Share with us the finest songs by the also-ran goth bands of the 80s

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like Skeletal Family:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41AqlPjc-Wc

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:04 (ten years ago)

i'm sorry, dull grey afternoons just have this effect on me

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:05 (ten years ago)

Yorkshire's answer to the edge in that video

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:06 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpi8wkXfKA

this song still sounds better than the sisters

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:10 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKW3YOr4kkg

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:17 (ten years ago)

wonder if that guy had any birthday party records

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:19 (ten years ago)

I'm pretty sure I've never heard a Skeletal Family song before. That's great!

Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:20 (ten years ago)

yeah, even the terrible video is quite charming

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:40 (ten years ago)

They are totally wanna-be-Siouxsie featuring wanna-be Edge.

Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:42 (ten years ago)

influence-spotting is some of the fun with this stuff it's true

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:47 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2-keONyPU4

^ think this was the Danse Society's second or third single? most of their early stuff was p. good afaict

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:47 (ten years ago)

more of a hardcore/deathrock crossover thing, but uber-classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4z5_lCrEH8

the tune was space, Friday, 10 October 2014 16:48 (ten years ago)

in the 80s on the beach in LA while visiting my Dad I met these goth kids whose parents were fundamentalists, and the parents had brought in an exorcist to "heal" their rooms of dark energy. They were androgynous boys with HUGE hair dressed in black, and they gave me a tape with this band on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0t_NEvBT8

the tune was space, Friday, 10 October 2014 16:50 (ten years ago)

haha, enjoyed both of those a lot! i know NOTHING about the 80s us goth scene

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 16:56 (ten years ago)

"Finest song" is a stretch, as is their gothness maybe, but this video is a hoot. I saw these guys play a time or two back in the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lePhHOI3pWk

Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:02 (ten years ago)

Does The Bolshoi count? They're on the Goth Box and all but there are some controversial choices on that tracklist. Still, this song rules:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzFu-ze8pA

💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:20 (ten years ago)

that morticia thing was revolting! a little bit too cabaret for me perhaps

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:29 (ten years ago)

will always love trevor tanner's hammy performance in that bolshoi video btw

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:31 (ten years ago)

45 Grave!!! kind of a hardcore/goth crossover

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=45+grave

sleeve, Friday, 10 October 2014 17:33 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTgDfSF_2Pk

actually i'm a fine one to talk about cabaret

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:33 (ten years ago)

oh yeah 45 Grave and Sex Gang Children are key

it's a stretch, but it's 80s and very very goth and wasn't nearly as popular/noticed as it should have been until the recent reissue, so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D-QgbSUslo

(it's holger czukay and conny plank under the alias of Les Vampyrettes)

the tune was space, Friday, 10 October 2014 17:35 (ten years ago)

^ yes, that is the best!

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:37 (ten years ago)

Ausgang? More like BAUhausgang, amirite?

Jacques Lacan let me rock u; let me rock u, Jacques Lacan (Branwell with an N), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:41 (ten years ago)

(I just googled looking for the Soul Merchants' Country Lane, but apparently that's so also-ran it's not even on YouTube)

Jacques Lacan let me rock u; let me rock u, Jacques Lacan (Branwell with an N), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:46 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOPEIMpJQ4A

more pioneers than also-rans, shame about the grotty sound

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:47 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9xhZ1YeqC4

snakedance baby

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:50 (ten years ago)

"Promised Land" was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread!

example (crüt), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:52 (ten years ago)

btw it drives me crazy when people post youtubes on list threads and don't write the name of the thing they're linking to

example (crüt), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:53 (ten years ago)

March Violets OTM, Specimen too, jeez it's like high school all over again

sleeve, Friday, 10 October 2014 17:53 (ten years ago)

Asylum Party - Julia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZtT8zBaZU

example (crüt), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:53 (ten years ago)

btw it drives me crazy when people post youtubes on list threads and don't write the name of the thing they're linking to

mea culpa, it's bad form i know

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 17:56 (ten years ago)

Short Romans - Black Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrmX3IQdTg

goofy german dudes, every single other song of their's i've ever heard is terrible, but i really liked this one at the time

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 18:04 (ten years ago)

haha so it IS okay to post the Goth Box tracklist here, so here's some Gene Loves Jezebel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Lt_yl749c

💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Friday, 10 October 2014 18:06 (ten years ago)

i don't even know what the goth box is, so fill yer boots

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 18:09 (ten years ago)

gothness of said box is not in debate, give or take a bunnyman or two

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 18:15 (ten years ago)

certain bands i was sort of into at the time but in hindsight they were such rubbish

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:41 (ten years ago)

balaam and the angel anyone?

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:42 (ten years ago)

and i never did find out what the good rose of avalanche songs were

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:44 (ten years ago)

guh, flesh for lulu

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:56 (ten years ago)

did james ray do anything good outside of 'giving ground'?

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:56 (ten years ago)

hahaha I was about to mention Flesh For Lulu

I still remember how excited I was after the Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink soundtracks to get my hands on the Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack; I got to the Flesh For Lulu song before going "NO" and turning it off; I don't think I've ever actually heard the whole thing

💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Friday, 10 October 2014 19:58 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiCpfZXjbsk

Kommunity FK - Something Inside Me Has Died

Johnny Fever, Friday, 10 October 2014 20:03 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qgFGqJz9yc

the final twilight of all evaluative standpoints (nakhchivan), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:04 (ten years ago)

Anyone else remember Zerra One?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDNixynsek0

goth colouring book (anagram), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:05 (ten years ago)

re: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - this song still sounds better than the sisters

I would listen to ALL THE RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY before I feel exhausted enough to dig into the Sisters. (On that note, I'd then listen to ALL THE SISTERS OF MERCY before I'm relegated to listening to The Mission.)

Johnny Fever, Friday, 10 October 2014 20:06 (ten years ago)

ooh if we get to put Gene Loves Jezebel on here, we gotta have their John Hughes-movie-esque slowjam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FtiwM7KjsA

the tune was space, Friday, 10 October 2014 20:13 (ten years ago)

not only do i remember zerra one, but i also had the dubious pleasure of seeing them live once. more of a u2 big music thing than goth though, despite the haircuts

i had that gene loves jezebel album, that song is reminding me of bunnymen tune but i can't recall which one

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:21 (ten years ago)

their voices are great btw, welsh accents and all

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:22 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o1hDowtSvU

original version of desire gets my vote as the best glj song

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:25 (ten years ago)

I stand by GLJ's first overall album Promise as utterly unhinged in the best goddamn way. Dare you to play this loud at work if you're still there and see what happens, one after the other -- "Screaming for Emmalene/Scheming."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0EesVsgc9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYwKHmCUaVI

Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 October 2014 20:31 (ten years ago)

i am at home. i made it three minutes into the second song before my wife started yelling at me from the other room. thanks for posting those though, i really enjoyed them. sounds much better to me now than it did to my 14 yr old ears, kind of like my experience with 'the top'

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 20:44 (ten years ago)

i am liking this thread, possibly way more than is socially acceptable

thinking of other 80s things which might fit here either sonically (the bleaker end of post-punk/looser end of coldwave) or in amounts of eyeliner worn (silly vampire synth-pop i love you) but y'know I wasn't therrrre man* and do not wish to diminish the realness of this thread by my dumb post-hoc connections

* by only a handful of years, in case this seems like a "o i am just barely on the other side of <Real 80s Goth cut-off age>" humblebrag, but a whole lot of earth-salting happened in those years

anyway thanks very much, great thread, please keep it up!

club mate martyr (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 10 October 2014 21:25 (ten years ago)

trying to think of more US bands that fit in here... Spahn Ranch? Christian Death? TSOL circa Dance With Me?

also some of the bands here:

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Hell-Comes-To-Your-House-Part-II/release/979347

sleeve, Friday, 10 October 2014 21:29 (ten years ago)

les vampyrettes has been a favourite of mine for years tho its a little strange to see such an alpha as fuck lineup as conny & holger in amongst these minority interest types

the final twilight of all evaluative standpoints (nakhchivan), Friday, 10 October 2014 21:37 (ten years ago)

thinking of other 80s things which might fit here either sonically (the bleaker end of post-punk/looser end of coldwave) or in amounts of eyeliner worn (silly vampire synth-pop i love you) but y'know I wasn't therrrre man* and do not wish to diminish the realness of this thread by my dumb post-hoc connections

there was lots of bleed round the edges i think. i mean, this to me is as goth as fuck and you can bet that the everyone there owned a siouxsie album or six but also it's something else entirely...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClInH1P7q14

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:21 (ten years ago)

that's pariah by danielle dax btw crut

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:22 (ten years ago)

more birthday party swamp punk types:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hwHSytI_Vo

Inca Babies - She Mercenary

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:32 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2JWl9O8YpA

Bone Orchard - Shall I Carry The Budgie Woman?

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:39 (ten years ago)

minority interest, pah

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:39 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWKv_O0vzQ4

Play Dead - Walk Away

didn't like these dingles much but this performance is yer authentic chicken dancing goth rock plod

john wahey (NickB), Friday, 10 October 2014 22:56 (ten years ago)

trisomie 21 the last song

only heard it for the first time recently and am *really* into it (mainly that bass)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3ZVZVMIG7g

outback bumfuc (electricsound), Friday, 10 October 2014 23:52 (ten years ago)

This youtube is really crappy, but the Thing from the Crypt version of Sad Lovers and Giants' "Clint" is the perfect midpoint between "Just Like Heaven" and "They Walked in Line". Which is everything I want from second-tier goth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMGsUZD99kk

juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy), Saturday, 11 October 2014 02:22 (ten years ago)

yeah in no way was I calling holger and conny "also rans", but Les Vampyrettes as a release was pretty low-profile because of the pseudonym and (maybe?) distro at the time of its release? At any rate that band under that name wasn't "Famous" in the Goth canon in the way that other things were.

I assume Christian Death were so popular that they don't belong in this thread either, honestly. Gonna blast "Spiritual Cramp" now in honor of Rozz.

the tune was space, Saturday, 11 October 2014 03:56 (ten years ago)

Does this count as also-ran? (Also how do I get the YouTube to embed?)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5IbhQFmXsZc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Saturday, 11 October 2014 04:17 (ten years ago)

http://youtu.be/5IbhQFmXsZc

stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Saturday, 11 October 2014 04:18 (ten years ago)

Here are a few of my favorite synth pop hits for goths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4gBCSY7UtI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqNoulVpE4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htTvjk0FvoI

brotherlovesdub, Saturday, 11 October 2014 04:44 (ten years ago)

This actually came out 2 years after "Inbetween Days"

The Essence - "Only For You"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeieB08pwAA

LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 11 October 2014 05:20 (ten years ago)

i find it hard to be particularly strident before 8 in the morning but that trisomie 21 song is fucking great. bassline plus the thin metal sheets of sumner-esque guitar that come in every now and again. also it goes on for about 100 years, stuck in loop like yr trapped in a goth hall of mirrors

john wahey (NickB), Saturday, 11 October 2014 07:01 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLcU3oiPh-8

more danielle dax, moving away from the artier stuff and trying to break through

john wahey (NickB), Saturday, 11 October 2014 07:07 (ten years ago)

gah, wrong song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU6dIBK7_ig

danielle dax - cathouse

john wahey (NickB), Saturday, 11 October 2014 07:10 (ten years ago)

trying to think of more US bands that fit in here... Spahn Ranch? Christian Death? TSOL circa Dance With Me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU0ibrQ2JQQ

Mighty Sphincter - Ghost Walking

well-behaved wingmen really hate Mystery (DJ Mencap), Saturday, 11 October 2014 10:24 (ten years ago)

Teahouse Camp - To Kill, Stab in Back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLPufR5bNQU

boner of a lonely horse (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:13 (ten years ago)

As for American bands - here's a song by Eleven Sons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoprinou0WQ

boner of a lonely horse (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:17 (ten years ago)

Stiff Kittens - Contempt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxE5gYtLhsg

boner of a lonely horse (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:23 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U9M6e4bOpc

Unsettled defender (ithappens), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:23 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iXfM0ZSmPY&list=PL6DA530F0763B78A3&index=33

Unsettled defender (ithappens), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:25 (ten years ago)

Academy of Unrest - Hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3LH9JqHkbs

boner of a lonely horse (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:27 (ten years ago)

These 2 songs by The Arch were big at our local goth night:

"Ribdancer"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LehJ55xbcX4

"Babsi Ist Tot"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cOX0wO92Lc

LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:37 (ten years ago)

The Neon Judgement also had huge club hits here:

"Tomorrow In The Papers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvYpFw474Ss

"Miss Brown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJiH-IxqG_U

"Chinese Black"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=736B1FWm1AM

and probably their biggest one, "TV Treated"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRSz-qECBXE

LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 11 October 2014 12:57 (ten years ago)

I remember this period like it was yesterday. Have 1919 shown up yet, my brother liked them (they sounded like Killing Joke basically)

... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Saturday, 11 October 2014 13:10 (ten years ago)

Trisomie 21 also had "La Fête Triste" and "Logical Animals"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfxf8PQi5B4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfzTvUlI96E

LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 11 October 2014 13:14 (ten years ago)

(xp) ... and Play Dead, yeah he liked them too!

... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Saturday, 11 October 2014 13:17 (ten years ago)

on the borderline as they were v popular but hey

x-mal deutschland "polarlicht"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8cmQ-nXYU

the tune was space, Saturday, 11 October 2014 16:21 (ten years ago)

or x-mal douchebag as some ilxor once renamed them. need to check the last batch on a computer that works, but in honour of this thread I bought a death cult ep today - one pound! passed on a philip boa & the voodoo club album though, did I do wrong?

john wahey (NickB), Saturday, 11 October 2014 20:14 (ten years ago)


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