Bauhaus was an English post-punk band that sparked goth-rock with their 1979 debut single “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” performed in David Bowie‘s 1983 film The Hunger. As the banner act on 4AD, Bauhaus made the 1980–83 albums In the Flat Field, Mask, The Sky’s Gone Out, and Burning From the Inside.

Popular Bauhaus songs include “Dark Entries,” “Terror Couple Kill Colonel,” “Kick In the Eye,” and their 1983 single “She’s In Parties.” For younger fans, Bauhaus popularized Seventies songs by Bowie (“Ziggy Stardust”), Brian Eno (“Third Uncle”), and T. Rex (“Telegram Sam”).

After Bauhaus, singer Peter Murphy cut one album in Dalis Car and launched a solo career. Guitarist Daniel Ash and drummer Kevin Haskins pursued their side-project, Tones on Tail, then regrouped with bassist David J in Love and Rockets.

Members: Peter Murphy (vocals), Daniel Ash (guitar), David J (bass), Kevin Haskins (drums)

Background

Bauhaus was formed in the autumn of 1978 by guitarist Daniel Ash, who’d played in a string of unrecorded garage combos with brothers David J. (bass) and Kevin Haskins (drums). For his new band, Ash offered the vocalist slot to his longtime friend, Peter Murphy, a print-factory worker with no prior singing experience. Regardless, Ash believed he looked the part of a rock frontman.

At their first rehearsal with Kevin Haskins, chemistry sparked and Murphy took his first stab at lyric writing, penning “In a Flat Field” there on the spot. The lineup finalized with David J, who nixed prior commitments with a tour-bound act to join his old friends. J suggested the name Bauhaus 1919, taken from the German art school that operated from 1919 to 1933.

Bauhaus 1919 made their live debut at Wellingborough’s Cromwell pub on New Year’s Eve 1978. A subsequent show was filmed by their visual associate Graham Bentley, who sent the video to several record labels.

On January 26, 1979, the band entered Beck Studios and demoed five originals: “Boys,” “Bite My Hip,” “Some Faces,” “Harry” (about Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry), and the nine-minute showpiece “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” They linked with Small Wonder, a London indie steeped in second-generation punk (Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Crass, Poison Girls).

“Bela Lugosi’s Dead”

On August 6, 1979, Bauhaus debuted with the 12″ single “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” a lengthy, foreboding spine-tingler backed with “Boys” (an edgy rocker) and “Dark Entries” (a demo).

A. “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (9:36) eulogizes Hungarian-American actor Bela Lugosi (1882–1956), best known for the titular role in the 1932 pre-Code horror classic Dracula, the definitive film adaptation of Irish author Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel. David J’s three-note bassline (D→D♭→B) derives from the 1978 Magazine song “The Light Pours Out of Me” (Real Life).
B1. “Boys” (3:06)
B2. “Dark Entries” (1:23) is a short demo of their second a-side.

Bauhaus recorded “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” with Beck Studios engineer Derek Tompkins (then 53), who used simultaneous echo on the snare and guitar, which Ash played with half-open bar chords.

“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” appeared in a monochrome sleeve with an image still from The Sorrows of Satan, a 1926 silent drama by director by D. W. Griffith. The back-sleeve presents a famous still of actor Conrad Veidt, the Somnambulist in the 1919 German expressionist horror silent Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari).

Small Wonder pressed the first 5,000 copies on white vinyl, which sold out within weeks. Subsequent pressings appeared on black vinyl.

“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” reached No. 8 on the UK Indie Chart. Bauhaus perform the song in the opening club scene of The Hunger, a 1983 erotic horror film starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon.

On December 4, 1979, Bauhaus performed their first session for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, whose January 3, 1980, broadcast aired four songs: the band’s T. Rex cover (“Telegram Sam”) and three songs earmarked for their first album (“A God In an Alcove,” “The Spy In the Cab,” and “Double Dare”).

1980

“Dark Entries”

In January 1980, Bauhaus released “Dark Entries,” an aggressive rocker with rapidfire snare and layered guitar effects. This was the third release on Axis, an offshoot of London indie Beggars Banquet.

A. “Dark Entries” (3:52)
B. “Untitled” (1:24)

“Dark Entries” appeared in a 7″ sleeve with a rust-framed detail from Sleeping Venus, a 1944 painting by Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux. (In the full canvass, the Victorian woman faces the skeleton on Palladian grounds amid praying nudes.)

Axis issued “Dark Entries” between singles by Bearz (“She’s My Girl,” AXIS 2) and Shox (“No Turning Back,” AXIS 4). The label then changed its name to 4AD and re-released “Dark Entries” as AD 3, the first proper 4AD release, followed by the second Modern English single (“Swans On Glass”). Of all the post-punk indie labels, 4AD became most associated with the goth-rock subculture and its ethereal subgenres.

“Dark Entries” reached No. 17 on the UK Indie Chart. Peel aired the song eleven times between January 16 and May 31.

“Terror Couple Kill Colonel”

In June 1980, Bauhaus released “Terror Couple Kill Colonel,” a percussive neo-psych number backed with “Scopes,” a raucous miniature.

A. “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” (4:22) lifted its title from a newspaper headline on the death of US Army Lieutenant colonel Paul Bloomquist in a May 1972 bomb attack on the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt by the Red Army Faction (aka the Baader–Meinhof Gang).
B1. “Scopes” (1:28)
B2. “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” (4:33) is an earlier Beck Studios demo version.

Bauhaus recorded “Terror” at Southern Studios on Myddleton Road, London, amid sessions for their upcoming album. “Scopes” stemmed from a separate session at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge.

“Terror Couple Kill Colonel” reached No. 5 on the UK Indie Chart.

In the Flat Field

Bauhaus released their debut album, In the Flat Field, on November 3, 1980, on 4AD.

In the Flat Field contains nine group-written originals, including “Dive,” “Stigmata Martyr,” “St. Vitus Dance,” and the Peel-previewed songs “A God In an Alcove,” “The Spy In the Cab,” and “Double Dare.” Bauhaus self-produced the album.

1. “Double Dare” (4:54)
2. “In the Flat Field” (4:00)
3. “A God in an Alcove” (4:08)
4. “Dive” (2:13)
5. “Spy in the Cab” (4:31)

6. “Small Talk Stinks” (3:35)
7. “St. Vitus Dance” (3:31)
8. “Stigmata Martyr” (3:46)
9. “Nerves” (7:06)

Sessions spanned December 1979 through July 1980 at Southern Studios, where Bauhaus laid tracks around tour commitments in Europe (March–April) and the UK (April–May). They recorded fresh versions of “A God In an Alcove” and “The Spy In the Cab” but used the Peel version of “Double Dare,” recorded at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studio.

In the Flat Field was engineered by Tony Cook, a soundman for post-punk acts in England (Artery, UK Decay, The Wall) and Iceland (Þeyr, Tappi Tíkarrass).

Bauhaus designed the album cover with ongoing visual associate and roadie Glenn Campling. The front cover shows a reproduction of “Homage to Puvis de Charannes,” a monochrome nude by photographer Duane Michals. The inner-sleeve contains white-on-black lyrics and a shady, saturated live pic of each member.

In the Flat Field reached No. 1 on the UK Indie Albums chart.

“Telegram Sam”

On December 5, 1980, Bauhaus released “Telegram Sam,” a T. Rex cover backed with the original “Crowds.” The 12″ contains a third track, “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores,” a John Cale cover.

A. “Telegram Sam” (2:08) is a song by Marc Bolan, first released as a January 1972 T. Rex a-side and included on their seventh album, The Slider.
B1. “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores” (5:31)
B2. “Crowds” (3:13)

1981

Mask

Bauhaus released their second album, Mask, on October 16, 1981, on Beggars Banquet.

Mask contains ten group-written originals, including “Muscle in Plastic,” “Of Lillies and Remains,” “In Fear of Fear,” and the pre-released singles “The Passion of Lovers” and “Kick in the Eye,” a transatlantic club hit.

Peter Murphy plays secondary guitar on Mask, which features dual instrumentation from Daniel Ash (saxophone) and Kevin Haskins (keyboards).

1. “Hair of the Dog” (2:43)
2. “The Passion of Lovers” (3:53)
3. “Of Lillies and Remains” (3:18)
4. “Dancing” (2:29)
5. “Hollow Hills” (4:47)

6. “Kick in the Eye” (3:39)
7. “In Fear of Fear” (2:58)
8. “Muscle in Plastic” (2:51)
9. “The Man with the X-Ray Eyes” (3:05)
10. “Mask” (4:36)

“Kick in the Eye” pre-dated the album as a single, released on March 27, 1981, with “Satori,” an instrumental b-side. “The Passion of Lovers” followed on June 19 as a second advance single, backed with a solo self-titled interlude by each member.

B. “Satori” (4:36)

B. “1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash“

The remaining sessions occurred in mid-1981 at Playground, where Bauhaus produced the album in the presence of Kenny Jones, an engineer on concurrent titles by Incognito, The Opposition, and Stiff Little Fingers.

Additional work took place at Jam Studios, a newly opened Tollington Park facility where John Etchells engineered Mask in sequence with debuts by the Stray Cats, Spandau Ballet (Journeys to Glory), and the breakthrough second Landscape album, From the Tea-rooms of Mars… to the Hell-holes of Uranus. Fiction Records soundman Mike Hedges added further touches amid work with The Associates, The Beat, The Cure, The Passions, and Skids.

Mask appeared in a gatefold sleeve with cover art by Daniel Ash, whose illustration depicts five subjects (l–r: corpse, ghost, zombie, martian, and bear) as possible representations of the band. The inner-fold features blue-type lyrics and a monochrome group shot by music photojournalist Sheila Rock, whose images also appear on 1981 sleeves for DAF, Marianne Faithfull, Simple Minds, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Bette Bright & the Illuminations.

1982

In early 1982, Daniel Ash launched Tones On Tail as a side-project with Bauhaus roadie Glenn Campling, a longtime bassist friend and art colleague. They debuted with the March 4AD EP Tones on Tail, comprised of two songs each by Ash (“Copper,” “Instrumental”) and Campling (“A Bigger Splash,” “Means of Escape”). In September, they released a standalone single: “There’s Only One” backed with “Now We Lustre,” both co-written songs.

Kick in the Eye (Searching for Satori E.P.)

In February 1982, Bauhaus released Kick in the Eye (Searching for Satori E.P.), which contains a remixed version of the Mask single with different b-sides. The 7″ includes an unearthed 1979 demo (“Harry”) and the exclusive b-side “Earwax.” The 12″ adds a dub version of “In Fear of Fear.”

A1. “Kick in the Eye (Searching for Satori)” (3:31)
A2. “In Fear of Dub” (2:52)
B1. “Harry” (2:39)
B2. “Earwax” (3:13)

On March 13, 1982, Bauhaus performed their second Peel session for the DJ’s 4/12 broadcast, which aired rough-takes of an upcoming EP track (“The Party of the First”), and future b-side (“Departure”), and Pt. II of a suite titled “Three Shadows.”

On July 1, 1982, Bauhaus performed a set for BBC Radio One DJ David “Kid” Jensen, who aired Maida Vale takes of two upcoming album tracks (“Swing the Heartache,” “Silent Hedges”) and covers of David Bowie (“Ziggy Stardust”) and Brian Eno (“Third Uncle”). Meanwhile, Bauhaus released “Spirit,” an advance single from their upcoming third studio album.

“Ziggy Stardust”

On October 1, 1982, Bauhaus released their cover of the Bowie classic “Ziggy Stardust,” backed with the Eno deep cut “Third Uncle.” The 12″ contains a live Velvet Underground cover (“Waiting for the Man”) and the exclusive Bauhaus original “Party of the First Part.”

A1. “Ziggy Stardust” (3:08) originated on Bowie’s 1972 fifth album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
A2. “Party of the First Part” (5:22)
B2. “Third Uncle” (5:11) originated on Eno’s 1974 second solo album, Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy).
B2. “Waiting for the Man” (5:31) originated on the 1967 debut VU album, The Velvet Underground & Nico.

Bauhaus mimed “Ziggy Stardust” on Top of the Pops for the BBC music program’s October 7 broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by Culture Club (“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”), Simple Minds (“Glittering Prize”), Spandau Ballet (“Lifeline”), and videos by Chicago (“Hard to Say I’m Sorry”), Fat Larry’s Band (“Zoom”), and Musical Youth (“Pass the Dutchie”). Bauhaus appeared on a smoky stage where Murphy pranced in a waist-wrapped top before front-row spectators as the band ‘played’ along between slanted flashing light rows.

“Ziggy Stardust” reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Sky’s Gone Out

Bauhaus released their third album, The Sky’s Gone Out, on October 22, 1982, on Beggars Banquet.

The Sky’s Gone Out contains “Third Uncle” and nine group-written originals, including “In the Night,” “Exquisite Corpse,” and the pre-released single “Spirit,” plus the BBC-previewed numbers “Swing the Heartache” and “Silent Hedges.” Side Two features “The Three Shadows,” a nine-minute suite in three parts.

The Sky’s Gone Out first appeared as a double-album with Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape, a collection of live recordings. By December, the two records re-appeared as separate albums.

1. “Third Uncle” (5:14)
2. “Silent Hedges” (3:09)
3. “In the Night” (3:05)
4. “Swing the Heartache” (5:51)
5. “Spirit” (5:28)

6. “The Three Shadows, Part I” (4:21)
7. “The Three Shadows, Part II” (3:12)
8. “The Three Shadows, Part III” (1:36)
9. “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” (3:49)
10. “Exquisite Corpse” (5:39)

“Spirit” appeared first as a June single (7″ and picture disc) backed with a live Paris version of their earlier a-side “Terror Couple Kill Colonel.” In the “Spirit” video, Bauhaus perform in a vintage concert hall with juggling court jesters and a raven-haired apparition who materializes for the final chorus. “Spirit” peaked just outside the UK Top 40.

Sessions occurred in 1982 at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, where Bauhaus self-produced The Sky’s Gone Out. Ted Sharp engineered the album amid titles by Altered Image, Bad Manners, and Bill Nelson. Sharp’s resume included Queen‘s first album and Seventies classics by Home (The Alchemist), City Boy (Young Men Gone West), Deaf School (English Boys, Working Girls), and Skids (Days in Europa).

Bauhaus used their rendition of “Third Uncle” from the Kid Jensen show, produced at Maida Vale by BBC soundman Mike Robinson. They recorded “Exquisite Corpse” at their early demo facility, Beck Studio in Wellingborough, where Derek Tompkins added “Zzzzzzzzz” noises.

Daniel Ash painted the The Sky’s Gone Out cover: a photo-negative view of an eclipsed sun emitting solar flares. The inner-sleeve features monochrome member pics by rock photojournalist Fin Costello, whose photography also graces sleeves to 1981/82 releases by A Flock of Seagulls, Huang Chung, Japan, Monsoon, and Ozzy Osbourne.

Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape

In December 1982, Bauhaus released Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape, a live album drawn from three dates on their autumn–winter 1981–82 UK tour.

Press the Eject first appeared as a bonus disc with the initial UK run of The Sky’s Gone Out, then appeared as a separate live album with a bonus 7″ titled Satori In Paris, sourced from December 3, 1981, at Le Rose Bon Bon in Paris, France.

The combined set includes four songs from In the Flat Fields (“Double Dare,” “Stigmata Martyr,” “The Spy In the Cab,” title track) and the non-album Bauhaus perennials “Dark Entries” and “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” plus their Cale cover “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores.” The six remaining numbers represent Masks.

A1. “In the Flat Field” (4:10)
A2. “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores” (5:30)
A3. “Dancing” (2:27)
A4. “The Man With the X-Ray Eyes” (3:41)
A5. “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (9:22)

B1. “The Spy In the Cab” (4:00)
B2. “Kick In the Eye” (3:25)
B3. “In Fear of Fear” (2:47)
B4. “Hollow Hills” (4:10)
B5. “Stigmata Martyr” (3:29)
B6. “Dark Entries” (4:13)

Satori In Paris
C. “Double Dare” (5:55)
D. “Hair of the Dog” (2:48)

1983

“Lagartija Nick”

On January 15, 1983, Bauhaus released the standalone single “Lagartija Nick.” The 12″ contains a third exclusive (“Watch That Grandad Go”) and a live Paris version of the Bauhaus chestnut “In the Flat Field.”

A1. “Lagartija Nick” (3:07)
A2. “Watch That Grandad Go”
B1. “Paranoia, Paranoia” (5:10)
B4. “In the Flat Field (Live in Paris)”

Bauhaus mimed “Lagartija Nick” for the January 27 TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studios by Central Line (“Nature Boy”), China Crisis (“Christian”), Level 42 (“The Chinese Way”), and Wham! (“Lagartija Nick”). Bauhaus appeared in fog under pink/teal lighting on a chrome-affixed stage where Murphy (two-tone bolero jacket) roamed aggressively while David J (gray trench coat) and Ash (all black) stared intently at their instruments.

Burning From the Inside

Bauhaus released their fourth studio album, Burning From the Inside, on July 15, 1983, on Beggars Banquet (UK) and A&M (US).

Burning From the Inside opens with “She’s in Parties,” a psych-tinged single. Musically, the album encompasses rock dissonance (“Antonin Artaud”), dark balladry (“Who Killed Mr. Moonlight”), ethno-folk (“King Volcano”), and Floydian atmosphere (“Slice of Life”).

The album’s title came from a fire that ignited inside a vehicle where Ash and David J had smoked hash. Murphy’s illness as sessions got underway reduced his involvement.

1. “She’s in Parties” (5:49)
2. “Antonin Artaud” (4:09)
3. “Wasp” (0:20)
4. “King Volcano” (3:29)
5. “Who Killed Mr. Moonlight” (4:55)

6. “Slice of Life” (3:43)
7. “Honeymoon Croon” (2:52)
8. “Kingdom’s Coming” (2:25)
9. “Burning from the Inside” (9:21)
10. “Hope” (3:17)

Bauhaus self-produced Burning From the Inside at Rockfield, where Ted Sharp engineered the album amid titles by the Anti-Nowhere League and ex-Teardrop Explodes keyboardist Troy Tate. “She’s in Parties” has input by engineer Gerry Kitchingham, a recent soundman for Dollar, Endgames, Mari Wilson, and RAH Band.

“She’s in Parties” first appeared in April as an advance single (3:45 edit), backed with “Departure,” a cryptic neo-psych soliloquy. The 12″ contains a bonus dub version titled “Here’s the Dub” (Special Effects by “Loonatik & Drinks”).

B. “Departure” (4:49)

Bauhaus made a film noir video for “She’s In Parties,” set in a dim-lit industrial building where Murphy (suited) vaporizes the bleak surroundings while his sober bandmates huddle and stare in the flashing lights. The song’s subject materializes first as a mesh-gloved mystery figure; soon revealed as a Frau Gestapo who ushers the sedated band away in a vehicle.

Howard Guard directed the video after the 1982 white-tux clip for “Avalon” by Roxy Music. The woman was played by model Gail Lawson, a Steve Strange associate who appears as the blonde Rizzo during the spoken-word middle of the 1983 Wham! video for “Bad Boys.” Image stills from the video appear on the inner-sleeve of Burning From the Inside.

Bauhaus mimed “She’s In Parties” on the April 14 TotP broadcast, which also featured an in-studio by Kissing the Pink (“The Last Film”) and numerous videos, including clips by David Bowie (“Let’s Dance”), Dexys Midnight Runners (“Come On Eileen”), and premieres by Eurythmics (“Love Is a Stranger”), Hall & Oates (“One on One”), Kajagoogoo (“Ooh to Be Ah”), and Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science”).

Bauhaus appeared on a cagey fog-laden stage where Murphy (gray suit) ‘crooned’ with subtle intensity, flanked by a hair-frazzled Ash and dressed-down David J. (plaid shirt, white jeans). “She’s in Parties” reached No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

After Bauhaus

Between the completion and release of Burning From the Inside, Bauhaus disbanded. As a gift to pre-existing members, the Bauhaus fan club pressed 325 copies of “The Sanity Assassin,” a Burning sessions outtake backed with a cover of Norman Greenbaum’s 1970 hit “Spirit In the Sky.” An instant rarity, “The Sanity Assassin” later appeared on CD reissues of the album.

Discography: