Television Set

This song was written by Jason Knott, Vince Clarke's friend and fellow musician from Basildon. This track was performed from the 1980 Tour through the 1982 See You Tour. The song was never recorded in the studio and does not appear on any official release due to the fact that it was not written by Vince or Martin (thanks to Deb Danahay and Basildon: New Town - New Life for that information). Several excellent live recordings of the track as well as a short excerpt of Vince Clarke's demo can be heard below. Full lyrics are also available.

From Basildon: New Town - New Life:

No Romance In China's original demo tape for Television Set - credit to Basildon: New Town - New Life

DEPECHE MODE - TELEVISION SET

Probably the most famous un-released Depeche Mode track is 'Television Set'.

Television Set was a song played by the band at virtually every gig during 1981, usually as their opening number in the first 6 months of that year. It was a firm favourite amongst fans at live gigs during that period. At the time many considered it DM's best song. When asked why it wasn't being released as an obvious choice for a single, the whispered reply was "Vince didn't write it". The origins of this classic song remained shrouded in mystery for years but the songs existence has always been well known to Depeche Mode fans through live bootlegs from this period.

'Television Set' was written by Basildon musician Jason Knott. Jason was in a local band called 'The Neatelllls' (spelt with 4 L's) which also included well know Basildon drummer Peter Hobbs. Although they never actually formed a band together, Jason, Peter and Vince Clarke did rehearse together a number of times and this is how Vince got to hear the song.

Vince took the song through a number of incarnations, firstly a recording with friend Sue Paget (his bandmate in "No Romance in China") with Vince on guitar & vocals and Sue on Bass. The first ever live version of TV Set was performed at 'The Double Six' Pub in Basildon at 'No Romance in China's ' only gig featuring Vince, Sue & Peter. A second recorded version was a solo demo track made by Vince, sounding completely different, made with a synthesizer, drum machine and Vince's vocals. Finally, Vince introduced the song into his new band Depeche Mode.

The photo shows the original cassette by 'No Romance in China' that contains their recording of T.V.Set. As you can see its has been recorded over a copy of 'The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys', Vince's favourite band at the time. Many thanks to Sue for providing the photo.

Full track samples

Perhaps the best quality recording of this song is from a first-generation FM broadcast recording of 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France. Listen: Play

Other excellent recordings of the song are available from these dates:

• Play 1981-06-27 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK (soundboard)
• Play 1981-08-05 Rafters, Manchester, England, UK (audience)
• Play 1981-10-23 Something Else (soundboard)

Demo excerpt

This is one of four tracks appearing on Composition Of Sounds' first demo tape. Vince Clarke sings lead vocals, as Dave Gahan had not joined the band yet. The entire demo tape has not yet surfaced; only the four excerpts found on the the demos & studio pre-mixes page are available. This excerpt is the original file shared in this thread on depmod, courtesy of Recoil19.

Lyrics

And did you see them running through me, babe
Did you see the lights in their eyes
Did you see the masses praying to me
And I'm preaching them more lies

I'm just a mass for communication
I sell what everyone buys
Do you know my appearance is changing
Changing from my disguise

I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set

And you can have me, babe, if you want me
Just plug me into your wall
And I'll give you sex if you want it
Or I'll give you nothing at all

You can have me, babe, for good times
You can have me, babe, for bad
Keep me running all of your life and
I'll turn you instantly mad

I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set

And did you see them running through me, babe
Did you see the lights in their eyes
Did you see the masses praying to me
And I'm preaching them more lies

I'm just a mass for communication
I sell what everyone buys
Do you know my appearance is changing
Changing from my disguise

I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set
I'm just a
Television set

Dates with available recordings of Television Set

There are currently 25 recordings of Television Set available.

• 1980-10-30 Bridge House, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, UK/Source 1
• 1980-1x-xx / 1981-02-xx Unknown Venue, England, UK
• 1981-04-06 Bridge House, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-06-01 Bridge House, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-06-27 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-07-23 The Venue, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-07-25 Zuiderpark, The Hague, The Netherlands/Source 1
• 1981-08-02 Jenkinsons, Brighton, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-08-05 Rafters, Manchester, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-08-05 Rafters, Manchester, England, UK/Source 2
• 1981-09-26 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Source 2
• 1981-09-26 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Source 3
• 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France/Source 1
• 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France/Source 2
• 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France/Source 3
• 1981-10-23 Something Else, BBC2, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-10-23 Something Else, BBC2, London, England, UK/Source 2
• 1981-11-03 Fagins, Manchester, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-11-04 Locarno, Birmingham, England, UK/Source 1
• 1981-11-07 Polytechnic, Sheffield, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-02-27 Bridge House, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-03-06 Rockola, Madrid, Spain/Source 1
• 1982-03-25 Ballroom Blitz, Hannover, Germany/Source 1
• 1982-04-02 Théâtre Le Palace, Paris, France/Source 1

Dates where Television Set was played

1980 Tour

Television Set was played 5 times during this tour.

• 1980-06-14 Nicholas School, Basildon, England, UK
• 1980-09-20 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK
• 1980-10-30 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, UK
• 1980-1x-xx / 1981-02-xx Unknown Venue, England, UK

1981 Tour

Television Set was played 23 times during this tour.

• 1980-1x-xx / 1981-02-xx Unknown Venue, England, UK
• 1981-02-16 Cabaret Futura, London, England, UK
• 1981-04-06 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1981-04-12 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1981-06-01 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1981-06-27 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK
• 1981-07-23 The Venue, London, England, UK
• 1981-07-25 Zuiderpark, The Hague, The Netherlands
• 1981-07-29 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1981-08-02 Jenkinsons, Brighton, England, UK
• 1981-08-05 Rafters, Manchester, England, UK
• 1981-08-26 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England, UK
• 1981-09-19 The Venue, London, England, UK
• 1981-09-25 Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany
• 1981-09-26 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 1981-09-28 Disco Rouge, Brussels, Belgium
• 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France
• 1981-10-23 Something Else, BBC2, London, England, UK
• 1981-11-03 Fagins, Manchester, England, UK
• 1981-11-04 Locarno, Birmingham, England, UK
• 1981-11-06 University, Liverpool, England, UK
• 1981-11-07 Polytechnic, Sheffield, England, UK
• 1981-11-12 Arts Centre, Poole, England, UK

1982 See You Tour

Television Set was played 25 times during this tour.

• 1982-01-20 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK
• 1982-01-22 The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
• 1982-01-23 The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
• 1982-02-12 Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales, UK
• 1982-02-13 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• 1982-02-14 Guildshall, Portsmouth, England, UK
• 1982-02-15 The Pavilion, Bath, England, UK
• 1982-02-18 Victoria Hall, Hanley, England, UK
• 1982-02-19 University, Leeds, England, UK
• 1982-02-20 City Hall, Newcastle, England, UK
• 1982-02-22 The Tower, Hull, England, UK
• 1982-02-24 U.E.A., Norwich, England, UK
• 1982-02-25 Kent University, Canterbury, England, UK
• 1982-02-26 Polytechnic, Oxford, England, UK
• 1982-02-27 Bridge House, London, England, UK
• 1982-02-28 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• 1982-03-05 Rockola, Madrid, Spain
• 1982-03-06 Rockola, Madrid, Spain
• 1982-03-20 The Ritz, Stockholm, Sweden
• 1982-03-25 Ballroom Blitz, Hannover, Germany
• 1982-03-30 Rainbow Club, Oberkorn, Luxembourg
• 1982-04-02 Théâtre Le Palace, Paris, France
• 1982-04-03 Volksbelang, Brussels, Belgium
• 1982-04-10 Fort Regent, St. Helier, Jersey, UK
• 1982-04-12 Beau Sejour, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, UK