The Sisters of Mercy Mailing List FAQ

last updated 6/1/92
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A Brief History of the Sisters of Mercy by Corey W. Nelson

"...and in the beginning there was a squalid hole in Leeds." or so goes the
official Merciful Release handbook. In reality, the Sisters of Mercy were 
formed by Gary Marx and the only drummer in the whole of Leeds who could be 
relied upon never to hit the cymbols or do tom tom rolls, a young man named
Andrew Eldritch. Gary decided he couldn't sing and since they could get a 
machine to play drums, Andrew was drafted on vocals. They recorded Damage Done/
Watch and released it on their own label, Merciful Release. A few gigs with
Jon Langford on bass follwed and permanent bass player Craig Adams and 
guitarist Ben Gunn were recruited. Several singles and many gigs followed, 
until the surprise departure of Ben Gunn due to differences with Andrew after
the release of Temple of Love. His replacement was Wayne Hussey, ex-Dead or
Alive. The Sisters then signed a deal with WEA and after a few warm-up gigs
released Body and Soul. In March 1985 the Sisters released their first album,
First and Last and Always, and embarked on the "tune in, turn on, burn out..."
tour. Halfway through, Gary Marx announced his departure from the band. Upon
completion of the tour, work commenced on the new album, tentatively titled
'Left on Mission and Revenge'. Work soon stops however due to musical 
differences with Andrew (again). Craig Adams departs, soon followed by Wayne 
Hussey. The parting is amicable, but soon gets ugly when Andrew catches Wayne
and Craig trying to use the Sisters of Mercy name, and then calling themselves
the Sisterhood. Andrew puts out his own Sisterhood project and wins the legal
battle with Wayne and Craig, forcing them to pay 25000 pounds for the trouble
they caused him. Wayne and Craig rename their new band the Mission. Patricia
Morrison is confirmed as Andrew's new partner and the Sisters of Mercy remain 
relatively quiet until the release of Floodland in 1987 to great success. A 
second period of inactivity follows and then the inevitable departure of 
Patricia Morrison. Andrew regroups in 1990 with a full band again consisting of
Tim Brechino, Andreas Bruhn and Tony James (possibly the most reviled man in 
British rock by the UK press). The new album, Vision Thing, is released in 
November to the disappointment of many fans with its heavy metal tinges. The 
album is succesful nonetheless and the first Sisters tours in five years 
commence. The band toured throughout '90 and most of '91 to packed houses every
where and had settled down to recording a new album (slated for a late spring 
release) when Tony James announced his departure. They remain on good terms and
no replacement has been reported. The new album is entitled "Some Girls Wander
by Mistake". It features 19 of the pre-WEA singles tracks. No word on when the
next album of new material will be released has yet been given. The US release
date will be some time in June.


Useful Information

1. Andrew's real last name is Taylor
2. Wayne Hussey's real name is Jerry Lovelock 
3. Gary Marx's real name is Mark Pairman
4. Going prices for SOM releases.
	[prices are variable other prices seen are noted after in ()]
	(autographed copies of anything are pretty much whatever the market 
	will bear. Autographed listings are just reported prices from a few 
	list members' personal sightings)
	I. Damage Done/Watch				150 pounds
	II. Body Electric/Adrenochrome			75 pounds($60)(50 pds)
		set seen for 500 pounds
	III. Alice/Floorshow in white sleeve 7"		30 pounds
	IV. the Reptile House w/lyric sheet		15 pounds
	V. Walk Away 7"					10 pounds
	VI. Long Train flexidisc			30 pounds(but 
							_extremely_ variable, 
							i've seen it for 10 US)
	VII. Body and Soul 7"				15 pounds
	VIII. No time to Cry 7"				10 pounds
	IX. FALAA gatefold				15 pounds
	X. This Corrosion CD single(english, not german)20 pounds
	XI. FALAA gatefold fully autographed		65 pounds
	XII. FALAA autographed by WH			15 pounds
	XIX. Dominion box sets				$20	

5. Going prices for some rare bootlegs
	I. Halloween's Day				100 pounds
	II. Armageddon Outtakes				65 pounds
	III. the Lights Shine Clear			75 pounds
 	
6. Bands related to the Sisters of Mercy
	I. Mekons & the Three Johns- Jon Langford played bass for the Sisters
	   briefly. Keith Mekon guested on Floodland
	II. the Expelaires-Craig Adams pre-SOM band
	III. Ghostdance- Gary Marx's post-SOM band
	IV. Walkie Talkies,Knopkov,Dead or Alive, Hambi and the Dance,the Ded
	   Byrds, Pauline Murray & the Invisible Girls-Wayne Hussey's pre-SOM
		bands.
	V. the Mission-Wayne and Craig's post-SOM band
	VI. the Gun Club,Fur Bible-Patricia Morrison's pre-SOM bands
	VII. All About Eve-Tim Brechino's pre-SOM band
	VIII. Generation X,Sigue Sigue Sputnik-Tony James' pre-SOM bands
	IX. the Only Ones-Jim Perry guested on Vision Thing

7. Other related bands
	I. the March Violets-first singles on Merciful Release
	II. Salvation-first singles produced by AE and on Merciful Release
		Daniel Mass guested on Floodland
	III. the Sisterhood-AE sideproject with Patricia Morrison,Lucas Fox,
		Alan Vega and James Ray
	IV. James Ray & the Performance- on Merciful Release
		Carl and James guested on Floodland
	V. James Rays Gangwar-on Merciful Release, recently departed

8. Lyrics
	most of the lyrics are available from ieya@byron.u.washington.edu by
	e-mail request. or preferably by ftp from uwp.edu or mail from datta@
 	uwp.edu

9. Discographies
	Discographies are availble from ieya@byron.u.washington.edu and 
	mantis@ucscb.ucsc.edu. the first is in Albums/singles format. the 
	second is in strictly chronological format. both contain the same
	information as we collaborate and have different aesthetic senses :-)
	mine is also available by ftp or mail from uwp.edu.(mail is datta@
	uwp.edu)

10. How do i get those early SOM eps?
	Try special ordering them. most are still in print except for the
	Damage Done/Watch and Body Electric/Adrenochrome 7"s. Rumor has it
	MR has taken the 12"s out of print for a CD reissue program. This has
	yet to be confirmed by a second source. The new album however contains
	most of these tracks so it seems unlikely. The only way to get ToL 7"
	bury me deep and emma on CD is the bootleg Black October which is out 
	of print so good luck finding one.


11. What the hell is They Shall Not Pass?
	TSNP is a compilation of some singles released on CNT from 82-84 and
	includes Body Electric and Adrenochrome. it's in print and on CD so 
	special order it if you can't find it.
	abstract records aabt 400 CD or LP.


12. How the hell do i _get_ any of those bootlegs listed in the discog.?
	Keep your eyes peeled and hope for the best. Bootleg availability
	is _extremely_  variable.  Things common someplaces are extremely
	rare elsewhere. arrange tape trades with e-mail friends, ask
	friends to be on the lookout etc. and i've got a few dozen shows on
	tape or disc and would be more than happy to trade tapes(not 
	necessarily SOM) :->


OTHER THINGS:
1> Nine while nine is a northern phrase meaning from X til Y, in this case 9 am til 9pm, or the other way 'round. thanx fer this info pete!

2> The Sisters of Mercy mailing list is Dominion.

3> Alt.gothic on internet is also a good place for goth discussion not necessarily appropriate to the Sisters list.

4> the address for Heartland is:
	Heartland
	2 North Row
	Warminster
	Wiltshire
	BA12 9AD
	Tel: 0985 215883
	Fax: 0985 217680

5> the address for the Reptile House Ltd.(the SOM fanclub) is:
	the Reptile House
	P.O. Box H.P. 29
	Leeds 6
	England
Corey