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Bauhaus (band)

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Bauhaus
Bauhaus in concert, 2006
Bauhaus in concert, 2006
Background information
Origin Northampton, England
Genre(s) Post-punk
Gothic rock
Years active 1978 – 1983
1998
2005 – 2008
Label(s) Small Wonder Records (1978 – 1979)
4AD (1980)
Beggars Banquet (1981 – 1983)
A&M
Associated
acts		 Love and Rockets
Tones on Tail
Dali's Car
Website bauhausmusik.com
Members
Peter Murphy
Daniel Ash
Kevin Haskins
David J

Bauhaus are an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978 by Peter Murphy (vocals), Daniel Ash (guitar), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass). The band took their name from the German Bauhaus art movement, originally going by the name Bauhaus 1919, dropping the latter portion within a year of the band's formation. With their dark, gloomy sound and image, Bauhaus is considered to be one of the first gothic rock bands. Bauhaus broke up in 1983. Peter Murphy began a solo career while the other members continued as Tones on Tail, and later, Love and Rockets. Both enjoyed greater commercial success in the United States than Bauhaus, but disappeared from the charts in their homeland. The band reunited for a 1998 tour, and reunited again on a more permanent basis in 2005 with plans to record another album.

Contents

History

Daniel Ash, David J. Haskins, and his younger brother Kevin Haskins had played together in various different bands since childhood, often not lasting more than one gig. One of the most long-lived of these was a band called The Craze, who did a few gigs around their native Northampton. They soon split up too however, and Ash once again tried to convince his old school friend Peter Murphy to join him, simply because Ash thought he had the right look for a band.[1] Murphy, who was working in a printing factory, decided to give it a try, despite never having written lyrics or sung. Ash's old band mate Kevin Haskins joined as the drummer. However, Ash made a point of not inviting David J. J had very much been the driving force in their previous bands, and this time Ash wanted a band he could control.[2] After only a few weeks though, Ash reconsidered and invited David J to replace original bassist Chris Barber. Haskins had already agreed to tour American airbases with another band, but decided that joining his friends' group was "the right thing to do." With their lineup complete, the unnamed band played their first gig at the Cromwell pub in Wellingborough on New Year's Eve 1978.[3] The band chose the name Bauhaus 1919—a reference to the German Bauhaus art movement of the 1920s—due to its "stylistic implications and associations", according to David J.[4] Bauhaus associate Graham Bentley said that the group was unlike many Northampton bands of the time, who predominantly played cover songs.[5] Bentley taped a performance by the group, which was sent to various record labels in the hope of obtaining a contract. This approach was hindered partly because many record companies at the time did not have home video equipment or Bentley had to provide it himself, so the group decided to record a demo.[6]

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" and 4AD

After being together for six weeks, Bauhaus entered a studio for the first time at Beck Studios in Wellingborough to record a demo.[7] The band recorded five songs and one of the tracks from the session, the over-nine-minute-long "Bela Lugosi's Dead", was released as the group's debut single in August 1979 on Small Wonder Records.[8] The single received a positive review in Sounds and stayed on the British independent charts for two years. The song received crucial airplay on BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel's evening show; Bauhaus was subsequently asked to record a session for Peel's show, which was broadcast on 3 January 1980.[9] The band released three more singles, "Dark Entries," "Terror Couple Kill Colonel," and "Telegram Sam" (originally written by glam rock icons T. Rex) before the debut of their first album In the Flat Field in 1980 on 4AD. It has been suggested (in Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984) that a swelling of their fan base around this time was at least partly due to the defection of a large number of ex-Adam and the Ants fans who had become disillusioned with the Ants new image and direction; dropping their earlier S&M, bondage and kabuki imagery in search of pop success. Despite negative reviews, In the Flat Field topped the indie charts and made headway onto the British pop charts, peaking for one week at number 72.[10]

Beggar's Banquet and breakup

Bauhaus' growing success outstripped 4AD's resources, so the band moved to 4AD's parent label Beggars Banquet Records.[11] Their second album Mask was released in 1981, and was a step in a new direction compared to the debut. Its sound was less dark and intense, and they started to use keyboards and different instruments to add to the soundscape. The Searching for Satori EP and their third full-length The Sky's Gone Out were released in 1982. Also in 1982, Bauhaus scored their biggest hit with another nod to their glam roots, a cover of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust", which reached number fifteen on the UK charts. This led to their first appearance on Top Of The Pops, something of a childhood dream for the band. Thanks to the success of the single, the album also became the band's biggest hit, peaking at number four. However, they had no follow-up single ready, and opted to use an old song, "Bite My Hip", originally written (but never released) in 1979, now renamed to "Lagartija Nick". It only reached number 44 in the charts. Prior to the recording of their fourth album Burning from the Inside Peter Murphy was stricken with pneumonia, which prevented him from contributing much to the album. Daniel Ash and David J took the reins and became the driving forces behind the record, and even did lead vocals on a few tracks. The album's lead single, "She's in Parties", reached number 26 on the charts and earned Bauhaus their third and final Top of the Pops appearance.[12] Bauhaus then embarked on a promotional tour for the album. David J recalled that the night before they were supposed to perform two shows at Hammersmith Palais in London the group decided to disband. The band played their farewell show on 5 July 1983 at the Hammersmith Palais; dedicated fans had been warned by the band's crew not to miss the show without telling them it was the last. After a long encore consisting of some of their early songs, David J left the stage with the words "rest in peace". Burning from the Inside was released a week later. The album received largely positive reviews and reached number 13 on the charts.[13] Bauhaus released the single "Sanity Assassin" in limited quantities as a farewell gift for those who joined the group's fanclub.[14]

Solo careers and side projects

After Bauhaus disbanded, all members of the band did various solo work. Peter Murphy worked briefly with bassist Mick Karn of Japan in the band Dali's Car before going solo with such albums as Deep and Love Hysteria. Daniel Ash has also put out solo albums and released music under the name Tones on Tail with Kevin Haskins and Bauhaus roadie Glen Campling. David J has released multiple solo albums and has collaborated with several other musicians such as the Jazz Butcher band, as well as with comics writer/spoken-word artist Alan Moore (who wrote the liner notes to the album Mask and provided the spoken word intro) in the band "The Sinister Ducks", on the album "V", based on Moore's comic V for Vendetta and on Moore's performance piece The Birth Caul, over the years. He is currently working on his visual arts. Kevin Haskins has been making electronic music for video games, and also has been producing musical artists such as Gary Numan. Ash and the Haskins brothers formed Love and Rockets (a name they took for the comic book Love & Rockets by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez) in 1985, who achieved a US hit four years later with "So Alive". The band broke up after seven albums in 1999.

Reformation

In 1998, Bauhaus reunited for the "Resurrection Tour", which featured two new songs ("Severance", originally written by Dead Can Dance, and "The Dog's a Vapour", which was also featured on the soundtrack for the film Heavy Metal 2000). A live album recorded during the tour, Gotham, was released the same year. 2005 saw Bauhaus play a reunion gig at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 30, 2005. No new songs were expected, but Peter Murphy followed the Coachella performance with his own solo tour to support his new album. At the opening of their set, Peter Murphy was lowered to the stage upside-down singing "Bela Lugosi's Dead". Following Peter Murphy's 2005 tour, Bauhaus embarked on a full tour beginning in North America and Mexico in the Autumn of 2005, and ending in Europe in February 2006. The band has also mentioned that they hope to record new music following the tour. In May 2006 the band toured with Nine Inch Nails on the summer leg of the With Teeth tour. Bauhaus has unveiled two new songs: Adrenaline and Endless Summer of the Damned. On March 4th 2008 Bauhaus will release their first new album since 1983 entitled "Going Away White". This will be the end of the band and there will be no tour to support the album. Drummer Kevin Haskins has said in an interview that they were getting along well but that an incident occurred that made some band members wish to end the project. No details on the incident were given. The new album will be released on the band's own imprint Bauhaus Music.[15]

Sound

Bauhaus combined a number of influences including punk music, glam rock, Krautrock, and even funk and dub to create a gloomy, but passionate sound which appealed to many fans left disillusioned by the New Wave that arose in the wake of punk's collapse. Their sound proved influential, inspiring or bringing attention to a whole wave of post-punk groups delving in the intense, gloomy style that would eventually come to be known as gothic rock. Its crucial elements were the innovative guitar playing of Daniel Ash and the dub-influenced bass of David J.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles and EPs

Compilations

  • 4AD (4AD/12" single) - 1983
  • 1979-1983 Volume 1 (Beggars Banquet) - 1986
  • 1979-1983 Volume 2 (Beggars Banquet) - 1986
  • (BBC/Beggars Banquet) - 1989
  • Crackle - The Best of Bauhaus (Beggars Banquet) - 1998

Samples

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead excerpt Image:Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead excerpt.ogg

An excerpt from Bela Lugosi's Dead

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Shirley, p. 18
  2. ^ Shirley, p. 19
  3. ^ Shirley, p. 20
  4. ^ Shirley, p. 21
  5. ^ Shirley, p. 22
  6. ^ Shirley, p. 23-24
  7. ^ Shirley, p. 25-6
  8. ^ Shirley, p. 28-9
  9. ^ Shirley, p. 30
  10. ^ Shirley, p. 46
  11. ^ Shirley, p. 56
  12. ^ Shirley, p. 99
  13. ^ Shirley, p. 100
  14. ^ Shirley, p. 102
  15. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-12-04). Bauhaus Bowing Out With New Album. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.

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Bauhaus (band) from Wíkipedia. ©2006 by Wíkipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. View a list of authors or edit this article.

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