Libraries full of keys

Haven’t written Jack Shit here for a long time, but I’m sitting here all disgruntled with work, high on bourbon and music and feel like writing all of a sudden. More specifically, I’m listening to Peter Murphy’s “Love Hysteria”, which long ago earned its place in my top 10/desert island discs/whatever, and will always be one of those albums I can not live without.
I love telling the story of how my sister, 3 1/2 years older than me, was one of the major influences on my musical tastes. She was one of the 4 or 5 “punks” at the very small high

Setlist from Peter Murphy’s 1988 show at Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas.

school we went to, the girl who got pulled over and given a bogus seat belt ticket pretty much because she was the only person in town with an orange mohawk. This probably wouldn’t happen today in Wylie, TX… or many other places for that matter. But I never thought my sister was weird. When I transferred from private school to public school, I immediately identified with her friends – the black leather jackets, crazy hair and all that.  Admittedly, I also gravitated towards the heavy metal crowd, maybe too afraid to subject myself to the outcast role wholeheartedly.  Maybe I wasn’t brave enough to really be “punk”.  Maybe my dad wouldn’t let me have electric blue Gary Numan hair.  And though I still love (early) Metallica, and have a soft spot for a little Crue & Ratt, my heart would inevitably lead me towards what was once legitimately called “alternative rock”.  I wore Chuck Taylors and drew little DK and Black Flag emblems on them, but was still afraid to go full bore.

But I always loved the music. It was in my sister’s tape collection that I first stumbled upon the Pixies.  I could jam out to the Smiths or Echo & the Bunnymen just as easily as I could rock out to Bon Jovi, Dokken, or… god forbid W.A.S.P.   *ahem*…. but I digress.

I vaguely recall, in the summer of ’88 – just 5 years after their demise – that I really didn’t know that much about Bauhaus. My ubercool big sis, with her record store job and good music taste and all that says, “Hey, I got tickets to see Peter Murphy & the Church at Starplex this weekend, you want to go? “Ummm… yeah, I guess…”.
Little did I know.
I still remember that concert better than the 100+ I’ve seen since. 4th row seats. Shitty amphitheatre, awesome show. This was my first real introduction to the world of Murphy/Bauhaus. The Church put on a damn good show as well, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Oh, and Television’s Tom Verlaine was there too.  But Peter goddamn Murphy. What a showman. Perhaps even a shaman. Sometimes the best way to hear a musician or band for the first time is to see them live. He even covered “Purple Rain”, which I didn’t recognize until the chorus. In the years to come I would be fortunate enough to see Mr. Murphy on stage several times (even affording me a very early NIN experience along the way – hell, I even saw a yery young, yodeling Jewel open for him once). Bauhaus have reunited a couple of times, and I was lucky enough to catch their astounding “last” show at Coachella in 2005 (they kept touring and released a half-assed album after that).  Unfortunately, my wife and I went to see Murphy performing all Bauhaus songs on the Mr. Moonlight tour last year in Baton Rouge, and well, it was sad… just sad. Some things are better left in the grave.

But that’s not why I started writing this [dark] entry.  I found myself listening to the entirety of “Love Hysteria” tonight, and I thought you should know that it really is quite a superb album.   Shortly after Bauhaus’ breakup, while the future Love & Rockets were doing their thing, Murphy recorded one album with Japan’s Mick Karn under the name “Dali’s Car” – very 80’s synthy stuff.  His first proper solo album, “Should the World Fail to Fall Apart” wasn’t all that bad, but my personal highlight is a cover of Pere Ubu’s “Final Solution”, if that’s any indication.  I think he was just finding his groove.  By the time “Love Hysteria” happened, he had pretty much branded himself as the mystic pale white duke of neo-gothic rock, and not undeservedly so.  From uplifting, poppy drum-driven songs like “Time Has Got Nothing to Do With It” to the radio-friendly “Indigo Eyes” to my personal favorite dirge of “Socrates the Python”, this is just a very well-rounded album showcasing Murphy’s vocal and lyrical talent to its fullest.  He also had picked a very good backing band who were superb live as well.  His later albums in my opinion never quite lived up to this one, slowly descending into more world music influenced, less accessible material album after album.  He did have a little “mainstream” success with his 3rd album “Deep”, which I would call his second best.  I haven’t really kept up with his recent work, but have just acquired his last album “Ninth”, which I’ll probably listen to now… and then decide if I’m going to buy “Lion” when it comes out.

I’m still undecided as to my actual 10 “desert island discs”, but am absolutely positive that “Love Hysteria” is on that list.  Call it post-punk, goth-pop, whatever you want, but rest assured that it’ll be the first thing I grab if the house catches on fire… after the wife, cats & dog of course.