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Bauhaus (band)

Bauhaus in concert, 2006
Bauhaus in concert, 2006
Background information
Origin Flag of England Northampton, England
Genre(s) Post-punk
Gothic rock
Years active 1978 – 1983
1998
2005 – present
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. The typeface used by the band for the band name on album covers and other products is the same typeface used on the Bauhaus college building in Dessau, Germany. With their dark, gloomy sound and image, Bauhaus is considered to be one of the first gothic rock bands. Bauhaus broke up in 1983, with the band members going on to greater commercial success in other projects than they had in Bauhaus. The band reunited for a 1998 tour, and reunited again on a more permanent basis in 2005 with plans to record another album.

Contents

  • 1 History
    • 1.1 Solo careers and side projects
    • 1.2 Reformation
  • 2 Sound
  • 3 Band members
  • 4 Discography
    • 4.1 Studio Albums
    • 4.2 Live Albums
    • 4.3 Singles and EPs
    • 4.4 Compilations
  • 5 Samples
  • 6 External links

History

Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins had known each other since childhood, and used to play together in various different bands, 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. Murphy, who was working in a printing factory, decided to give it a try, despite never having written lyrics or sung. His old band mate Kevin Haskins came along for the drums. However, Ash made a point of not inviting Kevin's brother David J. J had very much been the driving force in their previous bands, and this time Ash wanted a band he could control. After only a few weeks though, Ash reconsidered and invited David J to replace original bassist Chris Barber. The line up was now complete, and David J named the band Bauhaus 1919, later shortened to just Bauhaus.

Bauhaus debuted with the single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", which was released in September 1979. Over nine minutes long and recorded "live in the studio" in a single take, it did not enter the UK pop charts, but remained on sale for many years thereafter. By far their most famous work, its minimalist, free-form nature evoked a mixture of The Doors, early Pink Floyd and experimental Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!. The song was used to score the first ten minutes of the 1983 Tony Scott vampire film "The Hunger" which starred Catherine Deneuve & David Bowie.

After recording an early John Peel session for BBC Radio One, Bauhaus performed some local gigs in and around Northampton at small venues. A notable early gig was performed at Newport Pagnell (Milton Keynes) Youth Centre, attended by an audience of about fifty people consisting of some local skin-heads and sixth formers. Murphy would feed off the mood of the audience using any crowd tension to enhance his eclectic performance. Bauhaus used these early gigs to mold their stage persona and quickly became known as a must see Live act. Adopted by the Goth-Punks they soon became press favourites with such publications as the NME.

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. It has been suggested (in Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984) that a swelling of their fanbase 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. Whatever the case, In the Flat Field topped the indie charts and made headway onto the British pop charts (peaking at number 72), despite containing none of the singles. Their second album Mask followed the next year, 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 15 in the 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 4. 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 and final 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. Due to Murphy's health problems and the creative strains felt by the constrictions of the goth label on their music and image, the band broke up in 1983, before the album was even released. One last single was released in April, "She's in Parties", taken from the album. The band played their last show on July 5 at the Hammersmith Palais in London. The dedicated fans had been warned by the band's crew that this might be the last one. After a long encore consisting of some of their early songs, David J left the stage with the words "rest in peace". Immediately rumours began circulating in the music press that the band had split up, but this was denied by the record company. In August however, they confirmed that the band had gone their separate ways.

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 on his 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 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 played 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. The band also took to playing the Joy Division song, Transmission live on this tour.

Sound

Bauhaus combined a number of influences including punk music, glam rock, German post-psychedelic experimentalists, even funk and dub) to create a gloomy, but very passionate sound which appealed to many fans left uninspired by the New Wave that arose in the wake of punk's collapse. Their sound proved very 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. Bauhaus' sound, however, is often victim of its classification, as what is now considered "goth rock" has less in common with Bauhaus' music than Bauhaus had with other British post-punk groups. Its crucial elements were the innovative guitar playing of Daniel Ash and the dub-influenced bass of David J. Bauhaus remains one of the most popular groups of the genre.

Band members

Discography

Studio Albums

Live Albums

Singles and EPs

Compilations

Samples