Today Side-Line starts a new ongoing series in which we’ll look back on a band…
Today Side-Line starts a new ongoing series in which we’ll look back on a band and a certain moment in their musical history, often recalling things which many have forgotten (you can’t remember everything). We start with the pre-Depeche Mode song “Television Set”, which was never released officially.
The reason it never ended up on an official release was because it was originally written by fellow Basildon resident Jason Knott and not by Vince Clarke. Knott, who was also a member of The Neatelllls together with drummer Peter Hobbs, would sometimes rehearse with Clarke. And that’s when Vince got to hear the song, like dis and included it in the live set of Depeche Mode and on several demos. Kinda weird since he later on would refuse to have it released on an official Depeche Mode release. Back then the song was a fan favourite though, which probably pushed Clarke to shop around to labels with a demo including a track he hadn’t written in the first place.
Here’s a snippet of the song on Composition Of Sounds’ first demo tape. You can hear Vince Clarke singing the lead vocals (Dave Gahan had not joined the band yet).
Although it never ended up on any of the Depeche Mode releases via Mute it did end up on a pre-Depeche Mode demo by No Romance In China (a pre-Yazoo set-up featuring Vince Clarke and Sue Paget) and Composition Of Sound. The track would still be played live though, from the 1980 Tour through the 1982 See You Tour (even as their opening number for a while in 1981).
Here’s a live version live at the Croc’s Glamour Club in Rayleigh back in 1981.
The track, together with other non-released songs would in the end be recorded for an official release by the band Coming Back To You in 1998. On that album (which is available here) they also recorded “Addiction”, “Reason Man” and “Tomorrows Dance” next to versions of “I Like It” (Gerry & The Pacemakers) and “The Price Of Love” (Everly Brothers), covers that Depeche Mode would occasionally perform live.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.