Halo: The Story Behind Depeche Mode's Classic Album Violator

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Kevin & David: As for the influence of drugs on WVT, we can only really speculate. 1990-07-16 ecstatic Vancouver Martini: Aaaand that’s what we wish for. Thanks for the interview and the opportunity to review your book. For the most part, he says, Depeche Mode just leave him to get on with it, a marked contrast to his other celebrated regular clients, U2. “U2 are a band who believe in meetings, so everything has a meeting. With Depeche, it’s an exception to have a meeting at all. When I did visuals for The Joshua Tree 30th anniversary tour, I also filmed the show in Mexico City. After the concert, U2 all came to look at the footage. At midnight! For two hours! I mean, Depeche – you couldn’t get them to watch a minute. It’s an incredible difference in attitude. But that’s also the charm of Depeche. They don’t do many interviews, there’s no big plans, they just make a record and tour.”

While the stories from the other women in this book reveal lesser-known aspects of the Depeche creative machine at this time, they also feel a bit flat and unexplored, as mere providers of services (which, I guess technically they were) to the main attraction. The exception is the personal account of Billie Ray Martin, lead singer for Electribe 101, a support band for European dates of the World Violation tour. Straddling between creative contributor to the tour, artist and music fan herself, she briefly alludes to “male behaviour” from crew and the generally male atmosphere that made this an isolating and lonely experience for her and led her to drinking. The poor treatment she and her bandmates faced from fans of Depeche Mode is an embarrassment to read as a Depeche fan yourself. This period in the band’s history also found them working with now long-time collaborator Anton Corbijn to create iconic artwork, photography and videos for the album and its associated singles. The band were even at the centre of a riot in Los Angeles when tens of thousands of fans arrived for an album-signing session. Martini: And the final question is: When do we see the World Violation live video or audio released commercially 😀 More than an album biography, Halo goes deep behind the scenes of the band’s Violator period. The book takes the form of a detailed oral history from those who were there in the studio with the band, working behind the cameras, designing sleeves and appearing in the videos; support acts, tour managers, publicists and Depeche Mode fans. The event was broadcast live on KROQ with Richard Blade interviewing the band before the doors opened at 9pm. It was already obvious that the size of the crowd outside the store had far exceeded all expectations. Gahan told Richard that he was “very moved” by the sheer volume of fans at The Wherehouse adding that he hadn’t expected many people to turn up at all.

Eventually selling 7.5 million copies following its release in March 1990, 'Violator' gave the cult British band - Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher and Alan Wilder - the critical acclaim they finally deserved. The adventurous, highly experimental approach that the band took for 'Violator' recording sessions also yielded two of the band's most recognisable and successful singles in 'Personal Jesus' and 'Enjoy The Silence'. Kevin & David: One thing that we found very interesting was the fact that so many people we spoke to could remember so much about that time (although ask them to identify a particular synth or software used and they often scratched their heads a bit!). These types of books are written for at least two reasons – to discover the undiscovered… yet and to describe unknown facts for the first time. The book itself is secondary to the discoveries. The second reason, equally important, is to collect all the diffused pieces of information, sometimes trifles, so that they are finally in one place. Such books are very necessary because allow the gathering of known knowledge in a specific moment. Then subsequent authors, who come after, can deepen their knowledge and move studies further. Eventually selling 7.5 million copies following its release in March 1990, Violator gave the cult British band – Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher and Alan Wilder – the critical acclaim they finally deserved. The adventurous, highly experimental approach that the band took for Violator recording sessions also yielded two of the band’s most recognisable and successful singles in Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence.There is a third aspect that is often overlooked. Over the years, records have been covered with various legends. The perception of a work of art that is a piece of music changes over the years, sometimes to such an extent that we lose the original understanding of a recorded piece or other artistic work. The initial thought is lost in the darkness of the ages. 1990.06.13 Filadelfia The band’s US label Sire came up with a plan. They and Mute joined up with the Los Angeles radio station K-ROQ, long-time Depeche Mode supporters, and announced a Violator signing session at the record shop The Wherehouse which was based at 3rd and La Cienega in Los Angeles. With Halo, authors Kevin May and David McElroy have produced an essential guide for Depeche Mode fans and anyone inquisitive about the making of a classic, genre-defining album.