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Some Wear Leather Some Wear Lace
The Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s
By Andi Harriman, Marloes Bontje Intellect Ltd
Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78320-352-9
CHAPTER 1
ATMOSPHERE
Kings of the Wild Frontier
It was the end of a decade and the dawning of a new one. Punk had been barraging on for years now and had finally reached commercial appeal in the late 1970s. On the ragged coattails of punk, an urgent transformation arrived: it was a blatant shift from the in-your-face aggression and realism of the past to a more romantic movement of futurism and dandies. The change promised a new time, a renewal both in music and society. Valerie Vaughan, a death rocker from Los Angeles, agreed: "There was definitely a rebellion going on, a real change from rock'n'roll and disco to something harder but also quirkier." The future had arrived.
The punk movement thrived on the idea of the lower-class anti-hero who had suffered enough suppression from the government and state. Punk's rebellion in fashion and music was a form of independence, a chance for the poor and oppressed to finally depart from the crowd and become their true "self." However, says Finnish postpunk Pete Europa, punk "could not cover the whole individualization process, so many new forms of 'rebellion' and style – as well as sounds – started developing." Postpunk formed from this expansion of rebellion but with old elite values: a combination of art and individuality with an air of aristocracy. Europa continues: "For real punks, this was too much as they had a working class background. Many punks could not stand this new posing attitude but the impact on the surrounding society was deep and profound ... Nobodies became the new elite, the new 'dictators' of fashion and style."
However different, the original intensity of punk never departed; however, its predecessor harnessed the abilities to shock and differentiate itself from societal norms. Around 1978, postpunk induced a departure not only visually, but musically from the raw power chords of punk into computers and melodies. Musicians desired to create songs on another level, so to speak, through refined lyrics and melodic arrangements. "People felt the need to differentiate themselves from punk because I think they felt that they were deeper thinkers," says Graeme Revell of Australian industrial band SPK.
Mrs. Fiend, of the British band Alien Sex Fiend, remembers the necessity for a new revolution in music: "I think there's some kind of groundswell that starts among people looking for something different, so it becomes hard to establish exactly who started what and when, who was first, et cetera. It seems that there's 'something in the air' at the time; it happened with punk and it's happened with previous music movements as well as later ones – a number of different people pick up on something at the same time." Rosie Garland, of the March Violets, agrees with this idea of the silent wind of change: "There was a new scene that had no name, anything could happen, and would, any minute now. A jumble of punk, glamor, romanticism, death, darkness, and leather."
Glam rock, a movement in the 1970s that bred rock'n'roll and futurism, was an essential factor in the hybridization of postpunk. Keyboards and programming, stage performances and a steely color palette encompassed an enthusiasm for technological advancement and space-age elements. Visual heroes such as David Bowie and director John Waters defined the glam movement, focusing on glitter, androgyny, excessiveness, and theatrics. As a made-up creature from another world, Bowie was perhaps the true inspiration to portray and define the burgeoning dramatic elements of goth. Bowie's mastery of chameleon-esque transformations combined with his onstage persona influenced the postpunk community aesthetically. The pursuit of drama, of crossing boundaries, and of defying conventions would become the main component of the goth scene.
With a heavy emphasis on dress and makeup, a group called the "new romantics" in the late 1970s and early 1980s embodied glam. Many postpunks felt comfortable with the label of "new romantic" or at least came to respect the movement's theatrical community. The new romantics emphasized the glamor of 1930s Hollywood stars, embraced dressing up and synthesizer-heavy music, and, most of all, established an intimate club scene that was incomparable with anything else going on at that time. Going out in public with a group of extravagantly decorated people was a revelation: dressing up to be seen. Sean Chapman reflects: "I was always attracted to places where people with free and open attitudes gathered. Mostly these places were sleazy and full of drugs and weirdoes, which suited me perfectly."
Around 1981, Ivy Vale, from New York City, was able to experience both the burgeoning New York and London club scenes during the new romantic movement. By that time, the new romantics had crossed overseas to the United States but had remained an underground sensation; only those "in the know" were aware of the new music and styles. In London, at the venue Club for Heroes, Vale discovered a scene that was far different from anything going on in the United States. "Unlike New York City, where a few handfuls of people dressed up or had dyed hair, Club for Heroes was like being in some kind of glorious, exquisite, gender-blurred, futuristic circus where nearly everyone was in white face and extreme eye makeup, wildly coiffed hair, and a mix of period clothing and space-aged couture." The new romantic brigade in London was a serious bunch, striving for exclusivity and over-the-top dramatics:
In 1981, London was exploding with musical subculture and genres: skinheads, teddy boys, mods, [new romantics], yet there was nothing eclectic about it. In other words, you couldn't be into rockabilly and also into new wave. You couldn't be into reggae and also [be] a mod. It was very segregated and this was also different from my experience in New York City where I would go from seeing The Ramones to Led Zeppelin. In London, fashion and music were completely intertwined and inseparable. People danced differently ... new romantics never ever smiled. The whole thing was very serious and very otherworldly at the same time; it was the antithesis of the punk scene and, I think, came out of people getting fed up with being dirty and angry all the time!
New romantic music was a sugarcoated electronic dream; the lyrics and sounds were reflective of the members' aesthetics and dramaticism. From the gritty realism of punk to the cinematic demeanor of the new romantics, pop music exploded onto the scene. However, a clear transition to something darker and more sinister arose soon after: "Pop music had become just far too happy, colourful, and shallow," says Chapman. "I think [goth] came from that need to do something absolutely opposite to what was seen in the charts. The scene became more dark, menacing, and broody – all theatrics of course."
Darkness had come: a melting pot of ingredients formed the new dark age of postpunk. Nik Fiend noticed this progression: "From late 1979 there was still a punk overhang ... and a bit of glam came in, even a bit of new romantic for a year or two. Then the Batcave started coming up more and more, so it was a mishmash at first that gradually settled more into the 'black' side." The creativity and diversity in the early 1980s began the groundwork for the dark scene's most pivotal years.
SCANDINAVIA
As punk was dying in the early 1980s in Scandinavia, goth came along to renew the youth culture. Atle Solberg of Norwegian band Garden of Delight says that the scene was a small group of people in the early 1980s, trickling down from the punk scene in Oslo – the future goth capital for that region. Even though the community was small, ADS, a band from Denmark, was unique for the area. They were the first to equip themselves with Batcave-esque clothing, huge blackhair and theatrics – unlike any band of the time from Scandinavia.
Norwegian and Danish goths adopted the British aesthetic: kooshball hair and heavy makeup with a touch of extravagance. The style of the Swedes was much closer to the German gruftis and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode's way of dress with towering hairstyles, layers of crucifixes, baggy black clothing, and leather accessories. The Finns were dualistic in their aesthetics: some preferred the dark and raw punk look while others dressed in the refined new romantic fashion.
Finnish punks and new romantics grew up in a light form of the DDR, according to Pete Europa from the band The PinUps. In Finland, there was a long history of personal repression brought on by the Swedes, Russians, and the Futheran Church. The core of Finland was enveloped in silence and became a culture that was homo-geneous: one truth, nation, voice, style, consensus, and unity. When the Sex Pistols tried to perform in Finland they were banned from entering because their message was considered anti-God and anti-government. Bands began to form such as Musta Paraati (Finnish: black parade) who were all ex-punks but had become an important facet to the postpunk music scene.
Around this time, a community of Helsinki youth looked toward the West for inspiration – a change had to be made in the Finnish community. "Punk was not enough to reveal the situation and that is why, in my opinion," says Europa, "many bands started digging deeper into the idea of European homo sapiens. Very soon the tyranny of the rich and the conservative was seen as a continuation of Nazism. It was only fascism in a more subtle form, but tyranny as well and the lyrics and the names of the bands [in Helsinki] started reflecting this new 'psychological' era of modern man." The Finns were on the cusp of something new, a sub-culture more culturally developed and middle-class than the punks. The Helsinki movement was derived off of dandyism or the desire to live a life full of art and virtue. Superficiality, sleeping around, and the Finnish heavy-drinking culture were thought of as derogatory. Visually, the Helsinki new romantics were similar to the Fondon new romantics as many of them lived in Fondon for part of the year. The glam band Hanoi Rocks influenced the trend of men wearing makeup and introduced the idea of androgyny. Finland's underground extravagance lead to a new movement separate from the confines of their government and society.
A New D Age
At its initiation around 1979, postpunk gave way to a new sound – an atmospheric cadence – that was a harrowing, yet passionate, cry in the dark. The attitude of postpunk naturally gravitated towards the theatrical, thus retaining the excitement and visual impact of punk, but departed from the sound. Many of those who were drawn to the original postpunk sound were fans immediately, as if they had been waiting to hear the one song that would alter their view on life. Marc Ickx, from the Belgian band A Split Second, was drawn in from the beginning: "When the postpunk and goth scene emerged, the songs were tremendously bass-driven, more than any genre before that. I was totally blown away by the sound and songs of all those bands, and the darkness of it hit my pubescent soul like a ton of bricks. I totally related to the lyrics, the atmosphere, and the unique visual style." The deep bass, the drum sounds, and the soft fills of the synthesizer all created an aura that was unlike any other music movement.
Postpunk was an instinctive progression all around the world. In Greece, Anta Labara, from the band Villa 21, found that the genre was particularly gratifying because of the atmospheric melodies, resourceful use of synthesizers, and dark, and often depressing, lyric themes. George Scordilis, of the band Split Image, had never heard Joy Division prior to forming his band and quickly realized that he shared the sentiments of other international musicians, unbeknown to him. "The atmosphere, the melodies, and the obscured melancholy made it attractive to us," says Scordilis about Joy Division. "It was like someone heard the music in our minds." Certain bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Sound, Christian Death, 45 Grave, and The Cure were all forerunners of the new movement. Their importance and influence is undeniable; fans often remember their initial reactions upon hearing those pivotal bands as a monumental occasion in their lives.
Despite all this, the band Bauhaus is the true grandfather of the scene and influenced many of the original postpunks in their visual and musical decadence. The singer Peter Murphy, with his onstage theatrics, pallid face, and emaciated frame, defined the movement. He was not just something to watch, but something to listen to, says Simon Reynolds: "What came out of those luscious lips was pretentious and preposterous, an overblown farrago of sex and death, religion and blasphemy, uttered in a voice that virtually cloned that of David Bowie." Bauhaus' 1981 album Mask hints at this spirit of the underground and its transition into pure dramaticism:
Transformation is invested
With the mysterious and the shameful.
While the thing I am becomes something else
Part character, part sensation.
Murphy and his army adopted Bowie's passion for poetics and drama – Bauhaus obtained all the elements the proto-punks were looking for. Britain-based Stuart Swift describes his first experience of Bauhaus: "I chanced upon a small unknown band from Northampton. There was a small group of fans at the first gig that I went to. We all seemed to have a very similar aesthetic. White faces, heavy makeup. Dark clothes and a hint of 'the Victorian' around us. The band? Bauhaus! The stark white lights, stripped down black stage. The beauty of Pete Murphy and Daniel Ash. The crushing sound and of course a song about 'Bela Lugosi.' I was hooked. The single song 'Dark Entries' was for me a call to arms!"
Aside from visual theatrics, postpunk's sound had shed punk's clangor and transformed it into a hollow lullaby complete with strong, echoing tribal drums, flanging guitars, and funereal synthesizer layers. Technological experimentation, sampling, and reassembly came about through the use of computers, synthesizers, and drum machines. In return, these developments enhanced the sound of space and atmosphere. The advent of recording technology enhanced the progression of postpunk music drastically: four-track recorders in bedrooms became the digital interface MIDI and limitations in recording ended. Now, a computer could control a whole studio and provide new means of sound exploration that had previously been impossible.
French band Opera de Nuit realized that they had found their niche when their scope expanded to include technology. Band member Azzedine Amrani reflects: "Our sound was not really [precise]. No money came back to us, only a bit. But beers and the energy were there. Then, The Cure came to our ears; therefore we started to turn into coldwave music with brand new instruments [such as keyboards and drum machines]." The musical exploration and futurism afforded by technology was a new skill to be mastered. Because of this, the possibilities of sound manipulation became infinite. Clan of Xymox, from the Netherlands, relied heavily on computer experimentation. Pieter Nooten believed that technology was an essential contributor to their success: "Our biggest motivation was finding the right combination between innovative new electronics and original guitar sounds." With the confidence in technology, Nooten and Clan of Xymox embraced electronic advancement in order to create iconic records such as Medusa in 1986. "We used the latest and newest electronic devices, like the first samplers. In this way we were able to experiment with homemade sounds." Former bandmate Anka Wolbert continues: "We were all multi-instrumentalists and used the computer as a tool and as a renewal of music."
No longer bound to the traditional instrument setup, a recognizable sound from synthesizers such as the Minimoog, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, and the Roland Juno-60 came into play with electronic-based bands. Industrial bands such as Severed Heads, Einstürzende Neubauten, Skinny Puppy, and Cabaret Voltaire took technological exploration further by splicing samples from movies or recording sounds of hammers, saws, and drills to create songs. Samplers such as the Akai S950 and Ensoniq Mirage became an essential resource for creating avant-garde sounds. It was a typical scenario that many bands lacked a real drummer and most used drum machines such as Roland TR-707, Roland TR-808, and, later on, the Alesis HR-16 – all with massive reverb. The echoing snare hit became a universal trend and is most famously heard in The Cure's hit, "A Forest" from 1980.
Clearly, the specific postpunk sound had penetrated the hearts of those with a penchant for melancholy. Angelo Bergamini was enthusiastic about postpunk in the late 1970s because of its more romantic, and even spiritual, aura when compared to punk. "Some keyboards started peeking out hither and yon, after the ethnic cleansing punk bands made against synths ... I perceived a chance to mix rough underground sounds with synths and keyboards. So, Kirlian Camera took some shape right in that period, trying a little to turn guitars into synths and killing traditional drums in favor of prehistoric drum machines." In its formulaic years, the movement allowed for creativity and experimentation to flourish: the outsiders had found a home.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Some Wear Leather Some Wear Lace by Andi Harriman, Marloes Bontje. Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Intellect Ltd.
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