In the history of rock, there have been many legendary bands, their names are familiar to us all. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, to name but a few. On the other side, are the unsung heroes. Those bands that remained outside the mainstream but still managed to make a great impression, leaving a legacy of unforgettable music for future generations.
Photo Credit - Fin Costello
One of those bands was Bauhaus. Four young men from Northampton who transformed rock music, giving it a darker edge; influencing many along the way.
Their legacy lives on in bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Horrors , She Wants Revenge and many others. They were also a great influence on the Gothic Rock movement; in spite of the fact they themselves were never a Goth band. They got tagged with that label later on, which is rather unfair as they were so much more than that.
Bauhaus were unique; their musical style/influences varied greatly. From the dark haunting atmospheric Bela Lugosi’s Dead, to the raw punkish energy of Dark Entries. The reggae tinges of She’s in Parties, to the danceable beat of Kick in the Eye. Songs like Terror Couple Kill Colonel, recorded 30 years ago, still sound current now. They were ahead of their time.
The music critics dismissed them, calling them Bowie clones, but Bauhaus took it all in stride. Bowie clones? They went ahead and released a great version of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and made it their own. It only made the critics foam at the mouth even more.
In spite of that, they managed to create a buzz and developed a loyal following. In the short period they were together (1979*-1983) they left a great legacy of music. To any fans that read this, yes, I am aware the band reunited more than once since 1983 and released another album but I am only discussing their initial years here.
It is common for musicians to list their influences. Writers tend to name other writers when speaking of their influences, but not me. Bauhaus have been my biggest artistic influence. I suppose that is rather fitting. I’ve never been your average girl sailing placidly along the mainstream and I’m hoping to make my novel as atmospheric and dark as the music that’s influenced me.
Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins, all great talented musicians and Peter Murphy whose striking presence and powerful voice turned Bauhaus into something special. Peter always performed with passion. He was raw, powerful, energetic and charismatic. At times, exuding an air of otherworldliness. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest singers in the history of rock.
There was always more to Peter than just Bauhaus. Since the band’s demise, he’s released many great solo albums. One of my all time favourite is Love Hysteria from 1988, which includes the darkly beautiful All Night Long.
If Bauhaus was the dark in Peter. He sang about the light in songs like the beautiful Strange Kind of Love and the uplifting Shy, both from his album Deep, released in 1990. That release included the song Cuts You Up, which finally made Peter known to a larger audience in America, though the UK music industry remained indifferent being the miserable bastards they’ve always been.
Peter has continued to experiment and evolve musically. In 2002 he released Dust, an album with Turkish influences; his voice was perfectly suited for it.
I’ve had the good fortune of seeing him live many times in the past two years and he always rocks the house with the energy of a man half his age. I only wish more people knew of him. I suppose this is my own way of singing his praises. He has influenced my writing and is my musical muse.
A few of my favourite performances below:
The Passion of Lovers – Filmed in 1982 at the Old Vic Theatre. Peter is a whirlwind on-stage and delivers an amazing performance of one of my favourite Bauhaus songs. This is Bauhaus perfection…
Bela Lugosi’s Dead from The Hunger 1983 – Based on Whitley Strieber’s novel with the same name. The film begins in a different manner; with the characters of Miriam and John Blaylock in a club, searching for their next victims as a band performs a dark song which happens to be Bela Lugosi’s Dead. Peter’s haunting presence and powerful performance is one of those iconic moments in film. I will never forget the first time I saw it in 1983. Later that same year; I became a musician.
Peter’s solo work is too numerous to list here – from 1986 to now but here’s one of my favourite songs of his. All Night Long – Love Hysteria – Released in 1988.
His latest album, Ninth, is due out soon according to his Official Facebook page
Alannah Murphy is a former rock musician turned writer, currently working on a rock'n'roll novel set in London. 
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I think you’re right, early 80s were definitely much better than the late 80s and the 90s sucked, except I admit, I did get into Nirvana and a couple of Grunge bands, at least they had a raw energy I liked, but there’s never been a better time musically speaking as 1979-1983.
I am glad I was a musician at the right time, though it was a bit later for me (1984-87) but we all worshipped these bands before us so it was all good.
You’re spot on about newer bands, they have been inspired by those early 80s bands. A band like The Killers, for example, would not exist it wasn’t for the English invasion of cool 80s bands.
Glad you enjoyed the post. Music is part of me and Bauhaus are to me, the best rock band there ever was.
The power of rock…it’s just awesome dude
1979-1983 are, in my opinion, the best years in music whatsoever. I turned my back on the late 80s and the entirety of the 90s, and only in the last decade have started giving newer a bands a chance—I think because they were inspired by, not surprisingly, the bands on 1979-1983!
I’m enjoying this new education on music you’re providing here, and I envy that you have such strong audio inspiration for your writing—that’s the perfect element for creating atmosphere. Rock on, girl.
Very glad to have found your blog. I was not familiar with Bauhaus, and that surprises me, because I very much like what I’ve heard here.
My first impression, and I find this interesting because of the Bowie reference eariler in comments, was that Bauhaus sounded (to me) like a masterful combinatin of Grand Funk Railroad and Brian Ferry (Roxy Music). Why interesting? David Bowie was one of Ferry’s top favorite artists. What an interesting and cyclical world is music.
Thanks for stopping by Richard. Love your impression of Bauhaus, what an interesting combination. Peter was also compared to Brian Ferry. Many 80s singers were greatly influenced by Bowie, it was what he did in the 70s as Ziggy, that shaped the New Romantic movement of the 80s with men wearing make up. Oh those were the days
Amy, you’re so funny. No need to ask for forgiveness. Bauhaus was not the kind of band that would have appealed to everyone. They (and most of all Peter) transformed my life totally. I can imagine how freaky even Bowie must have appeared to some
Having you as a blogger buddy, Alannah, is like having my niece saying, “Come on, Auntie, don’t be a stick in the mud!” I ignored Bauhaus and Bowie both in my heyday. I really was not “some kinda snob”! I always thought I just didn’t get “it” and went with “words”.
Do I have your forgiveness?
!!!
Excellent! I’ve never heard of the Bauhaus, but I’m listening with youtube now. I love “Cuts You Up” by Peter Murphy, so this is definitely gives me a lot to check out. Thanks!
Yay! Peter is great, that was the one song that made him known to a lot of America. Bauhaus was also an amazing band, very dark and atmospheric and he was truly otherwordly at times.
“She’s in Parties” sounds exactly like Bowie to me.
But I like Bowie from Ch~ch~ch~changes to Ziggy Played Guitar.
Lol Nancy, they never hid their Bowie influences so I am not at all surprised
Love Bowie myself, my fave phase of his was his Thin White Duke, but that’s probably because he looked pale and interesting and I like that look
Dark music, influenced MCR… I might just have to check these guys out!
Yes, check them out, if you click on any of the song titles, they’ll take you to youtube and you can hear that particular song. Gerard himself has named them as one of the band’s influences.
Ah Bauhaus. Daniel Ash was a big favorite of mine and I had a thing for seeing Love & Rockets live many times during my rowdy days. He’s still around releasing solo work too.
I like the look of the new place, please tell me we get to light at least ONE antique candelabra chandelier tonight. No one ever lets me do that.
Daniel is an awesome guitar player, always found him visually striking but my eyes were always on Peter who never ceased to blow me away. I never got into Love & Rockets for some reason. When Bauhaus broke up, it became quite obvious to me, as to who my favourite was because I love Peter’s music but never followed what the other three got up to afterwards. Must say David J is one amazing bass player as well.
I have an old brass candelabra, you can light it tonight if you like
One day, I’m going to live somewhere with huge talls candelabras dripping with wax and the house will be really atmospheric and I’ll always have to dress up to look the part