With everything else going on this week, you may have missed that Depeche Mode founding member Andy Fletcher passed away. What a loss, and what a gift he was to many, including me.

My life was filled with Depeche Mode many years ago, and although I still listen to them frequently, it’s nothing like the mid-eighties and early nineties when they were a constant ( along with bands like Yaz, The Communards, Erasure , and Dead or Alive).

I first learned about and listened to Depeche Mode in the fall of 1986. I was in the Navy, on my first deployment since getting sober, and ended up meeting a group of people who took me dancing one night in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. I’ll never forget the music and the feeling of dancing to Depeche Mode songs. Their music hit me hard.

A few years later I would come out and make it to the Oar House in Norfolk, Virginia, one of a very few gay places to go out and dance. There I continued my love affair with Depeche Mode and would be in complete bliss on the dance floor. Soon there were live concerts which were mind-blowing to me.

As a young, gay man, they were simply part of my culture. Their music was embedded in my life.

Tonight while making dinner I played a Depeche Mode playlist, dancing in the kitchen while cooking. The memories filled my head with amazing memories of my life, wonderful people, and life-changing music.

Good on you, Andy. Thank you for being such an instrumental (literally!) part of my life.

Thank you for reading!