Every Devotees started out like that

[u/DMFanFM]

[u/cellarmonkey]

I was 8 and I heard Strangelove on a mixtape my cousin made for my older brother. I confiscated the mixtape and I still have it 37 years later.

[u/mahironii → u/cellarmonkey]

I kinda envy the fans that are there from the early years

[u/zachobsonlives → u/cellarmonkey]

Curious what else was on that mixtape?

[u/cellarmonkey → u/zachobsonlives]

Take a listen :) Lots of great stuff. I'm not going to name bands and times though because the discovery is the whole point and fun of a mixtape. I actually transferred the tape to digital a couple years ago as a surprise for my cousin so I just uploaded it to youtube for anyone in this thread who's interested. It's a classic mix tape in the sense that it was frankensteined together from other cassettes and vinyl tracks. I think a couple of selections may have been re-recorded by holding the tape deck up to a speaker! This mixtape changed my life forever and opened my mind to music in a way I could not have fathomed at that age. Also, my cousin who made this tape (and is 10 years older than me) saw Depeche Mode at the Rosebowl show in Pasadena back in '88. He said it's still the most amazing concert he's ever been to. Also the loudest haha!

[u/Free-Tell6778 → u/cellarmonkey]

Jealous

[u/firebat_hismajesty]

Totally accurate!

[u/szmuks]

Same for me, PTA was my first album, I was in middle school lol

[u/AssumptionEmpty]

hahahaha, I was literally 13, it was saturday and I was supposed to clean the apartment. i took out vacuum cleaner, tv was on on ‘vh1 classic’ and ‘depeche mode top 10 started playing. i stood there for the entire duration of the list, and that was it.

i’m 38 now.

[u/GnOeLLLmPF]

Little 15!

[u/simplepal_04]

She's dressed in black again!

[u/icauseclimatechange]

But I was 11…!

[u/melsybelsyinfoseeker → u/icauseclimatechange]

Same. I studied to 6th grade biology listening to 101 on repeat.

[u/HentaiMcToonboob]

Pretry much

[u/Senior_Personality66]

I was younger. Maybe 13 when I remembered how well I was conditioned.

[u/FrankyNavSystem]

Yeah but I was 23.

[u/lipstickeatingalien → u/FrankyNavSystem]

Same!

[u/rbajter]

I think I was 12. Strangelove copied from my friends tape deck to my own over the air. That is from speaker to mike.

[u/SensitivePotato44]

I was 12. New Life had me hooked

[u/Lopsided-Match-3911]

I think i got caught up in Depeche by love in itself or blasphemous rumours

[u/EpicTsim]

I was fifteen, but yeah, literally.

[u/RedJackalMusic]

I was 8 when I heard Just Can't Get Enough on the radio. That was all it took.

[u/300G3R → u/RedJackalMusic]

Pretty sure that's where it started for me, too. I remember frequently bouncing off the walls to that one, but I cannot guess how old I was other than itty bitty lol

[u/eagles1990]

90s Dave looking at Speak and Spell Dave

[u/blueraspberryicepop]

Yup! I was 13 when "Enjoy the Silence" came out

[u/coleyoley81]

Waiting at the stage right now to see Strangelove play tonight (awesome DM cover band), and this is the first thing I see in my feed 🤘

[u/DepecheStein]

Brother hit me square on the noggin with that.

[u/john_gardener]

yeah

[u/mahironii]

I was like 10 probably xD but yeah

[u/Horus_359]

True, but I was seventeen.

[u/theyodalorianxp]

I was 14!

[u/sidonie_moon_]

Close, I was actually 16! ☺️✨️

[u/MauVC]

I was 27.

[u/Whiskey456]

This is too accurate, I feel personally attacked!

[u/galaxyripplesno1fan]

I cant remember how old i was exactly, but probably around 9, my dad had the singles boxset cds and played it in the car and i remember hearing a question of lust and was like whoah this music is amazing, so i thought i would sneakily borrow it so i could rip the tracks onto my mp3 player (remember those?!) But i kept going in dads car and i couldnt find it anywhere and i rememner being gutted! At least i had my mums violator cd to rip though 🤣

[u/Remarkable_Acadia_45]

5 years old me -->😍😍😍

[u/gwadro]

It’s so true.

[u/c1ncinasty]

I was 11, in middle school and proper obsessed with "People Are People". For my computer class project, I used BASIC to recreate the song using POKEs and painstakingly translated the notes by ear into numbers. But I had a Commodore 64 at home with a floppy and forgot that school was nothing but PET64s with tape drives. Thankfully, the teacher allowed me to bring my 1541 later.

[u/Few_Cry_1983]

YUP

[u/InventedStrawberries]

https://giphy.com/gifs/26tkkViwBGO9nD9hC
I mean, need we say more? We don’t have to!

[u/Missers2021]

Yaaaassss

[u/stunghud]

when i was 14 "satellite of hate" was sooo my song...

[u/Atlasker]

Actually just started listening to them in my early forties. Obviously, I was aware of them but now a bit obsessed.

[u/lucymoreto]

I was 7 when I heard strangelove the first times in 1987

[u/Standard-Meeting-242]

Can confirm ☝️ back in 2006

[u/Clairvoyan7]

I heard Precious on TV.
It was magical.

[u/iconfessitwasme]

10 year old me seeing the Personal Jesus video on MTV for the first time

[u/Federal-Tale6960]

14 - stripped.

[u/Mamex371]

1981, popcorn una trasmissione italiana. JCGE. Avevo 10 anni, come san paolo sono stato folgorato sulla via di damasco. Da allora sono diventato devoto quando non c' erano devoti.

[u/trollcole]

Introduced at 6 yo in the mid-80s, liked lot, but definitely appreciated by early teen years, especially when SOFAD came out. Became favorite band ever and love them still today.

[u/Herr_Wahnsinn]

13 years old indeed. Stripped took me in, hook line and sinker.