Gothic rock

Gothic Rock Formation

Gothic rock appeared in the late 1970s, when a number of bands appeared on the punk rock scene, whose rough, depressive, rhythmic music came to be called post-punk, and some groups that used a certain image and theme of lyrics were called gothic rock. Well-known journalist and music historian Nick Kent in New Musical Express reviewed a concert by Siouxsie and the Banshees in July 1978 and compared them to “Gothic architects such as Velvet Underground and The Doors ^[25] . It is not known for certain who first used the term gothic rock - it is generally believed that it was used by the BBC presenter in 1979 to characterize the music of Joy Division , and then this definition was used by New Musical Express journalist when describing Bauhaus 's single “ Bela Lugosi's Dead . "

The creators of this musical style (who were inspired by artists such as Velvet Underground , The Doors , Nico and David Bowie ) were mostly Joy Division , Siouxsie and the Banshees , Bauhaus , Virgin Prunes and UK Decay . The first Banshees album (" The Scream ", November 1978) and the first Joy Division album (" Unknown Pleasures ", June 1979) were largely a model for the Goths, with a noticeable absence of loud punk guitars and an emphasis on the rhythm section instead, along with sharp empty sound. The first album, Siouxsie and the Banshees, with its dark production and great sound, was called the great influence of the Joy Division on the peculiar guitar playing and peculiar percussion drums ^[26] .

However, the first group to be called Gothic was Bauhaus, who released their first single, “Bela Lugosi's Dead” in September 1979. Siouxsie and the Banshees could be considered post-punk, The Cure for new wave , Joy Division for post punk, but Bauhaus was clearly Gothic in music, image, lyrics, art and style from their very first single. In many ways, they were a prototype of the Gothic group.

Around the same time that Bauhaus formed, UK Decay abandoned their punk roots and began to develop their own independent “Gothic” sound. Although they were not as popular as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division or Bauhaus, UK Decay were much closer to the “second wave” of Gothic groups and had a significant impact on them.

In 1980/81, a new wave of Gothic bands began to appear - Danse Society , Play Dead , The Sisters of Mercy - and The Cure abandoned their new wave sound and created their own unique "Gothic" sound. In February 1981, Abbo from UK Decay designated the new Gothic music movement, but another year or so passed before the movement really formed.

An important period in the development of the Gothic movement into a fully formed subculture was from mid-1982 to mid-1983, in which October 1982 should be especially noted, when the new movement suddenly received great attention from the media.

In 1982, the Christian Death band's only album, entitled Only Theater of Pain , was released, considered the first death rock album .

In July 1982, the Batcave Club opened. At first it was calculated as a club for people who were fed up with the commercial orientation of New Romantic and they wanted something new and darker. At first glam and electronic music were played there, but some early Gothic bands also played there, and the repertoire gradually became more Gothic.

So Batcave became the main gathering place for the formed scene in London and also attracted a lot of attention from the media, which in turn dismissed the idea of ​​a new subculture around the country. With the heyday of Batcave, similar clubs opened all over the country, and Batcave himself began to "arrange tours", giving the goths outside London the opportunity to gather somewhere.

Thus, despite the small role in music (not counting Alien Sex Fiend and Specimen ), Batcave gave the main impetus to the development of the Gothic image and popularity. He also added a large amount of glam and media attention to the emerging subculture . Further, in October 1982, Bauhaus released Ziggy Stardust, which became a big hit (# 15 on the UK charts) and put them on Top Of The Pops (the most popular spot) and on the front cover of Smash Hits (October 1982)

A new wave of Gothic bands also began to receive serious media attention, with the Southern Death Cult getting on the front cover of NME (October 1982) and Sex Gang Children on the front cover of Noise! (also October 1982).

After that, two articles in early 1983 focused on what was clearly a separate movement. In February 1983, Richard North of NME designated them as Positive Punk. A month later, Mick Mercer wrote a similar article about new bands in the Melody Maker (although his designation of these bands as “Danse Society” was much more appropriate).

Meanwhile, the movement got a name - the word “Gothic” went around, and this name was assigned to it by the two most important groups in it: Andi, the lead vocalist from Sex Gang Children, was named “Count Wizigot” and his fans “Goths” Jan Astbury (Ian Astbury) from Southern Death Cult. NME's Dave Dorrell then heard them use the term and it was used by reporters.

In October 1983, Tom Vague referred to the "Hordes of Goths" in Zig Zag magazine, and from then on both the name and subculture were firmly entrenched ^[27] .

An important role in the formation of the genre was played by the English club Batcave , where almost all the founders of Gothic rock performed.

At further stages of the development of gothic rock, the singers of the second and third waves are singled out, who introduced new musical elements into the genre and raised it to a new level.

• Post punk
• Death rock

• Roy Shuker. Goth / Gothic Rock; Goths (Eng.) // Roy Shuker. Popular music: the key concepts. - Routledge, 2005 .-- P. 128-129. - ISBN 9780415347693 .