DEPECHE MODE – “101” was released 36 years ago today. Did you already know these 12 facts?

Depeche Mode’s legendary live album “101” was released on March 13, 1989, and the accompanying VHS was also released on the same day. Did you already know these 12 facts?

★ As part of the “Music for the Masses” tour, the last show was recorded in Pasadena, California on June 18, 1988. Part of it can be found on “101”.

★ The recording venue is the Rose Bowl Stadium. No concerts have been held here since 1982, only major sporting events. So booking the Rose Bowl was a risky business – but it paid off.

★ Today it only seats 50,000 people, but in the 1980s the stadium could hold almost 70,000 happy fans.

★ And why “101”? It was the 101st concert of this extended tour.

★ However, the working title was “Mass” – which would have been plausible given the enormous mass of people.

★ “101” is a documentary by Don Alan Pannebaker (1925-2019). As a director, he was also responsible for “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” (1973) with David Bowie .

★ Originally, the documentary was supposed to raise the question of how Depeche Mode fit into the 1980s. However, D. A. Pannebaker threw this concept overboard. Instead, he focused on the thrilling live performances and the spirit of their loyal and strong fanbase.

★ The documentary focuses primarily on a group of eight young people who won a contest in which they were allowed to follow Depeche Mode across America. They are called the “Bus Kids”.

★ “101 – The Movie” has a running time of 117:00 minutes.

★ The raw material, on the other hand, comprises 150 hours, from which Alan and Dave Gahan selected suitable excerpts together with the director.

★ The production costs of “101” amounted to around 600,000 dollars.

★ In the US Billboards 200, the work reached number 45, in Austria number 13, in Spain 8, in Great Britain 5, in France 4 and in Belgium and Germany 3!