I just did a search and could not find a single thread devoted to Peter Murphy. Any fans here? During the first half of 1990, I just thought his album Deep was one of the best things out there. This prompted me to go back and pick up Love Hysteria, which I found to be wonderfully enigmatic, moody and mysterious. I had been a Love & Rockets fan for a couple of years and though I had heard a little of Bauhaus' stuff, I found that I actually liked the splinter groups of L&R and Pete Murphy more on the their own: the parts were greater than the sum, I suppose. I'm listening to Love Hysteriaright now and it sounds as good as it did 20 years ago to me. Fast forward to 1992 with the release of Holy Smoke. I tried throughout that entire summer to get into HS, but I just couldn't do it. It didn't seem to have the naturalness (for lack of a better or real word) that Love Hysteria or Deep had -- it felt a little forced creatively. Maybe it was too dark for my tastes. Now, I never made a vow or anything to write off Murphy but for one reason or another I never picked up another album...just drifted into other stuff. Did I make a hasty call with Holy Smoke? Are there other albums of his that have been produced since then that are worth checking out?
Never purchased 'Holy Smoke' but couldn't agree more with you regarding 'Deep' and 'Love Hysteria'...love them both!
I should have added that they both are well recorded albums. I have them on cd and are first pressings. No need to remaster those, IMHO!
Actually my favorite Peter Murphy album was Cascade released in '95 I think.Featured the single "The Scarlet Thing In You"-great song,great video too.Also featured a beautiful song called "Mirror To My Woman's Mind" that should have made the Wild Birds-Best of cd.
Deep was on heavy rotation during my college days; I grew to love it, and it served as my introduction to Bauhaus.
Big Bauhaus and Peter Murphy fan - saw the "Deep" tour in Raleigh, NC <03/29/1990> with Nine Inch Nails opening up for him. Great show - general admission and was in the front of stage, took a roll of b&w photos, but I don't have a scanner right now.. I always really liked his promo videos and his MTV's "120 Minutes" appearances. I have all of them on VHS, plus he was live once on the old late night "Dennis Miller Show" - anyone catch that? There was a Beggar's Banquet VHS comp that was released around the time of the "Wild Birds" best of cd <2000> that I really wish would come out on dvd. I really like it, something else I need to transfer when I get a working dvd recorder again. http://www.discogs.com/Peter-Murphy-Wild-Birds-The-Videos/release/593989
I'm in the same boat as you. He lost me during and after Holy Smoke. Don't know why but it never clicked with me and anything he did afterward never did much either. I see you didn't mention his first release Should The World Fail To Fall Apart. If you haven't picked that one up I'd suggest to do so. It's probably my second favorite right behind Deep. There was also a compilation import that collected a bunch of his remixes from the first 3 albums. It seemed like just about every song off of Should The World had at least one remix.
I remember those too (where I first saw the video for "Cuts You Up.") He seemed like a very likeable guy. I remember Dave Kendall asking him about his (then) 3-year old daughter's musical preferences at the time and Murphy responded that she just wanted to hear Deep over and over again... that she couldn't get enough of it. Pretty cool.
Compared to Deep, Holy Smoke was a slight let down. I don't really grab that one as much as I do Deep, but it's still a fairly enjoyable listen when I do. He did get back on track with Cascade though.
I see Peter still has his speech impediment - here's a tv interview from Italy <I think> from 2009 I just found snooping around on the net: http://sal2009.com/view.php?video=C...nterview+pt1-+New+Age+Club+backstage,+4.10.09
What about Dali's Car? I agree with most that Deep was/is his pinnacle for his solo output. I much prefer Bauhaus though. I caught that NIN tour in Tampa on the USF campus.
I still enjoy Bauhaus much more than his solo material, but Deep was very good. Speaking of NIN, it was great to see him last year with NIN singing Joy Division - amazing!
Never much of a Bauhaus fan (sorry), but I've got a near complete Murphy solo collection, and think he's incredibly underrated. Got to hear him live a couple years ago here in Kansas City (of all places), and he was great.
By the way, thanks for recommending this one. I had never even heard of it before. Anyway, I just ordered it based on this.
Can anybody shed some light on the driving force(s) behind the splintering of Bauhaus? I know that David J and Daniel Ash have produced solo albums going back to the late 80s or so. Thus was it simply a matter of having too many creative singer-songwriters / visions under the roof of one band? Did Peter Murphy feel he wanted to take things in a different direction? And how does the Tones on Tale project fit into this story? It appears as if it was an amicable parting of the ways, but I didn't get into any of this stuff until the release of Earth, Sun, Moon so I never got the scoop on the dissolution of Bauhaus.
I was a big Bauhaus fan and followed Peter on his solo journey as well as Love and Rockets. I bought Love Hysteria and Deep when the cam out. Can't say that I listen to them much anymore (or to Love and Rockets for that matter). The interesting thing about Peter Murphy was the tour he did for Love Hysteria (I think or maybe Deep). This band I had never heard of before opened for him. Little did I know then that Nine Inch Nails would go on to be much more famous that Peter.
This thread made me pull out the solo lp's yesterday. I listened to Deep and it is pretty good, I'll have to listen to it more carefully to see if I like the whole album. The hit songs are so good and I just wait to hear them since I grew up with them.
Personality conflicts broke up Bauhaus. There was quite a bit of ill will, which is why I was so surprised at their reformation. The same personality conflicts brought the reformation to an end. Tones On Tail was basically a creative outlet in between Bauhaus and Love And Rockets for the type of music that the latter became known for but wouldn't have worked in the Bauhaus sphere (i.e. more pop-oriented tunes). ToT were actually the perfect synthesis of the two bands. Peter Murphy is one of the best live shows out there. Someone who truly lives for live performance. Just an all-around fascinating person.
Huge Peter Murphy fan. My grandma found 'Love Hysteria' on the street and gave it to me, thinking I might like it. I LOVED it. I picked up 'Deep' when it came out and loved that as well. After that, I had a hard time getting into him, but still get everything he does. And recently (finally) started getting into Bauhaus. I saw a youtube vid of him onstage with Trent Reznor and its like he's in a whole 'nother league than TR. (and I'm a big NIN fan too). VERY talented guy.
I agree about the synthesis, a great band. Tones on Tail was actually a working unit from 1981, half their catalog (3 x fantastic EPs later rereleased as an eponymous album) was recorded and released between 1981 and 1983, before Bauhaus ended. When Bauhaus split in summer 1983, the drummer Kevin Haskins joined Daniel Ash in ToT and they began to tour and made an album ("Pop") now that Bauhaus wasn't taking up their time. Peter Murphy has been a stunning vocalist and performer over the years, but I find little of interest in the records under his name (except 2002's Dust which threatened to be a bona fide classic, his voice with Turkish instrumentation and strings was awesome, but dated drum machines spoil the album in parts). He's a master interpreter though, and a vital part of the Bauhaus impact, obviously. I find Love and Rockets/Tones on Tail/David J's output vast and original though.
I *love* Bauhaus and Dalis Car, but I've never been a huge fan of Peter Muphy's solo work. If I had to choose a favorite of his solo albums, it would definitely be Should The World Fail To Fall Apart. Love Hysteria and Deep have their moments, though.
Very true indeed, those EPs are fantastic. My clumsy post should've been more clear - what I meant to say was ToT didn't really become a 'proper band' until the Bauhaus split. I'm an enormous Bauhaus fan and think the ToT releases and the first two L&R albums are of the same quality. "I'll Be Your Chauffeur" is one of the best songs ever, but the rest of David J's stuff has never clicked like Peter Murphy's material, which I love. "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven" is, without question, my favorite L&R album. They started losing me with "Earth, Sun, Moon" and I wasn't interested in the self-titled album at all, but I was jolted back to fandom with "Sweet F.A.", which is VERY underrated. Heard "So Alive" recently, which I had come to loathe, and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I like some of the songs on Should the World; Canvas Beauty, Godsends, and his cover of Pere Ubu's Final Solution is a masterpiece, he sings that so well (it was David J who intro'd Murphy to that song when they were still in Bauhaus I remember reading). I saw him on the Should the World.. tour in 1986 in London, before his success in the USA and Canada stopped him touring the UK, and the tracks from the album sounded just amazing. I don't know who he was but his guitarist just blitzed all over things like The Answer is Clear and Godsends, and Final Solution at that gig was like apocalyptic, thunderous! The album was very disappointing after seeing that gig for me. If Murphy recorded that gig and has it in his archives he should release it. It was an astonishing gig. I guess he had a lot to prove after 3 years away from touring, it's shocking that his solo career was such a total failure in the UK, but I think it has to do with the records not matching up to his live work. The Deep tour was great too, but the gulf between the pretty good Should the World LP and the same songs live was far bigger IMHO.
I always liked his debut, Should The World Fail to Fall Apart as well as Deep and Love Hysteria. Great stuff. Saw him on the Love Hysteria tour too (here in Cleveland -- really Lakewood! -- at the old Phantasy Theater, which I now live down the street from...). GREAT gig, and Murphy really brought it with the live performance. But strangely enough, NIN did NOT open for him here in Cleveland... which is weird, because they were based here in those days!
