I never realised quite how important Bauhaus were to me until I started putting this together. Much maligned even at their peak and ignored ever since by weedy post punk commentators, in truth they were one of the most progressive, popular groups to develop from the wreckage of punk.
Me, I loved them. I must have seen Pete Murphy and the lads a good four or five times in those first couple of years. Live they were absolutely phenomenal. Little did I know I was witnessing some of the best shows I would ever see, full blown post punk theatre played to a backdrop of white light and shadow. Even Joy Division were early fans, the similarities between the two groups strikingly obvious particularly on the fabulous In A Flat Field and its songs of love, death, hope and life.
But it was on their ten singles that Bauhaus truly came into their own, each one completely different to what had come before or would come after. From the white boy art funk of ‘A Kick In The Eye’ to the swirling mystery of ‘Spirit’ and the metallic dub of ‘She’s In Parties’ Bauhaus suppled a sparkling litany of thrilling dark kicks. In the end, critically despised and fatally wounded by Pete Murphy’s lengthy bout of pneumonia, they just faded away. At the time, there was so much else going on I don’t think we realised quite what we had lost yet today their influence continues to stretch as far, often even further than so many of their more heralded contemporaries.
1. Dark Entries / Single A Side January 1980
2. Terror Couple Kill Colonel / Single A Side June 1980
3. Telegram Sam / Single A Side October 1980
4. Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores / Single B Side October 1980
5. Double Dare / In The Flat Field LP October 1980
6. In The Flat Field / In The Flat Field LP October 1980
7. Stigmata Martyr / In The Flat Field LP October 1980
8. Kick In The Eye / Single A Side March 1981
9. The Passion Of Lovers / Single A Side June 1981
10. Hair Of The Dog / Mask LP October 1981
11. Hollow Hills / Mask LP October 1981
12. In Fear Of Fear / Mask LP October 1981
13. Spirit / Single A Side June 1982
14. Ziggy Stardust / Single A Side September 1982
15. Silent Hedges / The Skys Gone Out LP October 1982
16. The Three Shadows Pt.2 / The Skys Gone Out LP October 1982
17. All We Ever Wanted Was Everything / The Skys Gone Out LP October 1982
18. Lagartija Nick / Single A Side January 1983
19. She’s In Parties / Burning From The Inside LP July 1983
20. The Sanity Assassin / Limited Edition Fan Club Single December 1983
