Real or fake? Depeche Mode fans are debating three 30- and 40-second samples — including one that may be a never-before-released track — that surfaced online yesterday and purportedly come from a 1980 demo tape the burgeoning synthpop act recorded when it was still called Composition of Sound.
The administrator of DM fansite Home insists the samples — said to be early recordings of Speak & Spell standout “Photographic,” “Dreaming of Me” B-side “Ice Machine” and the unreleased song “Radio News” (hear all three below) — are legit, writing, “Once the source of the tape is revealed, then all will become clear.” Additionally, DM’s webmaster tweeted links to the samples from his personal Twitter account earlier today.
Yet original Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke, when asked via Twitter about the authenticity of the tracks, has twice taken the opportunity to dismiss them, first writing, “Nah… (we were never that good… V).” Then, when asked directly today whether the much-buzzed tracks are “fake demos,” he replied, “erm… yep!… V.”
The samples, posted to SoundCloud, apparently are the same as the three-song, Dave Gahan-sung demo — which Depeche Mode passed along to record labels and concert promoters in its earliest days — that sold on eBay recently for £2,000 (or approximately $3,253) to members of the forum on DM discography site DepMod.com.
So are they the real deal? Listen for yourself and tell us your opinion below.
UPDATE: Additional samples of each song have been posted, and the tape speed on all six clips has been adjusted (it was believed to have been too fast). Furthermore, the Home fansite now reports that a current DM member has verified the tape’s authenticity.
Hear samples of what may be Depeche Mode demos after the jump…
Photographic Demo Clip by Depeche Demo Tape
Photographic Demo Clip Number 2 by Depeche Demo Tape
Radio News Demo Clip by Depeche Demo Tape
Radio News Demo Clip Number 2 by Depeche Demo Tape
Ice Machine Demo Clip by Depeche Demo Tape
Ice Machine Demo Clip Number 2 by Depeche Demo Tape
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Martin Gore/Vince Clarke dance CD ‘almost’ done, DM remix disc due in April
- Depeche Mode’s Andrew Fletcher announces DJ dates in Europe, Australia, East
- Vince Clarke, Alan Wilder remixing Depeche Mode tracks for CD out next year
- Video: Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Alan Wilder at Recoil gig in Santa Ana
- Vince Clarke, Martin Gore making ‘kind of dancey record’
- Depeche Mode ‘Tour of the Universe’ DVD and Blu-ray due this fall
Great to hear this. Thanks for sharing.
Wow surprised this is just making the news now. These clips have been floating around the P2P-o-sphere for the last ten years now. What’s missing from the above is a great unreleased track called Television Set (and an atrocious one called ‘I Like It!’).