Bauhaus
Alternative / Gothic Rock
Peter Murphy - Daniel Ash - David J - Kevin Haskins
It is one of the ironies of rock music that few groups, such as The Velvet Underground or The Doors, only gain their influential reputation with hindsight, long after they have disbanded. Bauhaus broke up in 1983, yet fifteen years later their back catalogue sells better than ever, their style still contemporary, and the live shows are now legendary. With the image and brooding music it was inevitable that Bauhaus would be classified with the vanguard of the "goth" fashion, a totally misleading confinement which ignored their humor, experimentation and uniqueness. Their music was dark rock 'n' roll, owing more to Elvis Presley's "Heatbreak Hotel" than to their imitator's pompous epics which gave the Gothic genre a bad name.
The Craze, The Submerged Tenth or Jack Plug and The Sockettes are not exactly internationally known names- hardly surprising, since these (among others) were early short-lived ventures involving two brothers, Kevin and David J. Haskins and later, guitarist Daniel Ash. The chemistry lacked a certain "je ne sais quoi" until a phone call from Daniel to Peter Murphy, ex-school friend and like-minded "beautiful misfit." Within a couple of weeks, Peter and Daniel were writing so prolifically together that over one weekend they had penned "Dark Entries," "In The Night," "Boys," "Harry" and numerous others that were developed by the final line up when Kevin and David joined. Thus the seeds were sown for what, a month later, would be known as Bauhaus, (at one point suffixed "1919"), drawing comparisons with the aims of its namesake, the German art movement. Very soon after their public debut on New Years Eve 1978 they recorded a 12" single "Bela Lugosi's Dead." Released in August 1979 on the Small Wonder label, the track is an epic. The band recorded it in one take and for the price of a bouquet of "Tomb Flowers". It's a dark slab of music, an auspicious debut for any group, over nine minutes long and still sounding unlike anything else. At the groups request, this version of "Bela" has never been available on any album until now, with the release of Crackle, the most recent Bauhaus compilation.
Already Bauhaus' live shows were attracting attention. Using white lights only ("Colored lights are for Christmas trees" - Bauhaus), videos on a single small screen and one strobe, the group was startling, threatening, and hypnotic, especially in the confines of a small club.
Following a typically awesome show at the Rock Garden in London, they were signed to the fledgling 4.A.D. label, releasing three singles: "Dark Entries," "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" and "Telegram Sam" and a debut album, In The Flat Field, one of the great albums of the 1980's- pure psychedelia with a kick-in-the-ass; taught, dark, and unique. Released in late 1980, and containing none of the singles, it still remains "uneasy" listening but serves as an inspired introduction, especially to the underrated guitar style of Daniel Ash.
The Bowie connection was renewed when the group recorded cover versions of
As the band were booked in to record a new album, Peter Murphy became seriously ill with viral pneumonia. The others, impatient and bursting with ideas, decided to start without him and by the time Peter was recovered over half of the album was recorded, leaving Murphy to reinterpret or rewrite the vocals an only the remaining four songs were true band collaborations. The end result was an album that implicitly signaled the split that was to come. "She's In Parties" was released straight-away as a single and, following a series of Japanese concerts in May, Bauhaus toured England from June 11 to July 5. During the final show at Hammersmith Palais and after an unprecedented encore of six songs, David left the stage with the words "Rest in Peace". (This show is available complete but slightly lo-fi on CD as, logically, Rest In Peace - The Final Concert).
Speculation was rife as to Bauhaus' future when the new album Burning From The Inside was issued in 1983. Very diverse, and a product of the individual group parts, the record received wide-spread press acclaim, and rose into the UK top 10 before a press release confirmed that Bauhaus had decided to go their separate ways.
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