Echo and the Bunnymen – Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc.

100 Years or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Does Music Make a Difference When Shooting and Editing Photos?

By Mitchell Slepian

Hello, readers. As my regulars are aware, ninety-nine percent of the time, the images in my stories have been shot and edited with my Nikon camera. As Paul Simon sings, I like to take photographs. My Kodachrome sits on a table next to an old Nikon that was a workhorse and is now out of commission.

Sheepshead Bay by Emmons Avenue – Edited to Sir Elton

When shooting and editing, I always have songs in my head. One of my all-time favorite songs is “100 Years,” the opening track on The Cure’s “Pornography” album. It might be the darkest, most goth album of all time. I listen to it nonstop. Here’s a taste of Robert Smith’s (The Cure’s founder, lead singer, and possibly the best songwriter ever) lyrics. “It doesn’t matter if we all die. Ambition in the back of a black car.” I listen to lots of other great artists. Some are happier than The Cure. Of course, some are just as dark. Here’s a partial mix: Bauhaus, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Sir Elton John, Joy Division, John Lennon (probably the best musician of all time), Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, The Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, U2 and The Who. And the list goes on.

It’s not unusual for me to have some of these lyrics floating through my brain when I’m shooting. “Confusion in her eyes that says it all. She’s lost control. And she’s clinging to the nearest passerby.” – “She’s out of Control,” Joy Division “Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her. Slashed her wrists, bored with life. Didn’t succeed, thank the Lord.” – “Blasphemous Rumors” – Depeche Mode “Back to the howling old owls. Hunting the horny back toad” – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – Sir Elton and “Before you cross the street. Take my hand. Life is what happens to you. While you’re busy making other plans” – “Beautiful Boy” – John Lennon. He always nailed it. They all do.

One can be sure the songs in my head while I am shooting affect how they are taken. I might adjust the ISO and F-stop based on how I am feeling. In case you were wondering, I do not listen to music on my iPhone. I hate headphones. I used to wear my Walkman’s headphones slightly above or below my ears. Sometimes I still do that with headphones when I am Zooming or watching things on YouTube. Songs always go through my head. It gets me through the days. Or as Robert Smith says, “In Between Days.” That’s on the “Head on the Door” album.

Bees Fetching Honey – Edited to the Cure

The other day, I was editing some images from Emmons Avenue, Sheepshead Bay and the New York Botanical Garden while listening to Sir Elton. Then I switched to a mix of The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Erasure, and Psychedelic Furs, Siouxie and the Banshees. Erasure brings back memories of camp. The Cure, Erasure, and the Furs bring back old memories of dating and driving around in my old Caddy with the girls I liked. We usually listened to those bands. My first date was to see The Cure with Love & Rockets and the Pixies as the openers. We were too young to buy beer. We shared M&M’s. I still think about all of this when certain songs play.

Look at the images and see if you can tell the difference. This was written and edited to Led Zep’s “How the West Was Won.” With final touches while listening The latest from The Cure: “Songs of a Lost World.”

Pomegranate — 21 Marc has a date, Alana is taunted

Jen and Jake were at Terminal 5 to see Simple Minds. Marc was there, too. He was with his new friend, Miriam. She was a typical JAP. He had liked and disliked those women. But he was trying anything to get out of the Alana-Jen web. He hated general admission SRO shows. Years ago, he had a bad experience at Irving Plaza while seeing the B-52s.

Alana was there. She was with Brad, some guy she met a few days ago. He was a low key guy. She could easily control him. He probably wanted it. Tzipora was lurking around. She was solo.

None of the “friends” saw each other. A great mix of the Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, and Bauhaus was playing. Alana was pleased. She was also yearning for a little Duran Duran in the pre-show tracks.

The line to the ladies’ room was unbearable. The women were waiting. None of them were too far away from each other. But their eyes never met.

Jim Kerr took the stage. The audience went wild. Marc and Miriam were drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ales. Jen was sipping Rum and diet Pepsi. Her beau was drinking water. Cute. But lame. Alana was pissed they had no Arak. But was doing shots of Grey Goose. Tzipora was dancing away with her Brooklyn Lager.

The audience was singing along as they were sanctifying themselves. Marc and Miriam were embraced. Alana was sort of happy. She was in complete control. But at a loss. This was too easy for her. Her mind drifted to Marc. Then Tzipora. Then she looked at Brad. Too clean cut. But has some sort of sex appeal. She needed to get to know him better. They needed to have conversations and understand each other.

As the band started strumming, “Belfast Child,” Marc’s eyes scanned the room. He saw Jen dancing with Jake and Alana holding Brad’s hand. He was happy. Yet not.

Alana pushed her way with Brad closer to the stage. He followed like a puppy. She smacked right into Marc. They looked at each other and sneered.

“Do you know her, “inquired Miriam? “Whatcha gonna say, Marc,” belted out Alana?

Marc stuttered. “Hmm, yes, we’ve known each other for most of our lives.”
“Marc I’m surprised at you. Look at her. She’s so not your type.” Marc shivered.

“What’s wrong with her, Miriam?”

“Well look at me and her. Tell me what do you see?”

Meanwhile, Jen was dancing like the daffy girl she is. But she was feeling good. Then she saw the others. She sensed they were getting ready for a brawl. She wasn’t sure what she should do. Should she stay where she was? Or should she get herself closer? But why would she want to ruin a potentially good new relationship? Jake is a good guy. He had a decent job and seems to care about Jen. But after all, Jen is Jen. So she and Jake walked toward the others.

While this was going on Tzipora was trying to hook up with some guy. She was also eyeing a petite blonde female.

“I see a beautiful woman.”

Miriam laughed. “Look at how she’s dressed.”

“What’s the matter, girl? Did you not expect to see goth girls at tonight’s show? Did you daddy buy your clothes? And all of your jewelry? Are they paying your mortgage?”

“Marc I think we need to move away. This girl is batty.”

Marc stood frozen. “You’re very pretty, Miriam. Alana and I go way back.”

“That’s right we do. He took me to his special places, such as his summer camp. I’m sure you went to one of those camps where they did your laundry and made your bed.”

“Marc I know we are just getting to know each other. And you should be thankful you are sipping drinks and are dancing with me. Not this freak.”

Jen was taking it all in. She grabbed Jake and started kissing him. The band played.

“Hey, girlie, you’re the freak. Maybe we should compare notes? I’m sure he and I have more in common.”

Marc tried to calm the two ladies. But couldn’t. Miriam was tipsy. She clearly couldn’t handle her alcohol. Despite her shots, Alana was stone-cold sober. Marc grabbed Miriam. She started screaming. She threw her drink at Alana. The beer spilled all over Alana’s new skirt. The bottle cracked onto the floor. Pieces of glass hit Alana’s legs. Marc was petrified. He knew he had to get Miriam out of the club. She stood no chance. Another girl lost. Or not.

Of course, Simple Minds closed their show with “Don’t you forget about me”.

101

Earlier today, I sat on the couch and watched my Depeche Mode 101 DVD. That’s the concert documentary that DM put out in ’89. It features the amazing tunes they played during the Music for the Masses tour.
As I heard Dave Gahan’s voice sing “Master & Servant,” I was blasted back to the day when life was simpler and in some ways more fun. In some ways, it was not. We still have our masters and servants.
Watching Martin L Gore’s solo of “Somebody” brings the same depression I had when he sang that tune, while I was wishing for somebody back in high school. It hasn’t changed.
Depeche Mode is one of the bands that will always remain honest and current. Their songs will always touch one’s heart and soul. Whether, you’re traveling down “Route 66”, worrying about “Blasphemous Rumors”, worried that “Everything Counts “ (I sure do) or “Just Can’t Get Enough”.
I remember listening to their cassettes nonstop and making Depeche Mode mixes for my car. In one of my autos, the tape deck was on its dying days. The only tape it played flawlessly was a Depeche Mode mix. The same thing happened years later in another vehicle’s CD player.
I remember wearing all black. Well, that hasn’t completely changed. I’ve seen them dozens of times. I once waited hours on a line at the now defunct Tower Records to meet them. That was in 2004. They signed one of their new releases.
I got about 90 seconds to talk to Andrew Fletcher, Martin and David. I remember begging Martin to play songs from Speak and Spell (even though) that was really a Vince Clarke album, a DM founder who left after their first release. He founded Yaz, ran and has thankfully found a home in Erasure. I discovered Erasure in the health lodge at Ten Mile River Scout Camps. I wasn’t the sick one. I was with one of my campers who needed to be in that awful place. We had some strange nurses.
Anyway, back to my conversations with DM. I continued to beg them to go back to around 1984. They just smiled and said we’ll think about it. I saw them a few days later at the Garden. They didn’t take my requests. But they dazzled us anyway.
While I was sitting outside of Tower Records, I chatted with a cute girl, who was at least 10 years younger than me. She was a 90s DM fan. I am an 80s DM fan. Well, I’m a fan of their music. But I gravitate to their 1980s tunes. This woman did the same for their 1990’s music. She was in love with Martin. She had a tattoo stating that. Her dream was for him to kiss her on it. Never happened. But she got to meet him and couldn’t have been happier.
Another thing that flashed into my mind was the great way we dressed back then. I already mentioned all black. But we cropped our hair as close to our heads as we could. I used to bring in pictures of them and O.M.D. to my haircutter. I called him Professor Joe. He tried his best to make me look like them.
Eventually, I made it up to New Paltz. Us New Wavers used to go Berties in Poughkeepsie. We all had to wear bracelets saying we were under 21. But we wore our black outfits and danced all night to Depeche Mode, the Cure, the Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order and the other greats from the 80s. I wasn’t a good dancer. That hasn’t changed.
Man, I miss those days. If only we could all be “Stripped” down to the bone. In other words, speak just for me and make decisions without your television on.
So, “Now this is Fun”. “It is More than a Party”. As for me, I’m looking for a “Policy of Truth,” while doing my best to remember, “People are People”.
I cannot wait to see them at the Garden at the end of the summer. Funny, I just did the Facebook what 80s alt-pop band wrote the soundtrack of your life. I got Depeche Mode.