It was with great excitement earlier this last year that Bauhaus reformed for a few gigs. Several have been canceled or postponed to later dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with many other acts.
Have no fear, or do, it’s Gothy, Bauhaus to the rescue! They have created a fundraising tee shirt to help benefit COVID charities. Great for all of you dying to add another Bauhaus tee to the coffin. Here’s the official information:
Bauhaus has just added a spot at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound 2021 June 2-4. Check out peter Murphy’s site for updates as postponed concerts in the US and world get re-scheduled for 2021.
Peter Murphy has decided to add on to his two weeks of shows at The Temple in San Francisco. Some of these shows have been sold out for months, and the Bowie tribute show, with selected songs has just been added. Purchase from the official links from the venue, others are selling at excessive pricing.
Bauhaus released their version of Ziggy Stardust on October 5, 1982
Bauhaus appeared in the classic vampire film noir, The Hunger, playing a group of caged feral musicians. They performed their song, Bela Lugosi’s Dead for the opening credits.
On January 18, 2019 Portland was treated to a rare show with the return of Peter Murphy and fellow former band member David J from Bauhaus. The tour, The Peter Murphy 40 Years of Bauhaus Ruby Celebration featuring David J, was on it’s second US date. I hadn’t seen Bauhaus live itself since 1996, and sadly missed the Coachella performance in 2008 where Peter sang upside down during the length of Bela Lugosi’s Dead.
The house was packed, with a very responsive audience. Unfortunately there were a few in the crowd that were a bit rough to push and shove, however most settled into dancing and sang along with the performance of the debut album by Bauhaus 40 years ago, InThe Flat Field, in it’s entirety. Peter was constantly moving around the stage, still doing a small bit of Nijinsky posing and David J was killing the bass. Having been a Bauhaus fan from back in the day, it would have been great to hear Daniel Ash along with them, sadly he was not on this tour. But the rest of the band whipped up the crowd and most of the audience was singing along and taking over from Peter, at his encouragement, during the second half of the show where classics were played.
Music
Songs from InThe Flat Field: “Double Dare”,”In the Flat Field” ,”A God in an Alcove”,”Dive”,”The Spy in the Cab”,”Small Talk Stinks”,”St. Vitus Dance”,”Stigmata Martyr”,”Nerves”
“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” with killer David J bass
“She’s in Parties” long stage dub version
“Kick in the Eye”
“Burning From The Inside”
“Silent Hedges”
“The Passion of Lovers”
“Severance” – Dead Can Dance Cover
“Dark Entries”
“Adrenaline”
Other songs have been played on the tour, however not for the Portland set. If you are seeing the tour in the coming weeks, or lucky enough to be in San Francisco where Murphy will be performing in depth at The Chapel over the course of two weeks in March, get your tickets now. Each performance will be a different theme. Check out his Tumbler page for more details. For a set list of possible music at your show:
Played some great classics tonight. Join me bi-weekly. Sorry, there’s a few boo boos.
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Hey everyone, it’s the Gothic Classic Radio show yours truly is hosting tonight on Stranger Radio. It’s our debut. We hope you like the blast from the past old school Gothic Rock with some other elements kicked in. Find out what happened to all the old Goths you used to know. They just moldered away, so you thought.
It was 4:30 am and I could feel a sore throat coming on. Of course, I have to go stand in line. It’s raining. Its Record Store Day: Black Friday. Because one day a year going nuts on RSD wasn’t enough. Don’t get me wrong, I love that the folks at RSD got together and decided what better way to save an industry, make an unofficial holiday out of it. It’s great because you have several bands releasing or rereleasing classics and improved versions of an album. And now its on Black Friday as well.
I was on the hunt for Press The Eject and Hand Me the Tape by Bauhaus. This live record had only been available as a free second LP with the Limited Edition of their 1982 release “The Sky’s Gone Out”. That was many years ago. Later it was released as a single album. It also had not been officially released in the US until now. For the 40th anniversary colored vinyl releases, a limited edition colored vinyl was available. I was lucky, I got one of the few copies that had showed up. I also picked up Bauhaus Bela Sessions. I was very tired and feeling ill, and slowly weaving back out of the store when at the end, I spied a classic from my childhood: Talking Heads “Remain In Light“ album. And it had a limited edition, 5500 run on ruby red release.
I first listened to this record when I was in high school. My art teacher had been telling us to listen to Talking Heads, we didn’t get it. He was obsessed about it. It was the beginning of the 80s and I had been just discovering punk and other post-punk bands on late night college radio a few years before. He played the record for us and some others daily. It was edgy, experimental sounds, and lyrics that touched me. I became hooked on it. When I saw the record in the store, all the memories came flooding back, the art room, stinking paint, air hoses that leaked from the airbrushes, and talking music with other students and the art teacher. It’s one of the only real memories I have of those insane years called high school. It’s what was so great about art class. You could listen to music and make a creative mess and sing and dance. So, yes, even though it was a stretch for cash, I picked it up. It was also nice playing a copy without all the scratches and clay dust covered grooves. I guess sometimes the adult comes out and wants the clean vinyl. But the memory of playing this and hearing it again on red vinyl no less, was just priceless.
Also on this date, Leaving Records (a partner of Stones Throw Records) will release the band’s first recording ever, The Bela Session including three previously unreleased tracks and a remastered version of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” For details, please visit http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2018/09/bauhaus.
* starred items are not available in the US but may be ordered via our UK store as imports.
That’s right, some of the albums are import only. I am inquiring with friends overseas as to wether their shops can import to the US. Otherwise you will need to order via Beggar’s Banquet UK site.
I’ve bunked off from the gaol. It’s been some 6 weeks or so since I have blogged. I have spent the last 5 weeks crawling out of a weird, wet, dank abyss called Recovery From Major Medical. I have survived a surgery that some don’t, I was lucky I was very fit going in. I am forced off work and we don’t have temp disability here. Why, I feel like I did back in the early 1980s, no hope, no future. I’m alive. Appropriately listening to The Specials ‘Ghost Town’, because the Tibetan Tube Throat singing with accordion/box music at the cafe was really grating on my nerves. Now we’re on to The Fall, ‘Totally Wired. I’m waking up. I pay my taxes, and no real help for me in medical. Oh, yeah, I live in America, the corporate health empire of the world. If you are lucky and live in Canada, UK, Ireland,or the continental EU and have social medicine. Fight to keep it. Here you spend your whole recovery period fending off calls from hospitals while the insurance companies duke it out. So now I am listening to Talking Heads ‘Once in A Lifetime’, wondering where this life is going. And now we segway into ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’ by The Beat. Yeah, girls, makeup after a medical just doesn’t want to work. Actually not wanting to work for a while now. Argh. So not going there with the Albatros Eyebrows so fashionable lately. Again, unless you can pull off a good Siouxsie brow, just keep it simple.
This was a life changing event for me, but I am trying to crawl out of it. Vaughn likened it to having a Scottish Basket Hilt or Japanese Katana Sword run through me and twisting the ribs apart. Now I have to heal from it. I managed to get my Sandman tee shirt on, black skirt, black jacket, boots and thigh high socks on. I look like a Gothic wreck. Good. My red curls got unfurled from the stupid braids of sickness. I drove for the first time, really slow, no maniacal California driving. Was very good and did not play tunes in car, needed to focus. Speed limit, don’t attract trouble. Made it to the cafe.
Ah, ‘Fade to Grey’ by Visage. Ooo, baby I feel even better already. I have been listening to a mix of digital and records when I can get to the turntable. Unfortunately the non-working thing has curtailed any record buying. But I am selling things off on eBay hoping I can maybe afford the 40th Anniversary Reissues of the Bauhaus Catalog on colored vinyl starting next month, check out Peter Murphy’s site for details. I’m working on the second cup of decaf coffee. I made it to my cafe I usually write in. I really just wanted to feel somewhat myself.
One of the tests of where I am truly at with the body has been a visit to two local record shops, Music Millennium and Everyday Music. One I actually found a vinyl copy of The Waterboys ‘An Appointment with Mr. Yeats’, which unless you are on the East Coast or L.A. aren’t likely to find. It was nice to hear some Yeats set to music and try to get back to listening to records. At EDM, it was more of an exercise to see how long I could stand up, can I flip record bin dividers, and even better spell Siouxsie right so I could look for the 12 inch? I kid you not, the really bad side effect of being a Ginge and anesthesia, is it may take weeks to get most of your spelling back. It’s scientific. Yeah, so flipping the records in the bin is a great way to tell how you are doing when recovering.
I’m in the Hawthorne. There are two record shops, Exiled and Jackpot. Okay, no money, but the singles bin can be a great find for super cheap. Hmmm. Oooo, playing ‘Generals and Majors’ by XTC now, that’s the marching orders, right. Also, there is a convo going on in the cafe I have been trying to drown out, because I don’t want to know. Time for ‘Sorry for Laughing’ by Josef K right now, turn that volume up.
Alternative/Punk/Post-Punk/ Group
I’m dying here in Portland. Great music when you get to it, if we can get them to come. Got tickets for PiLand Echo and the Bunnymenin the next months. But really dying for some Alternative Culture. Yeah, you can still be Alternative if you are over 30, get over it.
I lived in San Francisco too long. It’s hard meeting people when they know you’re from another state. Portland may be the Weird Capital, but they can take a while to warm up to you. And finding anyone into my musical tastes near mine has been impossible. I was so desperate I looked on social networking sites. Nada. So, in my insane creativity and having to think about it, I decided I would try an experiment and create a group and see if anyone shows up. Insane, I know. Probably no one will come or be interested, but I have to get into the Phoenix frame of mind, that bird with singed wings is gonna fly. So, I have to craftily word an invitation. What insanity can I brew from this crazy idea, or will it be typical and no one will show?
Sad about this world that we have gotten so distracted we have to meet in pre-fabricated ways like this. It used to be that you met like minds at the record shop. Here if you try to talk to someone about an exciting find they think you should be sent to the looney. Funny thing, you are already there. Isn’t that what it’s about?
The Real McKenzies
If I make it through this week of killer Phisio (yeah actually they have me going to medical Physio), Vaughn has said we will attempt to see a great Canadian/Scots Punk band called The Real McKenzies I have been listening to for the past few years. If I can show that I am doing better. I need to see if I can manage to get through a show, even if it means being taped to the pillar and doing Pathetic Pogo. I may do a chair Skank if I can find one. But my minder is telling me it depends on how I do this week. So bunking off and driving and making it back in one piece will count I hope.
Oh, and for those of you in the US (West Coast), and don’t know yer ancient history, Gaol here refers to jail. It’s how it was spelt in dem olden days.
We’ll leave this on Elvis Costello’s, ‘I Can’t Stand up For Falling Down’. But really, ending on XTC’s ‘Dear God’, because our world is just as bad as it was 40 years back and what have we learned in this time? Share the music, share the lyrics, wether it’s old school or new groups, get the music out there. It’s the only way to save this race. Hope you enjoyed the convoluted playlist.
Lapsed Vinyl Goddess 