Dramatised by Michael Ashnikov.
1980
The Sisters Of Mercy are formed in Leeds by Gary Marx and Andrew Eldritch. (Click here for some background.) With one guitar, a three-watt practice amp and no money, they record a single “to hear ourselves on the radio”. The Merciful Release label is founded to issue it and one thousand copies are pressed. The record gets played on the radio. Described by the band as “unobtainable and even more unlistenable”, ‘THE DAMAGE DONE / WATCH / HOME OF THE HIT-MEN’ is now worth hundreds of pounds - and it’s still rubbish.
1981
Sensing that something horribly huge is within their grasp, the duo decides to “start again, properly”. Andrew Eldritch, by his own admission “a very bad drummer”, becomes by default the band’s lead singer as Gary Marx concentrates on guitar and Craig Adams is recruited on bass. An essential move seems natural to the Sisters but is to set them crucially apart from (and ahead of) their peers: they are now anchored and driven by the legendary Doktor Avalanche, drum machine.
The band makes its live debut on February 16th, somewhere between The Stooges and Suicide, or Motörhead and Chrome. Marx has connected his guitar to a record-player pre-amp which feeds back uncontrollably and Eldritch has shifted the vocal echo into overdrive. It’s metal dub without any spaces, on a shuddering mechanoid backdrop. The first-ever set kicks off with a twisted cover of Cohen’s ‘Teachers’ and ends with a juggernaut howl which might have been ‘Silver Machine’ but was in fact ‘Sister Ray’. The audience gets the point. The Sisters Of Mercy gradually refine their noise and their ability to be loved and hated. Towards the end of the year Ben Gunn is added as a second guitarist.
1982
The second record, ‘BODY ELECTRIC / ADRENOCHROME’, is Single Of The Week in Melody Maker. It will be almost three years before a Sisters single does NOT become Record Of The Week somewhere. Unfortunately, the subsequent backlash will last forever. The Sisters Of Mercy eventually deign to play London, and Tony James of Generation X asks Mr Eldritch to join a band ( - offer declined, with thanks). A radio session for the BBC foreshadows the next classic single and the Sisters tour Britain with the Psychedelic Furs. November sees the release of ‘ALICE / FLOORSHOW’, that now-familiar blend of persistent and irresistible melody, hypnotic technoid riffing and a vicious hook shining seductively above the riptide…. The band begin to dominate the independent charts like nobody else before or since.
1983
Early months are spent touring the country with an army of supporters. A set of Sisters standards is variously spiked with an audacious selection of covers, including ‘Gimme Shelter’, Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and Hot Chocolate’s ‘Emma’. A second radio session follows the release in March of the new single ‘ANACONDA / PHANTOM’. The twelve-inch EP ‘ALICE / FLOORSHOW / PHANTOM / 1969′ is also the band’s first American release. In May, instead of capitalising on their notorious brand of melodic overdrive, The Sisters Of Mercy issue ‘THE REPTILE HOUSE EP’, some of the finest and most haunting Sisters songs swamped in a magnificently perverse mix of slithering cruelty. After their first dates on the European mainland, and before a short series of concerts in America (Ben Gunn’s last), it is decided to spend the proceeds on the band’s first trip to a 24-track studio. This requires guitars to be multi-tracked ad infitum - or until the money runs out. The Sisters come out with a three-song single in October. ‘TEMPLE OF LOVE’ is in every respect a monster. Backed with ‘HEARTLAND’ and ‘GIMME SHELTER’, it is destined to be their last independently released record.
1984
Wayne Hussey joins the Sisters. Concentrating upon the acoustic and twelve-string guitars, he makes his debut in April. Prior to a UK tour in May, the band announces that it has signed to WEA. ‘BODY AND SOUL / TRAIN / BODY ELECTRIC (re-recorded) / AFTERHOURS’, a four-track single described by Eldritch as “a vision of heaven with everyone on speed”, narrowly misses the UK Top Forty, and a third BBC session showcases some of the material which will later comprise the Sisters’ first album. Demos are recorded and the band travel to New York in August to play two sell-out dates. Work on the LP is postponed due to Eldritch’s exhaustion yet the band continues to play live, culminating in the ‘Black October’ tour. The Sisters’ European audience continues to grow, particularly in Germany and the UK. ‘WALK AWAY / POISON DOOR / ON THE WIRE’ is released. There are, however, barely concealed tensions within the band. Many are tempted to read into the lyrics of ‘Walk Away’ a public appeal to Gary Marx. Worries about Eldritch’s exhaustion and his not-so-private leisure pursuits are fuelled by the lyrics to ‘On The Wire’.
1985
Another single, ‘NO TIME TO CRY / BLOOD MONEY / BURY ME DEEP’, is issued in February and the ‘Tune In, Turn On, Burn Out’ tour opens in March. Gary Marx’s departure is announced as the debut album goes straight into the Top Twenty. Flawed and scarred it may be (certainly from a production standpoint), but ‘FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS’ is still regarded as a collection of classic songs.
The band stage an end-of-tour concert in July at London’s Royal Albert Hall as The Sisters Of Mercy celebrate the first pinnacle of their existence. The resultant concert video will soon be released under the title ‘WAKE’. Eldritch is expected to leave the stage with his usual “Goodnight!” but tonight it’s “Goodbye”. It will be five years before The Sisters Of Mercy play live again.
1986
Craig Adams and Wayne Hussey have left the band; disagreements over material and touring were understandable, particularly those arising from Hussey’s desire to launch a separate career (taking Adams with him). The split was amicable enough …initially.
Merciful Release issues the single ‘GIVING GROUND’ and album ‘GIFT’, by ‘The Sisterhoood’. Written and produced by Andrew Eldritch, this material was performed for contractual reasons by associates, and released independently. (Click here for the full story, and see below for a description.)
1987
Eldritch had thrown everything in the air and it had not come down. The Sisters Of Mercy were the most bootlegged band of the decade, but had completely stopped playing live when they seemed at the height of their power. Eldritch had set up camp in Germany, so the English press pronounced him retired or dead. After ‘Gift’ they should have known better. Ahead of its time, this dense soundscape extrapolated some of the most important elements of the Sisters’ psyche. Without losing sight of the original Sisters’ vicious trash aesthetic, it assimilated the advances in continental dance music, and developed them further. The layers of ersatz Elgar and chant added an aching poignancy to the terse and savage wit of the lyrics. Insistent and tuneful, the songs were harnessed to a menacing synthetic groove somewhere between the New York underground and the hardcore techno-beat of Brussels and Berlin. Eldritch was enjoying his new-found freedoms. Rumour fed on rumour, and in the apparent absence of the band the legend just grew. As it always does. The Sisters were bigger than ever before, and in a position to refocus with confidence on the future. Expectations rose to fever pitch as the next phase was launched.
‘THIS CORROSION / TORCH / COLOURS’ is released by WEA. The single enters the UK Top Ten and becomes the #1 Alternative Record in America, despite the lack of record company support - as usual. It is announced that Patricia Morrison has been recruited and that the band has no plans to enlarge further. This presages a phase of video-based promotion. Video is a gratuitous and expensive medium which the band has traditionally scorned. Nevertheless, on TV screens all over the planet, the torrential rain of ‘This Corrosion’ sets the pace for a series of spectacular videos. The second album ‘FLOODLAND’ is released in November. ‘Floodland’ places the guitars of the first album against a backdrop of keyboards inspired by the experimentation of ‘Gift’. A fifth-generation Doktor Avalanche drives a body of songs which highlight Eldritch’s maturity as a singer and songwriter.
1988
A dramatic video set in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra heralds ‘DOMINION / EMMA’ which charts at number 13 in the UK. ‘LUCRETIA MY REFLECTION / LONG TRAIN’ then provides the Sisters with their third chart single from the ‘Floodland’ LP.
1989
A compilation video (’SHOT’) is issued, featuring the three singles from ‘Floodland’ and an additional clip of ‘1959′ which was filmed in India during the shooting of ‘Lucretia My Reflection’. Incidentally, ‘1959′ is still the only Sisters video produced and directed by Andrew Eldritch, and the absence of anybody else’s agenda makes it different from (and better than) all the others ….although it can be remarked of the later videos that ‘Dr Jeep’ is funny, ‘Detonation Boulevard’ is eminently watchable, and Eldritch is a genuine love-god in ‘Under The Gun’.
1990
Guitarist Andreas Bruhn joins the band; he and Andrew Eldritch write songs for the next album. Tony James replaces the recently departed Patricia Morrison. Guitarist Tim Bricheno completes the line-up, as the third LP ‘VISION THING’ is being finished. ‘Vision Thing’ is released in November. It is preceded by a single, ‘MORE / YOU COULD BE THE ONE’, which continues the band’s hard-earned tradition of international chart success, particularly in Germany. Compared to its predecessor, ‘Vision Thing’ is a stripped-down affair. Half of the finished mixes for the album are shelved in favour of rough mixes from earlier stages of the recording session, ‘monitor mixes’ which retain the immediate feel of the songs. The guitars are more direct than they were on ‘Floodland’ and there is far less emphasis on the layering of sound which characterised the previous Sisters album. Keyboards are kept to a bare minimum, and the baritone voice of Eldritch is clear amid the storm. The lyrics retain their usual oblique sub-texts, but there is a new directness of language on the surface. It has been noticed that there is no sense whatever of ‘victim’ on the ‘Vision Thing’ album (maybe because this had too often been fallaciously inferred from the overlooked ironies of previous records). ‘Vision Thing’ is confident to the point of arrogance, commanding to the point of sheer callousness, an intellectual tour-de-force of beautiful cruelty. The band play surprise concerts in Ireland. ‘DOCTOR JEEP’ is released as a single, coupled with rare live tracks. Brazilian warm-up dates are followed by a European tour starring two nights at London’s Wembley Arena.
1991
The Sisters Of Mercy mark the tenth anniversary of their live debut with two shows for the members of The Reptile House (the Sisters’ information service) in their birthplace of Leeds. There is a tour of southern Europe. ‘WHEN YOU DON’T SEE ME / RIBBONS (live) / SOMETHING FAST (live)’ is released as a single in Germany. A North American tour opens on March 25th in Ontario. The first concert sells out in two hours. Another trip to northern Europe follows in April and May, Poland and Hungary fall to the Sisters before an arena-tour of Germany.
The band returns to the States for an amphitheatre tour with Warrior Soul, Gang Of Four and Public Enemy as opening acts. Before this tour starts, most promoters (and the whole of the US media) have unfortunately decided that a mixed-race event is a dangerous thing. Radio City Music Hall is sold out, but the authorities in Detroit refuse to allow a concert to take place at all. The Sisters cut loose in Miami, and seal their year with a guerrilla-raid on the European festival circuit, most particularly at ‘Rock Am Ring’ and a headline appearance at the Reading Festival. Another day, another thirty thousand people. Tony James decides this is a suitable moment to move on in his quest for Showbusiness Valhalla.
1992
The compilation album of early material ‘SOME GIRLS WANDER BY MISTAKE’ is released in May. A completely re-recorded ‘Temple Of Love’ (featuring Ofra Haza) is released as a an accompanying single: ‘TEMPLE OF LOVE (1992)’ crashes into the UK chart at number 3, and becomes the Sisters’ biggest international hit so far. Summer festivals in Germany are followed by a sellout show at Birmingham’s NEC. The final gig of the year is in front of thirty thousand Belgians at the Pukkelpop Festival, preceded by a warm-up show in the living room of a Reptile House member in Oberhausen. Bricheno and Bruhn initiate solo projects.
1993
Summer shows with Depeche Mode in Europe are followed by the first Greatest Hits album ‘A SLIGHT CASE OF OVERBOMBING’. A single featuring new guitarist Adam Pearson ‘UNDER THE GUN / ALICE (1993)’ is released simultaneously, and assumes its automatic place in the top ten. The compilation video released in 1988 is updated by the addition of the ‘Vision Thing’ promos, and re-released as ‘SHOT REV 2.0′. The year ends with a tour of Germany, supported by The Ramones, and three British shows in Brixton and Birmingham (at the NEC again). For a time there will be silence…
1994
…while Eldritch argues with East West. Signing to WEA was one thing, finding oneself with East West is another. Since ‘Vision Thing’ the band have been “seriously underwhelmed”.
1995
Still arguing with East West, or rather: not talking to East West any more. As far as its recording contract goes, the band has effectively been on strike for five years now. Andrew Eldritch starts remixing industrial dance records and is rumoured to be active in trance music. Adam, as usual, is also making soundtrack music.
1996
No progress at the record company, but live goes on: guitarist Chris Sheehan joins up. Ravey Davey caught playing Nurse with the Doktor as The Sisters Of Mercy swing into another summer of festival appearances in Europe.
1997
The ‘Distance Over Time’ expedition. The Sisters headline another five summer festivals and a fistful of hall dates. Back to the USA for the first time since the tour with Public Enemy.
Towards the end of this year, East West buy the dodgy SSV album which ends Eldritch’s contract with East West. Chris Sheehan embarks on an extended sabbatical break with some friends from Down Under; Mike Varjak assumes his place in the first team.
1998
Strange as it may seem, East West are still intending to put out their SSV record; pre-release propaganda proclaims SSV as the new incarnation of the “long-dead” Sisters; foolish but predictable nonsense. To counteract all this stuff (which, as we know, the press is all too happy to run with), and to celebrate Mr Eldritch’s liberation, the Sisters decide to brave the snow and hit the road again. Only one promoter is found who is willing to risk a January tour. Every date sells out before the tour starts. Such is life for the Sisters Of Perpetual Vindication. Just to prove that they’re not right all the time, the Sisters fail to release a trio of independent singles…
Twelve ‘Event Horizon’ dates through Europe, followed by six in North America, followed by a ‘Summer’ headlining festival dates. In the absence of the Verve, the Sisters headline Europe’s biggest festival at Roskilde.
Back home to think about the next album.
1999
In the second half of the year, a Portuguese festival and a month-long hall tour of North America (’To The Planet Edge’) provide the band with sufficient distraction from songwriting and recording. Adam hasn’t finished building his studio anyway.
2000
January: Chris Sheehan puts out a solo album of “bleak psycho country music”, but he still manages to beam his way back into the Sisters’ front line by the end of the summer. After headlining a couple of festivals the band trip the light fantastic through hall dates in Britain and Spain.
2001
After a fans-only anniversary night at the location of their first-ever gig, the Sisters launch a full-scale birthday tour through February and March, followed by … festivals in Germany, Sweden and Belgium. Back home to think about the next album (again).
2002
Sister Chris Sheehan starts compiling some of the band’s filmed concert footage for a future DVD release, and the Sisters headline summer festivals in Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. Another major European tour is to follow in the Spring.
New and hence unreleased songs make up half of any live Sisters set these days, although the classics get a good thrashing in rotation. Having derived their light show from the Big Bang (gleefully inventing rave lighting in the process), the Sisters see no reason to tone it down, and will be exploding in all their usual glory in March/April 2003.
It howls, it’s grindingly beautiful, and it’s probably heading your way.
Metal Hammer: “[The Sisters are...] a lean glittering groove machine for the new millennium, leaving the sullenly anachronistic reformations of their contemporaries far behind.”
The Sisters are:
Andrew Eldritch - vocals
Adam Pearson - guitar and backing vocals
Chris Sheehan - guitar and backing vocals
Doktor Avalanche - drums etc
Nurse - nurse to the Doktor
Sister Mike Varjak [guitar] is on secondment to the real world
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Some personal information:
Andrew Eldritch can speak lots and lots of languages, but prefers not to speak at all. He was studying French and German literature at Oxford University when he got waylaid by the first Père Ubu album. He was studying Chinese and politics at Leeds University when he got waylaid by the Sisters. His current interests include obsessive computing, cognitive science and FC St Pauli. He lives in a stretch limbo.
Adam Pearson tries to avoid pain and gain pleasure. He enjoys discovering which of his actions lead to one or the other. During his experiments, he has worked extensively with Johnny Thunders, Andrew Eldritch, and small children. He lives in hope.
Mike Varjak has slept with your best friend, and she enjoyed it very much. He lives in your spare room, but many floors higher.
Nurse claims that his relationship with Doktor Avalanche does not involve the exchange of body fluids. He’s lying.
Doktor Avalanche is God.
“Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Chris Sheehan’s work is how deeply it succeeds when it veers toward queasily unpleasant moral territory. Not only can you feel the hate, but - a very odd sensation - you can share a glimmer of it as well.” …Musician Magazine.
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The Sisters Of Mercy are a left wing institution.
The Sisters Of Mercy do not sing with an assumed American accent.
The Sisters Of Mercy have heaps of gold records.
The Sisters Of Mercy deserve more gold records than they’ve got.
The Sisters Of Mercy are grindingly computerised, and very often pixellated.
The Sisters Of Mercy have a Nobel Prize for chemistry.
The Sisters Of Mercy are savage and beautiful.
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The best Sisters songs, according to Moses:
the next one
We Are The Same, Susanne
Summer
Under The Gun
I Was Wrong
Crash And Burn
Temple Of Love (1992)
Driven Like The Snow
Never Land
1959
The best Sisters t-shirt, according to everybody:
“Utterly Bastard Groovy”
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Taken from