Ventil Verlag
Dennis Burmeister / Sascha Lange - Behind The Wall / DEPECHE MODE Fan Culture in the GDR
Manufacturer
Depeche Mode is one of the longest-lasting bands from the fast-paced pop music era of the 1980s. And they still have the most loyal fans. "Behind the Wall" tells the story of this special fan culture in the 1980s – behind the Wall, in the GDR.
Sascha Lange and Dennis Burmeister, after their 2013 bestseller "Depeche Mode Monument", have now turned their attention to the phenomenon of Depeche Mode fans in the GDR. The immense amounts of unpublished photos and documents, the interviews with numerous fans, concert promoters, fanzine editors, fan club operators and other contemporary witnesses provide an unprecedented testimony to counter-culture as well as everyday life in the GDR.
At the same time, "Behind the Wall" is also a coming-of-age story. A do-it-yourself story. A music story. A story about Depeche Mode. A story that shows that young people in East and West in the 1980s were much more similar than they knew. And yet they were different – due to social circumstances. "Behind the Wall" tells the story of a fall of the Wall long before the actual fall of the Wall. And of an unusual and long-lasting love of fans for their band.
Paperback, with colored illustrations, 240 pages, ISBN 978-3-95575-089-3
Table of Contents:
| Foreword |
| Before the Pop Revolution |
| Punk & New Wave? |
| The Cultural Gateway to the Eighties – The New German Wave |
| Music on TV? |
| People Are People |
| “Let’s Have A Black Celebration” |
| In Search of LPs |
| Depeche Mode – Behind The Wall 1985? |
| The Detour via Beat Street? |
| Between RIAS and DT64 |
| Music Magazines |
| Contact with Western Fans |
| Music For The Masses? |
| Pentecost 1987 in Berlin and its Consequences |
| The Long Road to the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle |
| Fan Clubs and Fan Parties |
| Fanaticized Youth and the Stasi |
| World In My Eyes |
| Depeche Mode Fan Clubs in the GDR |