Forty years ago tonight, The Sisters of Mercy played one of the final dates of their early summer UK mini-tour at Kingston Polytechnic in the outer suburbs of South-West London, a gig retrospectively memorable for three reasons: first, the existence of a taped interview with a fanzine writer in which a candid and relaxed Eldritch gives open and honest answers rather than the usual pre-rehearsed Sisters “manifesto” quotes; secondly, it was the first gig of that era at which that the band didn’t play their cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene which had caught the imagine of fans across the country following its broadcast (in session format) on BBC Radio One; and thirdly, it was the only date in the 1980's where they shared the stage with one of the other three big Leeds drum machine bands, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.
It is believed that the interview with Eldritch was arranged by the guy who promoted the gig, Dominic, who was in charge of
the small students’ union at the Knights Park campus of Kingston Poly (now
University). The campus, which housed the Polytechnic's world-renowned art department, had
opened in 1939 with a fine art deco main block which had subsequently been
added to along the banks of the Hogsmill river with a succession of functional
1960’s and 1970’s buildings, including the students’ union and bar.
In the interview, during which the Lorries can be heard soundchecking stonking versions of tracks like Strange Dream in the background, and throughout which there are the usual backstage interruptions – passers-by asking for directions to the toilets, jobsworths asking “Are you with the band?” “We ARE the band”. “Are you two on the guest list?" "We’re the band" etc - Eldritch reveals that he has a cousin currently studying at the Poly, but fails to admit that he himself was something of a local, with the majority of his secondary schooling having taken place at an institution fewer than five miles away from the Kingston-upon-Thames venue.
He also, memorably, tries to sell
the interviewer his ticket for the forthcoming John Cale (ex-Velvet
Underground) show in London which he will no longer be able to attend, as he
was about to make a trip to New York to set up the band’s US distribution deal
with Braineater Records and their Autumn tour in the States. The interviewer declines, having never heard of John Cale, leaving Craig Adams (who was also present but added very little to the chat, as usual) to taunt the now twenty-four year old singer about being old.
Interestingly, there is an early explanation by Eldritch of
his desire to avoid any kind of label:
Interviewer: “You describe yourselves as a heavy metal band”.
Eldritch: “Yeah, that’s just to stop people from describing
us as something else, next month we’ll be calling ourselves a folk band and
we’ll do an acoustic number just to spite them.”
In addition, Eldritch confesses to liking some contemporary
songs, such as those of the band Imagination, and the interviewer suggests that
TSOM could start calling themselves a disco band.
“We are in many ways. That drum machine is pretty discoid
I’d say,” is the singer’s retort.
Eldritch also expresses admiration for The Go-Go’s Our
Lips Are Sealed and even the latest Buck’s Fizz single, which would have
been surprising news to most of his band’s contemporary fanbase, and he is happy
to confirm why some songs won’t be played that night: “slower songs” songs like
Burn and Valentine are hard to play live “with a PA like this [the
one here]”, whilst Jolene is being dropped from the set before it became
“a millstone around our necks”, with the singer not wanting his band to be
primarily famous for and forever associated with one particular cover song (a
factor which was beginning to be the case for fellow Bowie obsessive contemporaries
Bauhaus). He goes on to list a further selection of songs which the band might
cover one day – Don’t Sleep In the Subway (Petula Clark), It’s Over
(Roy Orbison), Close My Eyes and Count To Ten (Dusty Springfield, his
friend Adrian’s suggestion He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss (by The
Crystals, a Phil Spector production with a disturbing lyric about domestic
violence) and even Cliff Richard’s Dynamite, one of the singer’s more obscure
songs and a rare contribution to this interview by the other member of the band
present. Needless to say, none of these covers ever materialised.
As the interview develops, the fanzine writer brings up the
topic of Merciful Release. “We’ll have other people on it for a short while.” “Like
Factory?” enquires the writer. “No, it’ll be funnier than them and will sell
more records than them…And we won’t have any hippies on, or any bongo players …
horn players or prats. Rule one, no prats,” Eldritch retorts, clearly pleased
with his own response.
There is also some jocular discussion in response to the
interviewer’s question about the difference between southern and northern
audiences, a big talking point back in 1983: “They talk funny,” Eldritch quips about southerners, somewhat ironically, as in Leeds he himself was regarded as a southerner. “And their clothes are cleaner. And they’ve got money, some of them have got
jobs. Some are students. And they don’t know as much about us, because we
haven’t played in this part of the country before, so really, it’s the same all
over, the main difference between audiences for us is how long they’ve known about
us. So like in Leeds we’re big, Hull is big … It was a long time before we came
down South, we didn’t really see the reason. We were quite happy playing up
North, the South seemed like a duff place to be…. To get off the ground, I
think a band does have to [come down South], the thing is provincial promoters
in the North won’t book you unless they’ve seen reviews, you won’t get reviews
unless you play London dates. The trick is to come down to London, build a base
and then have the confidence in yourselves to go back again. And still base
yourselves wherever, in our case Leeds… We’ve no intention of moving to London,
most bands make the mistake of thinking ‘everything happens in London, we’ve
got to start off in London, let’s move to London!’ – don’t move!”
That the evening’s gig was not massively well-attended is
not therefore entirely a surprise, especially given the relatively obscure
location, the end of the academic year and the particularly poor quality of the posters
which advertised the gig, one of which, kindly shared by legendary TSOM
collector LG, is reproduced above, but for just £2 it was possible to see two of
Leeds’ finest on the same bill. Eldritch was a big fan of Red Lorry Yellow
Lorry, the only one of the Leeds drum machine “goth” bands not to have a member
of the band moonlight in The Sisters for a gig – The March Violets’ Tom Ashton
having played one show in November 1981, and The Three Johns’ Jon Langford
having also filled in once in February 1982 – although guitarist Dave “Wolfie”
Wolfenden did go on to do a lengthy stint in Craig and Wayne’s post-Sisters
project, a band called The Mission. (Incidentally, Wolfie is currently touring
as a member of another legendary Leeds goth group, The Rose of Avalanche, who are playing a series in UK gigs in July for a very reasonable £12 entry charge).
In an interview with US
trade mag Rockpool in June 1985, Eldritch was asked for his views on
RLYL, replying “They’re very good. Under all that racket, they do write good songs.
I expect that they write a really good song and then they trash it. But that’s
alright.” Ultimately Eldritch would pay his own tribute to the Lorries, with
the 2010’s iteration of The Sisters often covering A Gift That Shines, a
mellower, more reflective and melodic RLYL song from 1989. The
double bill at Kingston was not the original intention, however, as this list from an
Eldritch letter to a fan from Spring 1983 will testify.
Wolfie, however, remembers the Kingston Poly gig well, commenting on Phil Verne’s wonderful The Sisters of Mercy 1980-1985 Facebook fan group “I actually remember this gig. It was a beautiful summer’s evening and everyone was drinking outside. I think it was next to the river. Very kind of them for the support slot… They also had my old 4×12 onstage to stick the drum machine through. They were good, but not as good as at Leeds Uni on the FALAA tour. Emma that night is still one of the best things I've ever witnessed.”
Wolfie was correct in his geographical reminiscences, as the Students’ Union and bar are indeed right on the banks of the river, with picnic benches on the riverside walkway where revellers could spill out to enjoy the summer sunshine. Another attendee who remembers the gig well was Dave P, who also commented at some length on the Facebook group about what he could remember of the show: “You asked for memories of a particular gig [to mark 40 years of The Sisters’ as a live act in February 2021], well I will select Kingston Polytechnic, Thursday 30th June 1983. Right in the middle of A level exams! Me and a mate had made it to Brixton the night before which was excellent, they were really turning it on by then (although the Smiths were ok too). Got back to suburbia about 2 a.m. Exams next day and then a lift with Rob in his 1966 Hillman Minx with Mike along for the ride through hot and sunny west London past Richmond Park to rock up at Kingston Poly having found out the gig was on through John Peel, I think.” This is correct, as Peel read out a list of forthcoming dates when playing tracks of The Reptile House EP which had just come out. “Got there early to make sure we got a ticket, only to find no one there! We just wandered in and found the band in a big classroom/small gym setting up and sound checking on a low stage, so we watched for a while with a few others to see if they would play anything but it was just Andrew Eldritch tuning the Doktor and then his vocal mike echoes... it went like this: One, One, One.....Two, Two Two...One, One, One....Two, Two Two real slow all with various echo effects, which was really quite mesmerising. When that little show was over, we found the bar which was lovely in the early evening sunshine and overlooked the river and proceeded to socialise with the few other Sisters followers there. Things didn't really liven up too much, there just weren't the students coming in: we reckoned they'd all gone home for the year by then. We were all getting merry though! I reckon there were 100-120 max by the time Red Lorry Yellow Lorry came on. They were really good, then it was time for the Sisters to march through the 'throng' to the stage. But big shock in store - no Kiss the Carpet! Tangible disappointment but you could hardly blame them for wanting to knock this one out and get home. So it was a short set in the end but we tried to liven it up with some dancing to show our appreciation and had a great view as they were only a foot up and about 6 foot away! Sound was good, not mega loud, and I remember they finished with Sister Ray during which Gary appeared to go nuts, climbed the PA stack and maybe threw his guitar off or threw it down and stormed off for a good rock and roll ending! So back to suburbia for us, more A level exams and off to Hemel Hempstead the following night for Bauhaus. Guess what - I failed the A levels but didn't care, I've done alright since. I think the reason I remember this gig so well was the fact it was so different to the packed-out Bauhaus/Theatre of Hate/TSOM gigs we were going to at the time. And it was a lovely day!”
(Aerial view of the site with Students' Union entrance highlighted)
Another fan, Michael K was also at this gig and confirmed: "Kingston Poly gig '83 in a room not much bigger than a classroom and the stage was just a foot or so higher than the floor. It felt tiny. Reckon there can't have been more than 90 or so people there if that even. All going well until about three-quarters in when Gary Marx got the right hump, about what I am not sure, un-tethered his guitar and stormed off the tiny platform. End of gig." (click here for current pics of the Students Union bar, which has changed little over the past four decades)
Although the band did end with traditional set-closer Sister Ray, the setlist appears to have covered only eight songs, fewer than most other shows at this time, particularly when The Sisters were headlining. Given the problems Doktor Avalanche was experiencing with Emma at the time (for example at the previous weekend’s Sheffield gig) it came as little surprise to see that the Hot Chocolate cover had been shelved. Sisters follower Declan A also remembered the gig “I was ‘studying’ at Kingston Poly at the time. I distinctly remember some idiot repeatedly shouting "Mike Read" at Eldritch.” (Eldritch was reputed to be a younger lookalike of the Radio 1 DJ).
As already stated, one recording of the gig is well-known
amongst the Sisters fan base, and thanks to the generosity of Sisters live
audio guru Phil Verne I have again had access to a low generation copy of the
original recording, which starts with Alice, unlike most 1983 gigs. As
the tape starts with the very beginning of the song, with new introduction, it’s
not clear whether this was indeed the opening track or whether the taper only
began recording part way through the concert. Although the sound of the first
song is typical of those early gigs, with changes of level and speed of Doktor
Avalanche, the shrill, rougher punky mix is already well-established during Alice,
with Craig’s scuzzy thudding bass sound dominant despite the presence of the
two intertwining guitarists.
Although not apparent from the quality of the version of Alice,
Eldritch has clearly struggled in the cramped conditions, and after the opener,
after the enthusiastic applause of the small crowd dies down, the singer tells
them “It sounds better when we’ve have got the PA on, don’t it? It’s not a very
good PA, there’s nothing I can do about that … well I did break it”. The Doktor
however has already begun the mechanised clank of the ferocious introduction to
then recent single Anaconda, although there are some extra beats,
introducing momentary fears of a repeat of the weekend’s Sheffield gig and with
its multiple drum machine malfunctions. As was often the case, the guitars on Anaconda
are a little rough and ready, but this is more than compensated by a perfect
Eldritch vocal, beautifully enunciated and note perfect (apart from the yelped
final word) in a way that modern audiences can only dream “I’m having difficulty
moving up here, because the stage is
coming apart underneath my feet, because every time I move backwards the PA
goes bang. Thus! … Otherwise, this is Burn.”
The singer’s fears about playing the slower songs live are
to a certain extent justified by this rendition of Burn, which is a
little slower than the set-opening version from most gigs the following year.
Eldritch struggles for pitch at times and the guitars duel scratchily in an
ever-changing mix. Before announcing Heartland, the singer answers “I
don’t know, I don’t know” to an unheard question, but the sound problems seem
to be resolving on the band’s signature song with Gary’s guitar line soaring to
the top of the mix. The song ends with another unintentional extra flourish
from the good Doktor. “Some things get in your way” the singer cryptically adds
after the song. “Turn it up!” shouts a lone voice, whilst a female fan shouts
“Mike Read”, having clearly spotted a slight resemblance between the singer and
the radio jock. “You’re looking in the wrong direction,” is the singer’s
retort, possibly to the heckler. After
discussing the matter with her friends, the latter shouts again “It is Mike
Read, give us your autograph”. Ignoring her, Eldritch tells the crowd "We cut out the slow ones tonight,” implying that this gig was indeed shorter than the previous
night’s gig in nearby London (there was no Valentine for example). The band have already begun the Adrenochrome
intro however, which the singer enthusiastically back announces. “Soon
you’ll be making the highlights tape,” the singer intones in a manner which
implies that he found this a witty retort, but the context is lost on anyone
listening to the audio some forty years later. “This is called Floorshow”
is the introduction to the Alice double A side, but clearly there are some technical issues
again, with Craig playing a few bum nots and Eldritch changing the line “I see
the bodies steam” to “I see the bodies…upside down” for reasons best known to
himself (unless he taken a tumble on the disintegrating stage?), but the screamed ending to the song is as perfect as ever. There is no
banter at the end of the song, but a fan can be heard sardonically referring to
“leather gloves”. As Eldritch announces what will be the set closer Gimme
Shelter, the recording has not even reached the twenty-four minute mark,
and another superlative Eldritch vocal performance up and down the octaves will
be undermined by an uncharacteristically high number of Adams errors in the
early sections of the song, although the buzzing finale, with just the bassist
and singer finishing without drum machine and guitar backing is superb. “Yeah.
Bye bye” is Eldritch’s parting comment. The recording resumes with the
delighted reaction of the crowd as the band return to the stage, to shouted
requests of 1969 and Jolene. “We played Jolene for the
last time yesterday, we haven’t played 1969 for a very long time. We
haven’t played THIS for a long time” over a surprisingly competent beginning to
Sister Ray. After Eldritch’s trademark scream of the song’s title to
flick the starting switch for musical chaos, the guitars seem particularly
unhinged, with just Gunn’s solid rhythm guitar audible for a long time due
presumably to problems with Marx’s guitar, reflecting the comments of our
reliable eyewitnesses, although he does return in time for Eldritch’s “Good
night!”, but the song ends fairly abruptly shortly thereafter, presumably at the
time of the incident described earlier in this article.
The following night, the band capped a busy week with their
second show at Dingwall’s in Hull, with Valentine and Body Electric
added back into the show and with Ghostrider/Louie Louie wisely
replacing Sister Ray, with the band not gigging for the rest of July
until the final day of the month when they made their legendary European debut at the
Parkingang festival in Ancona, a gig covered by this blog a few years ago.
My thanks for this post are due to my long term
collaborators Phil V and LG, to Dave P for his fantastic memories of the gig,
and to Wolfie and others who subsequently added their own reminiscences to
discussions on the TSOM 1980-1985 Facebook fan page.
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