[kj] OT: The origins of goth?

Pagan scotgothwitch at sky.com
Thu Nov 22 11:40:51 EST 2012


I swore I wouldn't ever get into a goth discussion on the Gathering again given the conversations/arguments throughout the years but...

I don't think and have never thought that KJ were a goth band however, I have played KJ at goth clubs. And not just Love Like Blood - although tracks from Night Time and prior to that tended to go down better than later ones, probably due to goth fondness for 80s/punk/post punk music. I've also played tracks by bands/artists such as Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, Curve, The Cramps, NMA & Kate Bush. All bands that go down, or have certain tracks that go down well at a goth club but I don't class any of them as goth either. Yes, some people mislabel bands but I don't get my gothy knickers in a knot about it. If someone wanted to try labelling a band like KJ, they could try to put them under various different genres depending on which album or track they were listening to, though for some reason the goth one seems to irk some people the most. If a person is a fan of a band surely they want them to sell records regardless of who is buying them? I don't read every KJ interview ever published - shock, horror! - but to the best of my knowledge I've never heard of any of the band pulling an Eldritch and complaining about goths liking them, that they are sometimes mislabelled as goth or that Love Like Blood has been used on yet another goth compilation CD, so I'm really not sure why some fans feel they should be outraged on their behalf.

To try & trace the roots of goth though, I agree with the statement that it depends on what an individual considers as goth (we did once spend an entertaining evening debating against Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son being the first goth metal album!), and possibly what side of the Atlantic you're on. There are also various sub genres of goth that have roots from different places. In my opinion, trad goth has it's roots in punk & post punk but then some bands under those genres state influences such as Bowie, The Beatles etc so it depends on how far back you want to go. :o)

Claire
-----Original Message-----
From: Per G Olsson <Per.G.Olsson at Miljonmysteriet.com>
Sender: gathering-bounces at misera.net
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:33:23
To: A list about all things Killing Joke \(the band!\)<gathering at misera.net>
Reply-To: "A list about all things Killing Joke \(the band!\)"
<gathering at misera.net>
Subject: Re: [kj] OT: The origins of goth?

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