20 All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
-
John Robb
Abstract
Bauhaus’s song ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, released in August 1979, is widely regarded as the first goth single. This chapter recounts the band’s career. Formed in Northampton earlier that same year, Bauhaus quickly developed a signature style that was sexy and danceable. Extensive rotation by John Peel help turn ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ into a hit track, though the band’s debut album, In the Flat Field, was widely sneered at in the UK music press. Nonetheless, they were embraced by the underground, and eventually achieved mainstream success, thanks largely to a memorable Top of the Pops appearance, before splitting in 1983. A proposed world tour in 2021 ultimately fell apart, but the band’s mystery and reputation remain intact.
Abstract
Bauhaus’s song ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, released in August 1979, is widely regarded as the first goth single. This chapter recounts the band’s career. Formed in Northampton earlier that same year, Bauhaus quickly developed a signature style that was sexy and danceable. Extensive rotation by John Peel help turn ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ into a hit track, though the band’s debut album, In the Flat Field, was widely sneered at in the UK music press. Nonetheless, they were embraced by the underground, and eventually achieved mainstream success, thanks largely to a memorable Top of the Pops appearance, before splitting in 1983. A proposed world tour in 2021 ultimately fell apart, but the band’s mystery and reputation remain intact.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Floorshow 3
- 2 The Fall of Rome 13
- 3 Deep in the Forest 16
- 4 ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’ 20
- 5 Euro Visions 41
- 6 The Devil has the Best Tunes 46
- 7 Paint it, Black 53
- 8 All the Children are Insane, or People are Strange 66
- 9 Wham Bam thank you Glam 77
- 10 Proto Post-Punk 117
- 11 The Punk Wars 124
- 12 ‘What was Once Unhealthily Fresh is Now a Clean Old Hat’ 131
- 13 Spellbound 137
- 14 Feel the Pain 159
- 15 Ridicule is Nothing to be Scared of 175
- 16 New Dawn Fades 194
- 17 ‘The Wreckers of Western Civilisation…’ 213
- 18 ‘I Must Fight this Sickness… Find a Cure’ 234
- 19 The Naughty North and the Sexy South 250
- 20 All We Ever Wanted Was Everything 265
- 21 Lord of Chaos 281
- 22 Release the Bats! 297
- 23 ‘I am not Avant-Garde; I am a Deserter’ 313
- 24 Voodoo Idols 329
- 25 First, Last and Always 345
- 26 Vagabonds - Bradford 372
- 27 Flowers in the Forest 381
- 28 Wanted Dead or Alive 398
- 29 Do You Believe in the Westworld? 409
- 30 A New Form of Beauty - Virgin Prunes, Dublin 419
- 31 ‘Good Poetry Can Still Resonate Louder Than a Thousand Guns’ 428
- 32 At The Gates of Silent Memory 440
- 33 Darklands 447
- 34 ‘We Sing to the Gods to Be Free’ 467
- 35 Trans Europe Express 483
- 36 In the Flat Field, Suburbs & Satellite Towns 490
- 37 Apocalypse Now! Goth’s End Days 499
- Index 513
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Floorshow 3
- 2 The Fall of Rome 13
- 3 Deep in the Forest 16
- 4 ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’ 20
- 5 Euro Visions 41
- 6 The Devil has the Best Tunes 46
- 7 Paint it, Black 53
- 8 All the Children are Insane, or People are Strange 66
- 9 Wham Bam thank you Glam 77
- 10 Proto Post-Punk 117
- 11 The Punk Wars 124
- 12 ‘What was Once Unhealthily Fresh is Now a Clean Old Hat’ 131
- 13 Spellbound 137
- 14 Feel the Pain 159
- 15 Ridicule is Nothing to be Scared of 175
- 16 New Dawn Fades 194
- 17 ‘The Wreckers of Western Civilisation…’ 213
- 18 ‘I Must Fight this Sickness… Find a Cure’ 234
- 19 The Naughty North and the Sexy South 250
- 20 All We Ever Wanted Was Everything 265
- 21 Lord of Chaos 281
- 22 Release the Bats! 297
- 23 ‘I am not Avant-Garde; I am a Deserter’ 313
- 24 Voodoo Idols 329
- 25 First, Last and Always 345
- 26 Vagabonds - Bradford 372
- 27 Flowers in the Forest 381
- 28 Wanted Dead or Alive 398
- 29 Do You Believe in the Westworld? 409
- 30 A New Form of Beauty - Virgin Prunes, Dublin 419
- 31 ‘Good Poetry Can Still Resonate Louder Than a Thousand Guns’ 428
- 32 At The Gates of Silent Memory 440
- 33 Darklands 447
- 34 ‘We Sing to the Gods to Be Free’ 467
- 35 Trans Europe Express 483
- 36 In the Flat Field, Suburbs & Satellite Towns 490
- 37 Apocalypse Now! Goth’s End Days 499
- Index 513
