Heartland

taken from Artist direct:

The grim visage and ominous baritone of Andrew Eldritch proved to be more influential than any chart placements would suggest. Born on May 15, 1959, in Ely, England, as Andrew William Harvey Taylor, Eldritch began hanging around the punk rock scene in Leeds, England, after dropping out of college in the late '70s. At the time, Leeds found itself in an economic depression and job opportunities were slim. The bleak environment fueled the city's punk movement, and Eldritch decided to form a band with Mark Pairman. Eldritch started banging on drums while Pairman played guitar. Neither Eldritch nor Pairman used their real names so they could receive welfare support and still be in a group; Pairman used the pseudonym Gary Marx. In 1980, Eldritch and Marx released the single "Damage Done" as the Sisters of Mercy. The track was distributed through the band's own label, Merciful Release. In 1985, the Sisters of Mercy released their debut album, First and Last and Always. Eldritch complemented the Sisters of Mercy's sinister gothic rock by dressing in black and hiding his eyes behind dark shades; his gloomy delivery, a cross between Jim Morrison's reptilian hiss and Leonard Cohen's despondent croon, would provide the blueprint for numerous other goth vocalists. Eldritch released two more albums with the Sisters of Mercy, Floodland and Vision Thing, both with an altered lineup. ~ Michael Sutton, All Music Guide

so they changed their names in order to still sign on while in a band?

hmmm, and i thought they were still at uni when they started... ??:

Well, according to 'Heartland' - the shortlived-periodical, not the song or the website - these are the 'facts', though as always I'd have a very large pinch of salt ready just in case...

First of all it quotes from the NME circa 1985..."[Andrew Eldritch] a southerner by birth and accent, he's an RAF child who's lived all over. He moved up here [Leeds] 8 years ago [1977] to continue his college education in languages. Originally a drummer, he formed the Sisters of Mercy out of shifting lineups he played with in Leeds punk-era venue the F-Club"

It then goes on (not the NME anymore): "Eldritch was born in 1959 and in his late teens enrolled on a course of French and German at Oxford University. He soon became disillusioned with his chosen subject and decided that he would rather learn Chinese instead. Unable to do this at Oxford, he moved to Leeds...Again, Eldritch dropped-out as he would have had to spend a year in Peking in order to graduate - clearly the idea of spending such a long time in a place only sixteen miles square appealed not to Eldritch. He had no intention of returning to the education system as he had become involved in the Leeds punk scene."

It goes on to say that in 1980 he 'unwittingly became a drummer' and was eventually asked by Marx to drum for a group being formed by the selfsame geetarist...

So according to that, it must've been after he dropped-out...

I agree this is a somewhat anally retentive answer, QB, but you DID ask..!!!!!

Anyway, that's all obviously as clear as mud!!!

Just for the sake of nec'ing a thread...

Lars Svensson wrote:It goes on to say that in 1980 he 'unwittingly became a drummer' and was eventually asked by Marx to drum for a group being formed by the selfsame geetarist...

I've wondering about the very beginnings of the band. The quote seems to say/imply that it was Marx's brainchild as he was looking for the drummer in the first place. Is this accepted knowledge or are there other interpretations?

Until reading the above I always assumed Eldritch and Marx knew each other from before (friends from a punk club perhaps?) and then decided to form a band. Also, I was wondering about when the early songs were written in relation to when they were released.

There's (around/approx/almost) a 2 year gap between the release of Damage Done and Body Electric but the "Floorshow Demo EP" was recorded in 1981 and contains some far more advanced songs than what we hear on Damage Done. So it's possible to believe that in 1981 they wrote some real classics in Floorshow, Lights and Adrenochrome and possibly Body Electric (depending on how far into 1982 it was released) and maybe even some more tracks.

Was the original plan to just release DD and be done with it? When did they decide to turn it in a "full-time job"? Something must've happened in 1981 to spur them on because from Body Electric up until F&L&A they had a steady release of singles/eps/albums going for 3 years.

Lots of me thinking aloud up there Anyone fancy shedding some light?

I think Gary Marx said in an interview that he chose the stage name to avoid losing dole money.

robertzombie wrote:...When did they decide to turn it in a "full-time job"? Something must've happened in 1981 to spur them on because from Body Electric up until F&L&A they had a steady release of singles/eps/albums going for 3 years.

Lots of me thinking aloud up there Anyone fancy shedding some light?

Eldritch said that he finally signed off the dole in 1984 (presumably when the WEA deal was signed).

robertzombie wrote:Just for the sake of nec'ing a thread...

HL thread necro doesn't get much better than 1970!

AE's sleeve notes to SGWBM state that they knew each other from the F-Club and imply that the band was Gary's idea because "he wanted to hear himself on the radio". I always had the impression that this meant they originally only planned the one single and only decided to go full time later. But it's clearly a very truncated version of the story and I'd also always had the impression that SOM was AE's first band. Rereading the sleeve notes I can see that he does imply other bands first.

smiscandlon wrote:

robertzombie wrote:Just for the sake of nec'ing a thread...

HL thread necro doesn't get much better than 1970!

Why does it say 1970?

robertzombie wrote:

smiscandlon wrote:

robertzombie wrote:Just for the sake of nec'ing a thread...

HL thread necro doesn't get much better than 1970!

Why does it say 1970?

Because January 1st 1970 is zero day of Unix/Posix time and when HL's server last had one of it's "senior moments" it reverted back to the first possible date of Unix time. Then QB got it fixed, but changing the dates on all the posts was impossible (or just too painful a process).

Anyhoo,

I thought that the silly-punk-pseudonym thing was an accepted way of signing on and being in a full-time band at the same time. (There's a thought, the Sisters, a full-time band )

Cf: Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible, Sid Vicious, etc. etc. ad nauseam.

markfiend wrote:Anyhoo,

I thought that the silly-punk-pseudonym thing was an accepted way of signing on and being in a full-time band at the same time. (There's a thought, the Sisters, a full-time band )

Cf: Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible, Sid Vicious, etc. etc. ad nauseam.

Admittedly, "Etc Etc Ad Nauseam" is quite a good silly-punk-pseudonym...

smiscandlon wrote:

markfiend wrote:Anyhoo,

I thought that the silly-punk-pseudonym thing was an accepted way of signing on and being in a full-time band at the same time. (There's a thought, the Sisters, a full-time band )

Cf: Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible, Sid Vicious, etc. etc. ad nauseam.

Admittedly, "Etc Etc Ad Nauseam" is quite a good silly-punk-pseudonym...

Call me 'Ad' for short.

fakin' benefit fraud-string 'em up!!!!

Dodging welfare people...god do it *Von*! Every welfare wants your money these days in this world....

Dodge HL too as reading some of the threads within this place....I too would dodge stalkers within these walls...

Dodge your fans...oh you do that so well anyway and quite frankly I don't blame you for it...

Dodge a tour this year and you'll have me to deal with.

MB xxx

*oh and this thread reminded me I still have your Heartland books Planet Dave and will only return them when we see each other again... *

always thought he was a very dodgy guy..

robertzombie wrote:Just for the sake of nec'ing a thread...

Lars Svensson wrote:It goes on to say that in 1980 he 'unwittingly became a drummer' and was eventually asked by Marx to drum for a group being formed by the selfsame geetarist...

I've wondering about the very beginnings of the band. The quote seems to say/imply that it was Marx's brainchild as he was looking for the drummer in the first place. Is this accepted knowledge or are there other interpretations?

Until reading the above I always assumed Eldritch and Marx knew each other from before (friends from a punk club perhaps?) and then decided to form a band. Also, I was wondering about when the early songs were written in relation to when they were released.

There's (around/approx/almost) a 2 year gap between the release of Damage Done and Body Electric but the "Floorshow Demo EP" was recorded in 1981 and contains some far more advanced songs than what we hear on Damage Done. So it's possible to believe that in 1981 they wrote some real classics in Floorshow, Lights and Adrenochrome and possibly Body Electric (depending on how far into 1982 it was released) and maybe even some more tracks.

Was the original plan to just release DD and be done with it? When did they decide to turn it in a "full-time job"? Something must've happened in 1981 to spur them on because from Body Electric up until F&L&A they had a steady release of singles/eps/albums going for 3 years.

Lots of me thinking aloud up there Anyone fancy shedding some light?

I sure I read in one of Gary Marx's recent-ish interviews to promote 1995 & Nowhere that he said he always knew the band would continue in some shape after The Damage Done because both him & Andrew had too much going to on to let it stop at that, but that he had no idea it would go on to become what it did (something like that).

As for the beginnings of the band, I think its in Gary's Heartland interview that he says there was "a band" but it wasn't "the band" in the very beginning (presumably formed from a group of friends at the F Club, as everything I've read says thats where the 2 of them met). I think he makes reference to them being a 5 piece, with him on guitars and Eldritch on drums, and a keyboard being involved.

Did Eldritch ever legally change his name, or is he still Andrew Taylor in "real life"?