411 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: to port on the shores of hell. In this darkness, however, 412 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: a beacon of light shone in the distance, Martin Gore 413 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,359 Speaker 1: sent word that he was readying a new batch of 414 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: songs for the next Depeche Mode album, and the band 415 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: convened at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, barrow 416 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: away from Dave's cocoon of hard drugs. But Dave couldn't 417 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: stop California dreaming about the next La high. From the jump, 418 00:24:52,160 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: things seemed off because someone was missing. Alan Wilder down shifted, 419 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: leaning his Mercedes. 420 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 2: Convertible into a cur from the road. 421 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: The car handled like a dream as the beauty of 422 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: the Scottish Highlands came into view. Up ahead on the 423 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: lush green horizon, military jets were flying low tornadoes, specifically 424 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: RAF Royal Air Force. They came in fast, their engines 425 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: burning hot, and as they streaked past the car, the 426 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: sound was deafening, especially since Alan had the top down. 427 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: Alan's girlfriend shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, and Alan 428 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: stayed the course and tried to enjoy their leisurely drive. 429 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,919 Speaker 1: But before too long, the sound of jet engines were 430 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: up on them again, and this time from behind, and 431 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: they were getting louder now closer. Alan's girlfriend turned around 432 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,239 Speaker 1: to look and screamed. One jet appeared to be out 433 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: of control, wobbling as it got near. And they came 434 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 1: up on another curve, and once again Alan downshifted and 435 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: focused on what he was doing, and the Mercedes steady 436 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: and strong. The jet noise was louder, now so loud 437 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: it was shaking the car. And that's when Alan looked up. 438 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: The jet was directly overhead, not more than fifty feet 439 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: in the air. 440 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 2: The heat, the noise, the sheer size of it. 441 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: Alan panicked. He turned the real hard and veered off 442 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: the road, slamming on the brakes. The plane immediately dropped 443 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: and crashing over the hillside, exploding on contact. A thick 444 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: plume of smoke shot up into the air, and the 445 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: smell of fuel. 446 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 2: And fire was everywhere. Alan and his. 447 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: Girlfriend were so close to the crash site that particles 448 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: and debris were now raining down on their heads. Worst 449 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: of all, Alan could see the bodies, the dead airmen, 450 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:07,440 Speaker 1: the mangled and twisted flesh. After the shok war off, 451 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: Alan understood that he narrowly escaped death, truly if the 452 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: angle on that jet had been adjusted just slightly. Alan 453 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: told himself that he'd never fly again, which was going 454 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: to be difficult because he was a member of the 455 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: world class band Depeche Mode, and traveling by playing was 456 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: kind of a huge part of the gig. Alan had 457 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: always been the new guy in the band, even more 458 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: than a decade in. He joined in nineteen eighty two 459 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,720 Speaker 1: after the departure of original member Vince Clark. He was 460 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: a session guy, extremely talented on SyncE and keyboards, but 461 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: he quickly learned that there were many cooks in Depeche 462 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: modes on a kitchen, and unlike a traditional rock band 463 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,439 Speaker 1: with wholly unique roles based drums, guitar, etc. Alan, Martin, 464 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: and Fletch were all working with the same electronic instruments. 465 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: As such, creative tension became a big part of the process. 466 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: One good thing about the sessions First of Faith and Devotion, 467 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: the follow up to Violator, was that they mixed things up. 468 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: Martin was playing his guitar moar and Andy got behind 469 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: the drum kit on I Feel You, a woozy, totally 470 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: sexy track that took the bluesy personal Jesus template and 471 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: turned it into the electronic psychedelia. But Dave's addiction kept 472 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,679 Speaker 1: getting in the way, as was Martin's toxic combination of 473 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: alcohol and stress, which it made him susceptible to Grandma seizures. 474 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 1: Add to that the strange choice not to all live 475 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: together as a band while recording the album, and Alan 476 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: was irritated more days than not. The frustration, the plain thing, 477 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: whatever you want to blame it on. Alan was out 478 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: back in New York City. In May of nineteen ninety six, 479 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode, now a trio, struggled to get their new 480 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: record together. It's not that things were impossible without Alan, 481 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: Dave was cagy. His drug use had done a number 482 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,239 Speaker 1: not just on his body but on his voice. They 483 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: brought in a vocal coach to help, and it just 484 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: felt like work. It was no longer dangerous, no longer 485 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,160 Speaker 1: the kind of shit that made life livable, the danger 486 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: of Depeche Mode, or the danger that used to be 487 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: Depeche Mode. It was no competition for the danger of 488 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: an La speedball, And so, like Allan before him, Dave 489 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: Gahan got up and left. 490 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 2: Caught. The next plane headed. 491 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: West, checked into the Sunset Marquee in West Hollywood, fixed 492 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,479 Speaker 1: in his hotel suite's bathroom, collapsed on his hotel suite's 493 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: bathroom floor, and about twenty minutes later while trying to 494 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: be revived by doctors that Cedar Sinai died. As soon 495 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: as his heart stopped, Dave Gahan found himself floating above 496 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: his own unresponsive body. At first, he thought, well, damn, 497 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: he'd actually done it. Finally found his way back to 498 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: that feeling of pure euphoria that he'd been chasing for years. 499 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: But wherever he was now in the air and the 500 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: ether no longer earthly matter, pure consciousness or subconsciousness. This 501 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: place was far from u fork. He was surrounded by 502 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: total blackness. He was in the grip of fear of 503 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: death and decay, avoid of pain and suffering that was 504 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: trying to erase him entirely. It terrified him. He tried 505 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: to focus on his body below, but the image was 506 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: starting to fade. The blackness was winning. Hey, he yelled, 507 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: I'm up here, and no one could hear him. The 508 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: doctors just kept working, doing everything in their power to 509 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: bring Dave back. Two minutes passed, two minutes in which 510 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: Dave Kahan was clinically dead, two minutes of floating on 511 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: the ceiling in a black abyss, staring down at himself. 512 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 2: And then as. 513 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: The doctors kept working and as Dave fought against whatever 514 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: forces were trying to keep him in their grip. He 515 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: found himself pulled as if trapped in a tractor beam 516 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: in a sci fi movie, suddenly headed earthbound and violently 517 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: thrust through his skin and back inside his own body. 518 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: Dave Gahan could hear the steady beat of his heart, 519 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: of the monitor. He opened his eyes, his hand was 520 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: cuffed to a hospital bed that a cop. 521 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 2: Was reading him his rights. 522 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: He was overwhelmed with gratitude to be out of the 523 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: darkness and in the light. He was the answer to 524 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: the question he'd asked all those years ago, where were 525 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: the real rock stars? 526 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 2: Well there was one right here, back from. 527 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: The dead, chained to a cheap hospital bed, charged booked 528 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: and then shipped to a cramp cell in county, and 529 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: finally given the clarity to see that he had an 530 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: opportunity to do something different, to clean up, to start again, 531 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,959 Speaker 1: to creatively challenge himself in depeche mode, and to do 532 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: so for the next three decades in counting. Gone was 533 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: the stigma of the rock star, and Dave Gahan knew 534 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: something about stigmas. You escape from under that, and you 535 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: escape being forever disgrace. 536 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 2: Stuff. I'm Jake Brennan. 537 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: And this is Disgraceland. All right, thanks for checking out 538 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: this episode of Disgraceland on depeche Mode. You know one 539 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: thing we didn't talk about at all in this story 540 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: is Johnny Cash is incredible cover of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. 541 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 1: Just an unlikely cover. But you wouldn't expect Johnny Cash 542 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: to cover depeche Mode. And that's the question of the week. 543 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 1: Which unlikely cover song is your favorite? It can be 544 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: any artist covering any other artist, just has to be 545 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: something kind of out of left field that you would 546 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: not expect, like Johnny Cash covering depeche Mode. Hit me 547 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: up six one seven nine oh six six six three 548 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: eight with your answers to this week's question of the 549 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: week and leave me a voicemail semi a text, dm 550 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 1: me at Disgrace sampod on the Socials, Disgrace lampod at 551 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: gmail dot com. Go ahead and leave a review for 552 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: the show if you. 553 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 2: Want to help us grow. 554 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: I'll see you guys in the next episode. Disgraceland was 555 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: created by Yours Truly. It is produced in partnership with 556 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: Double Elvis, the Exactly Write Network and iHeart Podcasts. Credits 557 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 1: for this episode can be found on the show notes 558 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: page at disgracelampod dot com. 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