But I must confess, I had the song a good month or so before release – it was a strange day. An early January morning on the way to work I called in at WH Smiths to by some cigarettes and on the magazine shelf one of the music magazines had a portrait shot of someone who looked strangely familiar – in fact, looked like the 23-year old me! Shoulder length hair and a goatee beard. It was Dave Gahan. No longer a flat top haircut with a pretty boy face in a leather jacket. I was a little freaked-out to be honest with you.
In all honesty I think I was the only long-haired Depeche Mode fan for miles around. I bought the magazine (long since lost) so I could show my then girlfriend and read about the forthcoming album.
I got to work (#OurPriceRecords) and went about my business. The same day, a guy I knew, who was a #RoughTrade rep, called in to the shop and said he had something for me and handed me a record mailer. Inside was the promo P12 Bong 21 (in the picture) – we put it on the store hi-fi system. This was NOT Violator! This was dirty, dark and feisty. It was brilliant.
But it was a very good year to be a Depeche Mode fan in Croydon – little did we know the legendary Crystal Palace gig would be announced very shortly.
The rest is history.
Picture top to bottom, left to right
P 12 Bong 21 (UK Promo 12”)
L12 Bong 21 (UK Limited Edition 12”
12 Bong 21 (UK 12”)
CD Bong 21 (UK CD single)
LCD Bong 21 (UK Limited Edition CD Single)
Bong21 (UK 7”)
PRO-CD-6022 (US Promo CD Single)
No comments:
Post a Comment