Push me in take me t’ward
The subject in the subject taught
A war without a war within
Join head and heart for to begin
Bemused we flinch no easy work
For invited me are loath to shirk
The line between the devil’s teeth
And that which cannot be repeat
Power to success, respect and climb the steps
“Originally, the band was called Bauhaus 1919 after the German art movement; by 1979, they had dropped the 1919 from their name.”
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Story of my life as a young music fan.
I didn’t have much money and that exposed me to a lot of obscure stuff I wouldn’t have ventured to if I had money, like this Bauhaus BBC comp. It was the same price as a regular CD but twice as long, so I got it not knowing that it was mostly rid covers and experiments.
I had recently spent $11 in 1989 teenager money on the Bela import single with 2 songs on it so I needed bang for buck and fast.
I never got to see them in their OG run but I did get to see them rip through this one like a feral animal at Coachella and that’s dope enough for me.
I had no idea Peter was ever this animated on stage.
And of course the incredible beginning of that show with Peter entering upside down:
What was great about Bauhaus is that they could exist completely separate from the entire goth subculture and still totally make sense as their own thing.
They jumped off Roxy and Bowie and probably thought at times they were copying each but there were too many brilliant people in the same band so they failed and ended up making something new.
This was on their BBC comp and it blew my tiny mind:
This Eno cover from the same BBC comp also destroys:
And hey, remember MTV’s Road Rules?
Cuz I don’t. What the hell even was that?
—jason malmberg
Flommist Jason Malmberg is a simple man who believes in brown liquor and small dogs. He also makes art sometimes. Copyright © 2018 Jason Malmberg. Additional material: V Jonathan Facile, seen here. Intro: Some of Peter Murphy’s solo work.
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