Ticket stubs from shows: a-ha, INXS, Depeche Mode (twice), Squeeze and Peter...

July 1986: Alan Wilder at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco — waiting for Dave Gahan. Andre, the friendly semi-mohawked bodyguard/handler, is in the foreground, telling me off for taking photos. But Andre didn’t stop us from getting autographs… Me with Alan in LA And for more from Depeche...

I got this autograph in July 1986 at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco… And I took this photo in Los Angeles, outside the Sunset Marquis hotel, later that month. He was all dressed up/made up on the way to the concert they were playing that night. What was really weird is that I’d just bought that same exact “shirt” at The Limited a few days...

Andy Fletcher at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, July 1986. (I had him autograph the photo the following week in Los Angeles.) And a normal black-on-white autograph from Fletch. And for more from this...

When: July 6, 1986 (or possibly July 7) Where: Clift Hotel, San Francisco What: Autographs, a couple photos And: I had loved Depeche Mode for years, but had never managed to catch them live before their show at the Greek in Berkeley on July 5. Then we decided to head over to San Francisco the next morning to see if we could catch the band. We were the only fans...