In 1978, Nash and Dannie Flesher sold their Denver shop of the same name and relocated to 2449 North Lincoln Avenue. They founded the music label in 1980. Before launching the independent label, Nash and Flesher would use the North Lincoln Avenue storefront to promote and produce concerts for then-unknown artists such as Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, New Order, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Sisters of Mercy, Divine, and more. WAX TRAX! was responsible for bringing many artists to Chicago for the first time.

“Most tickets sold ran through this iconic building”, says Julia Nash, daughter of Jim.

WAX TRAX! RECORDS is credited for popularizing a new genre called “Industrial Dance,” later shortened as “Industrial.” Ministry, Front 242, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Revolting Cocks, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, The KLF, Underworld, Coil, Psychic TV, Laibach, and more all got their footing in the U.S. through the label.

Wax Trax! opened its hallowed doors in a building that once housed a funeral parlour. They carried thousands of unique and rare titles in a vast range of genres: dance, soul, R&B, heavy metal, electronic, rockabilly, hardcore, glam, and avant-garde, as well as imports, indie releases, and bootlegs. The store was the center of underground music and culture in the Midwest throughout the 1980s and ’90s, serving as the go-to for music fans and musicians alike.  Wax Trax! was graced by huge stars during their Chicago visits: Robert Plant, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Black Flag, Buzzcocks, and the B-52s. They remained there until relocating in 1993.

“The store itself was an underground cultural mecca for people from all over the city, statewide and internationally to discover new music (like) punk and electronic,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “At the time they were frowned-upon genres, but they became very important in music culture.” The store’s staff, comprised mainly of musicians and DJs, became a valuable source of expert guidance and tips for cutting-edge and fringe artists, paving the way toward later marketing concepts in similar stores.

Julia Nash, the director of the 2018 documentary Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records, found her “true self” at the store and relocated to Chicago in 1987. From there, she has immersed herself in the rich Wax Trax! legacy. She equates Wax Trax! to iconic Chicago blues label Chess Records, which enjoys landmarked status. Although the genres are different, their importance to music fans is undeniable.

Julia Nash has launched a petition for her late father’s store to be landmarked. The designation will ensure that the building will not be demolished, or the exterior altered. Nearly 5000 people have already signed as of the writing of this article. She hopes to submit a historic landmark application by March 1 to the city’s Department of Planning and Development at its March 15 meeting, a move acknowledging the store and record label’s place in music history.

“If this store or label has meant anything to you at any point in your life, we hope you will join us at preserving this important physical piece of music history,” says Julia Nash.

For more information on the landmarking effort and to sign the petition, visit petitions.com.

The post WaxTrax! Co-founder’s Family Petition Chicago for Landmark Status for Record Store’s Original Location appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Shaw, one of the most popular British vocalists of her era, is best known for her #1 hit rendition of (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me, and the 1967’s winning Eurovision song entry Puppet on a String.

Morrissey and Marr having the strong desire to be recognized professionally as great songwriters not unlike Burt Bacharach and Hal David who wrote Shaw’s first hit, began writing her letters asking if she would cover their song I Don’t Owe You Anything, which they had written and composed in the hopes that Shaw would agree to perform it.

Shaw was initially reluctant to accept the offer being averse to the controversy surrounding The Smith’s track Reel Around the Fountain.

Despite this, Morrissey and Marr persisted in trying to recruit Shaw to perform their music, and Shaw was eventually won over by Morrissey’s praise of her in the press by the intervention of Rough Trade label founder Geoff Travis.

“he’s started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!”

One of songs Morrissey sent to Shaw was The Smith’s debut single Hand In Glove, which reportedly caused her to exclaimed to her husband “he’s started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!.

Shaw and the Smiths would enter Matrix Studios in London in February of 1984, recording three Smiths songs with Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke.  From the session Hand In Glove was ultimately chosen as the A side for the collaboration with I Don’t Owe You Anything as the b-side, and the inclusion of the song Jeanne on the 12 inch.

Forgoing the nude posterior on the original, the Sandie Shaw version if Hand In Glove’s sleeve features a still image of Rita Tushingham from the movie A Taste of Honey—an adaptation of the play written by Shelagh Delaney, who appeared on the covers of the single Girlfriend In a Coma and the compilation album Louder Than Bombs.

In promotion of the single Shaw would join The Smiths on live on stage on several television programs such as Top Of The Pops where the band performed barefoot in homage to Shaw’s habit on doing so in the 60s.

Gallery:

The post When The Smiths Were Fronted by a 1960s-era Female Pop Star appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

In fact, the fashion icon, dance music pioneer, and music legend— whose androgyny can only be compared to the likes of David Bowie, Annie Lennox, and Tilda Swinton— covered Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control for the b-side of her June 27th , 1980 release of her single “Private Life”, which was a cover of Chrissie Hynde penned song by The Pretender’s released earlier that year.

“Private Life” was featured on Jones’ fourth studio LP Warm Leatherette, named after Mute Records debut single also covered on the LP that was originally released by founder Daniel Miller under his alias The Normal.

Given that the Warm Leatherette LP was released on May 9th, 1980, and that Private Life is an album track, it is as far as we know recorded before Joy Division singer Ian Curtis had taken his own life, unless Jones had quickly returned to the studio in tribute, but that is not likely given that the track is a b-side.

Not only that, but all songs featured on Warm Leatherette were recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas.

Listen to Grace Jones’ reggae-infused version of She’s Lost Control:

Additionally, there is another link to Joy Division as well in the subject matter of “Warm Leatherette”, as it was a song inspired by Crash, the post-modernist novel about fetishizing the experience of a car crash by author J.G. Ballard, where the story was also featured in the preceding work The Atrocity Exhibition.

The book, The Atrocity Exhibition also naturally inspired the track of the same name on Joy Division’s Closer LP, which was released a few months after Jones’ cover, being issued on July 18th, 1980, exactly 2 months after the death of Ian Curtis.

More from Warm Leatherette:

Pivoting from her disco trilogy that finished with 1979’s Muse, Jones stepped right into the avant-garde, by embracing the emerging post-punk through a series of covers on the Warm Leatherette LP, all while the genre was still finding its voice.

The first single from the LP Rolling Stone had a quirky new-wave sound reminiscent of early Nina Hagen and Klaus Nomi, yet still retaining a slight disco vocal.

The second single off of the album, was a vibrant and stunning cover of Roxy Music’s classic anthem Love is The Drug from their fifth studio album Siren. that Grace Jones certainly makes her own.

The cover has a fantastic animated music video that was produced for the 1986 remix of the track that was directed by Matt Forrest and Bruno Tille.

“Breakdown” is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ that was also later covered by The Replacements, and recently Lydia Lunch. Tom Petty specially wrote a third verse for the song for Jones.

Watch Grace Jones perform the track on Solid Gold.

The remaining two singles on Warm Leatherette are the Smokey Robinson cover of  “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game”, and a French-language track “Pars”.

Grace Jones and A Certain Ratio

As the Rock Nerd UK blog points out, After the release of her cover of Joy Division She’s Lost Control, Grace Jones took an interest in working with Factory Records band a A Certain Ratio, through a connection with  Island Records A&R Nick Stewart, who had been scouting Factory bands at the time.

From Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records by James Nice (chapter 1980 Part 2, p130 and p135):

“Indeed even before Shack Up appeared, co-manager Wilson found himself invited to New York to discuss signing Ratio to artsy Island sub-label Antilles for America. Through Nick Stewart, operating from Island’s London office, Factory also caught the attention of achingly fashionable disco diva Grace Jones, who recorded a singular cover of She’s Lost Control by Joy Division, and would toy with the idea of employing Ratio as her backing band.”

The book then goes on to elaborate on the collaboration, which didn’t pan out due to a few conflicts. Apparently, there were three days worth of backing tracks from the sessions, from recording some Talking Heads covers that have yet to surface:

“With Shack Up and Flight both released inside four short months, Ratio now found themselves courted by Grace Jones, whose cover of She’s Lost Control had appeared in August. ‘She went up to Manchester to do some television promotion,’ recalls Island A&R man Nick Stewart, ‘so I took her to Strawberry when ACR and Martin were mixing their album. We talked about a collaboration, and there was an attempt to record a version of And Then Again, and Houses In Motion by Talking Heads. But it never quite came off.’ In fact it was even suggested that Ratio record an album with Jones at Compass Point in Nassau, but according to guitarist Pete Terrell: ‘Chris Blackwell at Island didn’t know anything about the project until after we’d met Grace Jones, done some recordings, and some PR shots appeared in the press. He wasn’t happy about it because he was her producer, not Martin Hannett. This guy at Island was really keen but he got overruled. Anyway Donald didn’t think the deal was very good, and I was told that Tony didn’t get on with Chris Blackwell.”

The infamous slap

On November 18th, 1980 Grace Jones repeatedly slaps talk show host Russell Harty on live television for being rude and repeatedly turning his back on her. This certainly an iconic moment on television let alone being an interesting moment for an icon such as Jones.

Watch the full interview here.

Nightclubbing

The follow-up to Warm Leatherette, named after another cover of an essential post-punk track culled from Iggy Pop’s The Idiot LP, a record named the novel from Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and companion album to David Bowie’s Heroes.

The track is question Night Clubbing, which was famously sampled for Nine Inch Nails 1992 single Closer’s trademark piston sound.

It is worth noting, coincidence or not that The Idiot was the last thing Joy Division singer Ian Curtis listened to before hanging himself.

Listen to Grace Jones cover of Nightclubbing below:

Nightclubbing is Grace Jones’s fifth studio album, and although the title track is fantastic, it’s is hardly what this highly influential album is best known for regarding its impact on fashion and music.

The first single on the LP was a song written by Sting during his tenure with his band The Police.

The next single I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango), is a reggae reworking of Argentine bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla’s original.

Watch the infamous  Jean-Paul Goude directed music video below, where Jones’ play the accordion. The video closes the 1982  long-form music video collection/documentary A One Man Show on Jones that features many of the videos that are featured in this article.

The next track on Nightclubbing is perhaps the best-known song of Jones’ entire career. The sexually suggestive dance club hit” Pull Up To The Bumper”.

The music video for the song is a combination of live footage from A One Man Show with excerpts from Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 experimental documentary film Koyaanisqatsi.

The next singles were “Use Me”, a cover of a Bill Withers song, and “Feel Up”.

The final single on Nightclubbing was “Walking In the Rain”, a cover of the 1978 song by Australian band Flash and the Pan.

Legacy

After the release of Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing, Grace Jones concluded her trilogy of Compass Point Studios records with her 1982 new-wave inspired sixth studio album Living My Life, which was followed by the release of A One Man Show.

Jones’ two post-punk LP’s were perhaps the most memorable part of her iconic career, cementing her image into the annals of music, style, fashion, and art history.  Her work on both records would later comprise half of her 1985 greatest hits LP Island Life, which probably has one of the most recognized album covers of all time, along with Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures.

The post Grace Jones was the first artist to cover Joy Division | ‘Warm Leatherette’ and ‘Nightclubbing’ appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Even before that, there were hard rock and proto-punk groups such as Thin Lizzy and Death. In 1977, during D.C.’s blossoming punk hardcore scene the first band most people think of when it comes to black presentation and punk formed: Bad Brains.

One would be gravely mistaken to think that there is no black representation in the fundamental part of punk’s history. To illustrate this fact, all one need do is take a look at photographer Michael Putland’s 1980 portrait ‘Ladies Tea Party’ that features Pauline Black and Poly Styrene, alongside Debbie Harry, Viv Albertine, Siouxsie Sioux, and Chrissie Hynde.

But what about post-punk and goth? Some people assume there is no representation in the scene at all, and that the scene is primarily Caucasian—with the addition of some Latin and Asian representation, as goth and post-punk have been historically popular in countries such as China, Japan, Mexico, and Chile, for example.

Certainly, there were black post-punk fans hanging out at clubs such as Danceteria in NYC, or The Batcave in London, and if you were to head over to those cities now, you would likely find representation across several generations of fans.

20 years in the past, if you were to ask some goth and post-punk fans if they have ever heard a black singer be spun at a club they frequent, they might list the song from the Silence of the Lambs’ soundtrack, “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazarus, or perhaps the theme to The Neverending Story, where singer Beth Anderson duets with Limahl from Kajagoogoo.

In this past decade, we have been lucky to have had two projects that are extremely popular on dance floors from Berlin to Los Angeles- O Children and Light Asylum. In fact, their songs “Ruins” and “Dark Allies” were so powerful that if you were to go out and dance at your local club, they may have been the only songs to remain in your memory in the party’s aftermath.

On that note—let’s not forget She Wants Revenge’s “Tear You Apart,” which became so popular it was lovingly as overplayed as anything by Bauhaus or Joy Division.

But surely there is more to the picture than just three modern bands and a couple of songs from the soundtracks from a fantasy film and suspense thriller?

To some, it may be easier to look for black representation in the new wave scene, most notably in bands such as Simple Minds, Fun Boy Three, Culture Club, and Thompson Twins. But is it really so difficult to find it in goth and post-punk?

On January 20th, 2018, the first post-punk single “Shot by Both Sides” by Magazine turned 40 years old. The track features Barry Adamson on bass. Since black musicians have always pioneered music, goth and post-punk being no exception, we decided to compose a list of POC artists new and old to encourage more diversity in the scene in the musicians whose music we listen to, and the fans who go to concerts, club nights, and festivals.

Black Singers

Recent Bands

O Children

Named after a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, London’s O Children features frontman Tobi’s bellowing baritone, which is as powerful as his towering 6’8”. O Children’s 2010 s/t debut LP is certainly a goth and post-punk essential for any record collection.

She Wants Revenge

Singer Justin Warfield and his musical partner Adam Bravin must be making a killing in television and film licensing fees for their Los Angeles-based gothic/post-punk revival band. Bravin also run’ Hollywood’s Cloak and Dagger party as well.

Light Asylum

Light Asylum was a Brooklyn-based electronic music duo consisting of Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello, and is now primarily the solo vehicle for Funchess’ place as one of the most powerful voices in the post-punk scene.

Mount Sims

The stage name of Matthew Sims, a Berlin-based American DJ, performance artist and producer.

Shadow Age

Another great Richmond Post-Punk band featuring singer Aaron Tyree.

Infidel

Vancouver deathrock and post-punk band.

Contemporary post-punk acts

Algiers

Post-punk and soulful gospel from singer/guitarist Franklin James Fisher? Yes, please! Atlanta Georgia’s Algiers are doing something new with the sound only touched upon by The Birthday Party and Gun Club.

Bloc Party

London post-punk revival act Bloc Party is fronted by Kele Okereke and experiments with post-punk, indie, electronica, and house, while taking influence from acts such as Pixies, Joy Division, Sonic Youth and The Smiths.

TV On The Radio

An art-rock band from Brooklyn that are friends with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their influences range from Bad Brains, Earth, Wind & Fire, Nancy Sinatra, Serge Gainsbourg, Brian Eno, Prince, to Wire and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

During the U.S. tour for their second album Return to Cookie Mountain, the band performed a few covers with Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. David Bowie himself appears on “Province.”

The Weeknd

Classic Bands

ESG

Emerald Sapphire & Gold are a highly influential NYC band that Factory Records head Tony Wilson approached after their performance at Hurrahs Nightclub, and three days later they began recording with engineer Martin Hannett. They recorded “Moody” and “You’re No Good” in the first take. Hannett had three minutes left on the master tape, so he had the band record “UFO.”

A Certain Ratio

“all the energy of Joy Division but better clothes.”

Factory Records’ ACR is one of the most important post-punk bands, with a unique dance-oriented sound, which drew heavily on disco and funk. They are still going strong.

Majesty Crush

A Detroit-area shoegaze band featuring Odell Nails of Spahn Ranch (see below). You may have seen him before, as he is in the Cocteau Twins fever newscast!

Glorious Din

A legendary San Francisco post-punk band fronted by the amazing Eric Cope, who is such a fan of post-punk music, he even named his son after Ian Curtis. Extremely underrated and essential, this band will become one of your favorites.

Pick up a recent reissue of their album Leading Stolen Horses if you can, it’s essential for any post-punk collection.

Spahn Ranch

A band so soaked in gothic minimalism that perhaps if they were from the UK, it would have qualified them as being positive-punk, the band released their only album Thickly Settled in 1986. Spahn Ranch would go onto to perform with bands such as Killing Joke, Swans, and Psychic TV. Dais has recently reissued a key collection of tracks, titled Back to the Wood.

Colourbox

Colourbox are perhaps best known for their track “Tarantula,” which was later covered by their label 4AD’s project This Mortal Coil. The band was formed by brothers Martyn and Steve Young, Ian Robbins, and vocalist Debbion Curry, who left the band. Singing duties were then taken over by the amazing Lorita Grahame.

AR Kane

A British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. In the late 1980s, the duo coined the term “dream pop” to describe their sound, which makes this an essential band for any shoegaze fan worth their salt. The band would team up with key members of Colourbox to record the incredibly influential dance track “Pump Up the Volume” under the moniker M/A/R/R/S.

The Veldt
Early 90s shoegaze band from North Carolina that recorded an album in London with Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie.

Black Musicians

Classic Bands

Barry Adamson (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Visage, Magazine)

Manchester’s Barry Adamson, as mentioned above, first appeared on the first post-punk single “Shot by Both Sides” by Magazine. He would then go to join Visage with Magazine guitarist John McGeoch, and while McGeoch would go on to play with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adamson was recruited to play bass on the first four Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds albums before releasing a series of cinematic solo records, some of which were mined for David Lynch’s Lost Highway soundtrack.

Too much to write about Barry here! Needless to say, he is one of the most important figures in post-punk history.

Eddie “Twiggy” Branch (Peter Murphy, UK Decay)
Embed from Getty Images

Eddie “Twiggy” Branch from Northampton joined the Luton positive punk band UK Decay as their bass player just in time to record 1981’s For Madmen Only, later going on to join Peter Murphy’s 100 Men solo band. Yes, that is him in the video for “Cuts You Up.”

Ray Mondo (Sex Gang Children, Southern Death Cult)
Embed from Getty Images

Raymond Taylor-Smith aka Ray Mondo, originally from Sierra Leon, was the drummer for Ritual, Death Cult, and Sex Gang Children.

Andy Anderson (The Cure)

Drummer Andy Anderson (may he rest in power) was enlisted to join The Cure in 1983, while original drummer Lawrence Tolhurst switched to synthesizers. Andy appeared on the side project The Glove’s LP Blue Sunshine, as well as the collection of singles Japanese Whispers, and The Top. Andy has also collaborated with Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel, Sham 69, and more!

Allan Dias (PIL)

Allan Dias was Public Image Limited’s bassist from 1986 to 1992, performing on three albums, Happy?, 9′and That What is Not. Self-taught, and coming from a jazz background, Dias, along with guitarist John McGeoch were the backbone of the “new” PiL.

Kid Congo Powers (The Gun Club, the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds).

Brian Tristan aka Kid Congo Powers is a guitarist and singer that is best known as a member of The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Despite being of Mexican descent, we thought him an essential POC on this list.

Zeke Manyika (Orange Juice)

Zimbabwe’s Zeke Manyika is a percussionist, vocalist, and songwriter that performed with Glasgow’s Orange Juice from 1982-1984, notably featured on the hit single “Rip it Up. “Zekehas also collaborated with Matt Johnson’s band The The.

Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Tears for Fears, Gang of Four)
A session musician working with a wide variety of artists, most notably as David Bowie’s bass-backbone, she makes this list because she also has worked with Tears For Fears, The The, and Gang of Four.

Strange Boutique

Strange Boutique was singer and punk veteran Monica Richards’ band prior to forming Faith and The Muse. Guitarist Fred “Freak” Smith, also a veteran of the D.C. hardcore scene, recently passed away earlier this year.

Any we missed?

There surely are more black artists we have overlooked, especially those who were members of smaller bands throughout the years. In the goth scene we would like to give a shoutout to Steve Williams (Altered States, Nine Day Decline etc), and Geoff Bruce (Sunshine Blind, Faith and the Muse), and more.

There are some other newer bands we would also like to mention that have black representation among their ranks:

Fearing

Ganser

Cult of Youth

One more thing…

No, not that Martin Gore is half black (yes, this is true). We just want to thank Prince, and Terrance Trent Darby for being such a gateway drug to post-punk and goth, for everyone of all complexions.

Also, the first cover of a Joy Division track was done by none other than Grace Jones, who also at that time covered The Normal’s “Warm Leatherette.”

The post Goth So White? | Black Representation in the Post-Punk Scene appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

During the tour for said album, however, the Banshees’ guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris (both now referred to as The Blackheads) quit the group, leaving founders Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin in a lurch, scrambling to find replacements for the tour.

Slits percussionist Peter Edward Clarke aka Budgie was recruited on drums, becoming a permanent member of the band—but Severin and Sioux still had a hard time enlisting a guitarist.

Robert Smith of The Cure decided to offer his services as his group were already the support band on tour in support of Join Hands.

After the tour, Robert returned to full-time duties with his own band, and Sioux and Severin then had a proper audition, and the pair recruited Magazine and Visage guitarist John McGeoch to join the band, which was the perfect arrangement until his departure from the Banshees following a nervous breakdown at a gig in Madrid.

Robert Smith was then recruited a second time into Wonderland to join his hand on guitar as a Banshee, now becoming a full-time member. Smith at the time was still recovering from the emotional anguish of The Cure album  “Pornography” (which led to Simon Gallup leaving The Cure, a major reason for the band’s hiatus).

This was a pivotal moment, as this was period where Robert Smith fully developed his trademark big backcombed hair and hooker red lipstick initially developed during his Pornography era—possibly having its permanence influenced by being part of Siouxsie’s entourage, and hanging out at The Batcave.

“Robert’s mad. His nickname’s Fat Boy, but he looks so big half the time because he forgets to take his pyjamas off when he gets dressed. He’s very cuddlesome. Sometimes we don’t speak for a month, for some unknown reason, and then we bump into each other and have a month of conversations in one night.”-Budgie in Smash Hits May of 1984

Smith would then go on to record the cover of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”, and shortly thereafter become an official Banshee for the September 30th, and October 1st concerts at The Royal Albert Hall that would be recorded as the Nocturne concert film and live album.

Smith would also record the singles “Melt!”, “Dazzle”, “Swimming Horses”, and the fantastic Hyaena LP. Smith is also featured on the Oxford Road Show performance of the reworking Overground (which was released later as a single credited with his replacement  John Valentine Carruthers from Clock DVA.

In addition to his work with directly with the Banshees, Smith also formed a band The Glove with Steven Severin, which included Porl (Pearl Thompson), and Andy Anderson from The Cure, as well as Jeanette Landray, a dancer featured on Top of the Pops, who was the ex-girlfriend of Budgie.

Sadly, The Cure had ended their hiatus in 1983, and Smith was juggling too many bands at once, and had to leave The Banshees before they could tour in support of the Hyaena LP.

This, unfortunately, did not sit well with Sioux:

“It wasn’t like he was ill. He was one of those people who just didn’t say ‘no’ to anything, so when it’s self-induced it’s hard to have sympathy. To actually say two days before a tour that’s been planned in advance that he can’t do it – f*** off! What a lightweight.” Siouxsie from a 2005 issue of Uncut Magazine

Robert however, meant no hard feelings:

“. . . but I think Severin understood and, by then, my mind was made up. After all, I’d given them two weeks’ notice, which was longer than any guitarist had given them before!” Robert Smith Ten Imaginary Years

Robert Smith and Steven Severin have always remained friends it seems, recently meeting up in Scotland to catch up after Severin had been recovering from an illness. It remains unclear today if the ice had ever thawed between Siouxsie and “Bobby”.

Regardless, we thought their collaborations worth celebrating, and below is a gallery just about all the photos and videos we could find from one of the greatest collaborations in the history of Post-Punk and Goth.

Enjoy!

*Siouxsie also contributed backing vocals to “I’m Cold”, the B-side to The Cure’s “Jumping Someone Else’s Train”.

Photos

Music Videos

Dear Prudence

Swimming Horses

Dazzle

Interviews and other stuff

1983 Riverside Special featuring Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Creatures, and The Glove

An interview when they visited Wellington New Zealand in February 1983

Television and Live Performances

Something Else’ 1979
Love In A Void

Regal Zone

Old Grey Whistle Test’ November 11th 1982
Melt!

Painted Bird

Oxford Road Show December 3rd, 1982
Melt!

Overground (with The Venomettes)

French Television for Christmas 1982
I’l Est Né Divin Enfant”

Top of the Pops, September 1983
Dear Prudence

‘Nocturne’ Royal Albert Hall 1983

Live 1983 at Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen Denmark
Red Over White

The Tube 1984

• Running Town
• Bring Me The Head of the Preacher Man
• Blow the House Down

The Tube 1984

Top of the Pops 1984

Swimming Horses

The post Siouxsie Sioux and Robert Smith appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Previously being called Malice, the band had their first full blown concert on December 20, 1976—and almost exactly two years later, after changing their name from Easy Cure, to The Cure, the Crawley based band released their first single Killing An Arab (inspired by The Stranger by Albert Camus).

From that point on the Three Imaginary Boys would recruit old faces and new to join their ranks over the next several decades, going on to release some of most iconic music in post-punk, goth, and alternative rock, eventually becoming one of the most unique and beloved bands of all time—so much in fact, that the band cheekily refer to themselves as a “Religious Place of Worship” on their official facebook page.

The calendar is expected to ship around December 1st. It is unknown at this time if Cure graphic designer Andy Vella of Parched Art is involved. More details to follow.

You can order the calendar here

The post The Cure to release 40th Anniversary calendar for 2018 appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Because this article pays tribute to Arbeit, Schweiß, and Muskelkraft—work, sweat, and physical strength, a topical canon pretty much established by DAF and Die Krupps. Not having much of an idea of how these machines work, they utilized affordable synthesizers and programmed blunt sequences, and shouted along, driving Punk’s minimalism to an extreme. The attitude of the Punks of that time, fighting the more and more bombastic rock that dominated the early 70s, was in a way formulated to an extreme by them.

But not just DAF and Die Krupps, though as they can be coined as the first EBM bands, have an influence. Belgium, at the forefront of that new genre that would soon be called EBM, took up influences from England and Germany—Throbbing Gristle and Kraftwerk shaped the sound of Front 242, a band that can certainly be called the first “proper” EBM band, whereas DAF and Die Krupps could be, arguably, ascribed to Germany’s interpretation of Post Punk, the NDW movement (Neue Deutsche Welle/German New Wave).

But as Die Krupps called their best-of compilation in 2007, that’s Too Much History. If you started the day opening a bottle of beer and shouting random Nitzer Ebb lines into the faces of unsuspecting pedestrians on the street (their faces are hilarious), you might be already in the mood to go through this somewhat chronological historical wrap-up of EBM’s history in song form. Let’s go through, pretty precisely, 35 years of EBM, if we start at this point…

Front 242 – Body To Body [New Body, 1981]

Okay, that’s a very obvious pick, I get it—but how can a list of great EBM songs not start with Front 242’s first single? This very band is an absolute necessity and the genre would not be the same if they would never have existed, but indeed, they did and the echoes of 1981’s Principles/Body To Body single are still resounding, taken up by EBM-, Industrial- and Techno musicians alike. A matter of pure relevance and greatness, and arguably, they might have been the first using the phrase “Electronic Body Music”, in English at least. Additionally, the inclusion of Front 242 should solve the riddle why 24.2. was coined the International EBM Day, eh?

Nitzer Ebb – Murderous [Power Of Voice Communications, 1986]

Actually, there are two ways to EBM that actually exist very peacefully next to each other. As I’ve already presented Front 242, taking up influences of experimental, some might say Industrial, outfits from the UK and Kraftwerk, Nitzer Ebb‘s approach is way more violent and primitive, way less playful. Directly referencing German influences like DAF and Die Krupps, as well as Killing Joke‘s early Hardcore Punk records, Synthesizers were seen as a practical way to create the same energetic outbursts without learning how to play instruments. That the results are absolutely great is not a matter of debate. To date, Nitzer Ebb and Front 242, as well as DAF and Die Krupps, two acts I would not necessarily call EBM (see above), are primary influences, and every band somehow references these four acts.

The Invincible Spirit – Provoke You [Techno Drome International, 1987]

You can’t spell EBM without Germany, but I still have to figure out how phrase this out properly. Either way, the formative phase set the tone for how to EBM, and The Invincible Spirit‘s debut album Current News is EBMing hard. Dropping off club hits like Push!, Make A Device or Provoke You (with a gross grammatical error that, somehow, established cult status), it’s still awesome and should not be missing in any EBM collection. The Invincible Spirit, by the way, just ended their recording hiatus with a new album called Anyway, which is worth one or two listens as well.

Skinny Puppy – Testure [Nettwerk, 1988]

As EBM slowly moved over to the US and Canada and influenced some electronic musicians to body a bit harder than they did before, acts as Ministry shook of their Synth Wave roots in favor of EBM (even collaborating with Front 242‘s Richard23, as Revolting Cocks), and Skinny Puppy started to get harder gradually, integrating influences from steel-bathed and ripped Europeans to create some serious club hits (not to mention the influence of drugs which eventually ended the band for the first time in 1995, after Dwayne Goettel‘s death). Not just that they created a good quantity of amazing albums, they also broadened EBM’s stylistic range, and that is actually very important, as much as Front Line Assembly.

Cat Rapes Dog – Schizophrenia [KK Recordings, 1989]

Sweden is, these days, one of the key players in the EBM biz, and the swedes started to contribute massively with Cat Rapes Dog, Pouppée Fabrikk, or Scapa Flow at the end of EBM’s formative phase. Certainly, there is something in the water that makes mechanized beats such a huge thing in Scandinavia—I do not complain, as long as the stream of great releases doesn’t end. Cat Rapes Dog’s Maximum Overdrive is a masterpiece in brutal minimalism and influenced a good deal of bands, e.g. the Belgian EBM revivalists Ionic Vision, who even exceeded CRD’s sheer guttural brutality at some points. Unsurprisingly, they appeared to be massive Motörhead fans. If Front 242 are EBM’s Iron Maiden, Cat Rapes Dog is EBM’s Motörhead, for sure. Utterly bastard groovy.

Front Line Assembly – Iceolate [Wax Trax!, 1990]

More openly referencing Europe, Bill Leeb‘s Front Line Assembly is a follow-up project of his activities with Skinny Puppy. Leaving the band in 1986 to materialize his own idea of electronic music, he formed FLA with Rhys Fulber and Michael Balch, and the first efforts made massive callbacks to Front 242. Eventually moving on to more Metal-influenced music, contributing largely to the crossover of Industrial and Guitar music with 1994’s Millennium or the follow-up Hard Wired—albums standing next to Nine Inch Nails‘ debut album and Ministry‘s Psalm 69 in its importance. But also when they were an EBM band, they were, and still are, just great.

The Klinik – Black Leather [Antler-Subway, 1990]

But crossing over certain styles of Electronic Music and fusing them with EBM’s idea of physicality wasn’t just an American approach. The Klinik, e.g., are undeniably one of the most important acts ever to emerge from EBM and its outer realms. Formed by Dirk Ivens, Marc Verhaeghen, and Eric Van Wonterghem under the somewhat bulky name Absolute Controlled Clinical Maniacs, their approach was noisier and more Industrial-influenced, but nevertheless, besides dropping off some serious club hits, they left a distinct trace in EBM.

Armageddon Dildos – In My Mind (Like A Knife) [Zoth Ommong, 1990]

If there’s one thing I can say about the German EBM duo Armageddon Dildos, it is that their name is unforgettable, leaving (a bit too much) room for imagination. Being actually named after a nickname for nuclear bombs (you probably had something dirty in your mind though), they played (and still play) a very minimal version of EBM that was largely popular in Germany, and everywhere else where they spun EBM in clubs. By the beginning of the 90s, it became a serious thing in clubs while not being adaptable to the infamous mainstream, something Front 242 or Nitzer Ebb tried to achieve in the mid-90s, and Nitzer Ebb’s big failure that eventually led to their split was ironically enough called Big Hit. Nevertheless, the torch of EBM got carried on by fans of these bands, and digging deep in the 90s, a good number of club hits can be found—predominantly in the roster of labels like Wax Trax!, who licensed lots of electronic music for the US market, or the German Zoth Ommong label, which still has a cult status. Releases like this one, X Marks The Pedwalk‘s early releases, Leæther Strip, or Bigod 20 largely contributed to that.

Leæther Strip – Don’t Tame Your Soul [Zoth Ommong, Zoth Ommong, 1993]

Claus Larsen, the man behind Leæther Strip, certainly has a talent for all killer no filler bass lines and effective leads, with a certain pop appeal. Being an outspoken fan of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode, integrating these influences didn’t make his efforts less banging, though. Influencing the Dark Electro scene massively, with :wumpscut: as its most prominent and quality-wise still unchallenged act, his musical effort is actually quite devoid of innovation, but nevertheless—Leæther Strip’s early material still is an important reference point in EBM’s musical map, despite it somehow shows EBM’s fatal flaw—it did not leave much room for innovation.

Spetsnaz – To The Core [SubSpace Communications, 2003]

So, EBM became a wasteland in the mid-90s. With its pioneers unsuccessfully broadening their styles—Front 242’s and Nitzer Ebb’s mid 90s efforts did not exactly cause euphoria, while Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy, or Nine Inch Nails paved the way for Metal/EBM/Industrial crossovers—, many bands changed their style towards more Industrial Rock or Metal influenced directions, and I do not necessarily want to utter a word about Hellectro/Aggrotech, which led to disgusting results that unfortunately led to the mislabeling of Trance acts that discovered distortion pedals as Industrial/EBM. Unacceptable for a small community of musicians, some predominantly Swedish and german acts started to dig out classic EBM records, and at its very forefront, there was Spetsnaz. The two Swedes, along with the German outfits Jäger 90 or Tyske Ludder, brought EBM back into the public eye and kicked off an EBM revival that is lasting until today.

Jäger 90 – Stiefelblitz [Electric Tremor, 2007]

The Oldschool EBM scene is acting on a way smaller scale than in the late 80s/early 90s, as EBM reached its peak. Acts like Jäger 90 contributed to the formation of a scene in Germany, with labels like Electric Tremor at its forefront. Hosting the Familientreffen (family gathering) in Sandersleben/Germany, the label also established an important meeting point for EBM fans worldwide, largely to get pissed and pogo. Massively influenced by DAF—singer Thoralf Dietrich collaborated with DAF’s Robert Görl for a revival band called DAF.Partei—Jäger 90 is one of EBM revival’s forerunners.

Dupont – Run For Protection [Progress Productions, 2009]

EBM-wise, Germany and Sweden established close bonds—with frequent Swedish visitors at German festivals featuring Electronic Music, which might or might not be influenced by the very low costs for beer in Germany. Dupont, nevertheless, were one of the most charismatic acts out there to raise the flag of EBM in Scandinavia. Of course, we have reached a point in which innovation is not a criterion anymore (or are we? Just continue reading…), but certainly, they are a great example for an excellent Swedish EBM band, unless I do not want to leave Container 90 unmentioned, with their beer-fueled OiBM.

Youth Code – Consuming Guilt [Dais Records, 2014]

Whoever finds an aesthetic resemblance to Skinny Puppy in this video is absolutely right, Youth Code are massive fans of the Canadian EBM/Industrial heroes, and on their way to become heroes themselves, the Los Angeles-based duo gained massive, massive popularity which I did not expect for an EBM band. Abrasive aggression is their trademark, and largely influenced by Hardcore Punk, they add an interesting new facet to a genre that didn’t undergo much change since its formative days, but certainly, they made it, and made their way into my heart as an amazing, amazing outfit.

Welcome to the now. EBM is alive and kicking, and pioneers like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 reunited, and their comeback shows are extremely well received. At the beginning of this millennium, Techno musicians openly celebrated EBM with massive callbacks, and Douglas McCarthy’s and Terence Fixmer’s Fixmer/McCarthy as a very pleasing result, among many. There is still a large audience for EBM, and in a way, like Industrial, it massively gains popularity through a back door.

Leaving you with this, have a happy international EBM day!

The post Happy International EBM Day | A History Lesson in Songs appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

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Anyone who has ever promoted a party knows it’s hard work to pull off a prosperous night… it’s almost unheard of in the United States. I was curious to find out how the co-promoter and DJ of Das Bunker, Rev. John (aka John Giovanazzi), managed to keep a club on its feet for two decades. He was generous enough to share with me some secrets of how to achieve historical – or, dare I say it, legendary – club success.

There’s no such thing as luck.

“I don’t believe anything is luck. At least by the traditional definition. Luck is being ready to take advantage when a favorable situation presents itself. But making it seem like you are lucky, or have the magic touch is the key. It’s the ‘Wizard of Oz’ all over again. Keep the details and hard work behind the scenes and present things in a exciting and fresh way. No one cares how hard you worked, how much money you spent, or what went wrong behind the scenes – all that matters is if they will have a good time at your party.

Make rules and stick with them.

“We give each room and the DJs for it a rough outline, and then let them kind of establish their own vibe in that format. We call ourselves an ‘all industrial’ club – but are totally fine with that being ‘stuff that influenced industrial, or stuff influenced by industrial’. We have some harder established rules in place – nothing with guitar solos, stay away from dubstep wobbles as much as possible, and try to avoid the obvious overplayed megahits – especially when it comes to bands with a large quality catalog. there is no need to play ‘Headhunter’, ‘(Every Day is) Halloween’, or ‘Join in the Chant’ with all of the things that exists in those artists discography.”

Be accepting of change.

“Everything changes. Our club has changed drastically about 5 times now. The music we play has shifted… probably close to the same number of times. We get excited about emerging styles of music, and if anything, catch a lot of flack (locally) for jumping on them too soon and abandoning popular styles too soon after their peak. And we feel it in the short term – but a small step back attendance wise is the right play if it means long term sustainability. I mean, we were founded on the concept of playing unpopular styles of music, so its not as much of a huge leap for us as people unfamiliar with Das Bunker make it out to be.”

We made it a point from the get go to have our own identity: look different, sound different, and have a different vibe than your standard “goth” club. – Rev. John

Balance your tastes and finances when booking bands and DJs.

Always ask: “Would our fans like this, and would fans of this like [my club]?”

Choose an interesting venue.

“If you have to pick one thing to set the atmosphere, have it be a room that isn’t just a big rectangle. Great sound is good, cool lights and decor are great but if you have a interesting space, the rest is workable. If you have a room thats a big rectangle then it makes everything else pretty difficult.”

And what about fog, how important is it for the atmosphere? “My opinion on this has changed over the years. I used to like fog and more fog. I guess thats what you need to do when your venue is a big boring rectangle. I’m kind of over it these days.”

It’s all about the experience.

“As for the music, our mantra was always to have the best music possible – but at the same time not making the club about the music, if that makes sense. People will go to a fun place with shitty music a lot more often than they will go to a boring place with good music. So the focus was always make it fun and exciting, and then augment that experience with a good soundtrack. This strategy also helped us a ton to push new music, and that let the DJs really not concentrate on playing hit after hit and relax and take some chances.”

Don’t be afraid to mix different crowds of people…

“We make a strong effort to reach out to anyone who would potentially be a fan of what we do. Some people have accused us of ‘selling out to attract hipsters’ but honestly we have always done this – and more importantly never changed what we do to suit potential new audiences. I think there is a very definitive line between being welcoming to people that like what you do and watering down your experience to attract a larger crowd. The best clubs I have ever been to are a mix of different crowds and each area is like its own mini club – and we have always strived to keep that same vibe.”

… or to take chances.

“We have made tons of mistakes. There were times we booked bands based off of the label they were on and it turned out…. not very good. Same with guest DJs. Sometimes you have to take a chance and there were times it really came back to bite us.

But giving up is not an option.

“When stuff goes wrong (like the power going out with 1,000 people in the room) and everyone blames you – you spend the next couple of days wanting to hide under your bed. But you get over it. You have to use stuff like this as motivation to keep going and work harder.”

Make all your patrons feel safe.

“Its no secret that the frat dude element has always looked to try and go to these types of places to ‘pick up hot goth vampire chicks’ or whatever – so we really put a lot of effort into coming up with a strategy on how to attract new and different people without making it a open meat market vibe for douchey dudes to sleaze on our core supporters. So it started with a core [graphic] design element to not go the stereotypical route of putting a fetish model in latex on the flyer, or anything of that nature. And making the women feel comfortable goes a long way to building your audience.”

Success is not measured by the money you make.

“Success is determined by our patrons. [By] people who met their future spouses at the club, that had the time of their life at the club, that tag us in favorite memories or discover their new favorite band/song/music style. Thats success in our minds. Four different artists have written songs about Das Bunker – I think that is a pretty major accomplishment. “

But most of all, support your scene.

“We try and help [others] however we can. Its how you keep your scene solid. If your band is deserving of a chance, we do our best to get it out there. We had have always had a policy that if you are out of work I’ll let you in to the club for free. It’s not something we ever advertised, we just reached out to people we knew were having tough times. Our old taco vendor is about to open his second restaurant. The industrial scene takes care of its own, or at least it should. “

UPCOMING EVENTS AT DAS BUNKER

November 15 – 90s Goth Klub

November 20 – The Horrorist with DJ Andi  (yours truly)

December 11 – History of Industrial with Covenant (DJ Set), Labrynth, Hands Profuctions vs Ant-Zen DJ Set

The post How to Run a Club for 19 Years and Get Away With It: Los Angeles’ Das Bunker appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Boy was recorded over a time span of five months, by a band that borrowed a lot from their peers – namely Siouxsie and the Banshees, from whom they pilfered the Glockenspiel sound that defines their first hit single “I Will Follow”,  and Joy Division, whose producer Martin Hannett was supposed to produce U2’s debut album following his work on their second single “11 O’Clock Tick Tock“. But only two days following the release of the track by U2, Joy Division’s Ian Curtis’ tragically committed suicide, leaving the Factory Records sound engineer, Hannett, too distraught to continue his work with U2.

Despite this, Siouxsie and the Banshee’s producer Steven Lillywhite’s production on the album is quite remarkable, and it’s hard to imagine Boy sounding any other way.

There are many stories to be told about U2’s excellent debut record—one being their close connection to the Virgin Prunes—and that the brother of Prunes guitarist Guggi, Peter Rowen, is the boy on the album cover as well as Dik, the Prunes’ drummer, being U2 guitarist The Edge’s brother.

Featuring great tracks such as “Stories For Boys”, “The Electric Co.”, “An Cat Dubh”, “I Will Follow”, and “Out Of Control”—just on this album alone, Boy is a celebration of a band that had been amazing right from the start and rightfully went on to achieve huge success, becoming one of the biggest bands of all time.

Before Bono eventually became the archetypal rockstar mutation with his persona The Fly, U2 followed up Boy with equally strong, sometimes even more compelling releases such as October, War, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum or Achtung Baby. Nevertheless, U2’s youthful debut is an impressive debut from the Irish band, displaying a unique and youthful take on Post-Punk, while already capturing glimpses of what U2 would become.

Boy Tracklist:

Side One
1. “I Will Follow”
2. “Twilight”
3. “An Cat Dubh”
4. “Into the Heart”
5. “Out of Control”

Side Two
No. Title Length
1. “Stories for Boys”
2. “The Ocean”
3. “A Day Without Me”
4. “Another Time, Another Place”
5. “The Electric Co.”
6. “Shadows and Tall Trees”

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