Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, episode 038: Depeche Mode’s Debauched Devotional Tour

I once had a conversation with someone about the craziest tours in the history of music. The usual names came up.

The Who trashing hotel rooms. Led Zeppelin’s tours with their private jet, groupies, and tons of drugs. That time in Atlanta when Ozzy drank himself into oblivion, passed out in the wrong hotel room for 24 hours, and missed a show as a result.

In 1976, ZZ Top tried to take the entire Texas experience on the road, which involved transporting real live animals to every gig. A buffalo escaped and managed to wreck nine rented limos that were parked at the gig.

Around the same time, there was the disastrous Sex Pistols tour of America. There were also stories about the Rolling Stones, Metallica, Van Halen, and all the usual suspects.

But the conversation turned to the subject of the most depraved and dangerous tour of all time… who was responsible for that? Motley Crue? Marilyn Manson? Oasis?

The debate went on for some time, until someone mentioned a road trip in 1993 that nearly killed every member of the group.

We’re not talking about any sort of violence. It was a tour featuring so much alcohol, so many drugs, and so much stupid behavior that members suffered heart attacks, seizures, serious mental illness, and overdoses so serious that one member was clinically dead for two minutes…

That was a summary of something called “The Devotional Tour.” At the center of it was Depeche Mode. It has gone down in rock history as “the most debauched rock tour ever.”

This is episode 38 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry.” This is an inside look at the tour that nearly took down Depeche Mode forever—and it was all their fault.

Get Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry wherever you get your podcasts. Both Uncharted and The Ongoing History of New Music will be heard back-to-back overnights five days a week on these Corus news stations:

Showtimes (all times local)

• Toronto: AM 640 (4-5am)
• London: 980 CFPL (4-5am)
• Vancouver: 980 CKNW (1-2am)
• Edmonton: 630 CHED (1-2am)
• Calgary: QR77 (770 AM) (1-2am)
• Winnipeg: 680 CJOB (1-2am)