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Friday, December 30, 2011

Postcards (Part 1)



Hi,
I've got a collection of postcards and here are some 2bles I wish to exchange with other postcards or badges of similar '80s bands. 
They were bought in the '80s and are in mint condition.
Size 15 x10 cm approx.























Backside details: PC 12 SISTERS OF MERCY
PRINTED IN ENGLAND
"CULT IMAGES" 


Background black color is brownish

Backside details: Editions OASISPrinted in E.E.C.

Backside details: Editions Musicartes
Printed in E.E.C.
EM 486 SISTERS OF MERCY



Backside details: Editions OASIS
Printed in E.E.C.




If you wish to exhange leave a comment
I'll post the whole of my collection in parts...

Monday, December 19, 2011

Gustave Doré and the Goths (Sex Gang Children)

Paul Gustave Doré (1832 – 1883) was a french artist with a gift for engraving. He made a career as an illustrator for books such as the Bible, Milton's "Paradise lLost", Dante's "Divine Comedy", Edgar A.Poe's "The Raven" e.a. He worked primarily with wood and steel engraving. The images he created are classic and timeless full of mood, tension and an uncomparable romantic approach. 
It's no wonder goth bands of the 1980's used his imagery on their record sleeves. The Sisters of Mercy are the most notable example but today it's Sex Gang Children's turn.
On their first 7" single cover "Into the Abyss" in 1982 the band used a Doré illustration from his work for Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" c. 1861-68.




















The original illustration is entitled "Alichino and Calcabrina" after the names of two demons fighting over a lake in hell. Dante and Virgil are overlooking...
I'm telling you, if you like goth and moody dark imagery, Doré is your man...



Friday, December 16, 2011

Press material and gig ads 2


I'll start regularly posting clippings concerning gig ads and other material, from music papers of the '80s (NME, the Sounds, Melody Maker, Zig Zag e.a). It's quite interesting to see who played where and with whom before they became "big names".

OK, as promised, here's part 2. 
Stay tuned as there are many to come...






Friday, December 9, 2011

80's goth bands logos pt.V (Red Lorry Yellow Lorry)

While I'm scanning gig ads for the previous post, here's something else...
The Lorries were a great band and like Gary Marx, quite underrated! ;-)






















They used this logo for almost four (4) years, that is from 1982 till approximatively, 1986.
The two (2) trucks appeared on the sleeve of "Beating my head" 7"single (in color as 
you can see).
The last time they used it on a record label, sleeve or other, was if my memory serves me  
well, for "The very best of" in 2000. But by 1986 it was abandoned from regular releases.






















A great band, a not so great symbol...
Let alone the resemblance to the mighty Jamie Reid's "nowhere buses" for 
the Sex Pistols in 1976.


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Press material and gig ads

I'll start regularly posting clippings concerning gig ads and other material, from music papers of the '80s (NME, the Sounds, Melody Maker, Zig Zag e.a). It's quite interesting to see who played where and with whom before they became "big names".
Enjoy!


1983: 


 

I'll soon upload more clippings...

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Gary Marx is underrated!

Ok, I don't know how many of you knew this, but I just recently heard these excellent tracks and got aware of the following fact:


"Nearly 13 years after first coming into being Nineteen Ninety Five and Nowhere receives its first official release on the French independent label D-monic. 
  Recently completed and re-mastered the new 10 track album features songs originally written in 1995 by The Sisters of Mercy co-founder Gary Marx at the invitation of Sisters’ supremo Andrew Eldritch. The material was intended to represent the pair’s first collaboration since the landmark Sisters’ album ‘First and Last and Always’ of 1984, but the notoriously wilful singer pulled out of the project without uttering a single word.
  The backing tracks went unheard until relatively recently when Marx, convinced of the material’s obvious strength, decided to finish the songs himself, writing lyrics and adding his own distinctive vocals. The response on hearing the results among the Sisters fan-base was immediate and the clamour for the tracks prompted him to make 7 of the songs available via the internet.
  Despite continual pressure to make the songs more widely available Marx had refused to be drawn until the approach of the Paris based label. Now with all 10 songs included for the first time the album has been re-mastered and re-packaged and is due for release on December 1st 2007.
  Despite (or perhaps because of ) the twisted path the songs have had to walk these long years, the album works as much more than a mere taste of what might have been – it serves as ample reminder of Marx’s undoubted ability as a writer and guitarist and is essential listening for anyone who has followed his career to date or for newcomers looking for an introduction to his work."

The above excerpt was taken by the French label, D-Monic's website.
I recommend you listen to this album letting your imagination bring in Andrew's voice...
Poor guy, what an opportunity he missed...

Tune in...


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Gothic bands and art vol. I (Ghost Dance)

In April 1986, Ghost Dance (x-Sisters, Gary Marx & x-Skeletal Family, Anne Marie) released their first 12" release "River of no return" on Karbon records.
On the sleeve -following a tradition partly imposed by the Sisters of Mercy- a detail of a painting was used.




















"The Lady of Shalott" was painted in 1888 by John William Waterhouse, a painter closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, who became famous for depicting women belonging to Arthurian legend or ancient Greek mythology.
































The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of english painters and poets who formed in 1848. Their ideals were influenced by a fascination of the Middle Ages, a return to Flemish and Italian early Renaissance art and a reject of the changes the industrial revolution brought in society.


Stay tuned...