At my high school in the mid to late 80's there was, naturally, a fairly diverse selection of musical genres represented amongst my fellow pupils. As the initial surge of Positive Punk had been waning for a few years prior to this there were, unsurprisingly, very few Goths (myself among them) but there was a fairly large Indie contingent - the presence of which I attribute to the emerging Scottish bands (think Shop Assistants, Jesus & Mary Chain et al) and the ability of those interested to seek out any alternative to the mind-numbing SAW domination of everything.There was also a fairly hefty group of what were affectionately known as 'Metal Muvvers' and, while I detested the music, I counted numerous good friends amongst this Motley Crew (pun intended). Their taste largely veered towards the 80's Hair Bands with the odd one or two branching out into Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax. But this meant that on the regualr trips to friends houses I would be subjected to the latest rancid release from Bon Jovi or Van Halen and much eye-rolling would ensue accompanied by comments like, "This is PISH!".
What I could not understand was how, in any way, this music spoke to people; paricularly my teenage friends in Edinburgh. It reeked of LA, drugs, alcohol and woman and whilst I will concede that these are not necessarily bad things in, and of, themselves, their presence in any teenage boys life is sadly lacking. Unless of course he happens to live in LA and have a Rock Star or drug dealer for a father! We didn't however - we lived in a suburb of Edinburgh and were only just making our initial forays into the world of under-age drinking. Plucking up the courage to try and go and buy some cider from the off-licence on a Friday evening was about as Rock 'n' Roll as it got.
So, for that reason, I have always had a problem associating the word "Gothic" with "Rock". To me, it was, is and always will be "Goth". And it spoke to me in a way "Rock" or "Metal" never would. It answered my burgeoning teenage introspection and kept me company through long tortuous evenings spent in my room weighing myself down with existential misery (Mrs H would probably say that never ended...) The sheer bleakness of the music served to reflect how I actually felt a significant proportion of the time. There is no Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll with Joy Division (still my favourite band) - only the mental anguish that arises from the realisation that release from the prison bars of my own mind will only occur, and I say this without melodrama, at the point of death. And, in a small way, that is comforting.
When bands of the Goth ilk then decided to crossover into more Metal terrain they sounded their own death-knell as far as my music collection was concerned - absolute betrayal to my teenage self. For instance, The Cult ceased to exist post-'Love' and I must admit to struggling with The Sisters of Mercy post-'Floodland' (Andrew Eldritch didn't help their case by being a dick either).
But, for the purposes of this post, I will now don my rose-tinted specs, climb into my DeLorean and take you back to 1985 (think of me as a black clad Marty McFly) and classic-era Sisters. Gary Marx hasn't left to form Ghost Dance, Wayne Hussey is still providing backing vocals and twiddly guitar lines, Craig Adams is thundering away on bass and The Mission is only a film in production. Aaah, bliss.
The Sisters Of Mercy - No Time To Cry (EP) (Merciful Release MR335T 1985)
- No Time To Cry
- Blood Money
- Bury Me Deep
No Time To Cry - pwd: c4ctusm0uth
5 comments:
I once had a very frustrating circular conversation with a Finnish girl who insisted goth metal was the only true "gothic" music.
"What about UK Decay? Bauhaus? Alien Sex Fiend? Bands like those defined the gothic genre."
"That's YOUR opinion."
I get residual twitches just thinking about it.
Excellent post and selection of music, Highlander.
Blood money is a beautiful song.
Greetings and a hug!!
At last, someone that understand the difference between Goff, and the late eighties hippy metal crap. Thank you.
Terrifically well written! You write with honesty, humour and intelligence and I hope your sense of humour and intelligence helps you when you feel blue or overwhelmed by the bleak naffness of contemporary Britain. I can't imagine how bizarre it must have been listening to van halen in Musselburgh or Dalkieth or Corstorphin in 1988! I had to endure Sepultura, Pantera and Pearl Jam (born in 1979) at friend's houses while I was itching to put on French coldwave (sacre bleu!) and death rock. But thanks to the Nirvana revolution you had to be kind of 'right on' or 'progressive' to be into rock or metal, rather than an open Reaganite, as many hair bands were in the 80's. As Hunter S would say: savage!
Thanks for the kind words Chris R. It was Currie and Balerno to give you the geography. Some of my mates at school had a band. The three main guys were shit hot on bass, guitar and keyboards but they then went and played Van Halen's 'Jump'.... The horror.
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