"People Are People" is a song by British electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 12 March 1984 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Some Great Reward (1984). Recorded at Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin, it was the band's biggest hit to date: it hit number 1 in West Germany, was the first Top 20 single in the United States, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was their highest charting single in the UK to date, hitting number 4.
RuPaul recorded a cover of the song for their 2004 album Red Hot; a subsequent single release of that version in 2006 was a top 10 hit on the US dance charts.
Background and recording
Depeche Mode had released their previous studio album, Construction Time Again in August 1983 and had followed up with a tour that ran from September through December that year, although the band played a variety of one-off shows through June 1984.[7] Starting in December 1983,[8] as their tour wrapped up, they started their recording sessions at Music Works Studios in North London.[9] Their initial plan had been record the album in London before going back to West Berlin to Hansa Studios to mix and master the album, as they had done for Construction Time Again, but due to recording taking longer than planned (they had rented a room at Music Works only for a short time), most of the recording for the album actually took place at Hansa.[9] The band wanted to shed the "teenybopper" image they'd acquired with the first album and early singles,[10] and felt that the "big" sound produced at Hansa combined with their improved songwriting and image, they were starting to be taken more seriously as musicians.[11] "People Are People" continued with the socially- and politically-conscious themes of their songs,[12] as they had started on Construction Time Begins.[13] According to songwriter Martin Gore, the song is about racism; Alan Wilder suggested that it could also be about war.[14]
The song included heavy use of sampled sounds: samples included running water, doors creaking, and the sound of hitting an anvil, plus "everything from acoustic bass drums through to an airline hostess going through pre take-off drill".[12][15] In 2017 Gahan elaborated: "We were using all these tape loops to create rhythms and the technology was quite advanced, but it wasn't anything like it is today [35 years later], the things that you can do. We used to go into studios, and the first thing we'd do, we'd ask where the kitchen was– literally for pots and pans and things that we could throw down the stairs, and record the rhythms they would make crashing around, and then make it into loops."[16]
The single's b-side, "In Your Memory", was written by Wilder.[17]
Release and reception
"People Are People" was released on 12 March 1984,[18] a full 6 months before the album it appeared on, Some Great Reward.[19] In the UK, Mute Records released the single on 7", 12" and Limited 12" vinyl with catalogue numbers 7BONG5, 12BONG5 and L12BONG5, respectively.[20] Label Intercord released the single in Germany, with catalogue numbers INT 111.818, INT 126.820, and INT 126.821, respectively, and all on colored vinyl.[21] The limited 12" release was notable for having the first remix by an outside remixer: Adrian Sherwood.[22] Sherwood's mix was a "radical" step away from the structure and sound of the original song, and was one of the earliest examples of the growing importance of remixes in the music industry.[22]
In the US, the song was not released until 11 July 1984, though it did not reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart until May 1985, and was initially played only on modern rock and college radio. The single would eventually peak at number 13, and was at that time, the best-performing Depeche Mode track in the US.[17] In the UK, the single reached number four, which was at the time the band's highest singles chart position in their home country.[17]
In 1990, Dave Gahan listed the song among some of the music he "regrets", calling "People Are People" "too nice, too commercial".[23] It has not been played live since 1988.[24] Although Gore dislikes the song he also recognises that "without it, we might not have been around as a band right now",[25] and Gahan conceded that "People Are People" "was the first song of ours that made a dent, really, into popular radio".[16]
American drag queen RuPaul covered "People Are People" in 2004 for his fourth studio album, Red Hot. His version, which features Tom Trujillo, was released as a retail single on 26 January 2006 to promote the remix album ReWorked. It peaked at number 10 on the BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart.
Track listing
CD single
"People Are People" (Craig C. Radio) – 4:42
"People Are People" (Giuseppe D's Rutroactive Club) – 8:20
"The Price of One" (Craig C. Ru Edit) – 6:43
"People Are People" (Craig C. Main Vocal) – 8:01
"The Price of One" (Craig C.'s Mo' Trippin' Dub) – 10:02
"People Are People" (Goodandevil) – 3:42
"People Are People" (DJ Record Player's SSSnakin' Breakin') – 7:11
"The Price of One" (Craig C.'s Mo' Trippin' Beats) – 2:41
↑ Mason, Stewart. "People Are People – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 June 2013. "People Are People" was the single that introduced Depeche Mode's next-level sound as the group that made industrial music (à la Einsturzende Neubauten or Test Dept.)
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