Bauhaus

There have been two bands that have used this name. (1) Bauhaus is a band formed in Northampton, United Kingdom in 1978) popular in the 1980s. The band took their name from the German Bauhaus art movement, originally going by the name Bauhaus 1919, dropping the latter portion within a year of the band's formation. Bauhaus combined a number of influences (punk, glam rock, funk, and dub), to create a gloomy, but very passionate sound which appealed to many looking for something new after punk. Bauhaus first broke up in 1983. Peter Murphy began a solo career while the other members continued as Tones on Tail and, later, Love and Rockets. Both enjoyed greater commercial success in the United States than Bauhaus had, but disappeared from the charts in their homeland. The band reunited for a 1998 tour and on a more permanent basis in 2005. The group announced plans to disband again after the release of their final album, Go Away White (2008). Their debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead," was released in August 1979. Over nine minutes long and recorded "live in the studio" in a single take, it did not enter the UK pop charts, but remained on sale for many years thereafter. By far their most famous work, its minimalist, free-form nature evoked a mixture of The Doors, early Pink Floyd, and experimental krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!. The song was used to score the first ten minutes of the 1983 Tony Scott vampire film, The Hunger. After Bauhaus broke up all members of the band did solo work. Vocalist Peter Murphy worked briefly with bassist Mick Karn of Japan in the band Dalis Car before going solo. Daniel Ash has also put out solo albums and released music under the name Tones on Tail with Kevin Haskins and Bauhaus roadie Glen Campling. David J has released multiple solo albums and has collaborated with several other musicians over the years. He is currently working on visual art. In 1985, David, Daniel, and Kevin formed Love and Rockets, who achieved a US hit in 1989 with "So Alive." The band broke up after seven albums in 1998. In 1998 Bauhaus reunited for the Resurrection Tour, which featured two new songs: "Severance," originally written by Dead Can Dance, and "The Dog's a Vapour," which was also featured on the soundtrack for the film, Heavy Metal 2000. A live album recorded during the tour, Gotham, was released the same year.

In 2005, Bauhaus played a reunion gig at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 30, 2005. Peter Murphy followed the Coachella performance with his own solo tour to support his new album. He does not typically play Bauhaus songs at his solo shows. Following Peter Murphy's 2005 tour, Bauhaus embarked on a full tour beginning in North America and Mexico in the Autumn of 2005 - ending in Europe in February 2006. The band also mentioned that they hoped to record new music following the tour. In May 2006 the band toured with Nine Inch Nails on the summer leg of the With Teeth tour. Bauhaus unveiled two new songs: "Adrenalin" and "Endless Summer of the Damned." Bauhaus released their first new album since 1983, titled Go Away White on March 4th, 2008. This marks the end of the band and there will be no tour to support the album. Drummer Kevin Haskins said in an interview that they "were getting along really well, but there was an incident that occurred." As a result, "some of us just felt that we didn't want to carry on as a working unit".[25] In an interview with SuicideGirls, bassist David J said about the breakup "You have a test tube, and you pour in one chemical, and you pour in another chemical, and something happens. It starts to bubble. Pour in another chemical, and it starts to bubble a bit more. You pour in a fourth chemical, and it bubbles really violently, and then explodes. That's my answer".[26] The new album, which was recorded in 2006, was released digitally via iTunes and on CD via the band's own Bauhaus Music imprint through Red Eye Distribution (North America) and Cooking Vinyl (the rest of the world). (2) An Italian jazz-rock band named Bauhaus released the album Stairway to Escher in 1974.
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