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Friday, May 25, 2012

A surrealist and Dark Entries

In 1979, Bauhaus 1919 -as they were called back then- entered the Beck studios in Northamptonshire to record 5 tracks. The most famous been "Bela Lugosi's Dead" that made it to be their first single. "Dark Entries" was also a result of that session and was released as a 7" single in 1980.
The sleeve was adorned with a detail from a painting of a Belgian surrealist artist named Paul Delvaux. Delvaux was influenced by metaphysical art as that of de Chirico, by mythology, medical curiosities and eventually by the fiction of Jules Verne. He became famous for his paintings of women both dressed and nude, who seem to stare as if hypnotized and wonder mysteriously through train stations or classical buildings.
As Delvaux puts it himself, he created a "climate of streets with people who can't be seen".
Bauhaus used for this 7" a fragment of his painting "The sleeping Venus" from 1944.


























The "Dark Entries" single came in three different initial sleeves. The Axis and 4AD copies had the lyrics of the song and a weird party photo of Peter Murphy on the back.
























The Beggars Banquet version had a slightly different design when it comes to typography and mentioned the title of the painting beneath the image. It also had the back side identical to the front, without lyrics. Truly collectible!



Sunday, May 13, 2012

FOTN at "Ancienne Belgique", Brussels, 26.10.1988

I  recently found a set of photos I took back in 1988 during the Fields of the Nephilim "Precious to the Lost" european tour
They were shot on B/W film and were used later on for graphic design studies projects. 
I thought some were interesting so I publish 4 of them here while another 16 remain in my drawers. They have never been published on the net before.
If you like 'em let me now and I might publish the rest.

Photos courtesy: Yorgos Panteleon 



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Bob Carlos Clarke and the Damned

The Damned have never been a real Goth band. They were one of the first and best punk acts. Many songs though, due to Dave Vanian 's obsessions had gothic elements and feeling. In 1984 they released their most gothic in style LP, "Phantasmagoria".

The superb images on the sleeve were taken by an Irish photographer, Bob Carlos Clarke (1950-2006). 
The front and back cover pictures are actually one photograph that  was shot at Brompton cemetery and had the initial title 
"The Dream Keeper".
The backside picture is thus a detail.































The model is Susie Bricks, who now happens to be Nick Cave's wife.


The original image was included in Clarke's 1985 photobook "The Dark Summer" (Quintet editions) now out of stock... 

























Croppings of this same picture were also used on "The Shadow of Love" 7" and 12" single and remixes.
















































Another shot by Bob Carlos Clarke was used on their single "Grimly Fiendish" from that same album. The original title for the photo was "Crown of Thorns".




















Check Bob Carlos Clarke website here:
http://www.bobcarlosclarke.co.uk/