Tuesday 11 August 2015

No. 26 Bauhaus - Satori in Paris

This single originally came as a free bonus with the initial copies of Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape. It includes live takes of Double Dare and Hair of the Dog. Both tracks were recorded live at Le Rose Bon Bon, Paris at the end of 1981. I think I'm correct in saying that this is the first single that I've written about that was given away as a freebie with another record. There will be plenty more of these, as I always found them hard to resist. I still remember the thrill of checking inside record sleeves in second hand vinyl shops and discovering that the bonus single was still lurking inside (especially if said record shop owner hadn't noticed it and marked up the price).






This must rank as one of my favourite Bauhaus releases. I love the spoken word piece that runs across the start of Double Dare (presumably the intro before the first song), which goes something like this...




...and I discovered this very evening was actually written by a young Alan Moore (of Watchman, V for Vendetta etc) under the pseudonym Brilburn Logue - presumably there is some kind of Northampton connection here? I love that at the start Murphy announces that Double Dare is dedicated to French dramatist, poet, actor and director Antonin Artaud (something I'm fairly certain Oasis never did); I suspect the lyrics refer to Artaud's "The Theatre and its Double", the core themes of which seem to be echoed in the lyrics. Finally, I love that both recordings are really rough and ready, but capture a ferocity that makes me wish I'd had the chance to see Bauhaus in their pomp (sadly I was 12 when this was recorded).