The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock: In the Reptile House with the Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and the CureFrom Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails and from Siouxsie to Marilyn Manson, gothic rock has endured as the cult of choice for alienated youth. But, during its heyday in the mid-eighties, when The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and The Cure dominated the independent scene, it was the underground alternative to the glossy throwaway pop of the day. Dave Thompson traces the roots of this golden era back to Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. Taking in Hammer House of Horror, Dennis Wheatley, and a myriad of other influences, Thompson charts the evolution of a sound through the Doctors of Madness, the despair of Joy Division and the pantomime horror of The Damned and beyond. From the brooding bass line of Bauhaus’s 'Bela Lugosi’s Dead' to the Wagnerian majesty of The Sisters’ 'This Corrosion', from the haunting nihilism of The Cure’s Faith to the full on sonic assault of The Cult’s 'She Sells Sanctuary', this much maligned musical genre produced some of the most energising and enduring music of the era. Starkly lit and draped in fog, blatantly minimalist in an age when ‘bigger’ was generally regarded as ‘better,’ there was little to actually look at, but a great deal to watch, three figures choked in cloaking smoke, the now omnipresent hats and ponchos conjuring images that would not be out of place in a Peckinpah movie. |
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ALIEN SEX FIEND April audience August band band's BANSHEES bassist Batcave Bauhaus BIRTHDAY PARTY Chart peak 14 Club CURE Cure's DANSE SOCIETY David Jensen David Jensen session December DOCTORS OF MADNESS drummer enters Independent Chart enters UK Chart February festival finally FLESH FOR LULU Gene Loves Jezebel going Goth guitar guitarist Iggy Independent Chart peak Janice Long session John Peel session Joy Division July June label Launch North American London LORRY YELLOW LORRY LOVE & ROCKETS Love And Rockets Mission Nephilim Nico night North American tour November October opening Peel session broadcast PETER MURPHY Punk Record first John RED LORRY YELLOW Release compilation LP Release LP Release single Second John Peel September session broadcast Radio SEX GANG CHILDREN SIOUXSIE SISTERS OF MERCY SKELETAL FAMILY songs Southern Death Cult studio THEATRE OF HATE things UK Chart peak UK DECAY UK tour VIRGIN PRUNES