They became an integral part of the Future Pop scene. They played the big festival stages of M'era Luna, WGT, Amphi and Out Of Line Weekender and both were convincing as Blutengel support. THEY are Ashbury Heights and Massive Ego – going on a dream team double headliner tour.

With their current album "The Victorian Wallflowers", Ashbury Heights proved that they were able to further improve their skill of writing super-catchy melodies. Massive Ego marked their spot with "Church For The Malfunctioned", a fire starter of melodies sticking in your head with a very unique character.

Being united on one tour, both bands will spur each other on taking their colourful performances to the max. And if this was not enough, Ashbury Heights will have a very special highlight: original member Yasmine will be taking over the female vocals, making the Persistent Illusions Tour something really special. So be there, because these evenings will be unforgettable!

Thu, 23/01 Nachtleben, Frankfurt
Fri. 24/01 Matrix, Bochum
Sat. 25/01 Headcrash, Hamburg
Thu. 30/01 Kranhalle, München
Fri. 31/01 Erfurt - Zughafen
Sat. 01/02 Sumpfblume, Hameln

Today it's exactly 40 years since Siouxsie and the Banshees, released 'Israel'(28.11.1980 / Polydor Records) as a stand-alone single in between the albums Kaleidoscope (1980) and Juju (1981). The track was written by the band while touring in Europe in Autumn 1980. The band wanted to write a Christmas song to be released on time for December of that year.

It peaked at No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and it was the band's first single to be also released on a 12-inch although the track are identical on both releases.

Although it reached No. 73 on the US National Disco Action Top 100 chart as an import, 'Israel' did not appear on a Siouxsie and the Banshees album until the release of the Once Upon a Time: The Singles compilation (1981).

In 2002 the song was remastered for The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees compilation CD album and in 2006 was also featured as a bonus track on the Kaleidoscope reissue.

Israel (Track listing)

A. Israel
B. Red Over White

DISCOGS

Israel (Lyrics)

Little orphans in the snow
With nowhere to call a home
Start their singing, singing
Waiting through the summertime
To thaw your hearts in wintertime
That's why they're singing, singing
Waiting for a sign to turn blood into wine
The sweet taste in your mouth, turned bitter in its glass

Israel, in Israel
Israel, in Israel

Shattered fragments of the past
Meet in veins on the stained glass
Like the lifeline in your palm
Red and green reflects the scene
Of a long forgotten dream
There were princes and there were kings
Now hidden in disguise, cheap wrappings of lies
Keep your hearts alive with a song from inside
Even though we're all alone
We are never on our own when we're singing, singing

Home, home
There's a man who's looking in
And he smiles a toothless grin
Because he's singing, singing
See some people shine with glee
But their song is jealousy
Their hate is clanging, maddening

In Israel, will they sing Happy Noel
In Israel, in Israel
Israel, in Israel

In Israel, will they sing Happy Noel

Songwriters: Susan Ballion / Steven Severin / Peter Clarke / John McGeoch

© BMG Rights Management, Domino Publishing Company

Formed originally as Nosferatu in 1987, the band has legendary status in the Goth scene. Famed for songs with an undeniably cinematic feel.

Vampiric, thunderous, yet delicate orchestration and booming baritone vocals are delivered with a panache often devoid in many gothic rock acts.

Back from the dead in 2019 and about to reclaim their place on the throne.

After many years, the classic lineup is back together and their comeback shows are rapidly approaching...

29/11/19 The Underworld, Camden, London, UK
22/2/20 Temple Rock Club, Athens Greece

Live on stage with renowned vampiric Burlesque performer Marie Devilreux performing exclusively with the band

www.thenosferatu.com

As debut albums go, Soft Cell hits the ground running, on 27 November 1981 the duo of Marc Almond and Dave Ball had released the ground-breaking, synth-wave ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’, an album which gained a cult-following in its own right, at the same time defying the boundaries of taste in early nineteen-eighties.

This was an album strewn with the stench and sin of the nighttime jungle (Entertain Me), porn theaters (Seedy Films) and prostitution (Sex Dwarf), the single that should have been;
“Luring disco dollies
To a life of vice”.

What we have is an examination of the reality under the microscope of Almonds soulful delivery and Ball with his electronic wizardry.
In the midst of these themes was the classic track “Tainted Love” the song that gained them a number-one and introduced the world to them. This obscure Gloria Jones track was perfect to sculpt a creature with hit making material, however there is more to ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ than one song and the downside of that massive hit was the over-shadowing of what Soft Cell had on offer.

The track “Bedsitter” was released in conjunction with the album, breaking the top-five single charts, this was a self-penned track, making all the more worthwhile and laced with the flamboyant-sleaze that was part of the band’s makeup.

The final track and final release “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” again broke the top-five, proving the talent of the duo not just for the electro-experimentation but as songwriters in their own right.

Bedsitter (Lyrics)
Sunday morning going slow
I'm talking to the radio
Clothes and records on teh floor
Memories of the night before
Out in clubland having fun
Now I'm hiding from the sun
Waiting for a visitor
But noone knows I'm here for sure.
Dancing
Laughing
Drinking
Loving
And now I'm alll alone in Bedsit land,
My only home
I think it's time to cook a meal
To fill the emptiness I feel
Spend my money going out
I've nothing left, I'm left without
Clean my teeth and comb my hair
Look for something new to wear
And start the nightlife over again
And kid myself I'm having fun.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (Original 1981 Track List)

1.”Frustration'
2.”Tainted Love'
3.”Seedy Films'
4.”Youth'
5.”Sex Dwarf'
6.”Entertain Me'
7.”Chips on My Shoulder'
8.”Bedsitter'
9.”Secret Life”
10.”Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”

On 26 November 1982 Siouxsie and the Banshees released the double A-sided single 'Melt!' as the second single from their fifth studio album A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. It was released by Polydor Records and featured the song 'Il Est Né, Le Divin Enfant', a track which does not appear on the album.

The sensual lyrics of 'Melt!' compare an intense sexual interlude with a lover to dying. Its lyrics can also allude to a S&M encounter "...Handcuffed in lace, blood and sperm / Swimming in poison / Gasping in the fragrance / Sweat carves a screenplay / Of discipline and devotion..."

'Il est né, le divin Enfant' was an adaptation of a traditional French Christmas carol. This track was exclusive to this single, and remained unreleased on LP or CD for many years until the appearance of the Siouxsie and the Banshees box set Downside Up in 2004.

The single peaked at number 49 in the UK Singles Chart and was released as 7" and 12" single.

Melt! - Tracklist

Side A

A1. Melt!
A2. Il est né, le divin enfant"

Side B
B1. A Sleeping Rain

Melt! - lyrics

You are the melting men
You are the situation
There is no time to breathe
And yet one single breath
Leads to an insatiable desire
Of suicide... in sex

So many blazing orchids
Burning in your throat
Making you choke
Making you sigh
Sigh in tiny deaths

So Melt!
My lover, melt!
She said melt!
My lover, melt!
You are the melting men
And as you melt
You are beheaded

Handcuffed (in lace and blood and sperm)
Swimming in poison
Gasping in the fragrance
Sweat carves a screenplay
of discipline...and devotion

So Melt!
My lover, melt!
She said melt!
My lover, melt!

Can you see?
See into the back of a long, black car
Pulling away from the funeral of flowers
With my hand between your legs

Melting...

© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

DISCOGS