Biography
The Lords of the New Church assembled in 1981 and carried an imposing transatlantic lineage in punk. Frontman Stiv Bators and guitarist Brian James had each helped launch, respectively, Cleveland’s Dead Boys and London’s the Damned—two early and consequential punk outfits. (Much like Keith Richard(s), Stiv spelled his surname both with and without a terminal “s” at various points in his career; throughout his time with the Lords, however, he was billed as Bators.) Bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Nick Turner had previously played with Sham 69 and the Barracudas, groups that enjoyed solid recognition without matching the influence of the first two bands. Although the Lords retained traces of punk, their sound favored stronger melodies, polished production, and tighter execution, a shift that distanced some purists yet attracted a broader, more varied following.
The project began to take shape in 1980 after Bators and James, both now free of their earlier commitments, rekindled a friendship that dated back to the Dead Boys supporting the Damned at CBGB and on a subsequent British tour. They first tried several rhythm sections, including brief rehearsals with ex-Generation X bassist Tony James and ex-Clash drummer Terry Chimes. A temporary configuration featuring Bators, James, Tregunna, and Rat Scabies of the Damned performed once that year under the name “Dead Damned Sham Band.” When the Lords issued their self-titled debut in 1982, Scabies had already given way to Nick Turner, locking in the core lineup that would define the band’s most active period.
Although critics responded favorably to the album, the group gained greater attention for its concerts, above all Bators’s reckless stage presence. An admirer of Iggy Pop, he had cultivated the same disregard for personal safety while fronting the Dead Boys. Throughout his career he sustained repeated injuries in performance, most notoriously when a trademark stunt involving the microphone cable looped around his neck went wrong and left him clinically dead for several minutes. He recovered in time to complete two further well-received albums, 1983’s Is Nothing Sacred? and 1984’s The Method to Our Madness, after which the Lords appeared to lose momentum.
Subsequent activity became sporadic: an irreverent cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” appeared as a single, and two strong new songs were added to the compilation Killer Lords. Signs of dissolution surfaced by 1985. Tregunna departed, was briefly replaced by Grant Fleming, then returned; second guitarist Alistair Simmons joined and was later dismissed; Turner exited in favor of Danny Fury. Following Bators’s back injury after 1988, James placed an advertisement seeking a temporary replacement vocalist. The resulting acrimonious split was sealed when Bators closed his final show wearing a T-shirt that reproduced the newspaper ad. Any prospect of reunion ended in 1990 when Bators succumbed to injuries received after being struck by a car on a Paris street.
The project began to take shape in 1980 after Bators and James, both now free of their earlier commitments, rekindled a friendship that dated back to the Dead Boys supporting the Damned at CBGB and on a subsequent British tour. They first tried several rhythm sections, including brief rehearsals with ex-Generation X bassist Tony James and ex-Clash drummer Terry Chimes. A temporary configuration featuring Bators, James, Tregunna, and Rat Scabies of the Damned performed once that year under the name “Dead Damned Sham Band.” When the Lords issued their self-titled debut in 1982, Scabies had already given way to Nick Turner, locking in the core lineup that would define the band’s most active period.
Although critics responded favorably to the album, the group gained greater attention for its concerts, above all Bators’s reckless stage presence. An admirer of Iggy Pop, he had cultivated the same disregard for personal safety while fronting the Dead Boys. Throughout his career he sustained repeated injuries in performance, most notoriously when a trademark stunt involving the microphone cable looped around his neck went wrong and left him clinically dead for several minutes. He recovered in time to complete two further well-received albums, 1983’s Is Nothing Sacred? and 1984’s The Method to Our Madness, after which the Lords appeared to lose momentum.
Subsequent activity became sporadic: an irreverent cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” appeared as a single, and two strong new songs were added to the compilation Killer Lords. Signs of dissolution surfaced by 1985. Tregunna departed, was briefly replaced by Grant Fleming, then returned; second guitarist Alistair Simmons joined and was later dismissed; Turner exited in favor of Danny Fury. Following Bators’s back injury after 1988, James placed an advertisement seeking a temporary replacement vocalist. The resulting acrimonious split was sealed when Bators closed his final show wearing a T-shirt that reproduced the newspaper ad. Any prospect of reunion ended in 1990 when Bators succumbed to injuries received after being struck by a car on a Paris street.
Albums
