Gothic rock was born in England (isn't everything?)in the '70's, with bands like Souxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus. The term Gothic has been applied to many bands with widely disparate sounds, so that almost any band with a dark look, introspective and unhappy lyrics, and/or an affinity for minor keys will be called Gothic sometime by someone. Since I have no desire to duplicate the efforts of other sites already available on the web, I'll be providing only minimal biographical and historical information on each band, with links to discographies, lyrics, and such. What I do hope to provide eventually is reviews of albums, and for those bands that are still touring, of concerts. For this I will need your help, since needless to say I haven't heard everything. To submit a review for any band listed here (or any band not listed here that you think really ought to be)e-mail me. I reserve the right to refuse any submission for any reason (but I probably won't) and to edit for length, style and content.
Bauhaus
This band originated in England (!) in 1978, and quickly became cult-famous for songs like "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and stage shows involving weird shadow effects. After the band's breakup in 1983, the various ex-members engaged in a number of new projects, such as Tones on Tail and Dali's Car; vocalist Peter Murphy currently has a solo career, while David Jay, Kevin Haskins, and Daniel Ash are now Love and Rockets. Along with The Sisters of Mercy and Souxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus is probably one of the top three Gothic bands mentioned in the context of trying to answer the question "What is Gothic music?"
For more information on Bauhaus:
The Sisters of Mercy
Another band from England (wow), this group has undergone more lineup changes than I can to look up and type in at the present moment. Maybe later. Suffice it to say that the motivating force behind the Sisters is the incredible Mr. Andrew Eldritch, who does vocals, writes the songs, and makes the thing go in general. It is of course useless to compliment the man anymore here, though, because he hates being called Goth and will never read this page. And on that note, a joke:
So this Goth dies and goes to heavan, right? And one of the angels offers to show him around and take him on a tour of the place.
So as they go along, the angel gets into trying to impress the Goth with all the famous people that they have in heavan. He points to the left and says: "Over there you can see Isaac Newton, the great scientist." He points to the right and says "And over here is the great painter Leonardo Da Vinci." But the Goth doesn't look all that impressed until he notices a figure sitting on a large, elaborate throne in the distance.
"Wow," the Goth exclaims. "I didn't know that Andrew Eldritch was dead!"
And the angel says, "He isn't. That's just God, but he likes to pretend that he's Andy sometimes...."
hahahahahaha.... um, yeah. Anyway, for more information on The Sisters of Mercy, go here:
Goth bands that I haven't had a chance to write up something vaguely amusing about yet....
Siouxsie and the Banshees (another British band... one of the first):