Love and Rockets
All this talk of Love and Rockets reuniting for Coachella inspired me to revisit their back catalogue, and further sparked my desire to write my very first ‘It Came From The 80′s’ segment.
Odd as it may sound, I actually DJ’d with Daniel Ash a few years ago. I remember he drove all the way from Los Angeles on his motorcycle (about a 5 hour trip) covered head to tail (no pun intended) in leather. October in many places is rather cold, but in Phoenix it’s still hot as hell, and the man had not a bead of sweat on him. That’s how cool he was, he actually had stopped his own sweat glands from producing they very thing they’re designed for! He didn’t play the sort of music a lot of people might have expected, and I recall more than one disco diva tune. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it. He was nice enough to sign one of the posters we’d made to promote the night for me. Very cool customer. Moving on…
Danny is probably best known in hip circles for his work with Bauhaus, and in clubs for Tones on Tail. However, the majority of the population would likely recognize him from Love & Rockets. Ya know, that ‘So Alive’ song? It was kinda popular. So popular, in fact, that it hit #3 on the US singles charts – something Bauhaus or Tones on Tail never managed.
L&R were to Bauhaus what From the Jam are to The Jam. Peter Murphy decided to embark on a solo career, so the remaining members of Bauhaus decided to soldier on – first as Tones on Tail (minus bassist David Haskins), then as Love and Rockets (with Haskins). Ash handled most of the vocal duties, and the band explored sounds like pyschedelia, electronica, glam & even folk. You might think such diverse styles would lead to something that sounded more like a hodgepodge than a band, but L&R always managed to embrace the style and make it their own.
As I mentioned before, most people would probably know Ash from L&R, but few probably know L&R beyond ‘Haunted’ or ‘So Alive’, let alone realize the band released 7 albums during their time together. If you don’t know them beyond those hits, I would definitely recommend picking up some of their back catalogue or even their best of, Sorted (though it tends to ignore most of their 90′s output in favor of material off the first 4 albums).
L&R are a critical piece of the musical puzzle, with their far-reaching influence felt in bands as diverse as Jane’s Addiction, Primal Scream and B.R.M.C. Dig it!
Listen:
Tags: love and rockets
