No. 28 Bauhaus - Spirit

I've been away too long! Halloween and Bonfire Night have been and gone, Autumn is finally feeling a little more autumnal, so it's high time I cracked on a bit. Here at last, is my final Bauhaus single. Released in 1982, Spirit was another attempt to crack the all important Top 40 - it failed (again - see post no. 27), only reaching number 42 and was subsequently re-recorded before appearing on their third album, The Sky's Gone Out. It was also accompanied by a fairly high-budget video - be warned, it hasn't dated well. The b-side (or black side as its called) is a rough and ready live take of the Baader-Meinhof inspired Terror Couple Kills Colonel. The sleeve art is a lovely thing, only slightly marred by the inclusion of the band name and song title in a rather ugly font.

The next post will be almost 100% less goth.

No. 27 Bauhaus - Searching For Satori E.P.

Yet more goth, in fact, pretty much the same goth. For those in the know or who've been paying attention will note that this is the 1982 reissue of 1981's Kick In The Eye. I assume the reissue was a strategy to gain Bauhaus the top 40 hit that had, to this point, eluded them. It didn't work; this peaked at number 45. The band would have to wait until later in the year to finally make an impact on the (in those days) all important UK top 40, when their cover of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust reached number 15. 

You do get two new b-sides for your money with the reissue. Harry is a good example of Bauhaus' dabbling in reggae, whilst Earwax heads off in an altogether more dubby direction. Reggae and dub was an obvious influence on the punk and new wave scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but as far as I know Bauhaus were the only goth band who demonstrated their interest so overtly - as both these tracks demonstrate, they clearly had an ear for the genre. Earwax in particular, manages to be both goth and dub simultaneously. Both are well worth a listen.

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).    

No. 25 Bauhaus - Kick In The Eye

I was a teenage goth. Some would see this as a badge of shame, but listening to Kick In The Eye (as well as a number of other singles that will eventually make it into this project) and I think it was a pretty sound position. The early and mid-1980s were pretty dark times (no pun intended) musically. Punk was well and truly dead, post-punk was also, in most cases, running on empty and we were still years away from the C86 and ecstasy-fuelled dance culture of the later 1980s. In that landscape goth offered some of the most interesting music made during the period.

Bauhaus are often credited with being the first goth band; this may or may not be the case, but they were certainly on of the most goth bands. Kick In The Eye must also be one of their career highs; the elastic bass-line the skittery, synthetic drums, the slightly feral backing vocals and a really fine performance from Murphy. It certainly challenges the notion that goth was always doom and gloom; I defy you not to want to dance to this.

My own introduction to Bauhaus was, alas, shortly after they'd called it a day. I recall my good friend Rob putting together a compilation of various goth tracks that included at least one Bauhaus tune (I think it was Lagartija Nick) and then picking up the excellent 1979-1983 compilation; a lovely double vinyl set, which I subsequently re-bought so as to have a numbered copy with the photo insert (no. 4978 in case you're wondering).

I never paid the b-side, Satori, much attention at the time, but its actually a neat instrumental, combining eerie post-punk guitar and a hefty dose of dub. Quality stuff throughout.