Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
THE BANSHEES
SISTERS
OF MERCY
& THE GORY YEARS OF GOTHIC ROCK 1976-1992 RIP
Bauhaus
Cocteau Twins
Joy Division
The Mission
THE CURE
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 17 us $10.95 uk 5.99 PRINTED IN THE UK
07
70992 30039
The Creatures
The Best Of
OUT NOW
19 songs including Tainted Love, Disposable Teens, mOBSCENE,
The Beautiful People, Personal Jesus & two bonus tracks
Special CD/DVD set available featuring
20 videos including the (s)AINT exclusive
www.marilynmanson.com
Contents
Chapter 1 1976-79
9-20
Chapter 2 1980
21-32
Chapter 3 1981
33-40
Chapter 4 1982
41-54
Chapter 5 1983
55-68
Chapter 6 1984
69-76
Chapter 7 1985
77-90
Chapter 8 1986
91-98
Chapter 9 1987
99-114
Chapter 10 1988
Chapter 11 1989
125-134
Chapter 12 1990-92
135-145
115-124
Editors Letter
Count Dracula
NME ORIGINALS
Steve Sutherland
Editor
MIKE MORTON
NME ORIGINALS
NME ORIGINALS
NME ORIGINALS
2 CD DELUXE EDITION
Chapter 1
DEREK RIDGERS
1976-79
Bromley Contingent
Siouxsie &
The Banshees
100 Club, London
Deliver us from
evil: Siouxsie, Steve
Havoc, Marco Pirroni
and Sid Vicious at
the 100 Club
10
NME ORIGINALS
This is Siouxsie
& The Banshees.
They are
patient.
They will win.
In the end.
A World Domination By 1984 Special
by Paul Morley
NME, 14 January 1978, p7
NME ORIGINALS
11
Southern
The
New Trend
DeAth Cult
12
NME ORIGINALS
If the
Their abrasive
, uncompromising
language, and the way that its
presented, is not of the type that is
liable to entice record companies to
propose lucrative deals. The group
realises this is important.
We want to become successful because
it would mean that people are confronting
what were putting down on vinyl and
paper but if we are, wed probably be
successful for the wrong reasons.
Every day theres a problem about
having to compromise everyday theres
a reporter wanting to interview just
Siouxsie, getting across that its a backing
band for Siouxsie. Its not that at all. Its
a four-piece band. In the end you have to
explain yourself in the most basic, moronic
way and that takes something away. Record
companies arent there to help a band
progress, thats bullshit. That theyre to make
money for themselves. They dont care if a
band falls by the wayside as long as theyve
made enough money out of them. We want
commitments from a record company so
that we can do what we want to do.
Well win in the end. If we dont let
people get the better of us, inuence us,
like the establishment.
As long as we can resist I think
well win in the end.
(L to r) Siouxsie,
John McKay,
Kenny Morris and
Steve Severin
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
The Scream
RETNA
(Polydor)
13
THE CURE
Three Imaginary Boys
(Fiction)
14
NME ORIGINALS
The Cure: (l to r)
Robert Smith, Lol
Tolhurst and
Mike Dempsey
1978 - 1979
MM, 21 July 1979, p27
JOY DIVISION
Unknown Pleasures
(Factory)
guitar ambience.
The albums two aces are Insight
and Shes Lost Control; here,
nally, Gary Glitter meets the Velvet
Underground. Both rely on rockhard echoed drumming and bass
recorded well up to take the melody
the guitar provides textural icing
and thrust over the top. The formers
attractive, bouncing melody belies
the lyrics: But I dont care any more/
Ive lost the will to want more.
Shes Lost Control, remixed to
emphasise guitar and percussion,
NME ORIGINALS
15
Me In My Own World
Take No
rapturous critical reaction to their rst album,
Unknown Pleasures.
A single
16
NME ORIGINALS
1979
noisy, unkempt beginnings in 77 to the superb
controlled heat they generate now.
But up until now Joy Division have been
dogged by business problems, stalled by
personal problems, and ignored. They mistrust
the glowing reviews they now get, and wait,
dispassionately, for the backlash.
(L to r) Bernard
Albrecht, Ian Curtis,
Peter Hook and
Stephen Morris
PENNIE SMITH
17
18
NME ORIGINALS
PAUL SLATTERY
www.wychwood.co.uk
The legendary Hobgoblin beer is the per fect potion for celebrating All Hallows Eve. Available from
all good supermarkets and of f-licences, its enough to scare the taste buds of f any lagerboy.
Enfants Terribles
JOY DIVISION
An Ideal For Living
(Enigma)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Hong Kong Garden
(Polydor)
20
NME ORIGINALS
THE CURE
Killing An Arab
(Small Wonder)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Playground Twist
(Polydor)
THE CURE
NME, 19 August 1978, p19
JOY DIVISION
Transmission
(Fiction)
(Factory)
Chapter 2
DEREK RIDGERS
1980
Joy
Division
University Of London
NME, 16 February 1980, p55
22
NME ORIGINALS
KEVIN CUMMINS/IDOLS
1980
THE CURE
Seventeen Seconds
(Fiction)
For a group as
young as The Cure,
it seems amazing
that they have
covered so much
territory in such a
brief time.
Its impossible
to locate one
continuous
thread linking works as dramatically
opposed as their solemn debut 45 Killing
An Arab, the classic single Boys Dont Cry,
and now the oblique, stilted soundtracks
that populate Seventeen Seconds.
Only one factor remains constant:
Robert Smiths pleading whine of a
voice and (Boys Dont Cry excepted) his
dependence upon keeping up a shield of
often mischievous distance.
After Boys Dont Cry (and its
commercial failure), Smith regrouped with
a keyboard player, one Matthieu Hartley,
taking on many of the textural chores that
Smiths guitar had previously covered.
A brief, pensive keyboard exercise very
much in the mould of Brian Enos Through
Hollow Lands entitled A Reection
opens Seventeen Seconds, setting
the mood. Play For Today builds on its
predecessor: keyboard notes and sombre
electric guitar touches act as a prelude
for an odd, mysterious piece of music
that aims to haunt through extensive
use of a stock pulse-beat overladen with
brush-strokes of guitar, bass and synth,
while Smiths vocals hang limply in the
mix. You either nd yourself drawn into
the landscape created or else you sit there
waiting for a sudden jolt, an acceleration.
This mode of musical arrangement
nds its fullest realisation in the single A
Forest yet the scenario, once created,
soon sounds limp, devoid of any tension
or mystery. Again, one keeps waiting for a
sudden lift-off, yet the song just lies there
twitching occasionally. Its a symptom
throughout Seventeen Seconds.
The album occupies a midway land
where much is insinuated but nothing is
truly delivered. It seems caught in that
very sense of distance that Smith seems
so obsessive about keeping up.
To many, Seventeen Seconds may
seem a valid progression. I however nd
it depressingly regressive. Even so, I await
their next move with great interest.
Nick Kent
NME ORIGINALS
23
Southern DeAth
Something
so good
Cult
In Silence
24
NME ORIGINALS
KEVIN CUMMINS/IDOLS
Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division and one of the most talented performers
and writers in contemporary rock music, committed suicide on 18 May 1980.
Paul Morley and Adrian Thrills pay tribute to the man and the group
NME ORIGINALS
25
It doesnt
Joy Division
26 NNMMEE OORRIIGGIINNAALLSS
??
The impact
KEVIN CUMMINS/IDOLS
NME ORIGINALS
27
28
NME ORIGINALS
PAUL COX/LFI
ere we go again.
I walk into The Cures
dressing room for the
night. I always hate
these sort of entrances. The four
members of The Cure, stood
among empty guitar cases,
practice amps, lager cans, dead
chairs, look limp and vacant. I slip
on my best brave face. Someone
rushes off to get me a Cure T-shirt,
something Ill be happy to wear.
Somebody else hands me a can of
lager, something I force myself to
swallow. Robert Smith is nearest to
me as I hover by the open door.
Hello, he says amiably, are
you nervous? Yes, I say through
a narrow throat, I always am. He
grins gooshly. I grin gooshly.
Last year, on the night of the
General Election, I revieweddestroyed The Cures rst LP
Three Imaginary Boys, at rst
spluttering at what I saw as a
queasy blend of arrogance and
austerity, then growing steadily
annoyed at what I fantasised as a
grand conspiracy of pompous pop
people and relentlessly hateful
politicians. I saw Three Imaginary
Boys as a conceited scrapbook
with a bitter lack of internal
coherence. Wrapped up in dinky
pinkness, with symbols instead
of titles, it was too self-conscious,
and tted in a place where talk of
innovation and stimulation was
all pose, no action, and where the
next mask was more important
than the next song. I thought The
Cure were horrible.
I listened to that LP three
times, says Robert Smith, and
murmurs in assent when I mention
that the second LP Seventeen
Seconds is much more soulful and
direct. The rst LP in a lot of ways
was like a compilation, it didnt
have a lot to do with what we were
doing even at the time.
At that time Robert Smith
felt hurt by my antagonism. He
immediately wrote me a note,
sternly and hilariously parodying
my own indulgent word-play,
pissing all over it. The Cure sang
a song about the review during a
Peel session. The incident got silly.
Then quickly forgotten. When we
meet, I turn up deeply in love with
Seventeen Seconds and Robert
Smith doesnt hate me at all.
Smith is soft where I imagined
he would be hard. Hes not a big
softie. Hes always on a ne line
between agitation and boredom,
and such a balance turns out
faintly, deviously charming. Hes
no pretentious mock recluse,
perpetually feigning intensity
1980
DAYS OF WINE
AND
POSES
Ysee it wasnt that The Cure ever had a non-image, they just didnt have
an image, right? Nothing terribly wrong about that, is there? Well...
Paul Morley shares a bottle and begins to understand
of vision. Hes never quite sure
what to say. Does he take himself
seriously?
I do take myself seriously but
theres a point beyond which you
become a comic gure.
Robert Smith is a songwriter
who wrote songs of enough
individuality and attraction to
warrant interest, who got hooked
into the record business and then
had to start wondering about
justication, morals, compromise.
Robert Smith cannot believe The
Fuss: I still dont feel comfortable
holding a guitar. Smith has the
look of the perpetually puzzled. He
stutters, he blunders he wonders
what the hell its all about, this
rock thing. I sometimes think I
might be in someone elses idea of
heaven, he says with grisly irony.
29
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Kaleidoscope
(Polydor)
Kaleidoscope
follows hard on
the heels of the
morale-boosting
chart successes
of Christine and
Happy House,
both of which
are featured
here. Christine,
the story of the schizophrenic with 22
clashing personalities, was breathtaking:
strong, steady drumming, a running bass,
a skilful acoustic guitar and Siouxsies
compassionate vocals all evoke perfectly
the songs stark atmosphere.
Happy House was great pop as well,
everything moving together to form
its own distinctive sound. And now
Kaleidoscope a series of sketches each
evoking its own atmosphere and place.
Happy House kicks off Side One
before Tenant is ushered in with a slow,
almost Public Image feel, with Severin
contributing electric sitar, among other
things. Trophy is a McGeogh number
with a recurring guitar motif and an
exploration by Siouxsie of the futility of
remembering past triumphs.
Hybrid, though meticulously
constructed, tends to outstay its
welcome, while Clockface seems trite,
save for Siouxsies chanting. The side
ends with Lunar Camel: slow, a trie
draggy, it lacks characteristic Banshee
purpose or direction.
Side Two: Desert Kisses boasts a
great swirling feel of power and intent
with Siouxsies voice reminding us of
its unique quality. Red Frame is almost
Human League but with more depth
and darkness, while Paradise Place and
Skin are just classic Banshee pieces.
Hypnotic, relentless, and incisive, both
feature Steve Jones on guitar, revealing a
hitherto unknown side of the (S)ex Pistol.
As the title implies, Kaleidoscope
aims to give the listener exactly that.
A kaleidoscope of sound and imagery,
new forms, and content, ashing before
our eyes. Undoubtedly a lot of the album
is a success on those terms, but even after
about ten plays its still hard to fully grasp
Kaleidoscope as a concrete whole. Or
maybe thats the beauty.
Paulo Hewitt
30
NME ORIGINALS
Deep into
PAUL COX/LFI
1980
MM, 30 August 1980, p27
Oh bondage, up
yours: Peter Murphy
of Bauhaus
trendy disco in
the centre of an
Oxford shopping
precinct seemed an
incongruous place for
a band like Bauhaus to
play on the opening night of their
British tour. But with this lot
nothing is predictable.
An extremely bizarre but
intricate lm served as a support,
and after much shufing around
with screens, the band emerged
from the crowd and walked
on stage. Talk about lack of
mystery! It gave everyone in
the audience a chance to gawp
at close quarters at them and
completely destroyed, for me,
their glamorous untouchability.
But in a moment, with the
stark white light bleaching
out Peter Murphys elegantly
BAUHAUS
In The Flat Field
(4AD)
Crossovers are
interesting to
observe, but
generally not
a lot of fun to
listen to.
Were now
in the throes
of a hard
punk/moderne
monochrome crossover, with
bands like Killing Joke and Bauhaus
on the verge of tapping a potentially
massive market opened up by Siouxsie
& The Banshees, Adam & The Ants and
even Joy Division. To these ears, theres
as palpable a difference between these
two groups of groups as there is between
the Sex Pistols and Cockney Rejects
something like the difference between
art and artice, but not quite.
In The Flat Field is the rst Bauhaus
album, and I wouldnt be at all surprised
to see it storming up the alternative
charts, at the very least. It oughtnt to.
I must admit to a passing liking for
their three singles. I was even prepared
to overlook their taking their name in
vain (what the hell has their GothickRomantick schtick got to do with the
stripped, no-nonsense principles of
the Bauhaus?), but over the length of
an album, their limitations and endless
pretence are just too much to take.
In The Flat Field is nine meaningless
moans and ails bereft of even the
most cursory contour of interest, a
record which deserves all the damning
adjectives usually levelled at grim-faced
modernists. Its doom for dooms sake.
If nothing else, this sheds some
light on the punk/moderne crossover
audience, who, in their taste for excessive
tribal plumage and dismal, doom-laden
music, are more closely related to the
heavy metal hordes than theyd like to
believe. And Bauhaus are nothing more
than a hip Black Sabbath. Really.
Personally, I couldnt give a toss, not
feeling much afnity with many other
human beings in general, and certainly
not with any tribal group. I just wish this
record had been more interesting, more
original, and less reliant on the obvious.
Ah well. Their singles showed Bauhaus
werent devoid of an idea or two; this
album shows theyve used them both up.
Andy Gill
NME ORIGINALS
31
The Bye
Bye
CureBlackheads
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Happy House/
Drop Dead Celebration
(Polydor)
THE CURE
A Forest
(Fiction)
Unfortunately tagged as
naively witty suburbanites by
admirers, precocious darlings
by detractors, The Cures severe
growth problems were largely
caused by unwarranted heavy
attention early on. Consequently,
writer Robert Smiths ability to
construct eetingly mysterious
and highly evocative scenarios
went uncredited, as critics tried
instead to pinpoint the band
sociologically. A Forest is a good
example, which gets better with
age: Smiths dry, lost vocal tells of
JOY DIVISION
Love Will Tear Us Apart
(Factory)
JOY DIVISION
Shes Lost Control /
Atmosphere
(Factory)
Severin and
Sioux: hell
hath no fury
32
NME ORIGINALS
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Israel
(Polydor)
JANETTE BECKHAM
Chapter 3
DEREK RIDGERS
1981
Northampton
discovers
art school rock!!
NME, 21 February 1981, p12
ORIGINALS
KEVIN CUMMINS/IDOLS
1981
Siouxsie: better
than Toyah. Then
again, what isnt?
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Juju
(Polydor)
Spellbound, Into
The Light, Arabian
Nights, Halloween and
Monitor. Side Twos
highlights: Night Shift,
Sin In My Heart, Head
Cut and Voodoo
Dolly. Juju is the
rst integrated and
sparkling-complete
Banshees album since The Scream.
Its Electric Warrior to the Tanx of
Toyahs Anthem.
Paul Morley
THE CURE
Faith
(Fiction)
NME ORIGINALS
35
BAUHAUS
Mask
(Beggars Banquet)
36
NME ORIGINALS
TOM SHEEHAN
Bauhaus, though
I loathe to admit
it, are about to
be big.
The signs
are all there.
An inevitable
commercial dog-end of post-Joy Division
doom, theyve wedded that imageconscious, pretentious inner soul-searching
to Bowies glib theatricality and come up
crowd-pleasing trumps. At Bingley they
were showbiz magnicent.
In The Flat Field, their last long-player,
sold well on sub-Banshees pseudo-religion
and a splash of Cramps Hammer horror
alone. Mask (an apt name very Siouxsie)
is a suitably showy, hollow successor a
souvenir of their crass live show; all shock
no substance.
In the face of outmoded criteria like
originality, having something to say, etc,
Bauhaus are a joke; so old-hat Iggy-bound
they shouldnt exist. But with the current
accent on imitative image over anything
else, Murphy just MUST be an idol.
Teen mags will lap up his muscular
suntan and false aggression despite
the patent unlistenability of just about
everything theyve ever recorded except
the Young Americans-cloned Kick In
The Eye (re-recorded here).
Bauhaus are a soulless stance, a pathetic
excuse for idolatry in an era when heroes
shouldnt exist but seem to be so badly
longed for. Adam & The Ants and The
Human League all better watch out Mask
may not yield any potentially massive hit
singles but the leather-jacketed hordes
are eager and waiting.
The impression and atmosphere of
Mask counts today more than anybody
elses struggling commitment a Glitter
Band for post-punk depressives. Its appeal
is obvious: cosmic electronics, ethereal sax,
tribal drums, scratch-unfocussed guitar
and eerie, effective/affected vocals a
pantomime pretence of communication.
Bauhaus are an unstoppable surge
towards the sham/glam mid-70s. Mask,
more than Spandau, more than Rondo,
takes the stylistic route to success by the
short and curlies and aunts it as a virtue.
Top Ten. I hate it.
Steve Sutherland
1981
JOY DIVISION
Still
(Factory)
It shouldnt have
happened, but as it did
lets take consolation in
the fact that lan Curtiss
death on 18 May,
1980 didnt so much
bring Joy Divisions
journey to the heart
of darkness to an
abrupt halt as freeze
it for all eternity at the brink of
discovery. At least we can still travel
that far with them, and though they
had positioned themselves well for
a nal breakthrough, who knows
if theyd have been able to cope on
the other side?
Their quest remains just that, its
purity unspoiled by repetition, bad
moves or false conclusions. It was
founded in a courageous analysis of
their own condition, presented on
Still as a struggle towards a new,
more complete consciousness far
removed from the street squabbling
of the punk that spawned it.
Instead of moaning about the
mess they were in, Joy Division
confronted it and discovered the
causes of the current depression
to be rooted in spiritual rather
than material impoverishment.
They registered a profound
estrangement from their ugly
environment and shock at the
callousness of the age.
They were fascinated by that
which repelled them; their musics
tension often emanated from their
approximating the characteristics
KEVIN CUMMINS/IDOLS
Ian Curtis:
grasping after
the unattainable
NME ORIGINALS
37
blast off!
Sometimes pleasure
A Manhattan melodrama starring The Birthday Party, by Barney Hoskyns
TOM SHEEHAN
38 NNMMEE OORRIIGGIINNAALLSS
??
1981
39
THE CURE
Primary
(Fiction)
THE CREATURES
Mad Eyed Screamer/So
Unreal/But Not Them/
Wild Thing/Thumb
(Polydor)
BAUHAUS
The Passion Of Lovers
(Beggars Banquet)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Arabian Nights
(Polydor)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Spellbound
RETNA
(Polydor)
40
NME ORIGINALS
THE BIRTHDAY
PARTY
Blast Off/Release The Bats
(4AD)
The Creatures:
some people will
do anything to
get on TV
Chapter 4
DEREK RIDGERS
1982
Eldritch, aka
Spiggy: skinny
legs, big fat ego
TOM SHEEHAN
1982
Nick The Stripper
on stage at the
Venue, London
PETER ANDERSON
43
Bauhaus:
Breaking down the
walls of art-ache
When we heard that you were going to interview us, we came up with two possibilities:
a) being physical violence, and b) being a reasoned discussion. We decided to plump for the latter,
but this doesnt mean that the former isnt in with a f ighting chance Victim: Paul Morley
44
NME ORIGINALS
1982
FIN COSTELLO/REDFERNS
Bauhaus: (l to r)
Kevin Haskins,
Daniel Ash, Peter
Murphy, David Jay
45
46
NME ORIGINALS
Shivers down
your spine:
Bauhaus live
SANTOS BASONE/LFI
KEVIN CUMMINS/LFI
Ian Astbury:
a man called
Hoarse
THE CURE
Pornography
(Fiction)
47
48
NME ORIGINALS
BAUHAUS
The Skys Gone Out
(Beggars Banquet)
DAVID CORIO
1982
People in A GlassHaus
Steve Sutherland (Christian) faces up to Bauhaus (Lions)
TOM SHEEHAN
49
The Hack:
50
NME ORIGINALS
Media circus:
Melody Makers
Steve Sutherland
(centre) on stage
with Bauhaus at the
Lyceum, London
1983
51
Lets Go To Bed
And then there
were two: Lol
Tolhurst and
Robert Smith
s
e
l
b
a
r
u
c
in
The
52
NME ORIGINALS
What virtues
TOM SHEEHAN
hatever happened to The Cure? Parttime Banshee Robert Smith sits in the
lounge of the Kensington Hilton, sips
his ice-cool Perrier and worries whether its time
to write his babys obituary.
Do The Cure really exist any more? Ive
been pondering that question myself. See, as I
wrote 90 per cent of the Pornography album,
I couldnt really leave because it wouldnt have
been The Cure without me.
But it has got to a point where I really dont
fancy working in that format again. People
keep saying, You mustnt break up, because its
become like an institution that almost gives
me an incentive to pack it in anyway. I think
its really awful seeing bands just disintegrate
slowly in a stupid way, dont you?
Whatever happens, it wont be me, Laurence
and Simon together any more. I know that.
I wonder if you ever did have any idea what
The Cure were doing?
I dont know. Its impossible to articulate
really. It sounds really horrible but its more
than words and music. Ive always aspired to
be like certain bands who affected me: Joy
Division, New Order, the Banshees, Echo &
1982
NME ORIGINALS
53
High-Camp Menace
BAUHAUS
Kick In The Eye
(Beggars Banquet)
THE SISTERS
OF MERCY
Adrenochrome
(CNT)
54
NME ORIGINALS
COCTEAU TWINS
Lullabies
(4AD)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Fireworks
(Polydor)
THE SISTERS
OF MERCY
MM, 9 October 1982, p23
Alice/Floorshow
(Merciful Release)
THE CURE
BAUHAUS
Ziggy Stardust
Hanging Garden
(Beggars Banquet)
(Fiction)
Chapter 5
DEREK RIDGERS
1983
Mercy Mercy Me
The
w
o
h
s
r
o
o
l
F
s
l
i
Dev
Adam Sweeting unravels the stream of consciousness gushing
forth from The Sisters Of Mercy
56
NME ORIGINALS
1983
Sometimes at soundchecks, maybe after
weve been in the van all day, he just plugs in
and wham! It just knocks me out. Mark provides
the more lunatic side of things. And Bens got a
much more open mind on things. The balance
of all these four is what makes it work.
Even minor decisions are ludicrously
democratic. Thats one of the reasons why we
never got a drummer, because drummers just
dont t into anybodys personal chemistry.
You talk a lot about the humour in your
music, but does it communicate to an audience?
Well, basically it involves the dialectics of
cynicism, which is something that takes a long
time to explain, said Andy. Its a
very, very, very, dry joke.
Gary: I think the gigs are pure
slapstick.
Because you make them that
way or because of the places you
have to play in?
Andy: It starts off OK but by the end of the
gig Garys just not in control any more, hes just
destroying things. And it is very slapstick.
But every bands got that anyway. Its just
that most of them dont realise it. And of course
the fact that youre being serious about it only
makes it more ironic and the whole thing about
irony is that is compounds itself at every stage.
Of course, a jokes no longer a joke once
youve picked it apart and explained it. I
can only say that the rst time I saw them
something clicked at once. Perhaps its a little
like that horric thrill of driving fast on a
motorway in the rain and the car suddenly
starts to aquaplane, or realising that youve gone
over the line this time but wasnt it worth if for
the rush? Gamesmanship par excellence.
Check, for verication, available Sisters
vinyl on their own Merciful Release label:
the erce, teeth-clenching bobsleigh runs
of Adrenochrome and Body Electric, the
relentless Alice. At the moment Im xated by
the suspended torment of Floorshow, a roaring
electric tarantella, the kill-or-cure dance of
death. Its hard rock without the pomp (though
Andy can and will pose like a good un), heavy
metal with keen critical faculties.
57
Redskin Rock
Tunes of glory
MM, 5 March 1983, p20
Adam Sweeting sings the praises and questions the poses of Southern Death Cult
58
NME ORIGINALS
Meet the
NME ORIGINALS
59
Creature Discomforts
What are
1983 looks
60
NME ORIGINALS
1983
SOUTHERN
DEATH CULT
THE CREATURES
Feast
STEVE RAPPORT
(Polydor)
NME ORIGINALS
61
Glove Story
MM, 9 April 1983, p3
Party weary
Following months of rumour, The Birthday Party have announced that they are splitting up.
Drummer and co-founder Mick Harvey attributed the decision to lack of artistic direction,
and audience inflexibility. Brett Wright reports from the bands home town of Melbourne on
their f inal dates in Australia, and talks to Nick Cave about his own plans for the future
62
NME ORIGINALS
PETER ANDERSON
The Glove
The further adventures
63
64
NME ORIGINALS
1983
Twindrops Keep
Falling On
My Head
TONY MOTTRAM
Mere Mortals
Robin softly
66
NME ORIGINALS
Will enters
TOM SHEEHAN
1983
Talking to
COCTEAU TWINS
Head Over Heels
(4AD)
67
Feverish concoctions
BAUHAUS
Lagartija Nick
(Beggars Banquet)
THE CREATURES
Right Now
(Polydor)
68
NME ORIGINALS
THE GLOVE
Like An Animal
(Polydor)
THE CURE
The Lovecats
(Fiction)
COCTEAU TWINS
Sunburst And Snowblind
(4AD)
Chapter 6
DEREK RIDGERS
1984
Look At My Squalor!
70
NME ORIGINALS
If this
Im
1984
is heaven
bailing out
Who is the real Nick Cave and will he ever emerge from his
gallery of masks borrowed from classical fiction and the
hallowed museums of rocknroll? Don Watson goes in search of
old Nick as he releases his debut solo LP, From Her to Eternity
NME ORIGINALS
DEREK RIDGERS
From the
71
In The Ghetto
the latest voyeurs stumbling around in search
of standing space amid the dirty laundry.
I always think its important to show people
where you live, he continues.
So what are the chances that Nick Cave will
give himself away? Show us the bleeding heart he
delights in setting against the swastika?
Well, rst wed have to distinguish just which
one of the many faces on show, both here and
elsewhere, precisely is Nick Cave. His art is one of
dramatic fakery, executed with a wicked delight
in defying expectation.
Of course theres the Wild Man Of Rock/
Thinking Man Of The Modern Age dichotomy
between the most readily recognisable Nick Cave
stage personae and the calm and contemplative
demeanour of Nick Cave the interviewee. But his
gallery of masks contains less easily classiable
characters than that some borrowed from
history, some from classical ction, some from
the most hallowed museums of rocknroll.
In his songs ction merges into reality: the
shadow of Raskolnikov mingles with Hamlet;
Caves own creations Gun, King Ink, The Dim
Locator mix with hybrids like Saint Huck.
All of them are partly, but never entirely, Cave
himself. His latest fascination stares down at us
from the wall.
Ive just joined the Elvis Presley Fan Club, he
grins. Theyre sending me some posters; cant
imagine Ill go to many of the meetings though.
The Presley infatuation is reected in a vocal
inection at the end of Box For Black Paul;
more specically theres the next single, a version
of In The Ghetto.
Theres very little in it to suggest that its
recorded with anything other than the
greatest respect and admiration, he
says with a certain bemusement.
I love it but I can imagine a
Birthday Party fan might have some
difculty knowing what to make of it.
As with most of Caves fascinations, his
interest in Presley is in his decline, in the
artice rather than the art.
The inuence that I get from any ctional
character, he says, is from their cartoon
selves, the point at which they themselves
become clichs. In that sense, all of my own
characters are cartoons of themselves as well,
in that they begin with a stock clich that
people can latch on to, that will trigger off
the desired initial impression.
You have to remember what a clich
is which is something that was formerly
powerful, but through overuse has become
meaningless. You can restore its meaning by
putting it in a different setting.
Murder,
72
NME ORIGINALS
DEREK RIDGERS
1984
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Hyaena
(Wonderland)
Robert Smith:
tipped for
The Top
THE CURE
The Top
TOM SHEEHAN
(Fiction)
73
THE CULT
74
NME ORIGINALS
COCTEAU TWINS
Treasure
(4AD)
TOM SHEEHAN
Cocteau Twin
Liz Fraser: the
voice of God
U2DEVIL
DANCING
WITH THE
PLUS!
ELLIOTT SMITH
BRIAN WILSON
JOHNNY CASH
SCORSESE ON GOODFELLAS
EXCLUSIVED
FREE C
ms
il
s from the f
k
c
a
r
t
t
a
rsese
e
r
16 g
of martin sco
Hooked On Classics
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Swimming Horses
(Polydor)
THE CULT
THE CULT
Spiritwalker
Go West
(Crazy Spinning Circles)
(Situation 2)
(Beggars Banquet)
THE SISTERS
OF MERCY
(4AD)
(Merciful Release/WEA)
STEVE RAPPOST
COCTEAU TWINS
76
NME ORIGINALS
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
The Thorn
(Polydor)
Chapter 7
DEREK RIDGERS
1985
Amphetamine Logic
SS
CARELE
SPERS
WHI
78
NME ORIGINALS
1985
like a dickhead. And so it was that I asked him
You have to laugh at it because you have to
whether his art informed his life or vice versa.
see it for what it might do to the nations youth
And, naturally enough, this was exactly the sort
and, God forbid, to the nations housewives to
of question he loves.
hear Amphetamine Logic.
After so much practice, its very difcult not
This Mr Eldritch, as youll have doubtless
to live it so, yeah, the lifestyle informs the art.
surmised, is one wry customer, a bit of a master
I keep putting myself in this godawful position
when it comes to a wind-up and I, too, have had
quite deliberately. Its possible to get out of it but
my moments so we joust a bit and I ask him what
Ive chosen not to.
hed say to somebody who considered his antics
The next question is, Will there come a point
pathetic because some people really are ill while
where you cant? And then what will you do?
his maladies are generally self-induced?
And the answer is, I dont know. I shall probably
Id probably tell them to fuck off. He rasps
just keel over.
and I take it to be laughter. Telling people to
I tell this Mr Eldritch that I think hes a damn
fuck off, that sense of glorious vindication, is a
good actor, creating for himself the classic role
primary, motivating factor, I think.
of romantic victim.
Rocknroll
He rather likes this
outlaws, eh?
notion too.
Arent we just! No!
Ive spent so long
We have appetites!
doing this that I cant
Were human! We
distance the two. And
have needs! Its
its more interesting
about time we were
than what I was
pandered to.
before. I was so shot
Such as?
when I wrote the lyrics on the album that theres
Such as the 12 fresh lemons I have to have
no distancing of persons at all. Its not a problem
every night on the next tour.
to live up to it, its just a problem to live, period.
This is exactly the stuff of which legends are
The way I seem to end up living these days, Im
made and, of course, Mr Eldritch forever keeps
very aware of how fast the bloods going round
an eye on legend. But I wonder, can someone
and how high the sugar level is because Ive been
so cryptic with such an advanced, nay, chronic,
forced to be aware of it.
sense of irony ever attain that status?
I now decide its time Mr Eldritch and I
No, because I always let people know just that
stopped beating around the bush and started
bit too much. It disturbs them.
talking serious drugs so I inform him that, in my
Mr Eldritchs favourite word is oblique and
humble opinion, the second side of First And
yet his followers tend to be the new Goths, the
Last And Always is about being wasted, nding it
ersatz Siouxsies. Strange. Mr Eldritchs fantasy
hard to cope and relishing every agonised second.
is much more subversive. He likes to irt with
He smirks: It would be
clichs. He likes twisting his
dishonest to write anything
sources. Goddamn, he even
more homely. I dont think
acknowledges his sources!
the bands particular
The Sisters once recorded
pleasures are destructive.
Gimme Shelter.
Its horses for courses. At
Everybodys doing
our age, you generally know
exactly the same thing to
whats good for you and
a greater or lesser degree.
what isnt and, most of the
Were just rather shameless
1. His favourite lm is The Blues
time, you stick to whats
about it. People dont like to
Brothers
good for you. None of the
be reminded of it. Theyd
2. He supports Manchester
songs on the album are
much rather we went out
United
about being a victim of ones
there like messiahs from
3`. He is currently courting Josie
own pleasures except in the
another planet whod never
from Vicious Pink
case of getting emotionally
heard of Chuck Berry
4. He owns a spifng collection
involved with people who
or he whispers this bit
of Likely Lads videos
arent very good for you.
Led Zeppelin.
So what sort of
5. He idolises Jake Thackeray
If its only rocknroll, is
6. Hes currently launching a
irresponsible hero is this
this Mr Eldritch really happy
campaign to get Reg Varney as
man in black who stalks
being a Sister?
the next Dr Who and, failing that,
the streets of Leeds 4 in a
Smug might be a better
Eleanor Bron
battered cowboy hat?
word. Were in a good
7. He studied French and German
The sort of irresponsible
position. We can step in
at St Johns, Oxford and then
hero who makes it very
and out of the mainstream
Chinese at Leeds University
clear that certain things
and the band decide whats
8. His black coat/cloak was given
are irresponsible. Theres
required, not someone else.
to him by The Gun Club
no actual propagation of
Is there anyone else, I ask,
9. He owns the 12-inch of
irresponsibility on the
who Mr Eldritch reckons is
Careless Whisper although he
records and thats why you
doing anything worthwhile?
doesnt own a record player. Its
need detachment, irony with
He pauses that pause:
important to have the artefact if
a capital I. You have to be
Roy Kinnear, always.
the records that good.
clinical about certain aspects
My, he is a smug bastard
10. Theres a picture of Jimmy
of portraying any persona,
isnt he?
White above his replace
even if its your genuine self.
Well, yeah. Why not?
DEREK RIDGERS
79
a startling grasp on
the John Lee Hooker
and Screaming Jay
Hawkins world of blues.
Thunderclaps and the
acid rain of futility drench
the sparse Bo Diddleystyle guitar of opener
Tupelo, which quickly
sets this album far above
the standard post-junkie blues
epics that are dampened by crass
sentiment and self-pity.
Knocking On Joe chimes to the
THE CURE
The Head On The Door
Fiction
80
NME ORIGINALS
claustrophobia of Pornography,
checked himself out of the funny
farm where he turned out The
Top, and now roams among us,
a harmless eccentric. I cant help
wondering if the magnicent liberty
that fashioned The Head On The
Door wont cement into another
image, comfortably digested and
easily dismissed.
Certainly, this album is as
wilfully enigmatic as ever. The
only difference is its determinedly
languorous, nowhere near as
tortured or tense as its predecessor.
So The Head is a collection
of pop songs, its as simple(?) as
that. Bursting with potential hits,
it staggers under its inuences,
rescued from dilettantism solely
by Smiths steady presence. Some
stuff, like The Baby Screams a
classic Cure concoction of mixed
metaphors and creeping guitar
will satisfy the Faithful. Others, like
Close To Me a squirming, sobbing,
pleading disco thing complete with
handclaps will seduce just about
any Tom, Dick or Vanessa.
The Head makes a mockery
not only of the accepted parameters
of what the radio will play and the
public accept, but also of what The
Cure are supposed to be about.
Theres nothing obscure or sinister
about A Night Like
This it deals with
love and despair in
desperate balance,
toys with a joyously
incongruous singalong
and accommodates a
sax break more at home
with Hall & Oates.
Its a neat ragbag of
the arbitrary, each song
a separate piece from a different
jigsaw. Some shapes bear the
imprint of exotic scenes Kyoto
Song sounds Japanese while The
Blood stamps through its paces to
a amenco guitar. Others suggest
there are more strident, less ckle
things ahead. Push, for example,
is stronger, less whimsical than
anything on The Top, and Sinking
is more majestic, more honest
perhaps than anything Smiths done
since All Cats Are Grey.
As a compilation of possibilities,
The Head On The Door is
perfection of sorts a romp more
than a rage through the closet,
trying things on, not tearing them
up. This Cure is boisterous but
relaxed and reliably unreliable.
Im used to it now and I use it with
pleasure.
So, no more Mad Bob. Next time,
something else. Again.
Steve Sutherland
BLEDDYN BUTCHER
Southern
No
More Mad
DeAth
BobCult
1985
MM, 17 August 1985, p24
A Suitable
CaseFor
Treatment
Has Robert Smith taken the cure? He says yes.
Steve Sutherland isnt convinced. Now read on
TOM SHEEHAN
81
Sick Boy
dont get something for nothing any more.
There are a lot of references to dreams in my
songs. It seems to bother other people but its
never really worried me that I have vivid dreams.
I nd it very reassuring. Its not always nice to
wake up with your whole body vibrating like an
engine it sometimes takes three minutes to get
back to normal but thats OK.
Robert Smith:
doesnt look at all
mental ,does he?
82 NNMMEE OORRIIGGIINNAALLSS
??
Everything.
Isnt that hard?
No, not at all. I just decided one night. I
was doing absolutely nothing, yknow? It got
to the point when cleaning your teeth seemed
too much bother. Its cack when you get to that
stage, so I tried to learn to water-ski and things
like that the other extreme. It actually shocked
my body back into a happy status quo. I didnt
get t but, at the same time, I didnt keel over
and spend a month in a rest home which is what
everyone said I should do.
I thought that idea was bollocks you know
your own body or you should do. The older
you get, the more you know it. Im afraid I can
no longer wake up in the morning and boast that
I havent got a hangover.
Me neither. Never. Wonder how this affects
Boy Smiths public image?
Id be hard-pressed to imagine what my
public image is, to be honest. Indifferent. It
varies, actually, from place to place. Here its
very obvious from the general media myth thats
perpetuated character assassination, thats the
phrase Im after. But in America Im considered
a really radical bloke, a really dangerous person,
on the Wanted list, because they lter through
the more sordid elements from England and
TOM SHEEHAN
1985
then they also invent their own oh, and also,
when Im in America, I misbehave more than I
do in England because its far away from home.
In Japan, its teenybop hysteria. We went
mega there we were on television arriving at
the station. But in New Zealand were still doom
and gloom, so when we go there, we only smile
behind closed doors.
NME ORIGINALS
83
Thisaintthesummeroflove
Hippies, hippies everywhere. Or are they punks? Or are they
psychedelic hard rockers? Steve Sutherland comes face to face
with The Cult and finds theyre all these things and less
TOM SHEEHAN
84
NME ORIGINALS
1985
says Billy. Maybe now is the time for well,
the positive. Thats been a terrible word for a few
years, almost frightening, but maybe what were
involved with is the rst thing thats positive.
Every other fashion hippies, acid rock, punk
seemed to be against something. Well, were
not necessarily against in that obvious way.
I think wed better start again
Hippy Cult:
Ian Astbury,
Mark Brzezicki,
Billy Duffy and
Jamie Stewart
THE CULT
Love
Beggars Banquet
85
1985
Worlds
apart
How do you interview The Cocteau Twins? Steve
Sutherland, who considers them to be something like
the voice of God, doesnt know. Well, he sat down and
talked to them for a bit, and this is what happened
The End
In the best of all possible worlds, said Robin,
this wouldnt be happening. Hold it right
there. Ive read this before.
But
No buts. Im determined that this will not be
another Cocteau Twins interview about how
The Cocteau Twins hate interviews because
that, after all, after hours of agonised silence
and blank incomprehension, is all that anyones
ever gleaned from this lot on paper. I wont sit
down and discuss this again. I wont attempt
to defend the rigmarole of the rocknroll
interview, nor will I perpetrate it further.
So what shall I do Robin? What shall I do?
And what will I get? Will I get anything? Or is
there nothing there to get? Nothing at all?
Well, were not divs but people make us out
to be we come over like
Yes I understand that I dont understand.
TOM SHEEHAN
Some justification
The Cocteau Twins make my favourite music
in the whole wide world ever and, on 16 and
22 November, they release two four-track EPs.
I want to talk about them but I know its no
good. They want them well-treated because
they envisage a Cocteau Twins backlash on
the horizon and they dont think its fair. Just
because they dont t in, folks think they refuse
to t in, but its not the same thing at all.
Theres nothing wilful about the Cocteaus
refusal to play along, they just do what they do,
thats all.
Hey, they live on our planet, believe it or
not. They eat, they drink, they see what we see
and hear what we hear. Its just that what they
create when theyre locked away somewhere has
no bearing on any of this whatsoever. My task,
I suppose, is to reconcile this into some sort
of sense but all I can come up with is intricate
babble which, even in the act of praising, seems
to tarnish their pure simplicity.
Ill admit at this point that I was going to wax
The unmentionable
mentioned
The Cocteau Twins dont exactly scream at
you to ask them about their sex lives or the
colour of their socks, so it all comes down to
self-justication and that nebulous area where
youve no idea what youre talking about or what
will come out and the smallest detail assumes
the stature of enigma. Or
Robin: Im still completely at a loss to
understand what people want to know. Ill
tell all. We do tell all, thats the thing I cant
understand. What more can I say?
They confess
Robin: It almost gets to the stage where you
just want to turn round to somebody and say,
Yeah, Im really magical and mysterious,
thats what I think about myself. Im weird and
obscure and it rubs off on the music
Simon: Yeah, were religious, spiritual
Liz: Would you like some tea or coffee just
now?
Robin: Theres some tins arent there? Ill
have another beer.
Liz: Youll want a fuckin straw with it next
get you pissed quicker.
Robin: Got any gin?
Liz: Um er NO! I distinctly remember
you nishing it off last night. Dont drink
Robin: But Im getting my hair cut tonight.
Liz: Yes, I know. Youll fall asleep and wake
up with a skinhead thatll fuckin sort you out.
Youll never drink again.
NME ORIGINALS
87
Liz Frazer
Robin Guthrie
Fat, funny, delightfully sarcastic, he crimps his
hair to stop it looking pubic.
This thin guy with glasses comes up to him
in the Croydon Underground, brandishing a
poster advertising the 4AD night and asking for
an autograph. Robin looks him up and down,
snorts his disapproval and begins to read it out.
Xymox. Is that us?
No.
Wolfgang Press. Is that us?
Uh no.
Dif Juz. Is that us?
No.
Well then, shouldnt you be going to get
their autographs?
The bloke slinks off, bemused. Robin turns to
me and says: Its bad enough when they want
you to sign Cocteau Twins stuff.
Thats a very Robin thing to do.
Simon Raymonde
Simon was disgusted by the Banshees at
Hammersmith Odeon. He considered them
heavy metal. Worst of all, though, he
considered the encores dishonest.
Thats a very Simon thing to say.
88
NME ORIGINALS
Temptation
I confess
If the process of this interview is to ascertain
some truth, to nudge some reality, to realise
there arent any answers then Ive failed. If the
essence of the piece is to avoid an obsessive
autopsy of The Cocteau Twins problematic
relationship to the interview, Ive let you
down badly. Its here, its inescapable and Im
circling, searching for something I cant dene,
struggling to discover is the big factor or the
conveniently mystical cop-out.
Certainly the people I met and the records
I hear dont match up too well, dont t. Im
speaking of what stubbornly wont be spoken
of and its the best I can do to tell you that of all
the outts Ive ever met the characters of The
Cocteau Twins are the least informative when
applied to their music.
And naturally, in saying that, I open two
options, each equally inappropriate: theyre not
fakers, they wear no masks, they hide nowhere,
nor are they recipients for some mysterious
muse. They dont act as ciphers for some
spiritual genius descending from the either.
The Cocteau Twins just go and do it and if
they dont know, why the hell should I?
TOM SHEEHAN
My method
Special Issues
ISSUE 1 The Beatles
Quick!
Only a few
issues
left!
Quick!
Only a few
issues
left!
ISSUE 5 U2
ISSUE 8 Radiohead
ISSUE 15 Glam
ISSUE 2 Punk
ISSUE 3 Oasis
ISSUE 6 Nirvana
ISSUE 7 Madchester
Quick!
Only a few
issues
left!
Legends presents
ISSUE 3 U2
Morphine Paradise
SISTERS OF MERCY
No Time To Cry
(WEA)
THE CULT
She Sells Sanctuary
(Beggars Banquet)
90
NME ORIGINALS
COCTEAU TWINS
Tiny Dynamine
MM, 3 August 1985, p34
NICK CAVE
Tupelo
(Mute)
THE CURE
In Between Days
(Fiction)
(4AD)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Cities In Dust
(Wonderland)
COCTEAU TWINS
Echoes In A Shallow Bay
(4AD)
Chapter 8
DEREK RIDGERS
1986
Mission Accomplished
the battle but we didnt see it as a battle as
such more of a publicity stunt.
On hearing of the split and the newlynamed Missions intentions for the future,
WEA promptly showed Wayne and co the
quickest way out of the building.
WEA didnt think I could sing. They
gave us this list of singers they thought
would be good for us Andi Sex Gang,
Gavin from the Virgin Prunes and Sal
Solo. They just didnt have a clue.
We were open to constructive criticism
but Sal bloody Solo is not constructive
criticism, Mick states.
They seem to be playing a different
game to Eldritch taking it out on the
road as opposed to sticking in the studio.
Wayne: Im a very different person
to Eldritch. First and foremost Im more
sociable. The feeling of comradeship
in The Mission is very similar to the
one I had when I was in Dead Or Alive.
Andrew was very hard to work with.
You never got any credit. I mean, he was
a real headfucker.
Dont you ever wish The Mission
were starting out tomorrow just like
every other band, with none of the
expectations and exploits of the past
hanging around your shoulders?
Wayne: No, cos then wed be playing
The Mission: (l to r)
Mick Brown, Craig
the fucking dives of the world. In some
Adams, Wayne
ways its a bit of an albatross but it does
Hussey and Simon
guarantee us an audience. Initially,
Hinkler
itll probably be very similar to that
of the Sisters, but, in time, I think it
MM, 10 May 1986, p14
will widen. Our songs are a lot more
accessible than the Sisters ever were.
Would you say youre writing for others now
then, rather than yourself?
I never used to write for myself. It was always
for Andrew. The criteria we use in The Mission
is that if it sounds good when we play it on an
Do you feel more comfortable in The Mission?
acoustic guitar in my living room then its a good
Nah, he sighs. Some people can feel
song. Thats how our single Serpents Kiss was
comfortable in a ve-star hotel but I cant. Id
written. The majority of the songs weve been
rather be in a hovel cos you can trash it and not
doing in the set so far are my songs that Andrew
do much damage. Its the same thing with The
rejected for the second Sisters album. Its ironic
Mission. I can trash it and not do much damage
cos he actually saw us in Birmingham and told
whereas, with the Sisters, there was a certain
us how good he thought the songs were.
reverence even when I joined the group.
Was he being sarcastic? Or was it from the
bottom of his heart?
Presleys From Hell took shape towards
Wayne: I dont think he has a bottom of his
the end of the Sisters reign Wayne and Craig
heart. Bottom of his hat perhaps.
Snake
charmers
The Elvis
92
NME ORIGINALS
CORBIS
1986
THE SISTERHOOD
Gift (Merciful Release)
It all looked so obvious. Minimalist
packaging and one of those glossy
black sleeves thats covered with
singing-into-my-boots
from Andrew Eldritch
that always made the
Sisters slightly comical.
And when he does
sing, on the version
of the single Giving
Ground, it sounds
like Peter Murphy
having a dark moment.
Eventually Im ground under by
a relentless synth beat that crushes
all colour in its path.
93
Southern
A
SensitiveDeAth
Guy Cult
Im inconsistent, illogical,
irrational. So fuckin what?
94
NME ORIGINALS
I just
BLEDDYN BUTCHER
95
Purple Prose
96
NME ORIGINALS
Victorialand
(4AD)
1986
(Mute)
THE MISSION
Gods Own Medicine
(Mercury)
97
Sweet Nothings
THE SISTERHOOD
Giving Ground
(Merciful Releases)
THE MISSION
THE MISSION
Serpents Kiss
(Chapter 22)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Candyman
PETER ANDERSON
(Wonderland)
98
NME ORIGINALS
A blood-curdling 50 seconds of
whip-cracking, saddlesore Tex
Mexabilly. This bucking bronco of
a single shows itself no mercy and
nally runs itself into the ground
with a sparkling accordion solo in
the nal furlong. There are many
ways to describe The Cocteau
Twins, arent there, kids?
Cath Carroll
THE MISSION
Garden Of Delight
(Chapter 22)
The Mission:
lacking in humour
apparently.
Apart from their
hats of course
Chapter 9
DEREK RIDGERS
1987
Waynes WorlD
100
NME ORIGINALS
1987
NME ORIGINALS
101
THE CULT
Electric
THE MISSION
The First Chapter
(Phonogram)
102
NME ORIGINALS
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Through The Looking Glass
(Polydor)
(Beggars Banquet)
1987
Musically it sounds like a trip
through the styles of the 70s, from
sub-T.Rex catchphrasing through
acid-scrambled nonsense (Sitting
on a mountain looking at the sun/
Plastic fantastic lobster telephone)
to full blown Led Zeppelin bombast.
We might wonder just
how serious this can
be when we hear lines
like: Zany antics of
a beat generation/In
their wild search for
kicks. But the kids
with the dollars in
their pockets and
the college radio
station on their
portables wont .
Theres gold in this here swill.
Don Watson
THE CURE
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
(Fiction)
FIELDS OF THE
NEPHILIM
Dawnrazor
(Situation 2)
103
ello?
Thin White Duck here.
Who?
Andy.
Andy?
Eldritch.
Oh uh hi, Eldritch.
Come for drinks.
When?
Now.
I cant, Im asleep. Its seven in the morning.
Is it? Oh, coffee then.
Later.
Sure. Kensington. My hotel. At 10.
OK Uh, you havent been to sleep yet have
you?
When this week? This month?
After the gig.
Uh no. Went to Dingwalls with Lemmy
and these Hells Angels and
Save it, Eldritch. Save it. See you later.
HIS MASTERS
VOICE
Andrew Eldritch, the godfather of goth, is back to lead
his children form the hippy wilderness and to prove
The Sisters of Mercy are first and last and always.
Steve Sutherland gets the message
MM, 5 september 1987, p14
104N MN EM EO ROIRGIIGNIANLASL S
??
1987
There were others from Hamburg, the last of
which was written in Chinese, and I wasnt the
only one who feared for the great mans sanity.
Rumour had it a combination of devastated
health, legal binds and sheer disappointment
that his ex-henchmen had made a go of The
Mission had laid Eldritch near-fatally low. We
presumed the world and Eldritch, to all extents
and purposes, had parted company. Such
miserable unbelievers!
NME ORIGINALS
TOM SHEEHAN
105
106
NME ORIGINALS
must be an idiot.
Theres an inner integrity and
authority in Corrosion which comes of
pain, grief and suffering. I couldnt do
what The Cult are singing, I couldnt do
what The Beastie Boys are doing, I couldnt
do what Madonna is doing. I could do what
Alice Cooper did but then Im not extrovert
enough. I would have no scruples about
doing it if I were able to.
And if it takes a year ghting
corporate wars in order to be able to do it
with integrity, then Ill do it or not at
all. I dont HAVE to do this.
Well-oiled sisters:
Andrew Eldritch
and Patricia
Morrison
1987
the expectations. Its a long war but Corrosion
might win one battle and, after all, its the only
war worth ghting.
How much is revenge the motive?
The Gift was the revenge, a weapon very
specically pointed. This is the gloating, much
more widespread, more general.
Why did you go to live in Hamburg?
Its the largest city in the Federal Republic
which is the most powerful country in Europe.
Its just such a wonderfully cool place because its
not populated by cool people like Berlin.
Do you feel badly done by in Britain then?
Yeah. Not so much these days because Ive
got a reasonable amount of goodwill stored up
but one knows its only goodwill as long as you
dont start talking about aesthetics when they ask
you what your favourite colour is.
TOM SHEEHAN
107
108
NME ORIGINALS
PETER ANDERSON
1987
109
Kissing
To Be
Clever
1987
TOM SHEEHAN
111
Messiah Of Angst
112
NME ORIGINALS
TOM SHEEHAN
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23W
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
This Wheels On Fire
(Wonderland)
THE CURE
Why Cant I Be You?
(Fiction)
Wasteland
(Phonogram)
114
NME ORIGINALS
This Corrosion
(Merciful Release)
THE CURE
Flowers In Our Hair
THE MISSION
SISTERS OF MERCY
Chapter 10
DEREK RIDGERS
1988
Fields Of The
Nephilim: our
in the desert
1988
A Fistful Of
DYNAMITE
They rode into town from the wastelands of Stevenage, f ive mean hombres with a burning thirst,
preaching the prairie gospel of Goth. They called themselves Fields Of The Nephilim and the folks
locked up their wives and daughters and got on down. Steve Sutherland joined the posse in Spain
to discover why these dudes are wanted, dead or alive
TOM SHEEHAN
117
Spaghetti Metal
other new music at all so it
must full something in our
lives which is needed.
Commitment and work is
readily used as an excuse for
their lack of inclination to assess
their surroundings. Perhaps
these blinkers are purely
instinctive. Perhaps, though,
their insularity runs deeper.
We should investigate the
live phenomenon. Why, in an
era when live music is patently
dying, are the Nephs such a live
attraction? What is it about the
live situation which suits them?
You can get a feeling off
Baking with the
one live gig which youll never
Nephs: they supply
the our while the
ever get again. And its the
critics throw eggs
same being in a band as being
in the audience, says Pete Wright,
the skinny guitarist with a bad bout of
u. Earlier I gave him my bottle of cough
medicine, good and speedy Do Dos, and he
poured it into a jug of Sangria and quaffed
the lot. Good stuff.
Ive so often heard a good record and
then been disappointed because the band
couldnt pull it off live, says Paul Wright,
and cement mixers. I think we have quite an
the other guitarist who likes the drink, has
original sound, but one thats natural.
cultivated a sort of Bobby Charlton over-sweep
I think its honest, says Tony. Its an honest
without the bald bit and apparently has a mole
sound because everyones playing exactly what
on his ass like a hairy map of Australia.
we wanna play.
And thats only been recently. Going back a
The Nephs insistence on naturalness leads us
few years, bands used to play live, says Carl.
into an elephants graveyard of opinion its too
ip, too easy. Surely they must have some verbal
in the day, the band are supposed to be
notion of what makes a good record?
soundchecking at the En Bruto Club, Zaragoza
An atmosphere, says Tony. Another big,
a neat little mini-Marquee that holds about 500
meaningless, all-encompassing word.
(80 eventually turn up) where the bands have to
Weve tried empiricism and failed. Time to
get stupid. The Nephs are goths, or they appeal
be off stage by 10pm because an old couple live in
to goths. Given 10 minutes with a new song to
the at upstairs but the equipment, such as it is,
write, they veer towards the darkness rather
isnt ready, so we drive out to the hills in search
than the light.
of some desert photo locations. Winding up a
I dont nd our music particularly dreary,
precarious track we discover an ancient mission
says Paul. We can see we appeal to a gothic
church and a ruin. The sun makes a bid to sink
audience says Carl. Yes, but Im here talking
behind the horizon before the photographer
to ve funny geezers who adore Steve Martin
gets snapping and where are the boys? I peer
and tell some dodgy jokes and yet on record, up
around the other side of the van and there they
there on stage, they become something other,
are, covering each other in our.
something else. How? Why?
You didnt see that, says Tony.
Its a different language, says Carl. Its
I didnt see that.
uent to us and, between us all, we create this
from Stevenage and dressing as cowboys
sound and this atmosphere.
must surely detract from any attempt on their
Yes, but is it important that pop is something
part to be taken seriously.
other? Is that what its for ?
It makes us easy targets, yeah, says Nod.
I dont think Joe Public wants to come and
People probably look at us and think straight
see Joe Public on stage, if thats what you mean,
away that were just another indie band with
says Tony. They want a bit of escapism.
an image, says Carl. And, to be honest, bands
Yes, but the Nephs go beyond this with their
with images have always put me off. But, looking
Morricone worship and their sound symbolic
at us, I can see weve got this image and yet we
of wide open spaces, they surely suggest pop
feel like its different. Every band will probably
can attain the heroic and that, through pop, the
tell you the same that they feel comfortable in
human can become superhuman.
those clothes and thats why they wear them.
Yeah, its approaching epic, says Nod.
I really do though.
Why do they aspire to that?
Is it important for the Nephs to be different,
Once Upon A Time In The West is epic,
to sound original? Indeed, with their deliberately
says Paul.
traditional rock line-up, is it even possible?
Epic, to me, is like a feeling, says Pete. Its
We dont go out of our way to be original,
not something you can put into words.
says Carl, because if we did wed play chainsaws
Cheers.
Earlier
Coming
1988
TOM SHEEHAN
(Phonogram)
THE MISSION
Children
(Phonogram)
119
??
The Garden
With a debut album and a national tour about to explode,
dream lovers All About Eve teach Chris Roberts about
Liz Cocteau, Cilla Black, Pandoras Box, feminism and
anything connected with clouds
1988
Of Eden
one says its shit, and its the one who says its shit
that I focus on and try to convert. I think, Ive
got the nine, I want the tenth.
This is determination, old-fashioned
conviction, rather than greed. Faith.
I never thought it wouldnt happen. It
wasnt ego, it was that I never let it cross my
mind for fear of what on earth I would think
about then. Now things are a lot easier thanks
to the good fairy Phonogram, but well never
become complacent. Were staying rmly in
obsessive perfectionist mode.
TOM SHEEHAN
Frustrated Vikings
All About Eve recover
from another bout of
burning, shooting,
raping and looting
121
Pop Valhalla
FIELDS OF
THE NEPHILIM
The Nephilim
(Situation Two)
122
NME ORIGINALS
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Peepshow
(Polydor)
COCTEAU TWINS
Blue Bell Knoll
(4AD)
Nick Cave
at his most
lovable
BLEDDYN BUTCHER
1988
123
THE MISSION
Tower Of Strength
(Phonogram)
THE CURE
Hot Hot Hot
(Fiction)
124
NME ORIGINALS
SISTERS OF MERCY
Dominion
(WEA)
SISTERS OF MERCY
Lucretia, My Reflection
(WEA)
SIOUXSIE &
THE BANSHEES
Peek-A-Boo
(Polydor)
Chapter 11
DEREK RIDGERS
1989
Bad Medicine
By the end of 1987 The Cult had achieved enormous success but were on
the verge of splitting up. Two years on, they return with a new single,
Fire Woman, and a new album, Sonic Temple. Carol Clerk reports on
how Ian Astbury and co survived alcoholism and nervous breakdowns
and rediscovered rocknroll religion
MM, 18 March 1989, p28
1989
TOM SHEEHAN
Jamie Stewart
The band
NME ORIGINALS
127
THE CULT
Sonic Temple
(Beggars Banquet)
128
NME ORIGINALS
was an interruption, a
hint, a nuisance.
Do you know, said
Jamie as we vacated the
suite, my dad was a violinist with the London
Symphony Orchestra? He played on a whole
series of Classic Rock albums, and the rst
one included Paint It Black and Whole Lotta
Love. At the time I was thrashing around in a
garage trying to be a punk rocker. I didnt have
the connection then. Punk rock was a rebellion
against everything including Led Zeppelin and
classical music. Now I can see the relevance of all
rock music, from when it started to now.
TOM SHEEHAN
When
1989
Y
E
ARS
N
E
T
INLIPSTICK
AND POWDER
NME, 8 April 1989, p15
he Spiderman is recounting
his favourite tale of horror
and woe. Its a long and strange
and infamous story, and I have heard it
many times before, but never like tonight, and
never from the Spiderman himself.
It begins in Blackpool three decades ago
and ends in Baker Street in three hours
time, and thats as much truth as you need
to know. A bizarre stew of lies and dreams,
and as compelling as hypnosis, it has the
most fantastic soundtrack you could want.
And the plot? Thats up to you.
Robert James Smith of The Cure stretches
his eight long great black arms around me and
we begin.
I wanted something like the really bad
Marvel characters with really stupid powers.
Like The Candy Striped Man, who could turn
everything into candy stripes.
Smith is describing The Spiderman and The
Spiderman is describing Smith. Both appear,
as monster and victim, in The Cures haunting
new single Lullaby. Whispered from the
depths of Smiths most tortured memories and
set in the heart of nightmare land, Lullaby,
like all The Cures best works, takes nervous
DEREK RIDGERS
The 80s
129
Shambling Monster
Developing their ability to demolish peoples
expectations, The Cure have spent the last
decade changing from a dark and intense
underground band into a glam but imaginative
Top Of The Pops accessory. Their singles have
been as unpredictable as their LPs are solid, and
Smith himself has become the thinking mans
Sixth Formers crumpet.
Strangely this metamorphosis happened
while Britain experienced the biggest teeny-bop
explosion since the early 70s. The bands web of
success has spread throughout the world. There
have been over eight million
album sales, tours that have
stretched from Australasia to the
Middle East to South America
and back, and theres an evergrowing mass of US support that
was built almost entirely on the
Maybe Smith
Smith is jubilant as
he plays A Forest
on stage for the
14,763rd time
130N MN EM EO ROIRGIIGNIANLASL S
??
1989
Smiths relationship
Smith was
Even though
THE CURE
Disintegration
(Fiction)
Robert Smith
reckons
Disintegration
isnt a miserable
record at all.
Right. Meanwhile
Van Gogh says
Starry Night was
a cartoon, Francis Bacon claims hes a disco
king and Joan of Arc announces she was only
cutting down on heating costs.
Disintegration is about as much fun as
losing a limb. How can a group this distressing
and disturbing be so popular? Surely its not
allowed! Lullaby is much too intricate and
interesting to loll about in the Top Five. Yet
there it is. Inexplicable. Roberts not that
steamily erotic, is he? Is he? Oh.
Youll be lucky to nd a tune on here. Or a
gag. But when you think about it, that last one,
that one about snogging, that was bloody long
and mostly forlorn too. The Cure have almost
invisibly stopped making pop records. This is
exactly what Smith denies it is a return to the
bleak inner landscapes of Pornography and
Faith. The rst line? I think its dark and looks
like rain. The last line? Ill never lose this pain.
Here comes summer.
The words which lumber to mind as you hear
The Cure bottling out of topping themselves
are all the words now devalued and used only
to mock goths: doom, gloom, barren, despair.
Its an utter refusal to ght, to take the bull by
the horns. They have nothing to say except:
please help me I dont understand a thing
about the world oh actually its not important
dont trouble yourself go back to sleep.
Most of the tracks oat sorrowfully into
each other. Pictures Of You is as jaunty as
it ever gets, Prayers For Rain as aggressive,
the title track as witty. Listless rhythms and
rhymes abound, glissando guitars whisper,
Robert mumbles and wonders whether he can
be bothered to plead. The closer, Untitled,
decides: And now the time has gone, another
time undone/Hopelessly ghting the devil
futility/Feeling the monster climb deeper inside
of me gnawing my heart away Pluck it out
boy! Smith mopes. Hell never send a letterbomb when his wounds are easier to lick than
an envelope. Hes a touchstone for millions.
Its decent of him to share all this with us.
Its challenging and claustrophobic, often
poignant, often tedious. Its nearly surprising.
Youve heard of the cowardly lion. Meet the
hesitant dinosaurs.
Chris Roberts
NME ORIGINALS
131
A solitary
If youre
AndThe Ass
SawThe Angel
132
NME ORIGINALS
1989
(Mercury)
romancing her
memories but cant
bring itself to chide
her as so many people
end up alone.
Scarlet declares
with poignant
purity that lust is an
unsatisfying exercise
in self-deception while
Hard Spaniard is an embarrassingly
frank catalogue of the events
that befall a girl so desperate for
company she submits to the abuse
of the one-night-stand.
Musically, though, the band are
content to rummage among the
roots of rock. Scarlet sounds
standard, gently melancholy and
occasionally twee
(theres a cute ddle folde-rol in More Than The
Blues) when its really
a very harsh album
indeed. Its ironic that
their coltish beauty
betrays their darker,
deeper intent.
Steve Sutherland
THE CREATURES
Boomerang
(Polydor)
Siouxsie and
Budgie:
gyn-ecologists
NME ORIGINALS
133
Merrie England
THE CULT
Fire Woman
(Beggars Banquet)
THE CURE
Lullaby
(Fiction)
THE CULT
Edie (Ciao Baby)
(Beggars Banquet)
TOM SHEEHAN
Chapter 12
DEREK RIDGERS
1990-92
Love Missiles
THE MISSION
Carved In Sand
(Phonogram )
136
NME ORIGINALS
Sister Sputnik
MM, 3 February 1990, p3
STEVE DOUBLE
Carved In Sand
catches The Mish
on the crest of
another wave
of phenomenal
ordinariness.
Hung with all the
usual accessories
junk shop
mysticism, Sesame Street metaphor and
nger-dancing chintziness this ten-strong
mountain-mover is a prime cut indeed.
For all the glib criticism ung gaily (and
daily) at The Mish, their noise remains both
graceful and rugged; a well-worn, in-bred
hybrid of pomp rock and Avalon nursery
rhyme. Divorced from Husseys parabolic
prose, yer average Mish song has a tea-andslippers familiarity to it.
Buttery On A Wheel is a superior love
song true, its title is nicked from an old
editorial in The Times, and yes, the idea of
love being as fragile as a buttery wing is
nothing if not shite but Wayne sings it
with such an uninching honesty only a
professional whinge merchant could fail to
be touched by it.
Elsewhere, Grapes Of Wrath pushes its
luck a bit, with its lyric about toiling on the
land and reaping the harvest, but a modest
pearl like Sea Of Love ultimately wins you
over with its beautiful Dear Prudence guitar
upholstery. Deliverance is the albums
obvious keystone a purpose-built epic that
starts like a John Carpenter soundtrack and
ends up delivering the stuff that nationwide Mish-understanding is based on: Give
me/Give me/ Give me/Deliverance.
But Amelia ought to make even the most
ardent Mish-t choke. Attacking the delicate
subject of child abuse with a mallet, Wayne
sings, quite clearly, Daddy says come and sit
on my knee/Daddy loves his little girl. Now
it is obviously a passionate diatribe against
Daddy, but it is also the most ham-sted
attempt at writing a wrong Ive ever heard.
Stick to the farmyard noises in future. The
nal track, Lovely, is an acoustic ramble
recorded in a eld (true!) in which we learn
that Wayne believes in colours, sunshine,
laughter, crying, magic and dreams.
Thats more like it!
Carved In Sand then, is a vast oasis
with a little desert in the middle of it, if
youll forgive the duff metaphor. And
if youre a top Mish fan, you will.
Andrew Collins
1990-1992
(Mute)
THE COCTEAU
TWINS
Heaven Or Las Vegas
(4AD)
Lets get one thing straight.
I am not a fan of The
Cocteau Twins. Music
can be a passionate,
terrifying, mysterious
thing and still feel
cold to the touch but
The Cocteau Twins
have always struck
me as being the very
antithesis of musical
truehearts. Like vinyl
Marie Antoinettes, they have
spent their entire career believing
rather stupidly that your sweet
tooth houses your entire digestive
system and that the fat, squashy
cakes they bake, avoured with rich,
dark chocolate to hide the taste
of bromide, are enough to keep
you going.
Furthermore, after
trivialising lifes absolutes
pain, fear, the death of love
into sprays of Frazers
hieroglyphic warblebaubles, the Twins next
step is always to stand
back from the pretty
wreckage, refusing to
clear up or explain the
mess theyve made.
Our minds are supposed
to do all the talking,
and while it is right and
good that music should be
left open to interpretation, lets
not fool ourselves that anything
other than our own sense of
melodramatic self-importance
is connecting with the selfimportant melodrama in them.
Worse, its all quite
intentional. Exactly the
opposite of their
affectedly queer,
ethereal media
image, The
Cocteau Twins
Liz Frazer:
hieroglyphic
are actually
warble-baubles
Nick Cave:
still the
black sheep
137
Southern DeAth
Existential
Elvis Cult
His attitudes
EXCESS ALL
Its been two years since Floodland reinstated Eldritch
as the Godfather of Goth. Now hes back with a new
single, a new band and a new album. Chris Roberts
discovers why hes the last great rocknroll star
MM, 6 October 1990, p32
138
NME ORIGINALS
1990-1992
sensible and knows what theyre doing.
What preoccupies you?
Same as everybody else really. Women.
Drugs. Newspapers. My attitudes have shifted
a little. Im drinking again now. I spent a long
time not drinking as a reaction. By the time we
nished touring last time I was doing almost a
litre of gin a day. Im keeping an eye on it this
time cos alcohols not very good for me. It doesnt
turn me into a better person; it just makes me fall
asleep in public more. Or fall over.
AREAS
TOM SHEEHAN
139
Dogs On Heat
THE SISTERS
OF MERCY
Vision Thing
(Merciful Release)
140
NME ORIGINALS
a fragile masterpiece of
staged suffering. Ive
seen the best of men
go past, he sings in a
pained contradiction
of resignation and
melodrama, I dont
wanna be the last.
Its harrowing and
hilarious and, behind
the theatricality, more honest
than he ever hopes well know.
Steve Sutherland
THE MISSION
Grains Of Sand
(Mercury)
1990-1992
THE CULT
Ceremony
(Beggars Banquet)
THE MISSION
Masque
(Phonogram)
141
The
Mansion Family
NME, 18 April 1992, p24
Between thinking of buying small Cornish villages and uncharted Islands, The Cure have
recorded their ninth album in all its sticky-up-haired glory. Reformed goth Andrew Collins
is granted an audience with the worlds most lucrative pantomime
1990-1992
Face it,
143
THE CURE
Wish
(Fiction)
144
NME ORIGINALS
The Cure
DEREK RIDGERS
1990-1992
THE MISSION
Butterfly On A Wheel
(Myth)
THE CURE
Never Enough
(Fiction)
SISTERS OF MERCY
More
(Merciful Release)
COCTEAU TWINS
Iceblink Luck
(4AD)
THE CURE
THE CURE
Close To Me
Friday Im In Love
(Fiction)
(Fiction)
NME ORIGINALS
145
Queens of noise:
Originals Editor Steve
Sutherland with Wayne
Hussey of The Mission at
the Metal Gurus video
shoot, London, 1990
EDITORIAL 25th Floor, Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS EDITOR Steve Sutherland ART EDITOR Jimmy Young PICTURE EDITOR Monica Chouhan (020 7261 5245) PRODUCTION EDITOR Tom Mugridge
(020 7261 7613) EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Elizabeth Curran (020 7261 6036) EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS: Rachel Coello, Susan Forrest, Emma Beddard, Susanna Grant, Lorna Donnelly, Sue Coello, Lorraine Dawson
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Steve Sutherland (020 7261 6471) NME EDITOR Conor McNicholas (020 7261 6472) NME.COM EDITOR Anthony Thornton (020 7261 5391) EDITORIAL PA Karen Walter (020 7261 6472) PRESS Nicola
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146
NME ORIGINALS
BANDS/SONGWRITERS
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