| "Master and Servant" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Depeche Mode | ||||
| from the album Some Great Reward | ||||
| B-side | "(Set Me Free) Remotivate Me" | |||
| Released | August 20, 1984 | |||
| Format | Vinyl record (7" and 12"), CD (1991 box set) | |||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||
| Genre | Synthpop, Industrial, New Wave | |||
| Length | 3:46 (7"/single version) 3:27 (edit) 9:38 (12" version) 4:12 (album version) |
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| Label | Mute Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Martin Gore | |||
| Producer | Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones | |||
| Depeche Mode singles chronology | ||||
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"Master and Servant" is Depeche Mode's eleventh UK single (released on August 20, 1984) and the second single from the Some Great Reward album. Despite a lot of controversy surrounding the song, it still managed to reach #9 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
"Master and Servant" comes with the "Slavery Whip Mix", the longest 12" DM song at the time with the outro being turned into a swing version of the refrain, and the "Voxless" version which is an instrumental mix of the song. The B-side is "(Set Me Free) Remotivate Me", its Release Mix is the 12" version. The 7" version edits out much of the beginning.
Some versions include a song called "Are People People?" which uses samples from "People Are People" and chanting. Both "Are People People?" and "Master and Servant [An ON-USound Science Fiction Dance Hall Classic]" appear on Remixes 81 - 04 in 2004. They are remixed by Adrian Sherwood.
The production and mixing process of "Master and Servant" are remembered by Alan Wilder, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones, as among the longest that Depeche Mode ever endured. One famous story about the song includes a mixing duration of seven days, and after all the reworking and final mastering of the mix, they realized they left the channel with the snare drum muted during the last chorus.
The "Master and Servant" music video was directed by Clive Richardson.
Some of the sounds on “Master And Servant” – such as the whip effect – are based on Daniel Miller standing in the studio hissing and spitting. According to the band, they tried to sample a real whip but "it was hopeless".[2]
The overtly sexual, BDSM-themed lyrics of "Master and Servant" - complete with synthesized whip-and-chain sound effects - reportedly got the song banned by many radio stations in the United States (although the song reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart anyway, albeit only at #87 and for only a three-week chart stay). Reportedly the song narrowly avoided a radio ban by the BBC as well, and might have been banned if the one BBC staffer who wanted to ban the record had not been away on holiday at the time the other staffers voted on whether to add "Master and Servant" to their playlist. [2]
Contents |
Track 1 was re-released on the 2- and 3-disc CD versions of Remixes 81 - 04, while track 2 only appears on the 3-disc version.
The CD single was released in 1991 as part of the singles box set compilations
All songs written by Martin Gore.