I'm taking a break today from writing silly reviews and thought I'd write about myself again. Now I shall reveal a shocking truth about my younger days... Was I always a clean cut young man or style and sophistication or is there a deep guarded secret. Well drama aside, it's just another revelation rather than a hidden scandal. and now here it is:- I, yours truly, was a Goth. Now this for those of you living on the subcontinent is NOT a member of a tribe that sacked ancient Rome! And I don't think in India that I could quite imagine a Punk and post-Punk subculture rising in your youth. I've never seen any elements or evidence of it in Chennai at least.

To explain where the term 'Goth' comes from will regard a little history lesson in European subculture. In the mid 1970's we had a little music revolution called 'Punk' that spawned such bands as 'The Sex Pistols', 'The Jam', 'The Stranglers' and 'The Clash'. It was all very noisy and although it was accused of being senseless noise, beyond the distortion there was reasonable musicianship and behind the lyrics lay raw and angry protest. It was, to begin with, a reaction against commercialism, capitalism and the right wing. To end with the music companies commercialised it and hence 'Punk' as an alternative and independent music and social scene died (all within 3 years!). This left a void for a while, filled by 'New Wave' ("Duran Duran", "Depeche Mode", "Culture Club", "ABC" etc) and then heralded the Stock, Aitkin & Waterman era of music, along with Bon Jovi, Europe and other awful bands plugging the 'Rock' gap.

But there were murmurings under the surface, as the short, but colourful period of 'Punk' had spawned an Indie scene that wouldn't simply pack-up their drum sticks and go home. There were several 'Post Punk' Bands that rose from the ashes "Joy Division" (that became "New Order"), 'The Damned', 'Siouxie & the Banshees' and others. Then there are more layers that need further explanation before we get to the conception of a new music/art form...

Another subculture influence comes from Heavy Metal, especially bands like "Black Sabbath" (named after an old Hammer House of Horror film) and "Led Zeppelin". These two bands encompass heavy riffs and sometimes mystic https://lyrics. The next influence comes from the actual locations where these 'Goth' bands were formed; after WWII a lot of East End London, all of Coventry and many of the industrial cities suffered residential damage from Germany's bombings. To fix the problem the Government built 11 New Towns that satellited London. My home was Basildon, a town that opened in 1959. These towns were very modular, concrete jungle like and an attempt at being 'futuristic'. In reality they were cold, grim and ugly. Modernism gone wrong. This probably helped spark 'Punk' in the first place, as a reaction to the surroundings as well as commercialism. So came the turn of 'Goths' and our bleak graveyard humour! ;)

These influences combined; the rawness of punk, the heaviness of rock, the mysticism (albeit more developed), and the reaction to modernism. and Goth made it's first infant cry...

Up in the Northern City of Leeds, a guy called Andrew Eldritch and Craig Adams formed a band called 'Sisters of Mercy'. The look was very 'retro' in the beginning, Black T-shirts, Black Jeans, Black boots, black leather jackets and of coarse sunglasses! The sound was supported by a digital drum machine called 'Doktor Avalanche', the bass thundered, the guitar phased and distorted, Eldritch's voice coarse, rough mournful.... genius! A reflection of our feelings towards a more 'conformed' world. The clubs were dark, strobe lit and smokey. The fans of this type of music were generally disaffected intellectuals; not depressives, self pitiers, or devil worshippers (the latter was an accusation that was levelled against the movement in later years).

At this point, no major record company would touch the movement for various reasons and Goth bands never courted them for various reasons too! Bands sprouted up around the globe as well as the UK, the 'Baus Haus' in Germany, 'Christian Death' in Australia... but the heart of Goth was very English. Soon the 'Sisters of Mercy' split due to artistic differences between Eldritch, Adams and newly joined member (and main cause) Wayne Hussey. Eldritch and his inanimate partner, Doctor Avalanche, continued as the 'Sisters of Mercy' (briefly the 'Sisterhood' to spit Hussey and Adams) and 'The Mission' was formed by Hussey & Adams.