Peter Murphy

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Biography

Peter John Murphy (born 11 July 1957) is an English people|English rock singer|vocalist . He was the vocalist of the rock group bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus , and later went on to release a number of solo (music)|solo album s, such as Deep (album)|Deep and Love Hysteria . Thin, with prominent cheekbones, a baritone voice, and a penchant for gloomy poetics, Murphy is often called the " List of honorific titles in popular music|Godfather of Goth ."

Early life and Bauhaus

Murphy was born near Northampton , England , and raised in Wellingborough , England. Bauhaus were one of the establishing acts of the Gothic rock|goth movement. Their use of spacey recording effects and theatrical aesthetics was evocative of both early horror films and glam rock; they became an influential group in the early days of gothic rock .
In 1983, Bauhaus appeared during the opening sequences of the horror film The Hunger (1983 film)|The Hunger , performing one of their most popular songs, " Bela Lugosi's Dead ". The camera focused almost exclusively on Murphy during most of the scene, panning only briefly to the stars David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve .

Bauhaus reformed in 1998 for a tour, and once again in 2006 for a tour with Nine Inch Nails . The latter group's frontman, Trent Reznor , and Murphy were guests on several radio shows together, often performing three to four duets per radio show. Reznor cites Bauhaus as one of his primary musical influences, and had toured with Murphy earlier in both their careers.

Solo career

1980s

By 1983, Bauhaus broke up and Murphy went on to new projects not involving Bauhaus members Kevin Haskins , David J , or Daniel Ash . After some brief dabbling with acting and dance - including a slightly odd televised performance to Bauhaus's "Hollow Hills" - he formed Dali's Car with Mick Karn , the bass player from Japan (band)|Japan . The group recorded only one album.

Murphy's solo career over time became more varied than Bauhaus, ranging from pseudo-pop to haunting ballads that showcased his deep and complex vocals, with lyrical themes that are often Metaphysics|metaphysical or religious. His knack for such lyricism and the occasional pop-reinvention did, however, cause some initial trepidation by the record-buying public. After the commercial non-start of Dali's Car, Murphy's first solo album was similarly overlooked. Should the World Fail to Fall Apart did spawn several singles, including a cover of Pere Ubu (band)|Pere Ubu 's "Final Solution" that made a minor splash on the club scene.

The followup, Love Hysteria , sank without trace in his native UK along with his career there. However, in the USA it performed better than his previous solo releases. The albums also marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration with songwriter Paul Statham, who co-wrote songs with Murphy until 1995. The resulting singles "All Night Long" and "Indigo Eyes" helped garner a wider following, and the black-and-white video for "All Night Long" entered rotation on MTV .

The pinnacle of Murphy's solo popularity in the US came with the release of Deep . For this album Murphy sported hair dyed platinum blonde and returned to the more aggressive alt-rock sound that was a trademark of early Bauhaus. The single " Cuts You Up " from Deep held on to the top spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for longer than any other previously released single, displacing "So Alive" by his former Bauhaus-bandmates Love and Rockets (band)|Love and Rockets . The record was unbroken until the release of R.E.M. (band)|R.E.M. 's " Losing My Religion ."

1990s

Although he had grown up in an Irish Catholic family, Murphy gravitated to Sufism in the 1990s. There were reports he had converted to Islam but he clarified in USA Today: "There was no conversion, just a recognition that it was the same message, only clearer. You don't convert, you discover an aspect of surrender, which is what Islam means." He eventually moved to Turkey with his wife, and a subsequent Middle East ern influence can be heard in his later albums. http://www.acidlogic.com/petermurphy.htm Interview with Peter Murphy By J. Kim
June 16, 2002 In particular, Murphy has been inspired by the mysticism of Sufism and GI Gurdjieff. 1992's Holy Smoke mixed some traditional Turkish influences into the music while continuing the sound pioneered on Deep . The album was unable to recapture the momentum of Deep , and in the post- grunge alternative landscape, the more pop-flavored album seemed anachronistic.

In 1995, Murphy embraced a lower-key, ambient pop sound for Cascade , featuring producer Pascal Gabriel , guest work from "infinite guitarist" Michael Brook , and overall a much stronger incorporation of electronics. This album was also to be his last major collaboration with Paul Statham, who departed to form Peach (pop band)|Peach with Pascal Gabriel and eventually write songs for Dido (singer)|Dido and Kylie Minogue . Cascade was also Murphy's last original release for Beggar's Banquet records, which had been his label since Bauhaus. Shortly after this departure, Murphy recorded the Recall EP for the newly-formed Red Ant records, featuring a few new songs and some new, heavily electronic versions of older material, reworked in conjunction with Sascha Konietzko , Bill Rieflin and Tim Skold of the band KMFDM . Once again, he became label-mates with former Bauhaus alums Love and Rockets, who had also signed to Red Ant. This generated a significant number of rumours regarding a possible reformation of Bauhaus. While Red Ant quickly folded, Bauhaus did reform in 1998 for the Resurrection tour, one performance of which (at the Hammerstein Ballroom , New York City) was recorded and released on DVD by Metropolis Records as Gotham . The tour was a success, although Murphy refused to perform certain songs, because of his adherence to Islam, such as "Stigmata Martyr" and "St. Vitus' Dance." He cited their religious overtones as objectionable. The lyrics of the former include the Trinitarian formula in Latin and English, thus affirming the Christian doctrine of the Trinity .

2000s

In 2000, Murphy performed his international Just for Love tour, which resulted in the album aLive Just for Love . It is a live recording of the fully uninterrupted set from the El Rey show in Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles on November 30, 2000. During the tour, Murphy chose to perform with only two back-up musicians, Canadian electric violin ist Hugh Marsh and Peter DiStefano from Porno for Pyros on guitar, although former Bauhaus bassist David J sometimes joined the trio for an encore. At this point he also contributed to works by noted film composer Harry Gregson-Williams .

Also in 2000, Murphy gave a nod to the North American goth scene, where his solo works and his works with Bauhaus are still popular, by making a surprise guest appearance at the sixth annual Convergence (goth festival)|Convergence festival in Seattle, Washington|Seattle , to perform a low-key, acoustic solo set.

Shortly thereafter, Murphy collaborated with the Turkish artist Mercan Dede on the album Dust . Heavily steeped in traditional Turkish instrumentation and songwriting, coupled with Dede's trademark atmospheric electronics, the album showed Murphy all but abandoning his previous pop and rock incarnations. Dust , released on goth/industrial stalwart label Metropolis Records, alienated many fans who had expected a more uptempo Murphy album (especially post- Recall ), but it garnered some critical praise. Peter Murphy considers it his most unique work to date and is most proud of the song "Your Face" from the album.

In 2004, Murphy signed to yet another new label, Viastar, which was home to several other 1980s pop artists who had moved into more eclectic areas. Despite numerous problems with the label, the album Unshattered was released, showcasing Murphy returning to a more pop sound.

Murphy undertook extensive tours of the US and Europe to promote 'Unshattered' in 2005, with a live band featuring guitarist Mark Thwaite of The Mission (band)|The Mission and Tricky on guitar, Jeff Schwartoff of Human Waste Project and Professional Murder Music on bass and Justin Bennett of Skinny Puppy on drums. Murphy and the band reconvened in November 2007 for shows in Portugal and Spain, with Nick Lucero replacing Bennett on drums. In May 2008 Murphy recorded a cover of the song " Warm Leatherette " with Trent Reznor and Jeordie White from Nine Inch Nails . This was played live at an intimate studio performance, and the video recording was released on both the official Nine Inch Nails website and on YouTube .

On a blog posted on MySpace , Murphy announced he is at work on a new studio album to be released in 2009. The album may feature production from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and feature Murphy's version of the track "Warm Leatherette," which they have been performing live together. Murphy has also expressed interest in taking his tour down to Australia once the new album is released.

In 2009 Murphy appeared at shows across the United States with Reznor, and the band members Reznor had for the 'Lights Over the Sky Over North America 2008' tour. He also appeared with Nine Inch Nails on in August 2009 at Terminal 5 as special guest musician. Additionally, he appeared with Nine Inch Nails on 28 and 29 August at the Aragon Ballroom.

Throughout 2009, Murphy released a series of cover songs exclusively through iTunes . The released songs are " Instant Karma! " (originally by John Lennon ), " Space Oddity (song)|Space Oddity " (originally by David Bowie ), " Transmission (song)|Transmission " (originally by Joy Division ), and " Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)|Hurt " (originally by Nine Inch Nails ). In support of these releases, Murphy underwent an international tour entitled "The Secret Covers Tour". During this time, an additional cover song, Soul of the World, was released through his official website.

2010s

The spring of 2010 saw the cancellation of what would have been a 100-date world tour with Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance . Murphy cancelled due to unexplained health issues, which yielded negative reactions from Perry.

In 2010, Murphy made a cameo appearance in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as "The Cold One". He also collaborated with Sarah Fimm and Leigh Nash on a song called "Crumbs and Broken Shells". In the summer of 2010, Murphy began his "Dirty Dirt Tour" in promotion of his studio album Ninth .

During his Dirty Dirt Tour, Murphy performed "Stigmata Martyr" which conflicts with previous information regarding his religious views.

In August 2010, on a video blog on his MySpace page Murphy announced that he was once again going to be working with Mick Karn on a second ''Dali's Car'' album, adding this would be the first time they had seen each other since 1983. Several months prior to this announcement, Karn had been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer. The recording session that took place in September, 2010; however, because of Karn's increasingly severe illness, they only managed to record four songs during the session. Karn succumbed to his illness January 4, 2011. According to the biography on Karn's website, the four songs the duo recorded will be released as an EP later in 2011.

On February 11, 2011 the official Peter Murphy site announced that Murphy would tour a 29-date jaunt across North America to support his upcoming album Ninth, which had a new release date of June 6 and 7 for the UK and US respectively after Murphy signed on to Nettwerk Music Group's label roster on March 2. In further support of the upcoming album, Murphy released the song "I Spit Roses" as a digital single through online retailers on March 22, as well as single "Seesaw Sway" on May 23. Murphy will also be embarking on an 8-date in-store performance and signing tour beginning in New York on June 7 and ending on June 29 in Los Angeles.

Personal life

Murphy is a vegan and Sufi who has lived in Turkey for the last 20 years. He has two children, Hurihan and Adem, with his wife, Beyhan Murphy.

Discography

Albums

Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986) (UK #82)

Love Hysteria (1988)

Deep (album)|Deep (1989)

Holy Smoke (Peter Murphy album)|Holy Smoke (1992)

Cascade (Peter Murphy album)|Cascade (1995)

Dust (Peter Murphy album)|Dust (2002)

Unshattered (2004)

Ninth (album)|Ninth (2011)

Live albums

A Live Just for Love (live) (2001)

Compilations

Wild Birds: 1985-1995 (2000)

Singles/EPs

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
Year	Title	US Billboard Hot 100>Hot 100	US Modern Rock Tracks chart>Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart>Mainstream Rock	UK Singles Chart	Album
1985	"Final Solution"	-	-	-	92	Should the World Fail to Fall Apart
1986	"Blue Heart"	-	-	-	-
1986	"Tale of the Tongue"	-	-	-	-
1988	"All Night Long"	-	-	-	100	Love Hysteria
	"Blind Sublime"	-	-	-	-
	"Indigo Eyes"	-	-	-	95
1989	"The Line Between the Devil's Teeth (And That Which Cannot Be Repeat)"	-	18	-	-	Deep (album)
1990	" Cuts You Up "	55	1	10	-
1990	"A Strange Kind of Love Version 1"	-	21	-	-
1992	"You're So Close"	-	18	-	-	Holy Smoke (Peter Murphy album)
	"The Sweetest Drop"	-	2	-	-
	"Hit Song"	-	-	-	-
1995	"The Scarlet Thing in You"	-	-	-	-	Cascade (Peter Murphy album)
1995	"I'll Fall with Your Knife"	-	-	-	-	Cascade (Peter Murphy album)
1997	"Recall EP"	-	-	-	-	Non-Album EP
2011	"I Spit Roses"	-	-	-	-	Ninth
2011	"Seesaw Sway"	-	-	-	-

Quotation

Copyright Citations

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1. Daniel Ash 2. Dalis Car 3. Gavin Friday 4. Mick Karn 5. Peach Union 6. TV on the Radio 7. Videodrone 8. Chattanooga 9. Holy Smoke 10. Human Waste Project 11. Jamaaladeen Tacuma 12. Kate Havnevik 13. Spy Glass Blue

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