Trivia from
www.eightyeightynine.comDepeche Mode - the real origin of the band's name
It is a common mistake to assume that the name Depeche Mode is purely a translation from the French for 'fast fashion'. Where this error started is hard to establish and when music sites such as the All Music Guide still get it wrong (also used for Biographies on the now defunct CDNOW), it is easy to see why this error still perpetuates across hundreds of sites. As a visitor to 1980-89 pointed out, dépêche means dispatch (or update, message or news), mode means fashion.
So Depeche Mode means Fashion News or Fashion Update. The confusion arises from someone remembering their high school French: the verb 'se dépêcher' means to hurry, which is probably where the 'fast' originates (thanks to Lawrence Koch for explaining the French translation and the source of the error). So, Depeche Mode is named after the magazine and that name roughly translates as Fashion News. To the right is a picture of the magazine.
Biggest selling album of the 80s (and all time)
Michael Jackson's Thriller album of 1982 is the biggest selling album of all time, with over 42 million copies sold - and rising.
Freddie Mercury and Thriller
There are many reports that Freddie Mercury of Queen recorded a track with Michael Jackson's for Thriller. However, this track has never surfaced in public.
Beat It guitarist
The guitarist that Michael Jackson's Beat It such a characteristic sound was Eddie Van Halen.
Drum machines
In the band Echo and the BunnyMen, Echo was the name of the drum machine. The drum machine used by Sisters Of Mercy was nicknamed 'Dr Avalanche'.
MTV
MTV started on August 1, 1981 in the US. If you want to know the first song played on MTV US (and Europe), see this article in the Music Video section.
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde was originally known as Kim Smith. She was born November 18, 1960. Her first hit song in the UK, Australia and NZ was 'Kids In America', released in 1981. Oddly this single was not initially released in the US until a year later where it only managed top 40 status.
Johnny Cougar
John Mellencamp was never comfortable with the fact that he had changed his name to the stage name 'Johnny Cougar'. However, his success made it difficult to change back, so in the 80s he became the hybrid John Cougar Mellencamp.
1984
In 1984, Eurythmics and Van Halen released albums with the title 1984. The film based on George Orwell's 1984 was also released 1984. The very crappy film, Class of 1984, was released in 1982 (this was also Michael J. Fox's second film which appeared just before the 82 debut of Family Ties).
Bananarama/Shakespear's Sister
In 1987, Siobhan Fahey, former member of Bananarama, married Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). She later formed the band Shakespear's Sister with Marcella Detroit. They had two albums: Sacred Heart (1989) and Hormonally Yours (1992).
Robert Smith
Robert Smith of The Cure was also the guitarist in the early days of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Both jobs became too much, so he focused on The Cure.
Kylie Minogue's first hit
Kylie Minogue's first hit song was a cover version of Locomotion. The film clip also stars the Australian actress/comedian Tania Lacy.
Duran Duran
Duran Duran was named after a character in the 1960's film Barbarella. Jane Fonda played the lead and throughout the film she was searching for a character called Duran Duran. The band paid tribute to this film in the late 90s song Electric Barbarella. After fading out in the late 80s, Duran Duran also made a brief comeback in 1993 with the song Ordinary World.
Art of Noise
In 1989, Tom Jones teamed up with Art Of Noise to perform a cover version of Prince's Kiss. Like 1990's Nothing Compares To You, the cover version sold more copies than the original.
Echo and the Bunnymen
In 1986, the drummer De Freitas left the band and was replaced by former Haircut 100 drummer Mark Fox. Perhaps he felt threatened by Echo, the name given to the drum machine (see here for more details). However, by late 86, all was forgiven and De Freitas returned. Tragically he was killed June, 1989 in a car crash.
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 formed in 1980 and took their name from A Clockwork Orange. To see this reference in the film, keep a look out for bands that are mentioned in the record shop about 30 minutes into the movie (in the same scene you can also catch a subtle plug for Kubrick's 2001 soundtrack).
Martha Walsh
Martha Walsh was lead singer of the Weather Girls. She was also the vocalist responsible for the characteristic 'Everybody Dance Now' in Gonna Make You Sweat (C&C Music factory) and was also the lead vocalist in Black Box's Everybody Everybody. See here for more information.
B52's
Mainly seen as an 80s band, the B52's formed in the mid 70s during a drunken evening at a Chinese restaurant. They were named after the large beehive hairstyle called a B52 (but not the plane or cocktail - even though the hairstyle was named after the plane). The five members were Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother), Fred Schneider and Keith Strickland. On October 12, 1985, Ricky Wilson died. It was originally thought that his death was attributed to natural causes and some reports suggested cancer, but later it was revealed that he had died of AIDS.
Frankie goes to Hollywood
Originally, the group was called Hollycaust (after lead singer Holly Johnson and the paranoia of nuclear destruction that is evident in their single Two Tribes), but they changed their name to Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was taken from an old headline about Frank Sinatra's movie career.
Soft Cell
Marc Almond and Dave Ball formed Soft Cell. Ball who was largely unknown to most people (especially compared to Marc Almond) later resurfaced in the techno ground The Grid.
Yello
One of Yello's members was Dieter Meier was a millionaire industrialist, professional gambler and member of Switzerland's national golf team. He also directed the 1990's movie 'Snowball'.
Spandau Ballet
After Spandau Ballet split up in 1990, one of the founding members, Gary Kemp, went on to start an acting career. He has since appeared in The Bodyguard, The Larry Sanders Show and Embrace of the Vampire.
Duran Duran
The club where Duran Duran started to play gigs was called Barbarella. This club was named after the same film where Duran Duran sourced their name (see here for more details)
The first music video played on MTV
Whether you love it or hate it, MTV has made significant impacts on both music and music video. So how did MTV choose to start off this fledgling cable channel? When it raised it's head in the early 80's, there would have been some discussion over which music video should mark the music channel's debute. However, any argument would probably have been short-lived, as the final choice is one that few people would find hard to beat.
MTV started in the US and then various other localised versions started to appear around the world (so technically the answer may be different for each network, but this is a question of the first ever song played). If you thought it was Dire Straits, then you will need to guess again.
"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits was inspired well after MTV's launch when Mark Knopfler apparently overheard a conversation in an electronics store. The salesman was complaining about how tough life was selling TVs - he was reported to have said words to the effect of "that's the way you do it. You get your money for nothing and your chicks for free." The original comment was probably a little more hard core, but it is unlikely that many radio or video stations would have played a song "get you f***ing money for nothing and your f***ing chicks for f***ing free". In the 90s, it probably would not have been a problem. However, when MTV Europe launched, it did play Money For Nothin as its first song.
And the winner is...
Despite being a few years old at the time, Video Killed The Radio Star, by the Buggles, was the first song ever played by MTV. The irony of this choice escaped few people, but rather than kill radio, MTV and other music channels have helped boost its popularity while increasing music sales and developing a new form of entertainment. Unfortunately, it also made producing music far more expensive - culminating in the very bland bland music of recent years. It is also interesting that one the of biggest criticisms levelled at MTV now is that it doesn't play enough music video and it has become more of a mainstream music lifestyle channel. From most reports this is occuring with all the MTV networks.
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