Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead Cloth Patch
About this song and history
From the Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead Cloth Patchis a song by the English post-punk band Bauhaus. It was the band's first single, released on 6 August 1979 by record label Small Wonder. It is often considered the first gothic rock record.
"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 thing they recorded together, six weeks after the band had formed. 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. 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. Regarding this session, Kevin Haskins said, "There’s power pop in there, and ska too. We were trying to find our voice."
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. 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. Of the additional tracks, Classic Rock magazine wrote that, "The rest of the material finds a band fumbling for direction, even touching on ska.
