|
Ah, the agony of boredom and a net.connection. Late one night, out of a job, drunk, high, in the hospital and facing arraignment on charges of treason after that incident with the turtle (?!?!?), I came up with the following:
Mode Collecting Inferno
Note: These are levels of collecting, not of being a fan. Fandom can only be measured by amount of time that is spent thinking about Mode in a 24 hour period.
Level One:
1 album or single. Have favorite dM song heard on the radio. Or a copy of a compilation a friend made.
Level Two:
1 or 2 albums, usually 1 of the later era plus one of the earlier (Catching Up/ The Singles 81->85), 3 singles, and you have included at least 2 songs on compilation tapes you've made for yourself. Recognize the names of two band members.
Level Three:
Found 101 or Strange Too on video. Have most of the singles from one album, plus at least 3 albums, including Ultra, Violator, and MFTM. Have made one compilation tape of just dM. Have a favorite band member.
Level Four:
Two videos, all of the studio albums from BC on, plus S&S. Have picked up at least one Erasure album or single. Majority of the singles from Violator, MFTM and SOFAD. Two Posters. Looking for "Strangers". Know the birthday of your favorite band member. At least 1 12" vinyl release even if you don't have a turntable.
Level Five:
101, Devotional, The Videos 86>98, Strange Too, Desperately searching for Strange; all the albums since Some Great Reward; have been eyeing that Box set of singles plus some of the import singles, now have at least 10 singles; four posters including one subway size; one t-shirt. Have Some Great Reward (the book). Willing to travel 150 miles to a Tower Books to get "Strangers". Decide to collect all the albums. Have made a joke or pun about a song title or a member's name. Bought one remix or live bootleg. Know who Flood is.
Level Six:
All videos except Live in Hamburg. Looking for unreleased videos from Rithy. Have made contact with Bong. Have all domestic singles, plus two of the three Box Sets. Have enough posters to wallpaper a small bathroom. Making a Mode Web page. Have all albums except for Construction Time Again or A Broken Frame. Have the import versions of (Catching Up/Singles) and S&S for the extra tracks. 2 7" vinyls. Desperately looking for X1/X2, startled by the price. Decide to collect all singles and/or all released tracks. Know where to find Alan's press release on the Net and have it bookmarked. Looking for Counterfeit and Bloodline. Have one or two laser discs, even thought you don't have a LD player. Have 10 or more 12" vinyls. Would like to meet Daniel Miller. Know who Richard Blade is and his importance to Mode fans.
Level Seven:
Have all videos, all albums, all domestic singles, enough posters and magazines to wallpaper the bedroom and living room; trying to collect CD3s (3" CDs); have a favorite version of Enjoy The Silence and a favorite remixer. Have a Mode web page that at least 5 other people have linked to. Picking up import versions of singles just for the hell of it or for different packaging. Can count the number of remixes and tracks you have yet to buy. Looking for Japanese release of Live in Hamburg on LD. Have 25 or more vinyl releases including 7", 10" and 12". Have dreamt of at least one member of Mode. Wonder where the kids from 101 ended up. Bought X1/X2. Have traded copies of Down in the Boondocks, a boot from each tour, bootleg videos. Finally found official vinyl of Strangelove (Fresh Ground Mix). Know the names of the children of Mode members. Can name the producers/mixers of each album, in order. Know who Howie Kline is, and his connection to the Kazan Cathedral Mix of Personal Jesus.
Level Eight:
Have all domestic releases of CD, Video, Laser Disc; almost all of Import releases. Have been fined by the local city government for causing traffic problems because of the 50 foot painting of Mode on the side of the place where you live. Have helped with at least two dM FAQs or discographies. Willing to order from Japan to find the 3" Violator promo. Have PJ Hazchemix Edit on G BONG 17. Planning on naming at least one offspring with a Mode related name. Will critique the editing techniques of Kavorkian vs Vig. Have personalize Mode-oriented licence plate. Will not allow anything other than Mode and Mode-related music to be played in the car. Looking for "Walking In My Shoes" Promo shoes. Have closet dedicated to Mode apparel. Can count number of tracks you haven't collected, on one hand. Want to work at Reprise or at Mute, maybe just for the promo items. Have a Mode tattoo.
Level Nine:
The combined Modeness of Brian, BRAT, Chad, Rithy, Stefen, St. John the Pimpf, Rob and others on and off BONG.
Level Ten:
Later on it was discovered that these was a tenth level of collecting:
Have collected following items:
- The (Bong) megaphone that was used in the Strangelove video
- The car from Stripped, unrepaired
- The ULTRA bus (Public transit bus in Singapore completely covered with an ad for ULTRA)
- The BMW Isetta from the Never Let Me Down Again vid
- The Chevy from Strange Too
- The HMS Belfast from the People Are People vid
- Andy's bass from the It's No Good vid
|
[ Read and write comments ]