The Marionettes

The Gothic rock outfit, established in London, England during February 1986 by vocalist Sean Cronin, initially went by the name the Screaming Marionettes. Its complete roster featured Paul Newton on drums, Barry Downes on bass (formerly of Weapon) and Vile Gold handling guitar duties. Following an intensive run of live performances, the group secured a deal with Lambs To The Slaughter. The single ‘Obsession’ appeared in April 1988, accompanied by a video directed by cult filmmaker David McGillivery. Although press coverage remained absent, the Marionettes steadily cultivated a dedicated concert audience. ‘Goth’ followers had largely been abandoned by prior mainstays the Mission and Cult, whose approach the Marionettes echoed, enabling the band to draw 1,500 attendees to a show at London’s Hammersmith Palais in August 1988. Their follow-up release, ‘Like Christabel’, entered the UK independent charts in July of the next year. Rainer Hensal subsequently asked them to cut their first album for the Maze Music imprint, distributed via Virgin Records. Strong support emerged in Germany, where the group performed at three festivals backed by Zillo magazine before affiliating with the related Mephisto’s Mob label. Book Of Shadows, overseen by producer John McGowan (Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne), surfaced in late 1992 and led the band onto the European festival circuit, where they shared stages with Pearl Jam and the Sisters Of Mercy before crowds exceeding 50,000.