481 Hello The Sisters of Mercy - Body and Soul / Train

Chart  entered : 16  June  1984

Chart  peak : 46

Number  of  hits : 10

Another  band  crossing  over  from  the  Independent  charts,  and  probably  the  most  contrary  of  the  lot,  were  these  guys  from  the  Leeds  post-punk  scene. They  began  as  a  duo. Andrew  Eldritch   ( born  Andrew  Taylor  in  Ely )  was  studying  Mandarin  Chinese  at  Leeds  University  and  was  helping  out  various  local  bands  as  a  drummer.  Guitarist  Gary  Marx   was  originally  Mark  Pearman.

The  band  released  their  first  single  "The  Damage  Done"  on  their  own  fledgling  label  Merciful  Release  in  November  1980. The  song  seems  to  be  about  terrorism  and  has  a  decent  melodic  bassline  but  otherwise  sounds  like  a  bad  garage  band  trying  to  sound  like  Joy  Division. Andrew's  low-end  murmur  makes  most  of  the  lyric  unintelligible  although  his  drumming  is  a  reasonable  impersonation  of  Steve  Morris. It's  the  only  one  of  their  records  to  feature  him  on  drums; all  future  releases  would  feature  a  drum machine "Doktor  Avalanche"  although  the  name  covered  more  than  one  model.

It  would  be  eighteen  months  before  their  next  single  during  which  time  they'd  added  bassist  Craig  Adams  and  second  guitarist  Ben  Gunn  to  the  line-up. For  "Body  Electric"  Andrew  sets  the  drum  machine  to  a  frantic  beat  and  adopts  a  shouty  mode  for  a  tale  of  Ballardian  horror  that  would  have  slotted  in  nicely  after  Atrocity  Exhibition  on  Closer.   In  November  1982  they  came  out  with   "Alice"  produced  by  John  Ashton  of  The  Psychedelic  Furs. This  time  round  there's  the  semblance  of  a  tune   and  a  Cure  like  lyric  about  a  delicate  girl. It  was  re-released  as  part  of  an  EP  the  following  year.  By  this  point  they  were  scoring  high  placings  in  the  independent  charts  and  getting  play  on  Jensen  and  Peel. I  remember  the  latter  wryly  remarking  when  they   did  a  session  version  of  Emma  that  it  was  the  first  Hot  Chocolate  song  ever  to  feature  on  his  show.

In  the  spring  of  1983  they  produced  the  remarkably  grim  "Anaconda", personifying  drug  addiction  as  a  crushing  snake. The  lyric  is  devoid  of  all  hope  although  Andrew  sounds  as  passionate  as  he  could  ever  get  with  such  a  hollow  inflexible  voice. The  guitar  sound  is  appropriately  tortured   on  the  constricting  riff   and  it  could  well  be  their  best  song  though  it  was  never  going  to  get  much  airplay.  They  quickly  followed  it  up  with  a  5  track  12  inch  EP  "The  Reptile  House "   which  catches  them  at  their most  lugubrious  with  5  slow  dirges  and  is  strictly  for  the  converted.

At  this  point  I  had  them  down  as  a  poor  man's  Joy  Division  who  were  going  to  stay  exactly  where  they  were  in  the  indie  charts. Then  in  the  autumn  I  went  to  Leeds  University  where  they  were  regarded  as  mega-stars, listed  alongside  the  likes  of  Wham  as  a  major  forthcoming  attraction  on  the  Ents  schedule. Andrew  had  left  the  university  by  then  but  black-clad  groupies  still  hung  around  his  old  haunt,  The  Faversham  in  the  hope  he  might  drop  by.

Almost  as  soon  as  I  got  there  they  released  their  latest  single  "Temple  Of  Love"  ( it  became  their  biggest  hit  when  re-recorded  in  1992 ).  With  a  great  riff  owing  just  a  little  to  Pretty  Vacant  and  a  rousing  chorus  to  get  their  fans  slam  dancing   it  was  their  most  commercial  effort  to  date  despite  an  utterly  desolate  lyric  declaring  the  inadequacy  of  love  as  a  refuge  from  darker  forces. It  also  marked  the  end  of  the  first  phase  of  their  career. It  was  their  last  independent  single  as  Merciful  Release  was  signed  over  to  WEA  shortly  afterwards. It  was  also  the  end  of  the  line  for  Gunn  who  became  the  first  of  many  Sisters  to  quit  due  to  irreconcilable  differences  with  Andrew. He  claimed  that  what  was meant  to  be  a  parody  of  a  rock  band  was  turning  into  the  real  thing. He  was  replaced  by  Wayne  Hussey, fresh  from  his  stint  with  Dead  Or  Alive.

This  double  A-side  ( or  12 inch  EP  with  a  re-recording  of  "Body  Electric ")  was  their  first  single  under  the  new  deal. On  "Body  And  Soul  "  the  pace  slows  down  to   a   stately  rumble   while  Andrew  intones  a  rather  more  optimistic  take  on  love. Some  sparse  Banshees  guitar  adds  some  colour  but  it's  not  a  particularly  commercial  offering. "Train"  is  even  more  forbidding. It's  rhythmically  livelier , with  a  decent  riff   but  the  lyric  is  an  extended  metaphor  for  death. It's  also  poorly  produced  with  Andrew's  voice  almost  inaudible  at  times.  Andrew  himself  doesn't  seem  to  have  been  very  happy  with  it  and  kept  it  off  their  compilation  CDs.   Nevertheless  WEA   kept  their  side  of  the  bargain  and  got  them  off  the  mark  in  the  charts.