Put The Needle On The Record - Week #49

Put The Needle On The Record Week #49 Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell

For this weeks feature we go back to October 1981 and the Depeche Mode album "Speak & Spell".

"Speak & Spell" was the debut album released by Depeche Mode and I recall the time I bought the record, I was in the small HMV shop in Market street, in Manchester and was walking upstairs to the section where they sold the 7 inch & 12 inch records, half way up I caught a glance of an LP cover that stood out to me, it was a silver swan wrapped in plastic on a warm red background, then I saw it was the "Speak & Spell" album by Depeche Mode, I did an about turn and picked up a copy of the record, at the time I didn't even know they had released an album!

It has been a big favourite of mine ever since, a timeless synthpop classic with the majority of the songs written by Vince Clarke, a genius where melody lines are concerned, sadly he left the band after this album and of course went on to form Yazoo, then Erasure. It is one of my most played records from the 80s.

The album has plenty of other standout tracks that could have been released as singles, such as, "Photographic" (an early version had been released on the Some Bizarre album), "Nodisco" and "What's Your Name?"

Three singles were released from the album, "Dreaming Of Me", (which reached number 57 in the UK Singles chart), "New Life", which I heard for the first time at the bigger HMV on Market Street, what a record that is, (which reached number 11 in the UK Singles chart) and "Just Can't Get Enough", (which reached number 8 in the UK singles chart).

The album reached number 10 in the UK album chart.

Track Listing

New Life
I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
Puppets
Boys Say Go
Nodisco
What's Your Name?
Photographic
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Big Muff
Any Second Now (Voices)
Just Can't Get Enough

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!