Same age, i had the luck to enjoy them in a concert in Athens(1983) -i'm German we lived there at that time- but i was too young to fully realize their magnificence, my mind was at the girl who was with me and i tried to impress(that's how 16 years old boys are...). Few months later i watched "The Hunger", a movie with Bowie and Deneuve, oppening scene was this track and then i felt the explosion in my head, it was like somehow i "carried" the whole impression since the concert and it came up to the surface. Whatever happens i consider this as one of my life's highlights, much more important than all the degrees and the so called "good times in life", Bauhaus for teen was more than mind blowing.
It just goes to show that you can be super creepy using only subtlety. The distorted guitar riffs are subtle, the fashion (though dark) is subtle, and the horror they're trying to evoke is dramatic, while also being mysterious. It's not until the end that he starts screaming, but there's a tremendous build up to that point. This also makes the payoff more enjoyable.
Not bad for a band who could hardly play when they recorded this. First time in the studio & recorded in one take. Kind of tongue in cheek, which didn't go down well with critic's I recall. Despite this, they recorded some amazing, unique songs. Daniel Ash is a very interesting guitarist.
This song was the first number the wrote in 79. A very a head of it's time indeed. Perfect. Ever goth chick in a shopping mall owes everything to this one band . Now it's 45 years later and I can still see goth kids today.
TOTAL CLASS ! I saw Pete and Bahaus do this exactly the same in front of about 60-80 people at The Flag Club in Wembley in the early 80's. It was one of the most amazing live shows I ever saw, and I have seen hundreds. Best bit was when Pete jumped off the stage in the finale and said 'Get out of my Fucking way' which we all did, He had such presence and charisma - Hope you are recovering OK Pete X
I think this is an actual recording and they are just lipsyncing/pretending to play. It is common practice on shows like this. Ensures the taping goes smoothly.
Amazing song. I had a creepy experience with this song though. I always sleep with my spotify playlist and it plays through until random songs are selected. At 2 am in the night I woke up to Bela Lugosi's dead outro when he repeatedly sing/scream oh Bela's undead. Kinda freaked me out a little. And then the next day, the same thing happened AGAIN on the same part of the song lol
The only "creepy" experience I have is with a generation so limited in vocabulary as only forever to use the words "creepy" or "crazy" when referring to things or persons that are "eerie" and situations that are "absurd," trying," unusual," "challenging.". Indeed you Groupthink artists have A WORD FOR EVERYTHING "EERIE," "MALEVOLENT," "MALEFIC," "HORRIFYING," "TERRIFYING,'" ETC, ETC.
It's been a Loong time since Ive seen this. Excellent! Top 5 all time works of art. Puts you there whether you want to or not. This one didn't make it on MTV much, if ever?? Song itself is all you need.
White on white translucent black capes Back on the rack Bela Lugosi's dead The bats have left the bell tower The victims have been bled Red velvet lines the black box Bela Lugosi's dead Bela Lugosi's dead Undead undead undead Undead undead undead The virginal brides file past his tomb Strewn with time's dead flowers Bereft in deathly bloom Alone in a darkened room The count Bela Lugosi's dead Bela Lugosi's dead Bela Lugosi's dead Undead undead undead Undead undead undead Undead Oh Bela Bela's undead Oh Bela Bela's undead Bela's undead Oh Bela Bela's undead Oh Bela Undead
My sister found the VHS of this and other music videos of theirs at Goodwill of all places around 2002. It had Telegram Sam on it and this plus Rosegarden Funeral of Sores. I remember listening to this every morning before school and Lou Reeds Vicious album and having no clue how to even relate to anyone else around me but somehow still remaining a social butterfly able to blend in and out of each click and befriend everyone. I noticed the kids who were into harder mainstream stuff like Slipknot and Korn were the antisocial ones getting bullied but I never understood the benefit of not just being nice to everyone (not kissing their a**es or anything) in order to not get singled out. My sister got into H a short time after that and I started experimenting with it and other substances when other kids were just smoking weed and drinking so again in some aspects I couldn't relate yet never judged or wanted to he judged. I think what really set me up to get through it is that I went in with the firm understanding that literally none of those people would matter after 4 years and you wouldn't ever have to see them again if you didn't want to give a chance encounter at the store or something random. If you're having a hard time in that age group and you read this, trust me when I say the kids that you feel like have more going on or to offer than you, they've peaked too early and those years are their glory days that they'll look back on and yearn for even when they're 30 something. You've got your whole life ahead of you and more more potential as you get older than you realize. They'll never be as popular or "cool" or attractive than they are right now and you're just beginning to grow.
I remember going to the cinema when the Hunger was released & staying in there watching it three times over just to see this at the start ,,😂 got asked to leave in the end.
I remember seeing them on 21th November 1981 in Het Paard van Troje (Trojan Horse). A venue in The Hague, Netherlands. Most remarkable about this gig was, that after the first encore the roadies started to switch of and disconnect the instruments, floor lights in the venue were switched on, a DJ started to play music. But a small group of fans (including myself) kept on shouting for more. And at a certain moment the instruments were reconnected, amplifiers switched on and they played this song, which was all new to me, but immediately overwhelming.
This is reminiscent of the Old Vic Theater show performance of the song. But I think this video is better. It's so quintessentially Bauhaus! I remember still shots of Peter Murphy in the laser maze, but I never got to see it until now. God, I love the early 80s, they are magic! The world before the Rock Me Tonight video broke the karma of Western Culture. It was all downhill after that.
Cazzo devo aggiungere..be la is dead , no cari amici, questo è l'inizio di una nuova avventura, sono solo felice di avere vissuto questo periodo musicale...grazie anche a tutte le altre band del periodo..lucky Luca
