My husband and I met early 80s and this is one of our songs and to this day we are still married and every night comes to me he says kiss kiss and I give him two 💋💋 then I say bang bang. It's Goin on 35 + year tradition . Damn that makes us old.
One of Soho's finest. It moved a couple of times I think, or at least once. The Kit Kat was another great club in Bayswater, it moved too if I remember right, can't remember if it was to or from there.
Is it just me or does this music make y’all feel like you can rule the world? Like imagine walking around in the dark night as you listen to this song. O_O
Bat Cave is not a sub genre haha. It was a goth London night club in the 1980’s! I saw some discussion about that. Anyway Specimen is an amazing band that I think of as a wonderful mix of goth and glam!
True, originally the Batcave was a Goth nightclub. However, a lot of people grew to associate the name with a specific subgenre of Goth that was played there, and the definition morphed.
Honestly, in my experience it was more broken up into Jocks/Popular Trendy kids who usually hated us Punks and Goths and New Wave/New Romantics, who usually went to the same parties and intermingled pretty freely. Then their were Heavy Metalers also known as Hessians. I liked metal and was sometimes called a traitor for that. If there was a fight and a goth or punk was in trouble then the others would usually help out. We all pretty much stuck together.We didn't get too obsessed with the real subtleties of genres and subgenres back in the day. There was NO internet so it was a lot less easy to verify what someone else was calling stuff or what they were doing or wearing across the country or world. It would be more like you look "goth" because you wear all black/black nail polish whatever (which was way rare) and you are generally spooky and stuff and people would ask what bands you liked. I might describe myself as really digging some of that bat cave type stuff like Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend and just death rock stuff like Christian Death. The sub genres were not written in stone yet. But Bat Cave was definitely used to describe a style of hair. clothes and music. Specimen is the ultimate Bat Cave band because Ollie the singer, started the Bat Cave. Even glam rock metal heads would hang around with thrash metal fans (Believe me I know, because I had to listen to some shitty ass glam metal (Bon Jovi, Winger, Ratt) at times. There were labels but they were more descriptive and less restrictive in many ways. Although there were those lines that were rarely crossed like Heavy Metal to Punk and Hip Hop to Rock.
Das stimmt schon, aber man sagt ja auch das z.B. Dark Wave ein Genre ist. . . obwohl es eigentlich ja die Dark Wave Bewegung war, also eine Zeit in der sich etwas musikalisch verändert hat, oder ? Bat Cave ist zwar kein richtiges Genre, aber der Club hatte trotzdem einen gewissen Stil von der Musik her (der sich dann ein bischen verbreitet hat)
i always wondered how did specimen get such big budget for the batastrophe ep. the sound is huge and polished and mixed with great care. every song is catchy and memorable. but they didn't tour much and only got radio play on underground stations in metropolitan areas.
Friends, "Batcave" isn't the sub-genre - it was the London nightclub the band ran in the 80s and focal point for the post punk crowd. I'm sure its mention is in the interest of giving a view of yesterday's scene.
Bat Cave the subgenre is named for the club/night. But yes, it IS a subgenre now, essentially equating to UK deathrock, as opposed to say the Cure or Sisters Of Mercy, or all of that EBM shit that belongs at a rave instead of a goth-night. Like American deathrock, Bat Cave falls somewhere on a spectrum between the post-punk influenced sound of Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Banshees, and the horror punk sound of Misfits, Samhain, The Undead, Rudimentary Peni, and the Screaming Dead.
I learned this song as it was played at the club I went to in Seattle 1984ish. I didn't even know what a goth was till someone called me that in the early nineties.
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang Kiss, kiss, bang, bang, kiss this and hang Kiss, kiss, bang, bang Kiss, kiss, bang, bang, kiss this and hang A beautiful sight, we lay down inside My head it never believed the tide, tide Kiss, kiss, bang, bang A beautiful sight, we lay down inside Our head it never will leave the tide You understating, understand your undeceiving And it's sad the breach comes with the peace It makes you like you want. hear this Kiss and bang, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Kiss, kiss, bang, bang I know you're watching So why you could wear that leather? Our friends talk talk about the weather I know your waiting, why you waiting to exist? Scar, scar and now you take chances? Since you're a suicide my bro Trash trash my gash, oh it's the gas Kiss, kiss, bang, bang Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
90's baby here with no intent on pushing knowledge on someone, and I just wanted to say that it doesn't matter if youre in love with the darkness or just the music, you can look like anything you want as long as we can be reasonably dreadfully together! 🦇🦇🦇
I bought the Batastrophe EP when it was released in '83 (I still have it). I didn't think then that I'd have to wait 24 years for them to finally release their 1st full album, Electric Ballroom (great album btw). Better late than never.
Come on humans! You are not afraid of us arachnids, your fear comes from a sutile red spider that walks around your dreams when you go naively across 4D.
dude, im from penang, malaysia (its the country between singapore and thailand) VERY few people know about music like this. clubs here all play the same generic mainstream crap. i was born in the wrong place and in the wrong decade
Saw these guys live at a small club in Waikiki in Hawaii back in 1985? Awesome concert! Lead singer came out on crutches ans looked like he needed them. Dude was so skinny. Maybe it was just a prop. Loved this song to this day.
How exciting that these guys were seriously pushing the boundaries with their music back then. Wow, who knew there was a good eighties song about a gay couple or gay rights? You go guys, for being ahead of your time!!!
Love the vinyl pops! This was often played at The Annex in Colorado Springs in the mid-80s. I have the record, now, but back in the 80s I only had it on a cassette that I recorded from the Colorado College radio station KRCC. I remember the DJ was Marie and after this song she played Street of Dreams by The Damned. The DJ at The Annex who would play this was Lisa. But I don't recall her ever playing Street of Dreams.
Rusty Egan Rusty Egan from Rich Kids, etc.? If so, wow! Ghosts Of Princes In Towers is one of my formative albums. There at one of the most important periods in a person's life. I still listen to it constantly. (I have a few copies in different formats). If it's not you, ahem, sorry.
Sorry I don't comment that much on here, but yes I signed these guys and put them in the studio I was there but let them produce themselves with our team. We had Flood , Mark Stent Clive Martin an amazing teem of producers . We made the album and got them a deal with SIRE.
Oh Phoenix, There was! Back then it was called Positive-Punk and it means the early raw punk influenced goth sound like Southern Death Cult, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and so one.Today there are differend names for the first wave of goth bands. ''Goth Punk'' ''Batcave'' ''Positive Punk'' It all means the same deathrock is a bit differend.
I see a lot of discussion about Goth rock here, which I am rather bemused by. Now, I love the oldschool Goth and Deathrock bands of the late 70s and early 80s, and I enjoy Specimen, but they never *sounded* very gothy to me, whatever that means. I think they were more interested in writing glam-style tunes, while dressing like Goth fashionistas... which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But they certainly didn't sound quite as wild as they appeared.
Yes there is debate on many deathrock/glam rock/punk/post-punk bands being slumped as goth rock and the reason why is because these bands which at the time were unknowingly being pioneers in music, were playing a unique sound that manifested in between the transition of punk-rock to the new term goth rock. Many of these bands were called post-punk artists but did not incorporate the angst, political and rebellious lyrical context, guitar work that derived from rock n roll/garage rock or the attitude and shouting instead of singing as Punk music did. Post-punk derived from punk but had more singing and melody and different guitar work. They later developed a sub-culture and fashion sense that came with the musical style that was influenced by Punk and Glam rock. These very same post-punk bands evolved into different formats themselves and influenced new bands into a more melancholy and darker tone in music implementing droning or flanging guitars, effects such as reverb and echo, darker, bleaker or menacing basslines and synth work, that often resulted in a cold, harsh, desolate, melancholy or haunting sound that contrasted well with the image and rock style from before. They changed their image & lyrical sense to a more romanticism, religious symbolism, vampiric imagery that played along between love and death subjects as well as changed their vocal approach into deeper voices with echo effects that complemented with the emotion and sounds they produced that resulted in vampire-esque or depressing sounds that went along with the sounds atmosphere. These bands at the time were known as Post-Punk. But people and journalists noticed the darker sounds, lyrical and fashion change of some post-punk bands and therefor deeming the term Goth/Gothic Rock. These pioneering bands were Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, 45 Grave, And Also The Trees, Christian Death, The Birthday Party, The Damned, Sisters of Mercy, Suicide, The Virgin Prunes, Kommunity FK, Specimen. All deriving from Punk/Glam Rock Music and changing or incorporating Gothic sounds/imagery to their music which formed Goth/Gothic Rock. So in essence that's why Specimen also bare the Goth Rock label. They have influenced and continue to influence many bands that at that time Goth Rock genre was coined and caught on. Not all of their songs have the Gothic rock sound and that's why many people debate that they are not Goth Rock. Besides the Punk/Post-punk/glam rock sound, if you listen to some of their songs and understand that at the time the genre didn't exist, you can hear why and how they have influenced Gothic Rock artists and can be tagged as Gothic Rock as well since they were one of the bands that paved the way for the genre. The label started from a place and it is not fair to not give credit to the artists who helped develop it weather people dislike the genre or the label. The debate of labeling them only goth rock or any other genre is a question of who and how people want to or don't care to for the sake of just categorizing their music collection and following the trend and find similar tastes. Since most artists and fans are generally not into one overall label as it seems to type-cast an artist as one form of style and to not disparage or undermine an artists work, the term Goth Rock was never meant to just be one label to categorize an artists full body of work nor make an artist seem like that's all they were capable of producing but just another genre as every other. Hope this helps anyone understand Goth Rock and its history
evilspin Thanks, very well written. I've listened to a lot of post-punk bands and have a lot of the artists you mention in my cd collection, so I know exactly what you mean. I suppose when I commented about Specimen I erred in looking back on the 'goth' label through the lens of 30 years of music, instead of mentally placing myself at the time the song was made.
This is really well put, evilspin. When I think back to going to "goth" clubs of the 80s, so much of what got heavy rotation would not be considered Gothic proper today. There was so much genre mixing that went into defining what goth proper would become. I can remember hearing everything from punk to new wave to goth to early industrial and even house at the clubs in Los Angeles at the time. So many fringe genres came together in the formation of what we consider goth today that there are bound to be many outliers who were important in defining the genre but no longer necessarily seem of the genre.
Notice in the notes that this band/song was Deathrock/Glam/Batcave. I live in the US and in the early 80s we were called batcavers, deathrockers or blackbirds (my fave). I never heard the word Goth until the early 90s when I was already out of college for several years. The term Deathrock means something else entirely now and none of it dirge-y, which I miss - or - am I missing out on something I don't know about? I have a hard on for correcting people about these terms, but hey, maybe Goth was used in the UK? No matter because music is for all lovers! 🎵 🎶 🎧 I really just wanted to write that in college my boyfriend stole my Specimens album that had been gifted to me by strange people and I still haven't forgiven him! 💋 💥
![Specimen 1983 Batastrophe [Mini LP]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sGQ5FLMUH40/mqdefault.jpg)
![Specimen 1983 Batastrophe [Mini LP]](/img/tr.png)
My husband and I met early 80s and this is one of our songs and to this day we are still married and every night comes to me he says kiss kiss and I give him two 💋💋 then I say bang bang. It's Goin on 35 + year tradition . Damn that makes us old.
Awwwwwn
That's sweet. 💞
@@zetovidillard 💋💋
@@dystopian2153 🥰💋💋
That's so f'n cool. True love.💋
This bassline is the sexiest thing I've ever heard.
Real :) I learned this bass line cause my boyfriend loved the song and I fricking love to play it
This song is a drug! Playing it perfectly on my matte black Demon Schecter bass is 1000x better than any pharmaceutical drug.....
Slap’n the hell out of it!!
Kinky
Да!!!
I went to the Batcave regular and privileged to see Specimen perform there. At the time Ollie own it.
Brilliant nights.
🎉 WowYowZa 💀🖤💀
You are living the dream
One of Soho's finest. It moved a couple of times I think, or at least once. The Kit Kat was another great club in Bayswater, it moved too if I remember right, can't remember if it was to or from there.
That bass though... Ugh! It's beautiful!
cosmic_disaster27 yessss!!
Agree
Maybe that’s the point... to make it sound raw and grimy in other words “Dark”
💖💖💖
Is it just me or does this music make y’all feel like you can rule the world? Like imagine walking around in the dark night as you listen to this song. O_O
for me the song that makes me feel like i can rule the world is my ordinary life by the living tombstone ✨
til you come up against the first group of teens that make you feel insecure and make you double down and go back home.
I can smell the clove cigarettes.
Done it!❤
Done it❤
I love this goth/glam mixture it’s amazing.
Rest in peace Olli. So long and thanks for all the music. 🖤🖤🖤
I just cant....
Bat Cave is not a sub genre haha. It was a goth London night club in the 1980’s! I saw some discussion about that. Anyway Specimen is an amazing band that I think of as a wonderful mix of goth and glam!
True, originally the Batcave was a Goth nightclub. However, a lot of people grew to associate the name with a specific subgenre of Goth that was played there, and the definition morphed.
Raigh DarkHawk Exactly. It IS a sub-genre of goth, named after a goth club night. Bat Cave is essentially the British equivalent to LA's deathrock.
Honestly, in my experience it was more broken up into Jocks/Popular Trendy kids who usually hated us Punks and Goths and New Wave/New Romantics, who usually went to the same parties and intermingled pretty freely. Then their were Heavy Metalers also known as Hessians. I liked metal and was sometimes called a traitor for that. If there was a fight and a goth or punk was in trouble then the others would usually help out. We all pretty much stuck together.We didn't get too obsessed with the real subtleties of genres and subgenres back in the day. There was NO internet so it was a lot less easy to verify what someone else was calling stuff or what they were doing or wearing across the country or world. It would be more like you look "goth" because you wear all black/black nail polish whatever (which was way rare) and you are generally spooky and stuff and people would ask what bands you liked. I might describe myself as really digging some of that bat cave type stuff like Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend and just death rock stuff like Christian Death. The sub genres were not written in stone yet. But Bat Cave was definitely used to describe a style of hair. clothes and music. Specimen is the ultimate Bat Cave band because Ollie the singer, started the Bat Cave. Even glam rock metal heads would hang around with thrash metal fans (Believe me I know, because I had to listen to some shitty ass glam metal (Bon Jovi, Winger, Ratt) at times. There were labels but they were more descriptive and less restrictive in many ways. Although there were those lines that were rarely crossed like Heavy Metal to Punk and Hip Hop to Rock.
Das stimmt schon, aber man sagt ja auch das z.B. Dark Wave ein Genre ist. . . obwohl es eigentlich ja die Dark Wave Bewegung war, also eine Zeit in der sich etwas musikalisch verändert hat, oder ? Bat Cave ist zwar kein richtiges Genre, aber der Club hatte trotzdem einen gewissen Stil von der Musik her (der sich dann ein bischen verbreitet hat)
I always thought of Goth as an offshoot of Glam
goth never will die ,fuck the haters !!!
Amen 👏👏👏👏👏👏
LOVE IT
bolmsp Death Rock! Goth wasn’t even a word back then.
Fuck those haters hard!!!!!
Im a gen z teen and goth is so cool
i always wondered how did specimen get such big budget for the batastrophe ep. the sound is huge and polished and mixed with great care. every song is catchy and memorable. but they didn't tour much and only got radio play on underground stations in metropolitan areas.
I signed the specimen as songwriters and then got them a deal with London Records and Sire in America . I financed the club and the Batcave Album.
@@RustyEgan cool
England !
@@RustyEgan so you would be well qualified to answer jon hillman's query, but yet ...
They didnt need to tour tjey made the batcave lol
Farewell Olli. Gonna miss you now and forever.
Friends, "Batcave" isn't the sub-genre - it was the London nightclub the band ran in the 80s and focal point for the post punk crowd.
I'm sure its mention is in the interest of giving a view of yesterday's scene.
Actually, the term Batcave music is used to describe all the bands which rose to popularity in the club and beginning the goth scene.
ThatBabyBat I agree with you
If you grew up in Seattle in the mid 80's we called ourselves "Batcave." I first heard the term "Goth" in 1990ish.
Bat Cave the subgenre is named for the club/night. But yes, it IS a subgenre now, essentially equating to UK deathrock, as opposed to say the Cure or Sisters Of Mercy, or all of that EBM shit that belongs at a rave instead of a goth-night. Like American deathrock, Bat Cave falls somewhere on a spectrum between the post-punk influenced sound of Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Banshees, and the horror punk sound of Misfits, Samhain, The Undead, Rudimentary Peni, and the Screaming Dead.
@@johnstag2030 agree with the OP
I remember dancing to this song in like 1987...that bass player is awesome!!! I wish there was a video to this song..so bad!!!
there now is a video on yt for this song:)
I learned this song as it was played at the club I went to in Seattle 1984ish. I didn't even know what a goth was till someone called me that in the early nineties.
@@jasonguild9306 Jason is that you?
I was lucky enough to see them on their first US tour, very small number of songs but they played them great...!
That bass♡
Awesome isn't it ?
@@jcoup1215it totally is
I love old school deathrock
Koko B Thank you for not calling it goth! It is death rock yes!!!!!
@@chrismc.893 Specimen is gothic rock band as well. They don't classify into one genre
Dont we all
fr!
Thank you for calling it what it is!
So much elitism in the comments. Guys just enjoy a good tune!
No.
@@moldvox what do you mean no?
@@IncredulousMisanthrope the comment above mine suggested I "just enjoy a good tune" and I don't do what other people tell me to do. Lol.
@@moldvox wow you're so rebellious....
@@moldvox careful with that edge kid, you're gonna cut yourself
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang, kiss this and hang
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang, kiss this and hang
A beautiful sight, we lay down inside
My head it never believed the tide, tide
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
A beautiful sight, we lay down inside
Our head it never will leave the tide
You understating, understand your undeceiving
And it's sad the breach comes with the peace
It makes you like you want. hear this
Kiss and bang, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
I know you're watching
So why you could wear that leather?
Our friends talk talk about the weather
I know your waiting, why you waiting to exist?
Scar, scar and now you take chances?
Since you're a suicide my bro
Trash trash my gash, oh it's the gas
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
Kiss, kiss, bang, bang
This 80, 2?
Lost in the world of funds - a poetic reflection on the journey to reclaim them.
Forever in search of the bass tab
xDD yes
I gave up and now I play by ear
Katarzyna Barejko
Same here, I got it down for the most part, the intro is fun to play on bass.
Ear players rise up
play it by ear.
Guitarist John Klein went on to play in Siouxsie and the Banshees from late 1987 to 1995.
Rest in peace Olli. Thanks for the music!
I have this. Been played once, no scratches. I recorded it to cassette then put it away. memories, tx for the post.
I am elite because I'm 13 and listen to this song religiously
90's baby here with no intent on pushing knowledge on someone, and I just wanted to say that it doesn't matter if youre in love with the darkness or just the music, you can look like anything you want as long as we can be reasonably dreadfully together! 🦇🦇🦇
The bass it's awesome!!! I just Love it!
Saw these guys at 17, at "The Scream " club in LA, ....used to live there, great times, great band.
I bought the Batastrophe EP when it was released in '83 (I still have it). I didn't think then that I'd have to wait 24 years for them to finally release their 1st full album, Electric Ballroom (great album btw). Better late than never.
Come on humans! You are not afraid of us arachnids, your fear comes from a sutile red spider that walks around your dreams when you go naively across 4D.
Bauhaus got famous, Specimen got forgotten ...
El tiempo no pasa cada ves que la escucho como si fuera ayer cuando la oí por ves primera......80´s por siempre!
dude, im from penang, malaysia (its the country between singapore and thailand)
VERY few people know about music like this. clubs here all play the same generic mainstream crap. i was born in the wrong place and in the wrong decade
Don't worry, today they are all about the same here even.
Start a goth scene there
Me too. Except minus the place part...
madhousemortuary sith i’m malaysian yey
omg so true
R.I.P Olli
The fellow from this band sort of sings in the same style as Rozz Williams
Yes; Yes, he did.
I remember Specimen visiting us here in Reno, Nv ('80s).. We All got our freak on at Circus-Circus, Reno 💋🎶
I have this on a Goth and Industrial anthems album. That album introduced me to a ton of awesome groups.....
rest in peace, olli! 🖤🖤🖤
Turn UP that BASS
Saw these guys live at a small club in Waikiki in Hawaii back in 1985? Awesome concert! Lead singer came out on crutches ans looked like he needed them. Dude was so skinny. Maybe it was just a prop. Loved this song to this day.
Thought I'd lost this song to the memories. Still love it.
This fucking Bass...kills me Everytime, just Delicious
How exciting that these guys were seriously pushing the boundaries with their music back then. Wow, who knew there was a good eighties song about a gay couple or gay rights? You go guys, for being ahead of your time!!!
R.I.P. Olli Wisdom
Rest in peace legend Oliver olli Wisdom ❤☯️
Love the bass
Long live trad goth!!!!
I have no words for this, it is just too perfect for words.
Love the vinyl pops! This was often played at The Annex in Colorado Springs in the mid-80s. I have the record, now, but back in the 80s I only had it on a cassette that I recorded from the Colorado College radio station KRCC. I remember the DJ was Marie and after this song she played Street of Dreams by The Damned. The DJ at The Annex who would play this was Lisa. But I don't recall her ever playing Street of Dreams.
Love de bass
i love this song more and more every single time i listen to it, its so amazing
quarantine days bring me here
Kiss kiss bang bang! 👽
r.i.p Olli Wisdom
sounds so badass !
R.I.P. Oliver, and thanks for all the bats!
Ty Madison for Reccomending me this song. Its pretty awesome, so if you ever see this I give you a standing ovation
our head it will never leave the tiiiiiiiideeeee
The bass 😍
This is my internal theme song when I’m walking down the street.
RIP Olli
GOTH FOR REAL!
Deathrock is just Goth marinated in Punk, after all.
Klauss Klemann Nope! Death Rock! Goth wasn’t even a word back then.
RIP Olli wisdom.....
Esse slap no baixo deveria ser um crime :o ♥
My dad loves this song
I can see why
We did this at Trident , loved the band, must have cost me a fortune
Rusty Egan Rusty Egan from Rich Kids, etc.? If so, wow! Ghosts Of Princes In Towers is one of my formative albums. There at one of the most important periods in a person's life. I still listen to it constantly. (I have a few copies in different formats). If it's not you, ahem, sorry.
Real talk
Real talk
Sorry I don't comment that much on here, but yes I signed these guys and put them in the studio I was there but let them produce themselves with our team. We had Flood , Mark Stent Clive Martin an amazing teem of producers . We made the album and got them a deal with SIRE.
Its me Johnny . I signed this band and we started The Batcave, once it was open they ran it to support the band. Great guys , loved them .
The bass is deliciously out of tune.
***** but it sounds f'ing amazing!!! the tone, the grit...I would kill for that bass sound on one of my tunes :)
Plasticsoul A J bass with low action can get that feel and sound. 👍
Just a wee bit.
Do you mean out of tune or out of key for a note?
That's not a bug; it's a feature.
Rest In Peace olli
Amo dms essa música
omg, i love this
Brutal bass 🖤. I'm looking for the notes, but there's nothing on the whole internet.
Guess someone gotta made it by ears.
@@syahaz7088 Yes, I have tried it like this :). Tkx.
I first saw Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend at the Bat Cave. Great times.
i wish club music could be like this....
Oh Phoenix, There was! Back then it was called Positive-Punk and it means the early raw punk influenced goth sound like Southern Death Cult, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and so one.Today there are differend names for the first wave of goth bands. ''Goth Punk'' ''Batcave'' ''Positive Punk'' It all means the same
deathrock is a bit differend.
RiP Olli
I see a lot of discussion about Goth rock here, which I am rather bemused by. Now, I love the oldschool Goth and Deathrock bands of the late 70s and early 80s, and I enjoy Specimen, but they never *sounded* very gothy to me, whatever that means. I think they were more interested in writing glam-style tunes, while dressing like Goth fashionistas... which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But they certainly didn't sound quite as wild as they appeared.
Yes there is debate on many deathrock/glam rock/punk/post-punk bands being slumped as goth rock and the reason why is because these bands which at the time were unknowingly being pioneers in music, were playing a unique sound that manifested in between the transition of punk-rock to the new term goth rock. Many of these bands were called post-punk artists but did not incorporate the angst, political and rebellious lyrical context, guitar work that derived from rock n roll/garage rock or the attitude and shouting instead of singing as Punk music did.
Post-punk derived from punk but had more singing and melody and different guitar work. They later developed a sub-culture and fashion sense that came with the musical style that was influenced by Punk and Glam rock. These very same post-punk bands evolved into different formats themselves and influenced new bands into a more melancholy and darker tone in music implementing droning or flanging guitars, effects such as reverb and echo, darker, bleaker or menacing basslines and synth work, that often resulted in a cold, harsh, desolate, melancholy or haunting sound that contrasted well with the image and rock style from before.
They changed their image & lyrical sense to a more romanticism, religious symbolism, vampiric imagery that played along between love and death subjects as well as changed their vocal approach into deeper voices with echo effects that complemented with the emotion and sounds they produced that resulted in vampire-esque or depressing sounds that went along with the sounds atmosphere. These bands at the time were known as Post-Punk. But people and journalists noticed the darker sounds, lyrical and fashion change of some post-punk bands and therefor deeming the term Goth/Gothic Rock.
These pioneering bands were Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, 45 Grave, And Also The Trees, Christian Death, The Birthday Party, The Damned, Sisters of Mercy, Suicide, The Virgin Prunes, Kommunity FK, Specimen. All deriving from Punk/Glam Rock Music and changing or incorporating Gothic sounds/imagery to their music which formed Goth/Gothic Rock. So in essence that's why Specimen also bare the Goth Rock label. They have influenced and continue to influence many bands that at that time Goth Rock genre was coined and caught on. Not all of their songs have the Gothic rock sound and that's why many people debate that they are not Goth Rock.
Besides the Punk/Post-punk/glam rock sound, if you listen to some of their songs and understand that at the time the genre didn't exist, you can hear why and how they have influenced Gothic Rock artists and can be tagged as Gothic Rock as well since they were one of the bands that paved the way for the genre. The label started from a place and it is not fair to not give credit to the artists who helped develop it weather people dislike the genre or the label. The debate of labeling them only goth rock or any other genre is a question of who and how people want to or don't care to for the sake of just categorizing their music collection and following the trend and find similar tastes. Since most artists and fans are generally not into one overall label as it seems to type-cast an artist as one form of style and to not disparage or undermine an artists work, the term Goth Rock was never meant to just be one label to categorize an artists full body of work nor make an artist seem like that's all they were capable of producing but just another genre as every other.
Hope this helps anyone understand Goth Rock and its history
evilspin Thanks, very well written. I've listened to a lot of post-punk bands and have a lot of the artists you mention in my cd collection, so I know exactly what you mean. I suppose when I commented about Specimen I erred in looking back on the 'goth' label through the lens of 30 years of music, instead of mentally placing myself at the time the song was made.
evilspin Very, very well written indeed.
+evilspin Thank you for writing this, good to read whilst listening.
This is really well put, evilspin. When I think back to going to "goth" clubs of the 80s, so much of what got heavy rotation would not be considered Gothic proper today. There was so much genre mixing that went into defining what goth proper would become. I can remember hearing everything from punk to new wave to goth to early industrial and even house at the clubs in Los Angeles at the time. So many fringe genres came together in the formation of what we consider goth today that there are bound to be many outliers who were important in defining the genre but no longer necessarily seem of the genre.
most of these views are mine XD
Same
its weird seeing comments that were made the year i was born-
Definitely a Badass tune. 🦇🤘😎 They're playing on a 5 - string bass 🎸 to get that deep rich Gothic sound ...
Way better then what people call "pastel goth" ugh
Yeees
"Pastel goth" shouldn't even be a thing cause it's not goth
Dysfunctional Bat If anything Pastel or Nu Goth, however you wanna say it are more Hipster than Goth.
Drave TheRavenLord very true
kiyra hunter I'm a pastel goth you bitch
soy ENRIQUE..un temazo...como suena el BAJO...me encanta,..suban mas de este grupo..gracias
this song suddenly pooped up in my head without any reason lol i haven't listened to it in years
Classic It is under rated And well But still one of my all time Classics in my Record Box
im not even goth but I LOVE this style of music. Idk people assmune its something like grindcore lol.
This tune is so dam good for lately🇺🇸🎶💀🍀📉💜
This music makes me want to walk the streets playing the 5 - string bass 🎸 to get the proper Gothic Dirge sound ... Yeah Be'be! ... 🍻🤘😎
Omg this song makes me feel like a shadow in the dark
カッコいいね！
back in da day when people had a life
Bruh thanks for calling me out🙄👍🏼
first time listening to this and i looove it i cant believe i didnt listen to it before
I love 80s music so much
Perfect song !
Deathrock 🖤
That bass line though ,,,
Im 167 and i like this song.
Just here to enjoy the music.
Gosh, can't leave the replay button :D
shit goes hard
Anyone getting an adam and the ants vibe off this? 😍
Notice in the notes that this band/song was Deathrock/Glam/Batcave. I live in the US and in the early 80s we were called batcavers, deathrockers or blackbirds (my fave). I never heard the word Goth until the early 90s when I was already out of college for several years. The term Deathrock means something else entirely now and none of it dirge-y, which I miss - or - am I missing out on something I don't know about? I have a hard on for correcting people about these terms, but hey, maybe Goth was used in the UK? No matter because music is for all lovers! 🎵 🎶 🎧
I really just wanted to write that in college my boyfriend stole my Specimens album that had been gifted to me by strange people and I still haven't forgiven him! 💋 💥
RIP Ollie Wisdom