Pimpf

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9. Nothing
10. Pimpf
List of Music for the Masses songs

 

Pimpf
Single-Strangelove.jpg
Song Pimpf
By Depeche Mode
Songwriter Martin L. Gore
Produced by Depeche Mode
Dave Bascombe
Daniel Miller
Recorded at Guillaume Tell (Paris)
Konk (London)
Length (mm:ss) 5:00 Including Interlude #1 (Mission Impossible) starting at 4:18
Tempo 114 BPM
Time signature 3
4
Key E Minor
Recorded February - July, 1987
Originally released April 13, 1987
Live performances as Depeche Mode 101 times *
Total live performances 101 times *

"Pimpf" is an instrumental song recorded by Depeche Mode during the production of the 1987 album Music For The Masses. It was released as a B-side on the "Strangelove" single on 13 April 1987.

Notes

Dave and Martin said in the commentary track on the DVD of '101':

Dave Gahan: "'Pimpf' was something to do with the Hitler Youth, or something like that, wasn't it?"

Martin Gore: "Yes, it was an instrumental that we originally started recording for - I think - the B-side of 'Never Let Me Down Again', and we liked it so much that we ended up putting it on the 'Music For The Masses' album."

Dave Bascombe told Super Deluxe Edition in July 2019:

"I'm so pleased with that [song]. I know that, that was the B-side to 'Strangelove' and then we were at Puk [studios] and they had gone off to do a video probably, they were away and I didn't have anything to do so, I just remixed it for my own sake because I thought that I could get it better and it was a much better mix, and they all came back and agreed. It wasn't planned to go on the album originally. I think maybe because I'd done a better mix or whatever, and it's such a strong track on the album [that they changed their mind]. But I do remember the tour and I saw them in Paris in some stadium and it is an incredible thing to open with. It was pretty scary actually, it was like a rally! You can imagine all sorts of dark things, you could use that for all sorts of various purposes but it was really powerful. That's a great track. I do love the kind of... more experimental stuff. That's Martin really, in his element, doing the vocals on that."

He also told Vaughn George in April 2020:

"On 'Pimpf', we we did in sequences. So [Alan] played one whole round, and rather than to keep going forever, we would drop in. We would then put separate tracks into to the other one. There was a seamless overlap."

When Depeche Mode was interviewed about the songs on the '101' CD for the April 1989 issue of French magazine 'Best', Alan Wilder said (translated from French):

"All of our concerts on the tour started with 'Pimpf', so now whenever I hear this melody, it evokes a very precise memory: it was a signal that we were about to enter the stage, a moment when I started to have cold sweats. 'Pimpf' was originally only a B-side, but it ended up being put on 'Music For The Masses'. I think that's what the young members of the Hitler Youth were called. This music reflects the political climate that was occurring at the time of the rise of Nazism. It's because of its orchestral, quite distressing aspect."

Music video

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Pimpf"
Main article: List of dates where "Pimpf" was played


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1986-1989: But Not TonightBreathing In FumesBlack DayChristmas IslandAgent OrangePimpfPleasure, Little TreasureRoute 66StjärnaSonata No. 14 in CDangerous
1990-1998: MemphistoSibelingKaleidHappiest Girl (Jack Mix)Sea Of Sin (Tonal Mix)My JoyDeath's DoorPainkillerSlowblowSurrenderHeadstar
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