What a great deep dive into a band I think I may have heard of but certainly didn't know enough about. Fascinating story, and I'm already obsessed with Doktor Avalanche 🤣
I loved how you showcased that goth can actually be danceable, and your memories when goths would often ask you to spin their main track.
Your career retrospectives and industry analysis, Pe, is always so insightful, and such a pleasure to read.
Doctor Avalanche is brilliant! Thanks, Andy. I really enjoy writing these weeklies, they take me back to my past, and knowing others find them interesting is the cherry on top. Thanks for reading, reacting, and sharing. Wishing you a great weekend!
There was a period in my early teens where The Sisters, The Mission, Killing Joke, The Cure, The Cult (and their two forerunners) were musical north stars for me. They were all firmly categorized as “goth” in my mind but back then the musical labels felt so fixed and less flexible than they are nowadays.
I’d not heard the Ofra Haza version of Temple of Love. I still prefer the original but it was fantastic.
Yeah, labels really mattered when we were young 😁, everything had to be" black" or "white", no "grey" allowed. The Ofra Haza version is definitely different, but it works. Still, after digging into it, I find it even stranger that they chose to make that version with her. She came from a totally different musical background, first representing Israel at Eurovision (where she finished second… and who ever remembers second place? 😂). Then she broke through with an album of traditional Yemenite songs, one of which (‘Im Nin’alu’) was remixed into a hit. A very unusual path. Thanks for reading and reacting, Mark! Wishing you a great rest of the week!
They really are quite different, Ellen. While researching this piece and learning more about Andrew Eldritch, you start to get a picture of the man himself. Saying he wasn’t the easiest to work with is probably putting it mildly. Combine that with what I know from my time at Warner Music about how rigid the company can be, and I can only imagine the conversations that led to the SSV project 😁😁. And yes, it’s hilarious. They never released it officially, probably because it’s not a great album, and the acronym surely didn’t help. Thanks for reading and reacting, Ellen. Have a great weekend!
Just a heads up to Patricia Morrison performing This Corrosion on Top of the Pops with Eldritch; once seen, not easily forgotten. Great left field pop and an inspired decision to rope in Steinman, which I presume was the record company's?
I’m planning to do an episode on This Corrosion, Lucretia or Dominion, and I’m sure the Steinman backstory will come up then. If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably a mix of both: Eldritch clearly wanted the big stage, and Warner went along because Steinman was considered a safe bet at the time. I even came across the story that they blew the entire album budget just on that single with Steinman 😁. Thanks for reading and reacting, Paul. Have a great weekend!
Absolutely, Dan, this is probably the furthest I’ve ever strayed from the "gay dancefloor" 😁. Thanks for reading and reacting! Wishing you a great weekend!
Brilliant as always... Bela Lugosi is not dead! Danced my ass off to that in Chicago's Metro disco in the basement so my take is you're correct where it started and where it went. So, what about me? I think you already know how I was stuck with Yello alone at Stiff America one afternoon in '83 so there, I was in the soup! I have the tape of You Gotta Say Yes and the B-side Screech song but you're the Last DJ Standing now so not releasing what I don't own other than a few Island oddities. I put out a lesser goth band on 109 Of A Mesh "Broken" and have one copy left. Robert Palmer the NYT writer wrote it up and my mom said to me in the morning "Isn't this your label?" which is what made what the other NYT writer (Jon Pareles) said at NMS panel later that day. "All you get out of publicity is your parents will not think you're a complete loser." All the more poignant, but you don't care cause you're not through being cool yet. Are we ever? Are we not men?
I got a Discogs producer credit for a comp song "Thorn" Glenn Danzig (used the same studio in Lodi NJ) came to meet me at the owner Bob Allecca's request (Reel Platinum) to give me label advice told me to dump them immediately. They went on the radio WSOU, trashed the label, and I happened to hear it driving home from my day job in Jersey. They dropped themselves...
I'm listening to your skillful mixes "The 12" in the mix" while writing about Texas Blues finishing up the lostinaustinbool.substack.com Stevie is not going to get his due today not when Sisters of Mercy are in the house! And for the record, I used to work out to LC's Songs Of... and loved that song so much that I knew Sisters of Mercy named themselves after it. THE screams at the end are Goth before goth. You nailed it! Got to finish while people still care about Antone's 50th! Late!
"All you get out of publicity is your parents will not think you're a complete loser." All the more poignant, but you don't care cause you're not through being cool yet. Are we ever? Are we not men? - That's the essence of life Steve 😁 Thanks for reading & reacting. Happy weekend!
Same here and the "offspring" the Mission even more so 😁 They'll get their own episode down the line. Thanks for reading & reacting Joe! Have a great weekend!
What a great deep dive into a band I think I may have heard of but certainly didn't know enough about. Fascinating story, and I'm already obsessed with Doktor Avalanche 🤣
I loved how you showcased that goth can actually be danceable, and your memories when goths would often ask you to spin their main track.
Your career retrospectives and industry analysis, Pe, is always so insightful, and such a pleasure to read.
Doctor Avalanche is brilliant! Thanks, Andy. I really enjoy writing these weeklies, they take me back to my past, and knowing others find them interesting is the cherry on top. Thanks for reading, reacting, and sharing. Wishing you a great weekend!
There was a period in my early teens where The Sisters, The Mission, Killing Joke, The Cure, The Cult (and their two forerunners) were musical north stars for me. They were all firmly categorized as “goth” in my mind but back then the musical labels felt so fixed and less flexible than they are nowadays.
I’d not heard the Ofra Haza version of Temple of Love. I still prefer the original but it was fantastic.
Yeah, labels really mattered when we were young 😁, everything had to be" black" or "white", no "grey" allowed. The Ofra Haza version is definitely different, but it works. Still, after digging into it, I find it even stranger that they chose to make that version with her. She came from a totally different musical background, first representing Israel at Eurovision (where she finished second… and who ever remembers second place? 😂). Then she broke through with an album of traditional Yemenite songs, one of which (‘Im Nin’alu’) was remixed into a hit. A very unusual path. Thanks for reading and reacting, Mark! Wishing you a great rest of the week!
The SSV Project acronym is hysterical. When musicians get mad, look out.
I don't remember ever hearing Temple of Love. Prefer the original myself, but Ofra's voice is certainly arresting.
Really enjoyed this post (as usual).
They really are quite different, Ellen. While researching this piece and learning more about Andrew Eldritch, you start to get a picture of the man himself. Saying he wasn’t the easiest to work with is probably putting it mildly. Combine that with what I know from my time at Warner Music about how rigid the company can be, and I can only imagine the conversations that led to the SSV project 😁😁. And yes, it’s hilarious. They never released it officially, probably because it’s not a great album, and the acronym surely didn’t help. Thanks for reading and reacting, Ellen. Have a great weekend!
You have a great weekend too, Pe!
Just a heads up to Patricia Morrison performing This Corrosion on Top of the Pops with Eldritch; once seen, not easily forgotten. Great left field pop and an inspired decision to rope in Steinman, which I presume was the record company's?
I’m planning to do an episode on This Corrosion, Lucretia or Dominion, and I’m sure the Steinman backstory will come up then. If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably a mix of both: Eldritch clearly wanted the big stage, and Warner went along because Steinman was considered a safe bet at the time. I even came across the story that they blew the entire album budget just on that single with Steinman 😁. Thanks for reading and reacting, Paul. Have a great weekend!
Another cool song that I have no memory of hearing before! I wonder if it was bigger in the "straight" or punk clubs here. Either way, great sound!
Absolutely, Dan, this is probably the furthest I’ve ever strayed from the "gay dancefloor" 😁. Thanks for reading and reacting! Wishing you a great weekend!
Didn’t they have a song on the Lost Boys soundtrack? I could be mistaken
Just looked it up and they didn't Vince. Thanks for reading & reacting. Happy weekend!
Brilliant as always... Bela Lugosi is not dead! Danced my ass off to that in Chicago's Metro disco in the basement so my take is you're correct where it started and where it went. So, what about me? I think you already know how I was stuck with Yello alone at Stiff America one afternoon in '83 so there, I was in the soup! I have the tape of You Gotta Say Yes and the B-side Screech song but you're the Last DJ Standing now so not releasing what I don't own other than a few Island oddities. I put out a lesser goth band on 109 Of A Mesh "Broken" and have one copy left. Robert Palmer the NYT writer wrote it up and my mom said to me in the morning "Isn't this your label?" which is what made what the other NYT writer (Jon Pareles) said at NMS panel later that day. "All you get out of publicity is your parents will not think you're a complete loser." All the more poignant, but you don't care cause you're not through being cool yet. Are we ever? Are we not men?
I got a Discogs producer credit for a comp song "Thorn" Glenn Danzig (used the same studio in Lodi NJ) came to meet me at the owner Bob Allecca's request (Reel Platinum) to give me label advice told me to dump them immediately. They went on the radio WSOU, trashed the label, and I happened to hear it driving home from my day job in Jersey. They dropped themselves...
I'm listening to your skillful mixes "The 12" in the mix" while writing about Texas Blues finishing up the lostinaustinbool.substack.com Stevie is not going to get his due today not when Sisters of Mercy are in the house! And for the record, I used to work out to LC's Songs Of... and loved that song so much that I knew Sisters of Mercy named themselves after it. THE screams at the end are Goth before goth. You nailed it! Got to finish while people still care about Antone's 50th! Late!
"All you get out of publicity is your parents will not think you're a complete loser." All the more poignant, but you don't care cause you're not through being cool yet. Are we ever? Are we not men? - That's the essence of life Steve 😁 Thanks for reading & reacting. Happy weekend!
Love the sisters!
Same here and the "offspring" the Mission even more so 😁 They'll get their own episode down the line. Thanks for reading & reacting Joe! Have a great weekend!