Tonight Depeche Mode performed a benefit show at the Royal Albert Hall in London to raise money for teens with terminal cancer.  As far as I know, this was the first time they had done such a thing, and I am so proud of Depeche Mode for doing this!  As I followed the #dmrah Twitter hashtag in TweetDeck on my computer, I felt like I was at the show with all my DM fan friends!  So many fans were tweeting about which song was being performed; sharing pictures; and someone even shared a nearly live video snippet of “Somebody”!  We all were so excited with euphoric joy as it was announced that Alan Wilder was introduced and accompanied Martin’s vocals with the piano.  Alan departed the Depeche Mode foursome on his 30th birthday: June 1st, 1995.  This was an historic event to have Alan on the same stage as Martin for a few minutes, and we were all commenting about it!!

Who would take a day off and spend an unseasonably sunny Seattle birthday indoors on their computer to watch a Twitter stream on their computer?  I did.  There’s just something about Depeche Mode’s music that brings people together for something bigger than we all are individually (to loosely quote @orchidhunter’s earlier tweet).  We are a community of people that have a passionate love for an incredible band that created the soundtrack to our lives.  Many of us were glued to our laptop during the DM show.

I first heard Depeche Mode’s 1984 Gold single “People Are People” on the radio in the mid 1980’s long before KUBE 93.3 FM became a rap/hip-hop radio station.  My brother and I loved the song so much that he asked for it for Christmas.  My parents bought him the full “People Are People” cassette tape and we played that one song over and over again.  I remember thinking “that song with the pipes and hammers” was really weird (“Pipeline”), and didn’t really get in to the other songs.  I also didn’t have any idea that this was DEPECHE MODE who performed this song that we loved.

Fast forward to a few years later.  It was the summer of 1990 and “Violator” had just been released without my knowledge.  You see, I was a new wave and R&B fan from Seattle and didn’t follow Depeche Mode or know them by name.  I was 14 and was dating someone I met on the computer bulletin board (BBS - this was before the internet as we know it today).  He lived a few miles north of me in Bellevue and he was half Finnish.  His name was Mike and he was leaving for the summer to go to Finland.  I was heartbroken, but he begged me to take his FAVORITE cassette tape of his FAVORITE band while he was gone.  I didn’t want him to be without it for all those months, but he insisted.  So, Mike loaned me “Violator” by Depeche Mode, and I listened to it over and over again.  That summer was filled with Depeche Mode music and thoughts of that guy.  When he returned months later at the end of summer, I did not want to return his tape!  I ended up buying it on tape and then on CD a year later.

I was hungry for more DM music and was thrilled when I discovered my little brother had “101” and “People Are People.” I was in love with DM and was shocked we had 2 DM albums in the house without me realizing it!  I commandeered those tapes and listened to them all the time – craving more and more DM music.  I was a changed woman and dropped R&B music like a hot potato! 

So, one year later in 1991, I was 15 1/2 and I got a job as a cashier at Burger King so I could purchase Depeche Mode CDs.  Yep, I got a job to fund my music habit.  That was back in the days when CDs came in collectable long cardboard boxes and I still have all the DM cardboard boxes from the CDs I bought, as well as CD boxes from other favorite musicians.  Having a job is what allowed me to rapidly build my CD collection to over 1,100 albums and allowed me to see more than 300 bands live in concert.

Well, that’s a little “Insight” for you into my world.  Thanks for letting me “show you the world in my eyes.”  ;)