Strangelove (song)

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"Strangelove"
"Strangelove" cover
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Music for the Masses
B-side(s) "Pimpf"
Released April 13, 1987
Format Vinyl record (7" and 12"), CD (1992 box set)
Recorded 1987
Genre Synthpop
Length 7" - 3:44
12" - 6:32
Label Mute Records
Writer(s) Martin Gore
Producer(s) Depeche Mode and Dave Bascombe
Chart positions
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"A Question of Time"
(1986)		 "Strangelove"
(1987)		 "Never Let Me Down Again"
(1987)
For other uses, see Strangelove (disambiguation).

"Strangelove" is Depeche Mode's eighteenth UK single, released on April 13, 1987, and the first single for the then upcoming album Music for the Masses. It reached #16 in the UK charts (Depeche Mode would fail to make the Top 10 of the UK singles chart throughout the second half of the 1980s), but hit #2 in West Germany.

The original version of "Strangelove" is a fast-paced poppy track. Though successful, this didn't seem to fit with the Music for the Masses's dark style, so Daniel Miller made a darker slower version of "Strangelove" which became the Album Version. It got its own single in the USA called "Strangelove '88".

There are two B-Sides for "Strangelove", both instrumental. "Pimpf" is a dark instrumental that's mostly piano, named after one of the Hitler Youth organizations. It is famous for having strange unknown chanting that has caused speculation on what the chanting says. It turns out that the chanting is actually just well-done synths, even though it sounds a lot like Dave and Martin. Piano instrumentals would become more abundant with Depeche Mode for the next 3 years. "Pimpf" later shows up as the final track on the vinyl version of Music for the Masses.

The second instrumental is "Agent Orange", named after the herbicide used in the Vietnam War. It is also mostly piano but has an abundance of war-like atmosphere and is considered one of the finest DM instrumentals. At the end of the song, you can hear some morse code. Rumoured to mean "If anybody can hear this, please help me", it is actually just gibberish. "Agent Orange" later shows up as the first bonus track on the CD/Cassette version of Music for the Masses.

The music video for "Strangelove" was directed by Anton Corbijn and appears on the Strange video and The Videos 86>98. It features two models posing in their underwear. In the USA, MTV objected to some of the more revealing footage of the models and the video was edited to replace them with images of the band. One of the extras in the video was Anton's girlfriend, Naseem.

There was also an Anton-directed video for "Pimpf", exclusive to the Strange video, which features David Gahan, Alan Wilder and Andrew Fletcher shouting at each other syncing with the synthetic chanting, while Martin Gore plays the song on a Piano. It is to note that while Martin plays the piano in the video, it is Alan Wilder who plays the piano in all Piano-instrumentals by the band from 1987-1990 as well as "Somebody".

In 1988, another video for "Strangelove" was released, set to the tune of the album version of "Strangelove". It was directed by Martyn Atkins who did photography for earlier DM albums. It was not publicly released until the The Videos 86>98+ DVD in 2002.

On September 7, 1988, the band played "Strangelove" on the MTV Video Music Awards in the US. You can view it on the official Depeche Mode website

In 2007 it has been sampled in the song by Infernal, "I Won't Be Crying".

Contents

[edit] Track listings

[edit] 7": Mute / 7Bong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove" (3:45)
  2. "Pimpf" (4:33)

[edit] 12": Mute / 12Bong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove [Maxi Mix]" (6:32)
  2. "Strangelove [Midi Mix]" (1:38)
  3. "Fpmip" (5:21)

[edit] 12": Mute / L12Bong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove [Blind Mix]" (6:31)
  2. "Pimpf" (4:33)
  3. "Strangelove [Pain Mix]" (7:19)
  4. "Agent Orange" (5:05)

[edit] 12": Mute / DanceBong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove [Blind Mix]" (6:31)
  2. "Strangelove [The Fresh Ground Mix]" (8:14)
  • Very rare promo release, with a white label. Though some bootlegs are available.

[edit] CD: Mute / CDBong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove [Maxi Mix]" (6:32)
  2. "Pimpf" (4:33)
  3. "Strangelove [Midi Mix]" (1:38)
  4. "Agent Orange" (5:05)
  5. "Strangelove" (3:45)

[edit] CD: Mute / CDBong13 (UK)

  1. "Strangelove" (3:45)
  2. "Pimpf" (4:33)
  3. "Strangelove [Maxi Mix]" (6:32)
  4. "Agent Orange" (5:05)
  5. "Strangelove [Blind Mix]" (6:31)
  6. "Fpmip" (5:21)
  7. "Strangelove [Pain Mix]" (7:19)
  8. "Strangelove [Midi Mix]" (1:38)

The second CD is the 1992 re-release

[edit] 7": Sire / 7-28366 (US)

  1. "Strangelove" (3:45)
  2. "Pimpf" (4:33)

"Pimpf" is falsely titled the "Fpmip [US Edit]"

[edit] 12" Sire / 0-20696 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Maxi Mix]" (6:32)
  2. "Strangelove [Midi Mix]" (1:38)
  3. "Strangelove [Blind Mix Edit]" (6:10)
  4. "Fpmip" (5:21)

[edit] 12" Sire / 0-20769 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Pain Mix]" (7:19)
  2. "Strangelove [Pain Mix 7" Edit]" (3:29)
  3. "Agent Orange" (5:05)
  • "Fpmip" is "Pimpf" with a different intro that sounds like the song played backwards, afterwards it's the exact same song.

All songs written by Martin L. Gore

[edit] Strangelove '88

Cover for "Strangelove 88"
Cover for "Strangelove 88"

[edit] 3"CD Sire/Reprise / 2-27777 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Remix Edit]" (3:52)
  2. "Nothing [Remix Edit]" (3:58)

[edit] 7" Sire / 7-27777 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Album Version 7" Edit]" (3:44)
  2. "Nothing [Remix Edit]" (3:58)
  • Also released on Cassette with Cat. No 27991-4

[edit] 12" Sire / 0-21022 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Highjack Mix]" (6:30)
  2. "Strangelove [Remix Edit]" (3:46)
  3. "Nothing [Zip Hop Mix]" (7:06)
  4. "Nothing [Dub Mix]" (6:40)

[edit] CD Sire / PRO-CD-3213 (US)

  1. "Strangelove [Remix Edit]" (3:46)
  2. "Strangelove [Album Version 7" Edit]" (3:44)
  3. "Strangelove [Blind Mix 7" Edit]" (3:57)
  4. "Strangelove [Highjack Mix]" (6:30)

All songs written by Martin L. Gore

[edit] External links

Depeche Mode
David Gahan | Martin Gore | Andrew Fletcher
Vince Clarke | Alan Wilder
Depeche Mode discography

Studio albums: Speak & Spell | A Broken Frame | Construction Time Again | Some Great Reward | Black Celebration | Music for the Masses | Violator | Songs of Faith and Devotion | Ultra | Exciter | Playing the Angel

Compilations: People Are People | The Singles 81>85 | Catching Up with Depeche Mode | The Singles 86>98 | Remixes 81 - 04 | The Best Of, Volume 1 | The Complete Depeche Mode

Live Albums: 101 | Songs of Faith and Devotion Live | Recording the Angel

Tribute Albums: For the Masses | A Techno Tribute to Depeche Mode | Color Theory presents Depeche Mode

Singles: Dreaming of Me | New Life | Just Can't Get Enough | See You | The Meaning of Love | Leave in Silence | Get the Balance Right | Everything Counts | Love, in Itself | People Are People | Master and Servant | Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody | Shake the Disease | It's Called a Heart | Stripped/ But Not Tonight | A Question of Lust | A Question of Time | Strangelove | Never Let Me Down Again | Behind the Wheel | Little 15 | Everything Counts (Live) | Personal Jesus | Enjoy the Silence | Policy of Truth | World in My Eyes | I Feel You | Walking in My Shoes | Condemnation | In Your Room | Barrel of a Gun | It's No Good | Home | Useless | Only When I Lose Myself | Dream On | I Feel Loved | Freelove | Goodnight Lovers | Enjoy the Silence 04 | Precious | A Pain That I'm Used To | Suffer Well | John the Revelator / Lilian | Martyr
Videography

Videos: The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg | Some Great Videos | Strange | 101 | Strange Too | Devotional | The Videos 86>98 | One Night in Paris | Touring the Angel: Live in Milan
Related articles
Synthpop | Depeche Mode Tours | Mute Records | Paper Monsters | Counterfeit e.p. | Counterfeit² | Toast Hawaii | Recoil
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