Artist: Bauhaus
Original Artist: David Bowie
Favourite Lyrics:
Now Ziggy really sang, screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo
Like some cat from Japan, he could lick 'em by smiling
He could leave 'em to hang
'Came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan.
Why?: Unfortunately for me, I did not hear the David Bowie version first. And as some people have noted, a song is usually dependent on which version you may have heard first. For me, it was Bauhaus. And by default it is the preferred version for me.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love David Bowie's original version. Bauhaus wins by a hair because I heard it first and because of some nice memories associated with it.
During my years as a freelance goth (because there were no mods around), I would spend many, many hours at a local goth club that's moved from legend to myth. Yup. I was a regular at Sanctuary, the Vampire Sex Bar when it moved to it's final location at Queen Street in Toronto (at Claremont). Bauhaus was in heavy rotation along with so many other goth and industrial dance hits. A large number of the cover songs I like were from the playlists of those evenings. (Bigod 20's version of Like a Prayer, NIne Inch Nails' version of Get Down, Make Love, 1000 Homo DJs with Supernaught. Siouxsie and the Banshees with Dear Prudence... it's a long list and many of these covers would be the first time I heard those songs (Bigod 20 one of the exceptions on the list only trumped Madge's because it was louder and angrier). I have some wonderful memories of Skank (the nickname all regulars affectionately bestowed upon this hole in the wall).
The most important memory I have of Skank was the fact that despite feeling like an outsider most of the time, they welcomed me with open arms. The staff (bouncers and bartenders and owner) always smiled and were decent people. They were always nice to me, even the few times I got totally hammered. Nobody ever acted nasty towards me, even though I didn't quite fit in. Nobody ever commented about how I looked unless it was in a positive way. Nobody ever stole my packs of smokes either! Apparently I smoked the worst, undesirable cigarettes at the time, so while everyone else's smokes got taken from the table that day, my full pack was left behind! (Benson and Hedges Ultra Light Menthols because my dad smoked them and he wouldn't notice a pack going missing every now and then). Despite the stories you may have heard, Skank was a surprisingly safe place for me to hang out at, despite the cruddy neighbourhood it was in. The day it closed, even though I was not in attendance, was a sad day. It closed down and reopened as a Starbucks. I'm told, it's now a dental office. I wonder if they do fang porcelain crowns?
Below, David Bowie in concert. BONUS: Fellow gothlings. I found an interview with Lance, the owner of Sanctuary. If this blog post gets back to Lance, I want to say: Thanks for the memories! Sanctuary was my second home!
This is a wonderful rendition of Ziggy Stardust - actually very respectful of the original version!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this - it's been really fun picturing your goth freelancing years :) Sometimes the strangest places feel like the safest - in the end it's all about where we want to be and what we make of the places we're in.
PS: I didn't know Bigod 20's version of Like a Prayer, but now that I do, I'd take it over the original song every day of the week!
Bigod 20's version is awesome. I tend to lean towards the hard loud industrial versions, or the terrible, play-it-20-times-faster-and-louder than the original punk versions too. They all have their weird charms. Sanctuary was the thing I needed at that time in my life. I will always have fond memories of that place and the people there. :)
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