kevin haskins 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.

The post Love and Rockets “All In My Mind” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

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.).

The post Love and Rockets “Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

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.

The post Love and Rockets “Love and Rockets” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

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.

The post Poptone “Poptone” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.