Portraits of… 80’s Death Rock // Goth Culture

I keep meaning to do something like this for Texas and London.

I did not make it to LA until ’85, the first time, and then did not get to return until ’88, when I began making trips between CA and TX every other month or so (and was in LA about three months out of the year collectively). I had meant to move there in ’89, but things fell apart (so many of my friends began dying of drug overdoses at that time).

I remember hanging out with a guy named Andre, who danced for Death Ride ’69, and was in the newspaper in October for shooting the ex-boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend (she would later go on to marry the Japanese Guitarist for Haunted Garage). Strangely, shooting the ex-boyfriend produced exactly the result I wanted as far as staying in LA, because the police forbade me from leaving LA and/or Ventura County for the next two to three months.

I recognize a couple of faces above, but cannot recall the names.

LA was really the center of the Goth world in the 80s (And I spent a LOT of time in London as well. LA had a much better scene than in London it turned out), and I allowed most of it to pass me by.

I remember this era so well, and I recognize about a third of these people! We used to
call it “Doom and Gloom. ” The term “Gothic,” (not “Goth,”) was used to describe those people across the pond, where the music was quite different. The first regularly held club was called “Theatre des Vampires, ” and was at the Grandia Room. The scene didn’t really take off until Henry and Joseph, (of the Melrose store “Vinyl Fetish,”) started a club called “Fetish, ” at the Berwin Entertainment Center. Funny thing, at the time we mostly went to see bands, and dancing was considered to be really lame! I remember standing around, feeling awkward, and people watching a lot. We did, indeed, hang out mostly on Melrose, and you would see a lot of people at Okie Dog’s in Hollywood at odd hours of the morning. There was also a lot of people going to the Brave Dog and Al’s Bar in Downtown Los Angeles. The look seemed to grow out of another of Henry and Joseph’s clubs, a wonderful New Romantic club called “The Veil,” a magical place I will never forget. It was a sister club to the Blitz Club in London; run by Steve Strange of Visage. All of this is documented in great detail in the forthcoming book “Phantoms, the Rise of Death Rock from the L.A. Punk Scene,” by my good friend Mikey Bean. https://www.facebook.com/groups/67775297450/ I recognized Dave Grave of “Voodoo Church,” and Stephanie from, “The Flesheaters,” for sure in the above pictures and almost everyone else looks incredibly familiar. One of the interiors looks a lot like the Brave Dog, run by Claire Glydden. I’m definitely getting some names wrong. We also all mostly belonged to a rather unusual casting agency run by Janet Cunningham, (who also ran a club,) and you can see me in “Ghostbusters” and many of us in an episode of “Night Court” and the John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John film; “Perfect,” which we were all extras in at the time. In “Perfect,” we were paid more if we were dressed like Boy George fans, so most of us put on kimonos, make up and dreads to get paid. One of those people was Patrick Mata of “Kommunity FK.” I tell a funny story about this in Mike’s book. Some of the early, L.A. based bands were “Kommunity FK,” “Aphoticulture,” “Die Schlaflosen,” “Christian Death,” “The Superheroines,” “Radio Werewolf,” “Voodoo Church” and “45 Grave.” They mostly played at “The Brave Dog,” “Al’s Bar” and “The Vex.” The first magazine/fanzine devoted to the aesthetic was “Night Voices,” published by Paul Perner, long before “Propaganda,” which was a bit of a joke, actually. I remember those days fondly, and I talk about the early days of the scene and what it was like in some of my videos on my channel on You Tube, “The Gothic Bohemian Salon.” It’s easy for us to forget nowadays, with the Gothic Aesthetic such a part of mainstream culture, that there was a time when it was all very new, and magical, and mysterious. I miss those days and that feeling of discovery so much sometimes. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Ah yes, I remember those days well…the mid- to late ’80s at least, in L.A. …it was one thing for me as a mod to bust out with my parka in 90-degree weather, but I had to hand it to the death rockers (glad you mentioned that term, btw) for their passion and commitment to make every L.A. day fade to grey in their leather and lace get-ups. Heh, how they managed to remain as pallid and pale on L.A.’s sun-kissed Westside is beyond me, but that was the beauty of L.A.’s youth subcultures in the ’80s…we made it work, no matter what. Thanks for sharing…I’ve really been missing those days lately.

Nicky Olivio this so reminded me of you!

<3

About the author of the post: “He terrorized the streets of the West Side as a young Suicidal Boy”.. well, if he was a Suicidal Boy and stay alive today, maybe somethig go wrong… suicidal boys are dead now. or it’s just to claim their parent’s atention. Loser.

One of the pics is actually a Ministry promo pic of Al Jourgensen.

Alejandra Reuhel

Kelly Walsh

i miss the creativity that went into these looks back then. and the big hair. some real hotties in these pics.:)

Marcin Cycoń

Michael A. Simms

I love this! The hair is over the top!

Jack Strang

Stephanie Parks

Nick Benson 🙂

J.c. Robinson get in here.

Thanks for somewhat covering or at least mentioning this genre… nobody else does.