Treadmill Of Time

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ⓘ This lostwave is classified as nearly solved.

Treadmill Of Time
Genre Post-Punk/Synthpop
Length 4.39
Year 1981 (falsely claimed)
Status Nearly Solved
Original poster CharlieMillesManson
Search started 2002
File:Treadmilloftime.mp3

Treadmill of Time (also known as "Slow Down" and "Not Sure Of It All Anymore" ) is a mysterious synthpop song misattributed to Depeche Mode under the name "Treadmill of Fire", with the false claim that it was a 1981 demo by keyboardist Alan Wilder.

Background

On April 25th, 2002, the song was first mentioned on the internet by a Slovakian Depeche Mode fansite, depechemode-sk.[1] It was labelled a fake song because it appeared on a 2002 bootleg Depeche Mode album titled "On Solo Ways...".[2]

On September 8th, 2010, YouTube user CharlieMillesManson first uploaded the song to YouTube with the false title "Depeche Mode - Treadmill Of Fire (Demo Version)", along with numerous other rare Depeche Mode songs.[3]

On October 15th, 2019, the song was posted to spiritofradio.ca, claiming that it, along with two other songs from the bootleg album, Chart Rundown and Here to Have Fun, were originally sourced from a radio broadcast from the mid-1980s or early 1990s, with the DJ or host claiming Alan Wilder as the creator.[4] The broadcast also included "Disco Hell," an actual early track from Wilder's band,[5] "Daphne and the Tenderspots." The station and broadcaster remain unknown.

Leads

Possible

  • Memorybank: A recent lead has raised the possibility of an unknown band known as "Memorybank" or "Memorial" being the creators of the song. This started when someone using the YouTube handle "Nik Lawrence" left a now-deleted comment claiming to know the band. He told the search team that he recognized the group as "Memorial" and that "T Addy" and "J Lewis" of Southampton were most likely the ones who recorded it in 1988.[6] In February 2023, someone named Tim Addy was contacted and claimed to be involved, but used a different name for the band. calling it "Memorybank".[7] The person who claims to be Tim Addy or Nik Lawrence has not provided any additional evidence proving that Memorybank created the song, and no proof that the band existed has been discovered.[6] However, a person named Nik Lawrence from Hampshire, England, was proven to exist from a Depeche Mode fan magazine from 1989.[8][9]
  • Deca Dance: Australian band investigated due to similar style and vocals[10]
  • Minimal Compact: Israeli band investigated after another fake Alan Wilder song, "Postulate," which appeared on the On Solo Ways... outfake album,[11] was revealed to be an alternate version of the Minimal Compact song Clock Bird.[12]
  • The Hitmen: British band featuring Alan Wilder on keyboards; some believe the lead singer Ben Watkins' voice is similar to the lost song.[13]

Debunked

  • Voyagers: Turkish band investigated due to similar style and vocals, confirmed to have not made the song.[14][15]

Lyrics

References