Mark Andrews
Description
"In the early 1980s two bands dominated the independent charts: the Smiths and the Sisters of Mercy. They have proved to be equally influential. In ev
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ery city in the world you will find people dressed like they have just walked offstage from playing a gig with the Sisters of Mercy in 1983. Paint My Name in Black and Gold tells the story of their rise - how against the odds and all reasonable expectation they came to make transcendent and life-changing music. It is also about the glorious stupidity of being in a Leeds rock band in the early 80s. There's a lot of dry ice, blood, vomit, speed and sex in the toilets. There are tales involving a milk float, a VHS cassette of a Michael Caine film, a hibernating snake, a wardrobe in a tree, an amyl nitrate-soaked effects pedal and the inopportune consumption of Dutch hash cake. The Sisters began in 1980, meandered through two years of intermittent gigging, iffy recordings and sundry line-up changes without much attention being paid to them before finding their two classic line-ups: Eldritch on vocals, Adams on bass, Gary Marx and Ben Gunn - and later Wayne Hussey - on guitars, and a drum machine called Doktor Avalanche. By force of will and their own peculiar talents - and with the support of friends and the kindness of strangers - these young men achieved greatness. Hussey and Adams - The Evil Children, as they termed themselves - were hard living road dogs with fascinating musical back-stories. Neither Gunn nor Marx were natural rock'n'roll animals, but the latter performed with such abandon - often in such lurid shirts - that it was hard to believe he also wrote The Sisters' most delicate and beautiful music. Lead singer Andrew Eldritch was the most peculiar and compelling of them all, a singular and mesmerising amalgam of T. S. Eliot and David Bowie. In the five years covered in this book, Eldritch staked a powerful claim to be the greatest rock star of his generation. Paint My Name in Black and Gold covers the band's rise until the release of their iconic first album"--Publisher's description.
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