Great stuff. That thing about the gay subculture running parallel with punk chimes with me. In Nottingham we moved from the Sandpiper to Shades/Whispers/Asylum because their door policy allowed unusuals in and kept the boot boys out, and there we saw the (younger) goth thing emerging
Thanks as always for the interest and support - these 'goth' essays/extracts are a bit scattered and disjointed so it's good to get a response. Whispers/Asylum was a great venue, a lovely mixed, adventurous and accepting crowd. In researching the current Nottingham exhibition I found out even more 'hardcore' clubs like Part Two did alternative events in a more fashion remit (alongside the harrowing S&M events i have indelible memories of!!!)
Well, the bikers in Mad Max 2 looked more like a Birthday Party audience than actual bikers. And it's really post-Oil Crisis - very 70s - rather than post-apocalyptic as you note. Technically proto-Goth, or with elements which would later be seen as Goth. Like The Damned, or The Cramps (who were originally a New York punk band and contemporaries of Ramones). Incidentally, in the documentary "Don't you wish that we were dead?" Dave Vanian speaks of dressing in black as something that the Victorians would have seen as normal and refers to mourning for Price Albert!
That was fun. Thanks. Always interesting to see how it fits together. The description of The Cult’s later years made me smile even though they can do no wrong really.
Great stuff. That thing about the gay subculture running parallel with punk chimes with me. In Nottingham we moved from the Sandpiper to Shades/Whispers/Asylum because their door policy allowed unusuals in and kept the boot boys out, and there we saw the (younger) goth thing emerging
Thanks as always for the interest and support - these 'goth' essays/extracts are a bit scattered and disjointed so it's good to get a response. Whispers/Asylum was a great venue, a lovely mixed, adventurous and accepting crowd. In researching the current Nottingham exhibition I found out even more 'hardcore' clubs like Part Two did alternative events in a more fashion remit (alongside the harrowing S&M events i have indelible memories of!!!)
The pic of Simon Hobart in i-d reminds me of Mad Max 2.
Yes I can see that also. Not sure about crotchless leather kecks as a uniform for facing the post apocalypse (MM is technically not post apocalyptic)
Well, the bikers in Mad Max 2 looked more like a Birthday Party audience than actual bikers. And it's really post-Oil Crisis - very 70s - rather than post-apocalyptic as you note. Technically proto-Goth, or with elements which would later be seen as Goth. Like The Damned, or The Cramps (who were originally a New York punk band and contemporaries of Ramones). Incidentally, in the documentary "Don't you wish that we were dead?" Dave Vanian speaks of dressing in black as something that the Victorians would have seen as normal and refers to mourning for Price Albert!
Thanks Neill. I will investigate this further. Next instalment is the contested history of the term 'goth'.
That was fun. Thanks. Always interesting to see how it fits together. The description of The Cult’s later years made me smile even though they can do no wrong really.