BAUHAUS

Random and bite-sized facts on all things from the mythical figures that make up Bauhaus. Totally random but totally fascinating if you're into it. Do you know Bauhaus now?

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PAUL DELVAUX "DARK ENTRIES"

The cover of Bauhaus’s “Dark Entries” uses a detail from Paul Delvaux’s “Sleeping Venus”, painted in 1944. A woman in an old-fashioned dress faces a skeleton in a classical setting. It’s such a Delvaux image: an ordinary human encounter made utterly strange, with the figures held in a peculiar stillness. One of my favourite surrealists — he makes the unreal feel completely real.

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"ZIGGY STARDUST" WAS ALMOST JUST A JOKE

Bauhaus originally played "Ziggy Stardust" simply for fun while warming up in the studio. Kevin Haskins later recalled that engineer Mike Hedges heard it, thought it sounded great and persuaded them to record it properly. The band initially resisted because they were already being accused of copying Bowie.

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THEY TURNED A BOWIE ACCUSATION INTO A SINGLE

When Bauhaus released "Ziggy Stardust" in 1982, they were well aware of the irony. The band had spent years being accused of sounding like Bowie, yet deliberately chose one of his songs for a single. Daniel Ash later described the decision as doing the opposite of what their critics expected.

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"ZIGGY STARDUST" WASN'T THE FIRST TAKE

The version that became Bauhaus's "Ziggy Stardust" single wasn't the first version they recorded. They initially recorded it while working on Mask, then recorded another version for a BBC session. It was that later performance that eventually persuaded their record label to release it.

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THE "MASK" VIDEO WAS SHOT IN A SHOE FACTORY

Bauhaus filmed the video for "Mask" inside an abandoned Victorian shoe factory in Northampton. The building was opposite a police station, and the band worked with a tiny budget, powering some of the equipment from car batteries.

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THE COVER OF IN THE FLAT FIELD WASN'T MADE FOR BAUHAUS

The cover of In the Flat Field uses a photograph by American photographer Duane Michals. The image, "Homage to Puvis de Chavannes", dates from 1949 — more than three decades before Bauhaus used it for their debut album.

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THE LIVE ALBUM WASN'T ORIGINALLY AN ALBUM

Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape was originally planned as a bonus record for a limited edition of The Sky's Gone Out. It was subsequently released as a standalone album in December 1982, shortly after "Ziggy Stardust" became a hit.

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PETER MURPHY'S CATHOLIC UPBRINGING FED INTO BAUHAUS

Peter Murphy later said that Catholicism and its rituals fed into Bauhaus's theatrical side. He described himself and Daniel Ash as the band's two Catholics, while David J and Kevin Haskins came from a Church of England background.

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THEY DIDN'T THINK OF THEMSELVES AS A GOTH BAND

Bauhaus's own view of their music was more complicated than the later "goth" label. In a later interview, Kevin Haskins said the band felt they were more three-dimensional and more like an art-rock group, while Peter Murphy has also pointed to glam rock, reggae and other influences.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WAS RECORDED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY

Bauhaus had only been together for about a month when they recorded "Bela Lugosi's Dead". Daniel Ash later recalled that the chemistry was so strong that they essentially recorded the song as it happened, with only some echo added afterwards.

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DANIEL ASH PAINTED HIS OWN GUITAR BLACK

Daniel Ash used a white 1972 Fender Telecaster with Bauhaus, but he didn't leave it that way. He later recalled taking the guitar apart, spray-painting it black and putting it back together again. He had obtained it by swapping it for a saxophone.

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BAUHAUS NEARLY HAD A DIFFERENT BASSIST

David J wasn't actually Bauhaus's original bassist. Daniel Ash said another bass player was there at the very beginning, but he didn't work out. David joined within the band's first few weeks and became part of the classic lineup.

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THEIR FIRST GIG WASN'T REALLY THEIR FIRST GIG

Bauhaus unexpectedly ended up playing part of a Pretenders show at Northampton University. Kevin Haskins later recalled that they were never officially booked as the support act — they simply played when the opportunity appeared. They had only about five songs at the time.

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THEIR SECOND GIG HAD FOUR PEOPLE IN THE ROOM

After the strange success of their first show, Bauhaus played a New Year's Eve gig in the back room of a pub. Kevin Haskins recalled that only about four people were there — and the band played "Raw Power" four times.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WASN'T ORIGINALLY MEANT AS A SINGLE

The first recording session was intended to produce a demo and a B-side that Bauhaus could use to find a record deal. "Bela Lugosi's Dead" worked so well that the band decided to release it as the single instead.

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THE BAND DIDN'T SET OUT TO SOUND LIKE A HORROR FILM

David J said Bauhaus had already been using dramatic black-and-white lighting before they had seen the German Expressionist films they were later compared with. He described the similarity as a coincidence rather than the result of copying those films.

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THEY WERE AFRAID OF SOUNDING LIKE OTHER BANDS

Kevin Haskins later recalled that Bauhaus were actually wary of listening to contemporary bands because they were afraid of accidentally sounding like them. He said the group's sound instead evolved organically from older musical and cultural influences.

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THEY BOUGHT A HEARSE WHILE RECORDING AN ALBUM

While recording The Sky's Gone Out at Rockfield Studios, Daniel Ash and Peter Murphy spotted a hearse for sale in nearby Monmouth. The band bought it and drove it back to the studio. Engineer Derek Tompkins was reportedly furious because they were supposed to be recording rather than driving a hearse around.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WAS RECORDED WITH CHEAP EQUIPMENT

Daniel Ash used an HH amplifier when Bauhaus recorded "Bela Lugosi's Dead" — the same sort of inexpensive British equipment used by many late-1970s punk bands. He also ran the guitar through an HH echo unit during the recording.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WAS MURPHY'S FIRST TIME HEARING HIS OWN VOICE ON HEADPHONES

Peter Murphy recorded the vocal for "Bela Lugosi's Dead" in a single take. It was also the first time he had ever heard himself singing through studio headphones. The entire recording session cost Bauhaus just £12.

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MURPHY WROTE HALF OF BAUHAUS'S FIRST ALBUM IN ONE WEEKEND

Peter Murphy recalled that Daniel Ash asked him to start writing songs together, and the pair wrote half of Bauhaus's first album in a single weekend at their rehearsal place — before the band had even settled on the name Bauhaus.

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DANIEL ASH TOLD MURPHY TO DYE HIS HAIR BLACK

Murphy has recalled that Daniel Ash suggested he dye his hair black before Bauhaus had fully developed its image. Murphy then began wearing theatrical clothes and makeup even when he was simply walking around Northampton.

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Murphy has said he was singing "every hour God gave me" before Bauhaus. He remembered music being everywhere in his childhood, including Catholic school music, hymns and songs heard at home.

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"HONEYMOON CROON" HAS A VERY SPECIFIC SUBJECT

When asked what "Honeymoon Croon" was about, Murphy gave a surprisingly direct answer: secret desire expressed through an attempted relationship with a prostitute.

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"HOLLOW HILLS" WAS ABOUT HIDDEN WISDOM

Asked directly what "Hollow Hills" was about, Murphy gave a remarkably concise answer: "Hidden wisdom."

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"CRYSTAL WRISTS" GOES BACK TO MURPHY'S CHILDHOOD

Murphy has said the inspiration for "Crystal Wrists" came from a traumatic experience when he was four. He described a strange moment when shapes seemed to change size and ordinary objects appeared to stretch impossibly into the sky.

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MURPHY DIDN'T SEE BAUHAUS AS A "DARK" BAND

In a 1992 interview, Murphy pushed back against the image that had grown around him after "Bela Lugosi's Dead". He said the media had reduced him to a demonic, death-oriented persona, adding that writing about death didn't necessarily make the music "dark".

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BAUHAUS RECORDED A REGGAE SONG ABOUT DEBBIE HARRY

During the same session that produced "Bela Lugosi's Dead", Bauhaus recorded "Harry" — a ska-reggae track about Blondie's Debbie Harry. Kevin Haskins later said the band were still trying to find their musical voice at the time.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WAS INTENDED AS DUB

David J later said "Bela Lugosi's Dead" was intended as a dub piece. The band had been listening heavily to reggae and dub, and the huge space around the bass and drums was part of what they were trying to achieve.

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THE BUBBLEMEN STARTED ON A BAUHAUS ALBUM COVER

Daniel Ash's later Bubblemen characters actually began as a doodle while Bauhaus were working on "Mask". Ash noticed a tiny black Bubbleman in the drawing — years before the characters became associated with Love and Rockets.

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"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD" WAS PART OF THEIR MUSICAL EXPERIMENTATION

The same first recording session produced "Bela Lugosi's Dead", "Boys", "Bite My Hip", "Some Faces" and "Harry". The songs were remarkably different — including power pop and ska-reggae — because Bauhaus were still trying to work out what their own sound was.

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BAUHAUS HAD TWO CATHOLICS AND TWO ANGLICANS

Peter Murphy said he and Daniel Ash were the Catholics in Bauhaus, while David J and Kevin Haskins came from Church of England backgrounds. Murphy believed the theatrical rituals of Catholicism fed into the band's early stage performances.

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PETER MURPHY'S FIRST RECORD WAS "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT"

Peter Murphy said the first 7-inch record he bought was The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" when he was seven. His childhood record collection also stretched from Doris Day and wartime songs to Irish folk, rockabilly, Northern Soul and reggae.

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THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE CLOSER TO THE CLASH THAN GOTH

Peter Murphy said Bauhaus were more aligned to The Clash than the other bands around them. He also said they didn't really know how to play reggae — something he believed actually helped them develop their own version of it.

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DANIEL ASH'S FIRST GUITAR WAS A WOOLWORTH'S SPECIAL

Daniel Ash's first guitar was a cheap Woolworth's instrument that he remembers as being particularly difficult to play. He never took lessons, instead learning by copying records and working things out by ear.

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