daniel ash Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Love and Rockets “All In My Mind”

sfilzen — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 17:55:35 +0000

Love and Rockets “All In My Mind” 1986/87, Beggars Banquet 12″ single. Last night we had the extreme pleasure of seeing Love and Rockets in Chicago at the Riviera Theater (the last time I saw the three members – Daniel Ash, David J. and Kevin Haskins – play was in the fall of ’89 in Madison, WI). They did not play “All In My Mind” – the third single off of one of my favorite records of all time, their ’86 release Express – but they did play the “deep cut” (their words) “Holiday on the Moon” which appears on this 12″ single, along with “Inside the Outside,” “Angels and Devils” and “Lucifer Sam.”

David J and Kevin Haskins

Daniel Ash

Kevin Haskins

David J

The show was incredible. We arrived really early and security let us in even before doors technically were supposed to open so we scored a spot right up front at the rail, exactly in front of David J’s spot on the stage. Until now I never truly appreciated his massive bass talent – phenomenal! They played mostly old stuff (I mean, they kind of had to since all of their recordings come from the 80’s and 90’s) so I was in heaven. My top moments were the huge crowd sing-along to “No New Tale to Tell,” the hard-driving “Mirror People,” the frenetic chugga-chugga bass+guitar race of “Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man),” the gothic beauty of “Haunted When the Minutes Drag” and most especially the swirling psychedelia of “Kundalini Express.”

We were supposed to see a reunited Bauhaus play in Detroit this past fall (2022) but a few weeks before the show, they canceled due to Peter Murphy having to go to rehab. We were super-bummed about that but thrilled that the rest of the band decided to tour without him as the original Love and Rockets. In 2018 we caught Poptone, which was Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, along with Haskins’ daughter, in Minneapolis where they played what were essentially industrial goth remixes of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets songs. But having David J back in the mix was absolute perfection.

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Love and Rockets “Body and Soul”

sfilzen — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 17:32:38 +0000

Love and Rockets “Body and Soul” 1994. 12″ single, Beggar’s Banquet. Clocking in at almost 15 minutes, the album version of “Body and Soul” (from their ‘94 Hot Trip to Heaven) on this 12-inch single, plus the 3 remixes of the song, its “Part 2″ single version and one other track makes this release almost an LP. The album and the single both failed to chart, likely because of the abrupt stylistic change from a gothy-industrial guitar sound to a guitar-free, trippy ambient-electronica one, sometimes with serious techno beats. Daniel Ash described it: “I was hoping it was going to be our Dark Side of the Moon. It was either going to be that, or it was going to be a flop. Unfortunately it was a flop. But I’m still proud of the record.”

I’m a pretty big Love and Rockets fan but this song – and the album if I’m being honest – completely escaped my notice. “Body and Soul” is trippy and hypnotic, but definitely danceable. The three remixes include “Body and Soul (Out of Body)” (remixed by Secret Knowledge/Kris Needs, part of a house/techno group) which is pounding techno, “Body and Soul (Delta Lady), ” (also remixed by Secret Knowledge/Needs) which has more of a nod to Love and Rockets prior industrial dance sound, and “Body and Soul (Dark Side of the 12th Moon)” (remixed by Higher Intelligence Agency) which is as spacey and proggy as the remix title suggests. “Coyote” is a non-album track (there IS guitar but it’s acoustic and twangy, spaciously relaxed) and the 12″ closes with “Body and Soul (Part 2)” which is less than half the length of the album version.

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Love and Rockets “Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven”

sfilzen — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 17:18:28 +0000

Love and Rockets “Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven” released 35 years ago today, October 11th, 1985 on Beggars Banquet. Dreamy, gothic and psychedelic post-punk, Seventh Dream was Love and Rockets first LP, the band reforming – after a short stint as Tones on Tail (Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, no David J) – from the ashes of Bauhaus. It definitely has a lighter, less industrial feel than those bands and later Love and Rockets releases. Just one single came from the album, “If There’s a Heaven Above” (I don’t believe it charted), though they had released a stand-alone single before the record came out, their amazing cover of “Ball of Confusion” (in May of ‘85) originally by The Temptations in 1970. My top track is “Haunted When the Minutes Drag,” which continues to be one of my favorite Love and Rockets songs. I also really love “The Dog-End Day of a Day Gone By,” which has the elements of a psych-goth anthem (soaring vocals, 60′s-style organ, big echoey drums, etc.).

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Love and Rockets “Express”

sfilzen — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 17:49:43 +0000

Love and Rockets “Express” 1986. Big Time Records/Beggars Banquet. Today, July 31st, is singer/guitarist Daniel Ash’s birthday (b. 1957). This is one of my favorite records of all-time: it’s a record I’ve really never stopped listening to since ‘86 and I still love every single song. My favorite of favorites is “Kundalini Express” (released as a single but did not chart) which is lyrically clever and has a killer industrial goth dance beat. Also fabulous: the breakneck chugging “Yin and Yang The Flower Pot Man” (released as a single, also didn’t chart), their grinding industrial cover of “Ball of Confusion” (written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and performed by The Temptations in 1970 when it hit #3 in the US), “All in My Mind” (released as single, it charted at #49 on the US Rock chart) and “It Could Be Sunshine.”

I saw Love and Rockets perform in ‘89 and then got to see the sort-of Love and Rockets redux group Poptone two years ago. I have no idea what songs were played in ‘89 (probably mostly tracks from their ‘89 LP Love and Rockets) but at the Poptone concert Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins played a few tracks from Express including “An American Dream,” “All in My Mind,” “Ball of Confusion” and “Yin and Yang The Flower Pot Man.” Pure bliss.

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Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 22:16:36 +0000

Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust” released October, 1982. 12″ single on Beggar’s Banquet. The masters of goth’s 8th single was a tribute to the master of glam – they were huge Bowie fans – and is close to perfection; it went to #15 on the UK singles chart. According to Far Out Magazine the video for “Ziggy Stardust” was shot in the catacombs of Camden Market (actually just a series of tunnels but that’s what the locals call them) and features a full mock-gig set up with complete backline and riotous fans. It would act as a catapult for the band, eventually landing them a spot on the acclaimed show Top of the Pops. Fittingly, I picked up this 12″ in Camden a couple of months ago (or maybe it was in Islington, possibly SoHo. I can’t remember). Also on this 12″ is a Bauhaus original, “Party of the First Part” which is really weird and seriously creepy (perfect for Halloween season), a swinging little number with dialogue from the cartoon The Devil and Daniel Mouhaus. Side B has the Brian Eno-penned track “Third Uncle” that is Peter Murphy’d and Daniel Ash’d up (dark and slinky vocals, a sinister screaming, vaguely industrial guitar; it also appears on Bauhaus’ 1982 LP The Sky’s Gone Out) and a fairly rough live cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man,” recorded in October 1981 at Fagin’s in Manchester. Nico herself joined Bauhaus on stage for the song. Southern Death Cult (later, just The Cult) was the supporting act and Ian Astbury said about the scene, “Nico just ended up in Manchester on heroin. Southern Death Cult supported Bauhaus at Salford University when she did ‘Waiting for the Man’ with them, and Pete Murphy had to hold her up, she was so smacked out!” And Peter Murphy stated, “Nico was gothic, but she was Mary Shelley gothic to everyone else’s Hammer horror film gothic. They both did Frankenstein, but Nico’s was real.” (from dangerousminds)

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Abby Jeanne “Get You High”

sfilzen — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 17:10:38 +0000

Abby Jeanne “Get You High” and “Spellbound” 2019. Hi Fi Records. Very limited edition 7″ colored vinyl and even more limited cassette release. This past weekend Milwaukee’s own Abby Jeanne hosted a “Pop-Up Atomic Records” shop at the Bay View coffee shop, Hi Fi Cafe for her just-released single, “Get You High,” a dreamy track filled with swirls and tension. Side B is a cover of Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “Spellbound,” which Jeanne recreates beautifully, respectfully: not many singers can match Siouxsie Sioux’s piercingly clear vocals but wow, Abby does an amazing job, adding her bluesy touch to the goth classic. The cassette has both of those tracks plus a bonus track – “Get You High (Daniel Ash ‘Paradise Mix’)” – remixed by the Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets/Pop Tone goth master himself.

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Love and Rockets “Love and Rockets”

sfilzen — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 14:54:24 +0000

Love and Rockets “Love and Rockets” 1989. Beggar’s Banquet. I’m posting a CD today for this album’s 30th anniversary (Sept. 4th, 1989 – though Wiki has a vague “May 1989″ release date, I don’t think that is accurate. Several other websites list it as Sept. 4th). In 1989 I was buying CD’s: it was the thing to do and also I was living in a teeny tiny dorm room which had barely enough space for my JVC CD boombox (which I still had up until a few years ago). Love and Rockets was the band’s fourth album, dark psychedelic industrial goth rock that, amazingly, finally broke them through to the mainstream on the strength of the single “So Alive” which went to #3 in the US (#1 on the US Modern Rock chart). Also released as singles were “Motorcycle,” “No Big Deal” and “Rock and Roll Babylon” (I think, not positive about those last two though). I loved this album (and still do!) so much. I saw them in the Fall of ‘89 in Madison, WI for their Love and Rockets tour (The Pixies opened) where I’m certain they played those singles plus probably a few other of my favorites like “***(Jungle Law).” Last summer I saw the partially reformed Love and Rockets group Poptone (Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins) perform at First Avenue. They played revamped versions of “Motorcycle” and “No Big Deal” as well as older Love and Rockets tracks plus selections from Bauhaus’ and Tones on Tails’ catalogues.

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Poptone “Poptone”

sfilzen — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 19:24:09 +0000

Poptone “Poptone” 2018, limited edition double LP on white vinyl. Cleopatra Records. We visited Minneapolis last week, as did Poptone, so we got to see Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets who are, along with Haskins’ daughter Diva Dompe, performing as Poptone at First Avenue. (Though I’ve been to Minneapolis many, many times, this was my first show at First Avenue and all I could do was giddily picture Purple Rain era Prince and Morris Day and The Time videos.) I also picked up this album at the show.

In concert and on Poptone, Ash and Haskins focus on revamps of previous material – most even darker and heavier than their unique industrial goth, which was pretty heavy and dark to start with – with lots of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets tracks. I was in heaven! Tones on Tail songs they played that appear on Poptone included “Movement of Fear,” “Lions” “Performance” and “Go!” The Love & Rockets selections were “Mirror People,” “No Big Deal,” “Ball of Confusion,” “Love Me” and “American Dream.” Not on Poptone, their First Avenue set had a ton of other Love & Rockets’ selections: “Motorcycle,” “Haunted (When the Minutes Drag),” “All In My Mind,” and “Yin and Yang The Flowerpot Man.” The last time I saw Love and Rockets was in 1989 when they were on tour for their 1989 album Love and Rockets. That fall, either right before or after that concert, a friend of mine and I took the Greyhound bus to Minneapolis from Madison, WI to visit her sister and see a guy I was dating who went to the University. Her sister’s boyfriend drove us around town at full speed while blasting Love and Rockets, so it just felt right to be hearing those songs again at First Avenue.

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Daniel Ash “This Love”

sfilzen — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:34:19 +0000

Daniel Ash “This Love” 1991. 12″ single from the album Coming Down, Beggars Banquet records. This upcoming Sunday July 31st is Daniel Ash’s birthday (b. 1957). Ash has released several solo albums since his first, Coming Down, but is probably better known for his work with Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets.

The songs on the 12″ single are, not surprisingly given Ash’s style, sinister waves riding on dark romanticism. “This Love” has an industrial flavor that is punctuated with a locomotive rhythm and Ash’s “dry Bolanesque purr.” “Heaven is Waiting,” the second song on Side A, is a shoe-gazing swaying instrumental. Side B has just one track, “Coming Down (slow version)” which differs from the album version, “Coming Down Fast.” It is beautiful, sultry yet vampire-cold, using guitar effects that evoke flickering candles in a dark gothic cathedral.

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Tones on Tail “The Album Pop”

sfilzen — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:50:21 +0000

Tones on Tail “The Album Pop” 1984. Beggars Banquet/PVC Records, US release. The only full-length release from Tones on Tail, Daniel Ash’s and Kevin Haskins’ ‘side project’ nicely rounded out the space between Bauhaus and Love and Rockets by combining dark goth, industrial and doom-and-dance pop. It even gets jazzy at points, the walking bass line and brush snare in “Happiness” evoking a suited-stroll down dark club alleys in rainy London. “Go!” is industrial dance at its finest, a sound that remerged significantly on Love and Rocket’s later releases. “Christian Says” is begging for a darkly shrouded dance floor lit only with eery flashes of strobes giving glimpses of black-clad figures wildly flailing. And “Movement of Fear” could not be better titled: barren and sinister with the sad strains of a lone saxophone.

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