Editing Bauhaus (band) (section)

===="Bela Lugosi's Dead"====
{{quote box
| quote = "We'd been talking about the erotic quality of [[vampire movie]]s, even if they were the [[Hammer horror]] type. There was this conversation about the sexuality and eroticism of [[Dracula]]. Danny talked about his fascination with this and the occult connotations. So, we carried on that conversation and made it into a song."
| source = —[[Peter Murphy (musician)|Peter Murphy]], on the origins of "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]"{{sfn|Shirley|1994|pp=26–27}} 
| width = 30em
}}
After only six weeks as a band, Bauhaus entered the studio for the first time, meeting at Beck Studios in [[Wellingborough]] to record a demo.{{sfn|Shirley|1994|pp=25–26}} In rehearsal, the band experimented with echo and delay effects on the drums. The first of five tracks recorded during the session, "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]", exceeded nine minutes in length but was released as the group's debut single in August 1979 on [[Small Wonder Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/14/bauhaus-invent-goth|title=Bauhaus invent goth|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|date=13 June 2011|website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=28 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228071259/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/14/bauhaus-invent-goth|archive-date=28 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The band was listed simply as Bauhaus, with the "1919" abandoned.{{sfn|Shirley|1994|pp=28–29}}{{sfn|Thompson|2002|p=59}}

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" was strongly influenced by the band's interest in [[reggae]] and [[Dub music|dub]], styles in which the bass and the drums play prominent roles. The recording was completed on the first take. It was also the first time that Murphy had sung into a studio microphone,<ref name="Uncut" /> although he was sick with a cold when he recorded the song.<ref name="Uncut" /> Kevin Haskins' drumbeat was based on a [[bossa nova]] style.<ref name="Uncut">{{cite web |author1=Rob Hughes |title=Bauhaus on 'Bela Lugosi's Dead': "It was the 'Stairway To Heaven' of the 1980s" |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/bauhaus-on-bela-lugosis-dead-it-was-the-stairway-to-heaven-of-the-1980s-123408/ |website=Uncut |publisher=NME Networks |access-date=10 February 2022 |date=February 28, 2020}}</ref> Daniel Ash explained the inception of the song: "I was talking to David (J, bass) on the blower one night and told him I had this riff, using these trick chords that had a very haunting quality to it. He went: 'It's so weird you should say that because I've got these lyrics about [[Bela Lugosi]], the actor who played a vampire.{{' "}} David J further elaborated: "There was a season of old horror films on radio, and I was telling Daniel about how much I loved them. The one that had been on the night before was Dracula [1931]. I was saying how Bela Lugosi was the quintessential [[Dracula]], the elegant depiction of the character." Ash elaborated about the chords: "My riff has these mutant chords – they're not even minor chords – but it's rooted in an old [[Gary Glitter]] song, slowed right down. I didn't realize that when I was doing it."<ref name="Uncut" /> Ash also explained how he was able to achieve the echo effects for the song: "...David had this old HH echo unit, which would crap out on you all the time. We hooked up the guitar and snare drum to this echo unit and I was just sliding the HH amp thing to trigger all these echoes as the song went through."<ref name="Uncut" /> David J explained the song's recording process: "We didn't really talk about what we were doing. Daniel started scratching away on the guitar, Kevin started his rhythm and there was this atmosphere building. I came in with those descending chords and Peter was just prowling up and down, slowly, like a big cat."<ref name="Uncut" />
 
Murphy explained: "We'd been talking about the erotic quality of [[vampire movie]]s, even if they were the [[Hammer horror]] type. There was this conversation about the sexuality and eroticism of Dracula. Danny talked about his fascination with this and the occult connotations. So, we carried on that conversation and made it into a song."{{sfn|Shirley|1994|pp=26–27}} Murphy also elaborated: "There's an erotic, alluring element to the vampire. We didn't want to write an ode to Bela Lugosi, ostensibly. The kitsch element was his name because he was the biggest icon, yet he was the most unlikely vampire-looking person. So there was that Brit angle to it, but it wasn't at all negative. It was perfect. The idea of Bela Lugosi being dead or undead is classic."<ref name="Uncut" /> The band was initially nervous about the song's excessive length, as it had caused several record labels to decline to issue the single. Haskins explained: "Danny took an acetate around all the big companies–[[Virgin Records|Virgin]], [[EMI]] and the rest–and they all said similar things: 'This is the sort of thing I listen to at home, but it's not commercial.' Or: 'It's way too long. Can you edit it down to three minutes?' Even [[Beggars Banquet Records|Beggars Banquet]] turned us down, which is ironic because we ended up on that label." However, Peter Stennet of [[Small Wonder Records]] agreed to release the single, favorably comparing it to the [[Velvet Underground]]'s single "[[Sister Ray]]".{{sfn|Shirley|1994|p=29}}

The single received a positive review in ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' and stayed on the [[UK Independent Singles and Albums Charts|British independent charts]] for two years. It received crucial airplay on [[BBC Radio 1]] and DJ [[John Peel]]'s evening show. The band recorded a session for Peel's show, which was broadcast on 3 January 1980.{{sfn|Shirley|1994|p=30}} Murphy recalled the session: "We walked up to reception, passing [[Motörhead]] on their way out, and said, 'Hello, we're Bauhaus and we're friends of John Peel. We'd like to go up please.' Somehow, we were allowed up there and we put the record in front of him. After we'd all introduced ourselves, he said on air, 'We've got Bauhaus in the studio, they're from Northampton and they have a new single out called 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'. It's nine and a half minutes long and this will probably be the first and last time I'll play this.' Then we left and went down to listen to it in the car. Apparently, the BBC switchboard was jammed with listeners wanting him to play it again."<ref name="Uncut" /> Of the additional tracks, ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' wrote that, "The rest of the material finds a band fumbling for direction, even touching on [[ska]]."<ref>{{cite magazine |date= December 2018 |title=The Bela Session |magazine=[[Classic Rock Magazine]] |page=93}}</ref>