Ongoing History Daily: Depeche Mode’s odd photo service

October 18, 2022 Alan Cross 0 Comments 0 min read

Back in 1983, Brian McDonnell of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was a massive Depeche Mode fan. That year, he went to a gig at Ulster Hall. At one point in the show, he threw an old-fashioned roll of film onstage. Attached to it was a note with a request and his name and address. “Could you take a few photos and then send the film back to me?”

Unbelievably, that’s exactly what Depeche Mode did. T

hey loaded the film and took some snaps backstage and then mailed the undeveloped roll back to him. Brian died about 20 years ago of a heart attack, but his sister recently found these photos and posted them on a Facebook group called Belfast Concert Photographs of the 1980s.

I wonder if any group would do something similar today?

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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