For Halloween, I suppose, the local alternative rag has listed the 100 greatest Goth songs of all time. The other 90 are here. What say you, my Gothic friends? Over to you. And a very Happy Halloween to you all as well.
10.The Birthday Party -Release the Bats
9. The Cure – Disintigration
8. The Chameleons – Swamp Thing
7. Ministry – (Every Day Is) Halloween
6. Alien Sex Fiend – Now I’m Feeling Zombified
5. Joy Division – Atmosphere
4. Christian Death – Romeo’s Distress
3. Siouxie & the Banshees- Spellbound
2. Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion
1. Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
It is interesting playlist and the article in the newspaper is good also. But I could not find Siouxie and the Banshees track in th eplay list, maybe I missed it.
You’re right, let me see what happened and try to fix it. Thanks!
What a fabulous list of songs, whilst I could complain about the order (Fields of the Nephilim with one song in the 90s *rant*) and a distinct lack of atmospheric tracks, for setting the mood, such as Arcana or Ghosts by Japan, which isn’t gothic or about actual Ghosts, but is very spooky, I’d listen to 80% of those and probably own them too.
Happy Hallowe’en/Samhain/Dias delos Muertos for tomorrow! (this is Bethnoir in case I’m still not logged in)
I was surprised to see a few Killing Joke songs in that list, i didn’t know they were considered Goth.
Let me help. Killing Joke appeared at a bit of a crossroads in music and variously got labelled punk, post punk, goth, industrial, and metal (with bits of dub and white funk thrown in for good measure). Elements of truth in all of this. Mrs wyngatecarpenter muttered something about them “defying categorisation” and I think the would be quite happ with that.
Songs such as Requiem and Unspeakable could fit under the goth umbrella, and later stuff like Kings & Queens fits very well as well.
I have a goth umbrella, I need a goth parasol next
(bethnoir if it didn’t log me in AGAIN)
But would you fit Killing Joke underneath your parasol?
It’s quite a large umbrella and I have friends who adore them, but I’ve only dabbled really.
Just quickly to say that I love that Siouxsie song, and haven’t heard it for ages. I know nowt about Goth music but that’s a good choice as her best In My Uninformed Opinion (IMUO).
And of course that was the one that was missing, but it should be in there now.
That is a fantastic track, isn’t it.
It’s a pretty good list amy. Reminds me a bit of the local goth club – The Rocking Horse – that I used to frequent. Nice to see The Virgin Prunes getting a mention.
Aren’t they the ones with The Edge’s brother? I think Wyngate noms them every now and again.
I have to be honest, i was surprised by that list, as i had no idea there was a Goth collective in my northeastern neck of the woods. But then i guess Boston is a different planet almost than my semi-rural environs, and always had a great music scene.
I do indeed, and Shoey on occasion. One of the best but least typical bands ever to be labelled goth.
I think Killing Joke might be like New Model Army, not really goth, but goths like them, or maybe they have a goth aesthetic? I must say, apart from Concrete Blond they are mostly what I would call goth bands.
Happy Samhain!
Chameleon’s aren’t Goth either, great band though.
they’re fab aren’t they? I listened to loads of them on Sunday, so many bands have pinched their sound.
I’ll have a listen later – small quibble though, neither Siouxsie nor Joy Division are Goth.
Great songs though, I love both Spellbound and Atmosphere to a frankly unreasonable degree.
But wasn’t Siousxie some sort of gothmother, as in she influenced a lot of goth bands? It always seemed to me that the early Banshees formed a sort of bridge between punk and goth.
No offence, but I’m sure Ian Curtis would turn in his grave if he thought anyone could describe Atmosphere as a goth song.
No band ever admits to being goth! It’s the genre that dare not speak it’s name.
indeed, if you admit to being a goth, you’re a wannabe. Siouxsie isn’t, Count Eldritch isn’t, Bauhaus weren’t….
… except for Fields of the Nephelim (who are so goth that even they couldn’t deny it) and The Mission (who are goff).
I double-checked the tense on both of those parenthesised statements, and found it somewhat disturbing to note that the present tense is, seemingly, correct in both cases. (Well, they have both been playing live – on the same ticket, I believe – recently.)
that’s Fields of the Nephilim, you are correct they’ve never denied the goth thing. You know the what is goth argument goes on and on. Best to walk away I usually find.
And yet I heard Carl McCoy being interviewed at the peak of their popularity denying exactly that! What is this genre that doesn’t have any bands?!
Did he? Well Carl likes to irritate as many people as possible, I think. They certainly used to admit to being goths and the amount of dry ice at the Brixton gig was a bit of a giveaway (I think it officially qualified as smog).
I always thought Siouxsie was the one responsible for gothness coming into being, whilst being a proper punk herself.
I seem to remember a rather gothy, Anton Corbijn video for Atmosphere when it was re-released at some stage. All hooded figures in black and white. But other than that, no, not goth at all. Siouxsie and co I always considered goths though. Probably because I became aware of them in the mid-80s, not late 70s. Love “Spellbound”! Definitely one of their very best.
That Ministry track doesn’t sound particularly gothy to me. Lyrically maybe, but not musically.
I spotted the Mish (properly known as The Mission, sometimes The Mission UK) in the nether reaches of that list (the song is “Wasteland”). I seem to recall them being dismissed as “Goffs” in the lateish 80s – a “goff” being a sort of goth wannabe, I think.
But I completely failed to find All About Eve. Does this answer the burning are-they-aren’t-they question? (Probably not. But I will go with Bethnoir’s assessment that AAE weren’t goth, despite being associated with the movement.) Do I care? (Not really.)
But there’s some good stuff in there, no matter what you call it.
As I saw the Mish only last week, I’d have to say that their audience are pretty goth, even if they aren’t. Of course I’m not really goth (she says sitting here with her face painted white, wearing a “The Hunger” style ankh dagger.
Some good stuff in there but I’m not sure what The Chameleons or The Church are doing, but that’s the way of these things.
Here’s a few I’d chuck in as well that I didn’t see
Sisters Of Mercy – Alice
UK Decay – Werewolf
Play Dead – Sacrosanct
Zero Le Creche – Last Years Wife
The Marionettes – Like Christabel
James Ray’s Gangwar – Rev Rev Lowrider
Sex Gang Children – Mauritia Mayer
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Night Shift
March Violets – Walk Into The Sun
Killing Joke – Unspeakable
The Dark – The Masque
http://youtu.be/_Cjt9-vqaTE
Happy listening!
I will e really unhappy if I get moderated after all that.
Here’s another obscurity from another band who weren’t goth (!)
Blood & Roses – Necromantra
Hadn’t heard that before, very appropriate for the night. The most goth bands I’ve listened to lately have been of unexpected countries, like Greece, Spain and South America, Mick Mercer has compiled some of them in his 21st Century Goth book. They take it very seriously and are gother than any of the original goths.
Here’s a link to a version of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYns-XvwYEg
Wyngate -
Sorry that took so long! I was away at work, and when i came back, i saw i had to approve the comment, probably because of all of the links.
OK , Alice was in there after all, but here’s one (not so well known) Sisters track I would have included
Sisters Of Mercy – Afterhours
The Sisters are of course according to Baron Von Eldtritch “not goth”.
that is one of my top five favourite Sisters songs, no idea why they haven’t released it on CD. Not goth though, not at all
Same applies to the punks in the far corners of the world I think.
Wiki has an interesting Goth list:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gothic_rock_bands
No AOE here, Zala, although they like to dress-up. Origanaly, Goth was closest to punk. Think there’s also a later prog-pop style of Goth too, which doesn’t seem to be included here.
Crisis??????
Yep, another dubious goth claim.
I was surprised to see at least one Bunnymen tune on that list, never knew that they were considered Goth either. Maybe it’s just the one tune (The Killing Moon). The list seems to be unavailable now, hopefully it’s just a temporary site glitch.
I had also noticed a tune by Southern Death Cult, but don’t remember seeing any by the subsequent Cult.
Supposedly there’s an interview with Peter Murphy of Bauhaus on that site somewhere, – ah, here it is.
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/129015-beyond-bauhaus-peter-murphy-builds-his-own-aural-/
And a few other articles on Goth rock as well. Another article asks where Goth came from, and calls Jim Morrison the single greatest influence on the genre.
Didn’t know Nick Cave was considered Goth either. NiN either, but makes some sense.
On this side of the pond, Marilyn Mansion is considered Goth, but i think of him more as a piss taker (who i like) as opposed to a real musician.
I don’t think Bunnymen were ever really thought of as goth but some of their stuff fitted in – the Porcupine album certainly has a gloomy feel to it. They were went for the “pale and interesting” look and used dry ice liberally onstage – not as liberally as Sisters/Nephilim of course. So in short no, though I can see why a song was included.
Nick Cave has always found the goth tag following him around, at least in this country, but guess what..he denies he’s anything to do with it (of course!)
Oh, got to this a little late. Will listen to this now.
I was listening to this last night!
“Look past the slow black rain of a chill night in Soho; Ignore the lures of a thousand neon fire-flies, fall deft to the sighs of street corner sirens — come walk with me between heaven and hell. Here there is a club lost in its own feverish limbo, where sin becomes salvation and only the dark angels tread. For here is a BATCAVE. This screaming legend of blasphemy, Lechery, and Blood persists in the face of adversity. For some the Batcave has become an icon, but for those that know it is an iconoclast, it is the avenging spirit of nightlife’s badlands — its shadow looms large over London’s demi-Monde: It is a challenge to the false Idol. It Will Endure.”
That’s the sleeve notes to:
The Bat Cave, Young Limbs & Numb Hymns
released in ’83 pretty much defining the interests of the alternatives to ‘new wave’ – the club The BatCave opened in ’82 I think by Specimen….
The compilation included:
Specimen (“Dead Mans Autochop”),
Sexbeat (“Sex Beat”),
Test Dept. (“Shockwork”),
Patti Palladin (“The Nuns New Clothes”),
James T. Pursey (“Eyes Shine Killidiscope”),
Meat of Youth (“Meat of Youth”),
Brilliant (“Coming Up For The Downstroke”),
Alien Sex Fiend (“R.I.P.”),
and The Venomettes (“The Dance of Death”).
could go into this (a lot more) but my kids are ill.. you have all been saved from damnation.
R.I.P was a great track – ASF were a big favourite of mine in the 80s although I don’t listen to them much now.
Always good to see Jimmy Pursey jumping a bandwagon!
Ha! See that Concrete Blonde was number 11 on the list. I reckon it should have been higher, personally, but that’s just me. I didn’t necessarily agree with the top 10 but the number 1 choice is spookily good. Thanks for this. Very enjoyable.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the top 10 were chosen because they fit the Halloween theme better, rather than that they were actually the best 10 goth tunes.
I can’t say i know much about goth – if you asked me to name a goth band i’d probably say the Cure. (Who i do love. Or maybe even the Cult.). And sure they look goth, but a lot of their music sounds suspiciously Britpoppy to me. As do the Bunnymen for that matter.
Wikipedia, (hardly a definitive source, i know) defines Goth rock as
gothic rock, as opposed to punk, combines dark, often keyboard-heavy music with introspective and depressing lyrics
Ok, maybe not the music itself, but for the lyrics anyway, the Smiths would slot in there just fine. But they don’t dress the part.
Or even Velvet Underground.
me.
Don’t agree about the Smiths, Morrissey’s lyrics were much more “kitchen sink” whereas I think a lot of the goth bands liked to think of themselves as above such mundane, everyday concerns! Plus I have to dmit Morrissey’s lyrics were funnier than most goth lyrics.
The ((Southern)Death) Cult were goth I would say until Electric at which pointthey clearly decided they were he Stones/Led Zep.
And now you’ve hit on something. Do goths (as musicians, not people) generally have a sense of humor?
Yes I think some do. Not all of them, I don’t think you ever see Fields Of The Nephilim crack a smirk (Beth may disagree) but Alien Sex Fiend clearly couldn’t take themselves seriously, The Marionettes stage banter was hilarious when I saw them live and I think they have their tongues at least somewhere near their cheeks, and Sisters Of Mercy started a goth tradition of ridiculous choices of cover versions
Goths have no sense of humour, absolutely not *practices looking solemn*
Saneshane
Sorry your kids are sick. Hope they feel better soon.
S
x
donded.
thanks – they’ll cope, just need constant hugs.. I’m good at hugs.
got to say……
… Bob Carlos Clarke album cover photograph in cemetery …
album called Phantasmagoria…
singer with hair from the Munsters…
“What do you get when you breath in too much dry ice on Goth night?”
“El of a wheeze”:
NOT IN THE HUNDRED? – how could they forget? – were they taking that list too seriously?
Grimly Fiendish was in there – Eloise would have made more sense – Curtain Call even more so.
Oh, I love Eloise!