Love And Rockets

Love and Rockets brought together guitarist and vocalist Daniel Ash, bassist and vocalist David J, and drummer Kevin Haskins, each of whom had previously played in the pioneering goth outfit Bauhaus. Yet the new trio steered clear of that earlier sound, instead foregrounding the psychedelic and glam-rock currents latent in Bauhaus’s brooding textures while folding in pop craftsmanship, folk, R&B, and oblique, self-serious lyrics. Throughout the latter half of the 1980s the band cultivated a fervent following that produced an unexpected Top Ten single, “So Alive,” in 1989; by the early 1990s that audience had begun to shrink, although a core of dedicated listeners remained.

When Bauhaus disbanded in 1983, David J issued a solo record and worked with the Jazz Butcher, while Daniel Ash devoted himself to the side project Tones on Tail. Kevin Haskins soon joined Tones on Tail, which disbanded in 1984. Ash and Haskins next tried to reassemble Bauhaus; David J consented, but vocalist Peter Murphy declined. Rather than continue with an incomplete lineup, the three musicians launched Love and Rockets, borrowing the name from the underground comic by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez.

Their debut album, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven, appeared in 1985 and earned mixed notices even as it started to enlarge their audience. The follow-up, Express, arrived the next year and fared better, appearing on charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. With Earth Sun Moon (1987) the group largely withdrew into atmospheric territory, save for the alternative and college-radio success “No New Tale to Tell,” which further broadened their reach. The self-titled Love and Rockets, issued in 1989, carried them into the mainstream on the strength of the T. Rex-inspired Top Ten single “So Alive”; the album itself climbed into the Top 20 and was certified gold.

Following that breakthrough the members turned to solo work for roughly five years. Love and Rockets resurfaced in 1994 with Hot Trip to Heaven, which made no impression on the pop or alternative charts. Sweet F.A. followed in 1996, and Lift appeared two years later.