I’m starting my musical journey for 1990 with a familiar name. I have a feeling many of you over the pond, will recognise this tune for certain, unless you’re too young too remember it.
1990 was a great year for Peter Murphy as he finally got the success he so well deserved with his third solo album, Deep where this song is from.
Cuts You Up spent seven weeks at the top of the U.S. Modern Rock charts.
Sadly, the English music press, snobbish as always, chose to ignore him once again, something he was familiar with in his Bauhaus days.
There’s only one song that represents 1988 for me, but first, a bit of rock music history to set the scene…
After Bauhaus broke up, everyone wondered what Peter Murphy would do next. After a bit of experimentation in Dali’s Car with the late Mick Karn, he did what he should have done to begin with and went solo. Meanwhile, the other three Bauhaus blokes formed Love and Rockets, a band I must admit to have always disliked.
Peter’s first solo album, Should the World Fail to Fall Apart contains a track that inspired the band name for my boy’s rock band. It also has a great cover of Pere Ubu’s Final Solution. Indirectly, there’s a line in that song that’s meaningful in relation to the origins of my boy, who is not a supernatural creature but human. (I suspect maybe one or two of my friends will get this cryptic clue…)
For my chosen track, we have to move to Peter’s second album, Love Hysteria, my favourite of his. All Night Long has always spoken of hope to me. It is the ONE song I listen to when I am down and/or struggling. It also reminds me of the journey I’ve been on, ever since a lost boy called Julian came to me wanting to tell me his story three years ago. He is the one constant in my life, and it’s him, as well as Peter’s music as inspiration that’s kept me going all this time.
I cannot think of a better post to start this new year…
I’m taking a slight detour for 1983′s musical journey….
My 1983 choice, is not really a song, though a song is involved. It’s a film, more specifically, the beginning of a film. Tony Scott’s The Hunger.
The moment Pete Murphy makes his film debut performing the iconic Bela Lugosi’s Dead is my 1983 musical journey. Whomever edited the scene chose to focus on him only, probably because of his powerful performance.
There is no doubt Pete was the voice and face of Bauhaus, and whilst this sounds unfair to David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, who were all great musicians and part of the band, there’s always been an unwritten musical pecking order, at least in rock music that places all attention on the frontman, then the guitar player, followed by the bassist and lastly, the drummer. Of course, there are always exceptions to that.
Pete’s striking looks and voice made him one of the most iconic rock performers at the time. Why didn’t Bauhaus become bigger? Maybe they were too dark for the general public, who has never had much taste. (If they did, rubbish like the X-factor would not be success, but I digress.)
The screenshots below capture that dark essence he exuded whenever he performed with the band. It is no wonder his face inspired James O’Barr when creating The Crow. (O’Barr saw Bauhaus perform in Berlin) and there’s been other comics using his likeness as well .
This is who I watch and listen to, whenever I need to get inspiration to write…
The actual clip is below, I’m sure many of you are familiar with it, but if you’re not, it’s worth checking, you don’t get to watch the entire performance, only bits of it as the film begins.
(I see whomever has added this clip on YouTube mispelled the song. It’s BELA, not Bella…ugh)
1982 is a very pivotal year for me, as it is THE year my novel is set, at least part of it. It is when Brandon, Julian’s rock persona becomes famous.
If you have read my blog for a while, then you know how meaningful Bauhaus are to me. This particular song is from their brilliant The Sky’s Gone Out album, released in October 1982, the month the first part of my novel ends.
In the Night was the song I played for inspiration when writing a gig scene, where we first get a glimpse of Julian, as Brandon. It is also meaningful in other ways related to the novel, more on that, another time…
Musically speaking, it’s a great rock track, from that scratchy electric guitar riff played by Daniel Ash, to David J’s hypnotising bass line, whilst Kevin Haskins steers the song towards its punk-like crescendo ending, and through it all, Pete Murphy’s raw rock voice gives the song its dark decadent soul. Put it all together and you have the glittering darkness that was Bauhaus.
This is not one of their better known tracks but should be…
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OOPS!
Next Monday: 1981 because in my excitement over wanting to post about 1982, I totally neglected to feature a track for 1981. Thanks to my friend Carrie for making me aware of that via Facebook ^_^
As you all know, I like to discuss what influences me as a writer. I’ve talked about favourite novel HERE, but I have another book to discuss. This one is a graphic novel and features yet another dark troubled boy.
Eric Draven.
Before I continue, I must add the graphic novel only tells us his first name. It was the iconic film version of the novel, which I mentioned in my post here, that gave us, the surname of Draven. Whether James O’Barr had a say in this, I do not know.
One day you are going to lose everything you have. Nothing will prepare you for that day.
So begins the introduction by John Bergin for The Crow, the haunting graphic novel by James O’Barr
It is a dark but powerful story about love, loss and revenge.
Eric and Shelly are madly in love, and plan to marry, but when their car breaks down, they are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with devastating tragic consequences. Eric is shot dead, and Shelly is brutally raped, beaten and killed.
Eric is brought back from the dead to avenge his and Shelly’s death. James O’Barr’s drawings are a masterpiece. He shows us Eric’s pain, how his memories haunt him, and his deadly violent revenge against every single one of the thugs that are to blame for his sorrow. Eric is indiscriminate, nobody is spared, but you feel for him, and his agony at being unable to save the woman he loved and still loves so much.
In the end, in spite of the darkness and the tragic story, The Crow is a story about love, and how its power can transcend even death itself.
As John Bergin writes in the introduction to the novel:
James wrote a love letter called The Crow, the most beautiful love letter I have ever read.
I agree. It is a beautiful if tragic, love letter.
Another reason I adore the novel, is due to its strong rock influences. O’Barr was deeply influenced by rock music when creating it. Specifically the music of Joy Division and The Cure, but rock musicians also played a part in the shaping of Eric’s looks. James saw Bauhaus perform, when he was stationed in Berlin, in 1981. I imagine he must have been struck by Peter Murphy’s features since Eric does bear a passing resemblance to him. However, Eric’s movements are based on Iggy Pop. I find that rather fitting, as Peter Murphy himself, was influenced by Iggy as well.
Do you as a reader, or a writer, have a favourite novel that’s affected you deeply? If not, a film? or music?
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
* Bauhaus technically formed in 1978 – performing their first gig for New Year Eve that year.
Alannah Murphy is a former rock musician turned writer, currently working on a rock'n'roll novel set in London. 
