Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant on Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan: “One of the sexiest to be seen”
There was a period of time when Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode wasn’t considered particularly interesting. Before Gahan became a stylistic chameleon alongside his bandmate Martin Gore, the quest for a distinctive image proved to be a personal struggle. Despite Gahan’s initial lack of intent to make a bold fashion statement, attending their live performances turned out to be a delightful sensory experience for both the eyes and ears, particularly when the singer took to the stage with his captivating movements.
In November 1984, Depeche Mode had completed the British leg of their long tour when they sat down to speak to Neil Tennant of Smash Hits, later co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. In a ‘Strange Tales!’ feature comprising weird and wonderful tidbits from their show in Leicester, Tennant navigated a series of oddly endearing events with short paragraphs detailing a handful of notable events.
“Martin Gore wears a leather mini-skirt on stage,” he wrote. “He bought it at Kensington Market in London and wears it rather fetchingly with leather trousers and a girl’s slip that a fan left hanging on their tour coach. Drinking in the hotel bar after their show in Leicester, a fan asks Christina, Martin’s girlfriend: ‘Is Martin kinky?’ They laugh.”
At the time, Tennant played off public perception by describing Gahan as “the moodiest of the group, he often sits by himself at the back of the coach and before concerts looks drawn and nervous”. However, on stage, he described how he captivates audiences with the ease of a seasoned performer: “Dave Gahan has become an accomplished bum wiggler on stage,” he wrote, “as well as shaking his pelvis in a very suggestive way.”
Continuing, he added: “If you think that Depeche Mode are a bunch of solemn, synthesiser-programming boffins, you’d be amazed at the waves of screaming that they arouse. A lot of the credit must be taken by Dave, whose energetic performance is one of the most sexy to be seen on a stage anywhere at the moment.”
After 1984’s Some Great Reward, Depeche Mode’s international success began to flourish, with the album entering the US charts and the top ten in several European countries. Although the following albums saw the band enjoying more notable successes, it wouldn’t be until 1990’s release of Violator that the Basildon assembly experienced a new level of audience, with the subsequent tour selling out to an estimated 1.2 million worldwide.
At this point, Neil Tennant had produced a series of chart-topping hits as part of the pop duo Pet Shop Boys, including ‘Always On My Mind’, ‘West End Girls’, ‘It’s A Sin’, and ‘Heart’. Alongside trailblazing synth bands like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys played a significant role in shaping the quintessential pop sound of the 1980s and beyond. Their contributions extended beyond musical boundaries, delving into realms that explored sexual politics and identity, and dared to challenge prevailing social norms.
