Name: Depeche Mode - ‘When the Body Speaks’ Pre-Demo Test Recording CD-R (Downgreen, May 12, 2000), Labeled by Gareth Jones
Brand: Chris Baird
SKU: LDN_CB_001
Price: 250.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Depeche Mode - ‘When the Body Speaks’ Pre-Demo Test Recording CD-R (Downgreen, May 12, 2000), Labeled by Gareth Jones

Depeche Mode - ‘When the Body Speaks’ Pre-Demo Test Recording CD-R (Downgreen, May 12, 2000), Labeled by Gareth Jones

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Buy it now price: $250.00

Product variants

A year before Exciter came out, “When the Body Speaks” existed as this: a single-track pre-demo test recording burned to a TDK CD-R and labeled by hand in red marker. The disc reads “Depeche / Downgreen / When the Body Speaks / May 12 2000,” and the inlay card repeats it—“Depeche / Downgreen – 1 When the Body Speaks (May 12) – Test recording.”

This is the song at its earliest stage, before it was taken into the studio as a demo, and it sounds completely different from the finished version. The album take, track four on Exciter, runs six minutes, with solo cello and strings arranged by Knox Chandler; Gore has said he heard a 1950s or 1960s sound in the song.

The handwriting is Gareth Jones’s. The engineer and producer, a Depeche Mode collaborator since the early ’80s, confirmed it in a message to the disc’s owner: “The red ones are my handwriting.” On Exciter, released by Mute in May 2001 and produced by Mark Bell, Jones is credited with engineering, pre-production, and additional production. According to the consignor, the recording was made at Downgreen, Martin Gore’s home, with Gore singing.

TDK CD-R XG “for audio,” 74 minutes, in a jewel case with its TDK inlay card. One track.

Key details & collectability

Single-track pre-demo test recording of “When the Body Speaks,” dated May 12, 2000
Sounds completely different from the version released on Exciter
Disc and inlay handwritten in red marker: “Depeche / Downgreen”
Handwriting confirmed by Gareth Jones, credited with engineering, pre-production, and additional production on Exciter
Made a year before Exciter (Mute, 2001), where the song appears as track four
TDK CD-R XG 74-minute disc in jewel case with TDK inlay card

Provenance

Bought privately by the consignor in the U.K.
Gareth Jones confirmed the red handwriting as his in a Facebook Messenger exchange with the consignor

Pairs well with

Provenance

Handwriting confirmed by Gareth Jones
Bought privately by the consignor, U.K.

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