Peter John Joseph Murphy was born on July 11, 1958 and is reknown to all dark children on earth for his time at the iconic for the gothic culture band, Bauhaus, while himself is claimed as the Godfather of Goth. He was born in Northampton and raised in Wellingborough, England, in a vey strict, catholic family, while being the youngest of 9 siblings.
He had always been keen on art and because of his introvert attitude, a few people only made his friends. In spite of this, he rejects the chance to go on School of Fine Arts and decided to pursue a career of his own.
In 1979, he meets with Daniel Ash, who was trying to form a band along with the Haskin brothers, Kevin and David. Thus, the word was made flesh – Bauhaus are now a reality, since the other three were astonised on Murphy’s barytone, sensual vocals. Quickly many people responded to Bauhaus’ music because of their weird imagery and “disturbing” melodies. Their main influences were Joy Division and Public Image Limited (Johnny “Rotten” Lydon’s from Sex Pistols side project).
Having already claimed the cult status they deserved, the band before even having released their first full length, they became well known with “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. This leads them to gain a contract with 4AD via whom they release “In The Flat Field”. As of today, the disc remains iconic, while for many people it still is the spark that started this fire called “post punk”. With underlying glam aesthetics, coming straight from New York Dolls, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, Murphy is fairly described as a dark replica of all those combined. The monumental outro “Nerves”, completes the record with a chilling and scary note.
This success continues and Bauhaus now move to Beggars Banquet and “Mask” comes out in 1981. The album was highly praised during the time of it’s release from the fans and the press, while everyone was talking about some kind of perfection that certainly surpassed “In The Flat Field”’s. The music video for Mask is one of the most horrific videos ever made. “Passion Of Lovers”, which is included in the album is one of the most heard songs of Bauhaus, even today. Everything seems, so far, so good for them.
In 1982, “The Sky’s Gone Out” is released and in some twisted way, it never because as successful as it’s predecessors. The band starts to perish in a personal level, in the meantime. Right before the release of “Burning From The Inside” which is the most important part of their discography up to date, Murphy gets down with pneumonia and does not contribute actively in it’s creation. He is extremely disappointed to find out when he comes back that Ash and David had already done vocals for the albums and he was left only with three tracks. It seems, that they do not wish to see him shine with their songs. So, right after the following tour for the album, Bauhaus go on a hiatus, while the other three apart from Murphy go on with a new project called “Love ‘n’ Rockets”.
In 1984 Murphy and Mick Kain form Dali’s Car and release one album, called “Waking hour”, but they soon enough call it quits, while two years later and after a short break, Murphy is back on the studio to make his first solo album “Should the World Fail to Fall Apart”, 82th on the English charts. Daniel Ash is featured in the record as well. The record didn’t go far, yet the band’s fanatics loved it.
Then comes “Love Hysteria” and “Deep”, where drastic changes take place. Murphy dyes his raven hair, blonde and his music goes into more alternative rock paths. “Cuts You Up” became a success, since Losing My Religion by R.E.M. was the one to surpass it in the charts.
During this time, in the beginning of the 90’s, Peter Murphy gets married with choreographer Beyhan Foulkes, moves to Turkey and converts to Islam. “Holy Smoke” and “Cascade” have some strong oriental influences and as we can see he is totally over his post punk days.
In 1998, Bauhaus return for some shows, and Murphy records the soloE.P “Recall” while the rest, still as Love n ‘Rockets, sign also to Red Ant, something that brought them all back together, in order to make this tour. In 2001 he continued his solo career with an American tour through which the live album “Alive Just For Love” comes, out including some of Bauhaus classics.
A big change in his sound comes in 2002 with “Dust”, which comes after his collaboration with Turkish composer Mercan Dede. However, this does not last long, and in 2004 he once again adopts his light, pop style through “Unshattered,” something that most people didn’t particularly like.
Surprisingly in 2008, another record comes from the Bauhaus quartet entitled “Go Away White,” but since the beginning of its promotional proceedings, the band once again brought back to light all disputes that divided in 1983, and once again dissolve. But Murphy, respectful of the recognition he gained, celebrates Bauhaus with a tour in 2013 and in 2014 records “Lion” along with Martion Glover of Killing Joke. “Lion” is his latest solo album.
As of 2018, the myth of Bauhaus is back and the bats return to the bell tower, since Peter Murphy is due to celebrate the 40 years of this band’s existence with a tour, when “In a Flat Field” will be honored in it’s entirety. Murphy is due to visit Greece in December 14 and 15, Athens (Gazi Music Hall) and Thessaloniki (Principal) respectively, on a setlist based on the post punk gods.
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