Ah.....the song that invented goth rock.Now I'll be honest, I didn't buy this in August 1979 when it was first released, but I know I had it in my collection by August 1981 as I remember having a heated conversation about it with someone during Freshers' Week at University.
I was arguing that while I didn't disagree with the general premise that most of the greatest songs ever written and recorded were about three minutes long, there were a number of exceptions, including the nine-minute debut record by Bauhaus. In those days I was more than capable of starting a fight in an empty room.
A mate of mine once said that Bela Lugosi's Dead was his favourite record for finding out if you were in with a shout with the girl you were dancing with at the student union disco..... He felt that if you started up a conversation at the start of the record, excused yourself when the singing begins, nip off to the loo for a quick piss, have a cigarette and a vodka you've just purchased for yourself from the bar and then got back to the dancefloor in time for the end of this record AND the girl is still happy to dance with you at that point, she is going to still be with you come the end of the night. But I reckon he was only ever able to prove his theory once in the four years I knew him.
Unsurprisingly, this is a record that didn't get much airplay, and so didn't stand a chance of making the mainstream charts. Remember, these were the days when you probably had to sell 30,000 to get into the Top 40....nowadays that would get you a month at the #1 spot.
I know my copy isn't the original pressing of the single as it was on white vinyl and limited to 5,000 copies, but then again I've got black vinyl which does seem appropriate in the circumstances.
mp3 : Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead
And here's yer little known b-side (which I know isn't the b-side on all the versions of the single, but it's the one I have).
mp3 : Bauhaus - Boys/Dark Entries (demo)
Within a couple of years, Bauhaus would find fame and fortune, largely as the result of a spirited cover of Ziggy Stardust, but by 1983 it was all over and lead singer Peter Murphy and his incredibly cheekbones would be best known for advertising blank cassette tapes (remember those things kids????)
8 comments:
First the Theme From S'Express now this? You are fulfilling my retro dreams this week.
I came upon Bauhaus a bit in the middle early period and quickly caught up on what I had missed. The darkness attracted me, but there was this underlying punk menace that made their earliest work addicting. When I bought In The Flat Field, I couldn't listen to anything else, well maybe except for Siouxsie, for quite a while. The final Bauhaus album in 08 had much of the tension and darkness as the 80's work a definite recommend.
Bauhaus!
This, of course, brings back traumatic memories of watching 'The Hunger' when I was 5ish, and wondering why those girls were kissing each other. xx
Dearest Eliz
Great to hear from you.
I never found that bit of the movie all that traumatic...but the sight of Catherine Deneuve growing very old was highly distressing.
I think I'm still stunned by the bit of David Bowie ageing 100 years in about five minutes...
I still remember so well a flatmate playing this just after purchasing at the locale record shop. It sounded somewhat odd, but very ponderous and menacing. Then I noticed that he was playing it at 33RPM instead of the proper 45RPM. He had never bought a 12" 45RPM before, so never thought to change the player speed. To this day, I still enjoy spinning it at 33RPM, it gives an entirely different perspective to the song.
The Guardian reads the Villain ?
great song and a very interesting blog post! i might have to put your friends theory to the test.
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