Andrew Eldritch

Andrew Eldritch (born Andrew William Harvey Taylor, May 15, 1959) is the frontman, singer, songwriter and the only remaining original member of The Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post punk scene and, in later years, also flirted with pop and heavy metal. He also programs The Sisters of Mercy's drum-machine tracks and plays guitars and keyboards in its studio recordings. He has also established the record label Merciful Release. In addition to The Sisters of Mercy, in 1986 Andrew Eldritch established a side-project Sisterhood, which was shortly abandoned in favour of continuing working under The Sisters of Mercy banner.

Gothic associations

Though Andrew Eldritch is often called the "Godfather of Goth" http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/mastersvoice.html, The Sisters of Mercy (the main artistic vehicle of Andrew Eldritch), despite being formed in 1980, were originally not very popular in the post punk sub-genre that the British press, in the early 1980s, had labelled, both the artists and their audience, Goth. The Sisters of Mercy were, however, accused by the press of plagiarizing Joy Division, whom were marketed by their management as "gothic" as early as 1979. http://www.scathe.demon.co.uk/histgoth/gotbands.htm.

Related Topics:
The Sisters of Mercy - Post punk - Goth - Joy Division

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The Sisters of Mercy would have a big impact on the second wave of Goth that came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, one of the reasons Gitane Demone of the first wave commented that the scene had turned "stale" http://www.gothicsociety.net/home135.htm. The use of drum machines and the atonal, deep vocal style used by many second generation Goth bands were inspired by the Sisters of Mercy and were not that common among the first generation.

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Since the early 90s, Eldritch has publicly rejected associations with the Goth subculture. He describes The Sisters of Mercy as humanist, modernist, and implies he wants nothing to do with Goth, stating "it's disappointing that so many people have in all seriousness adopted just one of our many one-week-of-stupid-clothes benders". He also notices that "I'm constantly confronted by representatives of popular culture who are far more g*** than we, yet I have only to wear black socks to be stigmatised as the demon overlord" http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/gen/vnettext/vnettext.htm.

Related Topics:
Goth - The Sisters of Mercy - Humanist - Modernist

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