"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is the debut single by the English post-punk band Bauhaus, released in August 1979 on the Small Wonder label. It is often considered the first gothic rock record.[4]
History
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" was recorded "live in the studio" in a single take during a six-hour session at Beck Studios in Wellingborough on 26 January 1979. It was the first work they recorded together, six weeks after the band had formed.[5] All four band members are credited as writers of the song: vocalist Peter Murphy, guitarist Daniel Ash, drummer Kevin Haskins and bassist David J(as David Haskins). David J has claimed that he wrote the lyrics.[4] Alternate versions of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" also included a portion of the early demo recording of their next single, "Dark Entries".
Four additional songs were also recorded during the same session: "Boys"; "Bite My Hip"; "Some Faces" and the ska-reggae tune "Harry", which was about Deborah Harry, the lead singer of Blondie.[6][7] Regarding this session, Kevin Haskins said, "There's power pop in there, and ska too. We were trying to find our voice."[8]
Of the songs recorded during that session (aside from "Bela Lugosi's Dead") only "Harry" found an official release; in 1982 as a B-side to the single "Kick in the Eye." A version of "Boys" recorded at Beck Studios later in 1979 was used as a B-side to the original release of the "Bela Lugosi's Dead" single.[9] The remaining tracks, including the original recording of "Boys", remained unreleased until 2018 when The Bela Session was released on vinyl and CD, and made available for digital download by the band.[10] Of the additional tracks, Classic Rock magazine wrote that, "The rest of the material finds a band fumbling for direction, even touching on ska."[11]
Content
"We were very influenced by reggae, especially dub. I mean, basically Bela was our interpretation of dub."
The song is over nine minutes long; the vocals start (in the studio version) almost three minutes into the track. The dub-influenced guitar sound was achieved by using partial barre chords and leaving the top E and B strings open.[13][14][15]
The song takes its name from the horror film star Bela Lugosi, who is known for his role as the title character in the 1931 film Dracula. After a career decline in his later years, Lugosi died in 1956 at the age of 73.
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" was released in August 1979, but did not enter the UK charts. The original 12" release was on white vinyl and limited to 5,000 copies. Various other releases are included in the following:
Black vinyl with black-on-white sleeve (up to five versions exist, based on comparisons of runout matrices on each of the releases and sleeve format)
Blue vinyl with blue-on-white sleeve
Clear vinyl with brown-on-white sleeve
Green transparent vinyl with green-on-white sleeve
Pink vinyl with pink-on-white sleeve
Purple transparent vinyl with purple-on-white sleeve
Glow-in-the-dark vinyl picture disc with clear plastic sleeve
It had a few releases on CD single:
Small Wonder, 1988 (black-on-white cover in J-case; without "Dark Entries (Demo)")
Bauhausmusik, 1998 (cover image with black border and red band logo and title on cardboard sleeve)
Self-released, 2005 (cover image imposed on moon photo with black background and white band logo on cardboard sleeve; without "Dark Entries (Demo)", but adding "The Dog's a Vapour")
The song was included on the 1998 Bauhaus compilation album Crackle. In 2018, the track was released again on vinyl, CD and digital download as part of The Bela Session, along with four other recordings made during the same session in early 1979, three of which were unreleased up to that point.[17]
Other releases
In the 1983 erotic horror film The Hunger, Bauhaus performed the song during the opening credits and introduction. A 7″ promotional record featuring an edited version of the song was released to theaters playing the film.[18][19] A live version of the track, released in 1982 and recorded on 24 February 1982 at The Old Vic, London, is found on Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape, and the same version is also found on the band's compilation album Bauhaus 1979–1983. For the 1998 greatest-hits collection Crackle, Beggars Banquet stitched together the "Tomb Raider Version" from outtakes and live recordings. The band never approved it and refers to it instead as the "Frankenstein version".[20]
Legacy
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is roundly established by goth historians as the first true record in the genre. For comparison's sake, goth icons the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees were certainly releasing records at the same time that Bauhaus delivered its premiere single, but the aforementioned bands didn't go full-on goth until 1980–81. The song also precedes all the early recognized alt-rock masterworks.
–"Bela Lugosi's Dead": 30 Years of Goth, Gloom, and Post-Post-Punk, PopMatters, October 2009.[21]
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is considered the harbinger of gothic rock music and has been immensely influential on contemporary goth culture.[22] In an article by The Guardian titled "Bauhaus invent goth", the newspaper ranked the song number 19 on their list of the 50 key events in indie music history, stating:
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" would have been just another piece of post-punk experimentation had it not been for the lyrics, which depicted the funeral of the Dracula star, with bats swooping and virgin brides marching past his coffin. The effect was so irresistibly theatrical that dozens of bands formed in its wake. So many, in fact, that goth quickly became a very codified musical genre.[23]
The song was ranked #60 in Rolling Stone's "The 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time".[24]
Other versions
"Bela Lugosi's Dead (Undead Is Forever)"
Bauhaus bassist David J, in collaboration with Jill Tracy, released "Bela Lugosi's Dead (Undead Is Forever)" on 31 October 2013.[25][26]
Cover versions
Until December covered it as a B-side for their single "Heaven" (1986).
^"40 Years of Bauhaus - An Interview with David J". YouTube. Post-Punk.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 12 January 2021. David J: "We were very influenced by reggae, especially dub. I mean, basically Bela was our interpretation of dub."
^Thompson, Dave. "Review of "Bela Lugosi's Dead"". AllMusic. San Francisco: All Media Guide. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. From those basics, 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' crackles in on percussion alone, a tapping, rattling rhythm into which a three-note bass line only gradually intrudes itself before Ash's treated guitar slides in, echoed and echoing the most atmospheric dub.
^Solarski, Matthew (September 29, 2013). "Live Review: Massive Attack V Adam Curtis at New York's Park Avenue". Consequence of Sound. Chicago, Illinois: Consequence Holdings, LLC. Retrieved April 25, 2014. They played a wide range of covers that tied in to varying degrees with the agitprop documentary taking place onscreen. Some, like The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" and Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead", seemed chosen more for mood.
^John Gentile (October 29, 2019). "Damned cover Bauhaus, Dave Vanian dresses as Nosferatu at 'Gathering of the Vampires'". Punknews.org. Retrieved 30 October 2019. Last night the The[sic] Damned played the "Gathering of the Vampires," where they tried to host the largest vampire event ever. During the show, the band covered Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's dead." Also, singer Dave Vanian was in a dead ringer Nosferatu costume.
