Goodbye 25 Years Ago.

As you know, 1982 was a stand out year for some of Waist High's favorite music.

2007 became the year that we said "Happy 25th Birthday" to some of the greats: The Lexicon of Love, Upstairs at Eric's, New Gold Dream, The Gift, "Shock the Monkey," Special Beat Service, Pelican West, Avalon, Rio, The Golden Age of Wireless, A Flock Of Seagulls, "Love My Way," Shabooh Shoobah, and Combat Rock.

Greatest of all, 1982 was the year that Waist High's favorite Depeche Mode album, A Broken Frame, was released. A Broken Frame has been referred to as the beginning of the band's "so-called dark phase." The least known of their albums, A Broken Frame is a masterpiece.

A Broken Frame was Depeche Mode's second studio album, originally released on Sept. 27, 1982, following the departure of founder member Vince Clarke.

The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher, and Vince Clarke. Clarke shockingly left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album Speak and Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder who was a band member from 1982 to 1995.

Depeche Mode are one of the longest-lived, most successful and influential bands to have emerged from the New Wave era. They have had 44 songs in the UK Singles Chart, and it is estimated that they have sold over 91 million records worldwide as of 2006.

Waist High is happy to report that all ten of Depeche Mode's studio albums in THE REMASTERS series are now available, and in the final "Happy 25th Birthday" of 2007, Waist High would like to say "Happy 25th Birthday" to THE REMASTERED A Broken Frame.

The remastered A Broken Frame includes 2 CD's. "The first CD was remastered and (except in the USA) was released on a CD/SACD hybrid. The DVD includes the three B-sides 'Now, This is Fun,' 'Oberkorn (It's a Small Town),' and 'Excerpts from: My Secret Garden,' in addition to several live versions of some of the songs from A Broken Frame."

All 10 of THE REMASTERS include a DVD, and the A Broken Frame DVD presents Vince Clark speaking of his departure from the band, a must see for any fan. Not only is this the first time that 25+ year Depeche Mode fan Waist High heard Vince Clark speak of his departure from the band, this is the first time that 25+ year Depeche Mode fan heard Vince Clark speak of Depeche Mode period.

"The re-release preserves the album as it was originally intended. The bonus track 'Further Excerpts from: My Secret Garden' was removed (but unlike earlier re-releases wasn't put on the DVD as an extra) and the version of 'Leave in Silence' is the album version, not the 'Longer' version, making it's debut in the USA. (Like 'Further Excerpts,' the 'Longer' version doesn't appear on the DVD)."

The 27 minute documentary on A Broken Frame called Depeche Mode 1982 (The Beginning Of Their So-called Dark Phase) features interviews with the band "and other important DM figures like Daniel Miller and cover-photographer Brian Griffin. There is also footage of television appearances and live performances, commentary on the three singles, Vince's departure, Alan's joining, the 'See You' tour, the cover, and more. There are excerpts from the three Julien Temple music videos, making this the only time they have been viewable in a public release."

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS! And goodbye to 1982, as 25 years ago.

Material: remasters.depechemode.com & wikipedia.org

Upstairs At Eric's & You And Me Both To Be Reissued.

Mute Records is back in reissue mode as they plan to release both albums of the short-lived but highly successful duo Yazoo (Yaz in the U.S.) Both 1982's Upstairs at Eric's and 1983's You and Me Both will be remastered and re-released next year, possibly in combination with a DVD attached.

The band's first official website hub at yazooinfo.com links to the band's official myspace page and to a mailing list link for a newsletter which will start early next year.

Yazoo are rumoured to be planning a burst of activity to mark the releases, and online rumour and speculation involves Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke reuniting for some special live shows.

Material: side-line.com/news & remembertheeighties.com

Spandau Ballet To Reform?

While still unconfirmed, it is being reported that Spandau Ballet are set to reform after the band was offered a lucrative performance deal in Las Vegas.

The band, which split up in 1989, has been offered $4 million by property developer World Capital Partners to appear at the opening of a new luxury development in the city.

And a long-running feud between frontman Tony Hadley and bandmates Gary and Martin Kemp has reportedly been ended to accommodate the reunion.

A source tells The Independent, "It has always been quite complicated because the band has a different manager to (Hadley's bandmates) the Kemp brothers, because they fell out with them a while back."

"But since this offer was tabled, both managers have met and it looks very promising."

Material: World Entertainment News

Happy 25th Birthday Shuttered Room.

The debut album by The Fixx, Shuttered Room features the classics "Stand or Fall," "Red Skies," and the Waist High favorite "Lost Planes."

"Few bands have combined this kind of psychological and political lyricism with music of equal weight and beauty. Cy Curnin, an emotive singer and challenging wordsmith, is backed by a quirky and inventive guitarist, a fluent and imaginative synth player, and a top-notch rhythm section. The Fixx was much more a proper 'band' than many synth-oriented '80s acts -- no doubt one of the reasons it's still making records today."

"The Fixx are still recording & touring to this day, with four of the original five band members firmly intact."

Quotes: "A Customer" & Alan Caylow, both via amazon.com

Bauhaus Bowing Out With New Album.

The good news for Bauhaus fans: the group is eyeing a March 4 release for Going Away White, its first studio album since 1983. The bad news: there will be no further activity from the legendary goth band, who reunited in 2005 for the Coachella festival and later toured the world.

"We were getting along really well, but there was an incident that occurred," drummer Kevin Haskins tells billboard.com, declining to elaborate further. "Some of us just felt that we didn't want to carry on as a working unit."

As such, Going Away White, which the band is releasing digitally via itunes and on CD via its own Bauhaus Music imprint through Redeye Distribution, will close the book on Bauhaus. Haskins, guitarist Daniel Ash, bassist David J and vocalist Peter Murphy recorded the album last year after entering the studio "with nothing prepared," according to Haskins.

"I was concerned because history most of the time has proved that when groups reform and record, it doesn't work out," he says. "We all decided, let's just give it a go and see if it's working."

What emerged were songs Haskins says stay true to the original Bauhaus spirit, including "Adrenaline" and "Endless Summer of the Damned," which were performed during a summer 2006 tour with Nine Inch Nails.

"Now, there's a little bit of an empty feeling because we can't tour with it," Haskins admits. "All the same, it's something we're very proud of, and we feel a lot of people will be interested to hear it."

Material: Jonathan Cohen via billboard.com

Happy 25th Birthday Kissing To Be Clever.

Since the demise of the Epic Records edition, Culture Club's debut album Kissing to Be Clever has been available without Waist High favorite "Time (Clock of the Heart)," and with a black-and-white photo instead of the original colour photo.

The original release of Kissing to be Clever in October of 1982 was anchored by "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?," which went to #1 in the UK.

In 1996 Kissing to be Clever was reissued by Disky Communications, this time returning the colour photo, but still missing "Time (Clock of the Heart)." The remastered 2003 CD version contains additional tracks (including "Time") plus the restoration of the original colour cover.

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in March 1983, and went to #1 in Australia and in more than twenty countries worldwide. "Time (Clock of the Heart)" went to #3 in the UK and #2 in the US.

Kissing to be Clever "will take you back to the early 1980s when British artists were making some of the best music ever invented."

Material: wikipedia.org
Quote: Jeffery Mingo via amazon.com