Tag Archives: 91X

The 25th Anniversary of 101 by Depeche Mode (And Why it Still Hurts)

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Depeche Mode’s 101 concert, held on June 18th, 1988 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was the last stop of their Music for The Masses tour, and although I had already gone to a show during that tour in San Diego, I needed to attend this one because it was announced this would be a very special concert filmed by D.A. Pennebaker, the same director of U2’s Rattle and Hum. It proved to be a great show because Thomas Dolby and OMD were set to open. As a devoted fan, of course I bought a ticket straight away and was all ready to go. But because of traditional Filipino superstitions, my mom and dad were afraid of my travelling to see a show right before a big event: my high school graduation. Needless to say, they vetoed my trip. I begged, pleaded, wrote heart-felt letters and cried, but to no avail. I ended up selling my ticket to my friend Aaron, who said that if my situation ever changed I could just say the word and the ticket was mine again. Aaron, along with my friends Robby and Brad even made a last-ditch effort to come by my house on the way up to Pasadena to convince my parents to let me go, but they just couldn’t be swayed. I found out later that the most casual of Depeche Mode fans from my high school were there. I truly felt like everyone went, except for me.

I listened longingly to 91X that day, hearing updates and live feeds from the Rose Bowl, wishing I was listening to updates by Richard Blade on KROQ for the real deal. I silently roamed around the house like I was lost. Finally, my mom convinced me to go shopping, and she bought me several Depeche Mode records and CDs, all to satiate me but it just wasn’t enough. My fate was sealed, and I would not be a part of history in the making.

For someone who relives those moments at odd times, like when we’re driving on the 101 in Los Angeles, I sure have quite a bit of memorabilia of that day. I think Robby brought me back the shirt pictured above. Later when the movie was complete, I still went to a showing here in San Diego because I still wanted to be a part of it, even thought I wasn’t really a part of it originally. I had strategically placed Depeche Mode stickers all over the back of my little red Honda Civic hatchback back then, and returned from the movie to love notes with phone numbers from other fangirls, who I’m sure hoped the car belonged to some cool British guy. I should have had one of my guy friends call them back for shits and giggles, but I wasn’t that cruel at that time. In fact, I suppose I could have lied to my parents back then as well, telling them I was just going to hang out with friends and just went to the concert, but I was just too innocent and honest back then.

So here I am, 25 years later, still a bit bitter. I think it’s why I made sure to have my name in the Talk Talk book and in the liner notes of Cy Curnin’s new album, because it makes up for not being a part of one of the biggest moments in Depeche Mode’s history. I mentioned in a previous post (here) why I didn’t pick the Music for The Masses tour as one of my favorites because of the 101 concert being a sore spot for me. Despite the sting in my brooding heart, I have included the set list of the San Diego date of the Music for the Masses tour, which I believe emulates the 101 concert. I just noticed Just Can’t Get Enough is not in the second encore of the San Diego show, but it is in the 101 concert CD and movie. They also played Somebody for the 101 concert, but they didn’t play it for the San Diego show.

I know it reads like sad memory, but it really is just a vivid memory. It’s amazing what you can recall when there is enough emotion behind it, even when it’s 25 years later.

Music For The Masses Tour – San Diego, CA; December 7, 1987

PIMPF
Behind The Wheel
Strangelove
Sacred
Something To Do
Blasphemous Rumours
Stripped
Pipeline
The Things You Said
Black Celebration
Shake The Disease
Nothing
Pleasure, Little Treasure
People Are People
A Question of Time
Never Let Me Down Again

Encores:

A Question of Lust; Master & Servant
Everything Counts

(Note: All items pictured are from my personal collection.)

You Can Never Win or Lose, If You Don’t Run The Race

Check off yet another group on my 80’s bucket list: Janice and I got to see The Psychedelic Furs in concert! Due to an epic fail on my part, I had tickets to their sold out show at The Belly Up on June 1st. But because I wanted actual tickets rather than tickets printed from my computer, I thought I would wait until closer to the show to go to the venue to purchase real tickets. Thank the retro gods that they were the headlining act for The Rock n Roll Marathon on June 2nd. In an ironic twist, the show was FREE! No ticket stubs from this show, but I did get my shirt.

Fresh faced with no make-up at 10am!

We arrived at our secret parking place at 10am and walked over to Petco Park, where the end of the race festivities were being held. It was pretty crazy and hectic when we arrived. I believe the half-marathon runners arrived as we got there, and I wish I got pictures of the crazy amount of people in the parking lot. Once we got in, we made our way upstairs to search for the stage area. After finding it, we made our way down and sat just a few rows away from the stage, which allowed me to take the amazing pictures in this post. This had to be the earliest I had ever watched a concert in my life! During the show, I spotted my friend Eileen and her sister, who actually ran in the marathon. Realizing I was just there to see the show, I felt slightly inadequate. I think I need to make running in a marathon also a part of my bucket list.

“The Ghost In You” 45 vinyl single from my personal collection (original video here).

After a few celebratory congratulations to runners from all over the world, The Psychedelic Furs strolled up to the stage. They played all the songs I had heard on 91x for so many years: “Heartbreak Beat”, “Heartbeat”, “Heaven”, and of course the hit from the movie, “Pretty In Pink”. I know a lot of people think the song was made for the 1986 movie of the same name, but the song was actually a remixed version of their original from the album Talk Talk Talk back in 1981.

I wanted to make sure I got these signature moves from “Love My Way”. See the original moves in the video here.

When my standout favorites “Love My Way” and “The Ghost In You” come on, I felt complete. When I think of “Love My Way”, I think of the first time I heard it during the movie “Valley Girl” back in the 80’s. When I was telling my husband that Janice and I were going to the show, he said he recognized that Furs song from “The Wedding Singer”, a movie about the 80’s. What prompted me to really want to see the Furs was hearing the live version of “The Ghost In You” played on Friday’s Resurrection Daily on 91x. Steve and Oz decided to play the song in honor of their Belly Up show, and mentioned that if you missed the show on Saturday, they have a free show at Petco Park. At that point, I was on a mission to see that song live, and I’m so glad I did. “The Ghost In You” is a gorgeous song that gives me goose-bumps each time I hear it, and just floored me to hear it live. Richard Butler still sounds fantastic to this day, and I am so glad we woke up early on a Sunday to see this awesome show live. Hope you had a great weekend!

I don’t quite remember the order of songs from the concert, but the set list below seems to be very similar.

Edit this setlist | More The Psychedelic Furs setlists

I Won Tickets to a Damned Concert!

Chalk it up to good luck, but I won tickets to see The Damned in concert at Sycuan Casino’s Live & Up Close venue last Friday. I had been trying to win tickets from radio station 91x all week. I got through a couple of times, but I was either caller 2 or 3. Last Thursday, deejays Oz and Steve West played my favorite song by The Damned called “Alone Again Or” (the single from my personal collection is pictured below), and something in me told me to try again. Lo and behold, the planets aligned and I won! I vowed this year to take my husband to see as many of my favorite bands from when I was a teen, and The Damned was on my bucket list of bands to see. This is definitely outside of Deon’s musical taste or experience, but he was such a good sport and wanted to share this with me because he knows how much I love going to these types of concerts.

(Click the picture above for the video.)

Steve West introduced the band, and it was his birthday as well. I saw him after the show, and he said that his birthday was actually Wednesday (I couldn’t remember if it was that past Wednesday or upcoming). I have to admit that I only know a handful of songs by The Damned, so I didn’t recognize very much from the first few songs, other than “Neat Neat Neat”. I’m more familiar with songs during the time of the Phantasmagoria and Anything albums, so I instantly recognized “Eloise” and “Grimly Fiendish” . The highlight of the evening for me was of course “Alone Again Or” , which sounds even better than I could have imagined live. When this came out back in 1987, I had no idea it was a cover version. The original is by a band called Love, and The Damned version is very close to the original (video here). The concert was a lot of fun and full of energy. At one point, 91x deejay Mike Halloran hopped on stage to play bass (I forgot which song). I feel the need to go back and familiarize myself with the rest of The Damned’s discography. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the concert. The set list below is from their House of Blues concert the previous day, but I believe it’s nearly exact to the show we attended. Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Edit this setlist | More The Damned setlists

Captain Sensible (loved his shirt)

Grimly Fiendish

Monty Oxy Moron (brilliant keyboardist!)

Unknown Pleasures: Meeting Peter Hook of Joy Division & New Order

This past Saturday, I attended a book signing at M-Theory Music and had the very great pleasure of meeting Peter Hook (nickname, Hooky), the bassist and co-founder of Joy Division, who reformed as New Order following the death of then lead singer, Ian Curtis. Hooky officially left New Order back in 2007, but they have since reformed without him. He currently performs with his band, Peter Hook & The Light, performing the New Order albums “Movement” and “Power Corruption and Lies” live. He recently wrote a book called Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, chronicling his time with the legendary band.

I saw New Order back in 1989, which was definitely during Peter Hook’s time in the group (my ticket is pictured above). Although I was very familiar with their history, I only really became a fan of Joy Division when I was on maternity leave during one of many late nights, after watching Anton Corbijn’s movie “Control” (original post here). When I read about Peter Hook’s book signing on M-Theory’s Facebook page, I invited as many of my friends as I could who are 80’s music enthusiasts, and ended up meeting my friend Rob there. Back in 2010, Rob and his friend Todd met up with me and my sister at Alan Wilder’s signing (original post here). In fact, a couple of people who were at Alan’s signing were also there at the Peter Hook signing and remembered me as the girl who won the dance contest. To quote the great George Takei, “Oh Myyyyy!”

It’s always fun to meet people who are in line because we all have the obvious common interest, but it’s also great to hear stories of their musical and life experiences. The two gentleman in front of us were father and son, Tony and Ian (respectively). Tony had wonderful stories of bands he’s seen, people he’s met and tales of when he worked at Licorice Pizza (record store chain that no longer exists), as did Rob! The three of them together gave me a bit of the history of Peter Hook’s other musical endeavors. Rob had vinyl 12 inch records and 45’s of not just Joy Division and New Order, but also of Revenge and Monaco, bands that Hooky recorded with previously. Later via Facebook, Tony explained that Ian’s middle name is Curtis. Finding out about that after the event and thinking of the experience makes Tony one of the coolest dad’s in my book. Not only did he name his son after the lead singer of one of his favorite bands, but then took his son to meet one of the co-founders of that same band. Best story of the day, hands down.

Rob chatting with Steve West

I officially was able introduce myself to Steve West, DJ extraordinaire of 91X, because Rob knows him personally. I spoke to him in passing once at a OMD concert, so it was fun to meet and chat with him a bit. I listened to him for years on 91X, and many of the bands that I still listen to today are due to Steve West.

Side note: Check out the new bag I won on Mimi Boutique’s Facebook page!

Ian and Tony with Hooky. Knowing the back story now puts me at awe when I see this picture.

This event was very well-organized, and the line flowed much better through the store than the Alan Wilder signing (I think the dance contest set up may have made it a bit chaotic). Hooky was incredibly friendly and sweet, chatting up each person or group of people and even cracked jokes. The folks at M-Theory asked that we write our names on small sheets of paper so that Hooky could make sure to correctly personalize our books. I said my name is Cy, like Cy Curnin (of The Fixx). For whatever reason – maybe out of nervousness – I slid over the piece of paper with my name on it, he said, “Really?!” and playfully threw away the piece of paper behind him laughing. We used my camera for Rob’s picture as well, and Hooky asked “Is he with you? By the look on your face, you seem reluctant to say!” I explained that Rob is my friend and it was ok to take the picture. Rob then asked him “City or United?” and I am happy to report that Hooky is a Manchester United supporter. GO YOU REDS!

We were allowed to have three items signed in total, so I had my book signed along with my Joy Division CD and a Joy Division collectors’ edition of NME that Rob picked up for the both of us. Another wonderful signing and great day meeting Peter Hook at M-Theory Music!

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