Text files
the Sisters of Mercy Mailing List FAQ
version 5.0
Index
I. A Brief History of the Sisters of Mercy
II. Useful Information-Andrew, Wayne and Gary's real names
III. Going prices for SOM releases
IV. Going prices for rare bootlegs
V. Bands related to the Sisters of Mercy
VI. Other related bands
VII. Where to obtain lyrics
VIII. Where to get the discography
IX. How to get the early eps
X. What the hell is They Shall Not Pass
XI. How to get the bootlegs listed in the discography
XII. Other things
a. Nine While Nine
b. Isabelle
c. Mailing list address
d. Alt.gothic
e. the name The Sisters of Mercy
f. Heartland address
g. Reptile House address
XIII. Mailing List Etiquette.
"...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 cymbals 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 followed 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 all 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 Sisters have broken up (yet again), with Andrew and Andreas pursuing solo avenues. Tim has formed a new band called CNN. The parting is amicable (we'll see how long _that_ lasts) and all concerned still consider themselves members of the Sisters of Mercy that happen to be doing something else at the moment. Strangely, the Sisters are doing an opening gig with Depeche Mode and much speculation remains as to the line-up. WE shall see soon enough,
II. Useful Information
a. Andrew's real last name is Taylor
b. Wayne Hussey's real name is Jerry Lovelock
c. Gary Marx's real name is Mark Pairman
III. 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)
a. Damage Done/Watch 150 pounds
b. Body Electric/Adrenochrome 75 pounds($60)(50 pds)
set seen for 500 pounds
c. Alice/Floorshow in white sleeve 7" 30 pounds
d. the Reptile House w/lyric sheet 15 pounds
e. Walk Away 7" 10 pounds
f. Long Train flexidisc 30 pounds(but
_extremely_ variable,
i've seen it for 10 US)
g. Body and Soul 7" 15 pounds
h. No time to Cry 7" 10 pounds
i. FALAA gatefold 15 pounds
j. This Corrosion CD single(english, not german)20 pounds
k. FALAA gatefold fully autographed 65 pounds
l. FALAA autographed by WH 15 pounds
m. Dominion box sets $20
IV. Going prices for some rare bootlegs
a. Halloween's Day 100 pounds
b. Armageddon Outtakes 65 pounds
c. the Lights Shine Clear 75 pounds
V. Bands related to the Sisters of Mercy
a. Mekons & the Three Johns- Jon Langford played bass for the Sisters
briefly. Keith Mekon guested on Floodland
b. the Expelaires-Craig Adams pre-SOM band
c. Ghostdance- Gary Marx's post-SOM band
d. Walkie Talkies,Knopkov,Dead or Alive, Hambi and the Dance,the Ded
Byrds, Pauline Murray & the Invisible Girls-Wayne Hussey's pre-SOM
bands.
e. the Mission-Wayne and Craig's post-SOM band
f. the Gun Club,Fur Bible-Patricia Morrison's pre-SOM bands
g. All About Eve-Tim Brechino's pre-SOM band
h. Generation X,Sigue Sigue Sputnik-Tony James' pre-SOM bands
i. the Only Ones-Jim Perry guested on Vision Thing
VI. Other related bands
a. the March Violets-first singles on Merciful Release
b. Salvation-first singles produced by AE and on Merciful Release
Daniel Mass guested on Floodland
c. the Sisterhood-AE sideproject with Patricia Morrison,Lucas Fox,
Alan Vega and James Ray
d. James Ray & the Performance- on Merciful Release
Carl and James guested on Floodland
e. James Rays Gangwar-on Merciful Release, recently departed and
returned
VII. Lyrics
Most of the lyrics are available by FTP from cs.uwp.edu or by mail from datta@cs.uwp.edu and ftp.maths.tcd.ie
VIII. Discographies
a complete discography is available in several parts at ftp.maths.tcd.ie
IX. 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. Tho a new boot called "Some Boys Wander by Mistake" is out featuring the post-wea tracks not covered by SGWBM.
X. 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.
XI. 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) :->
XII. OTHER THINGS:
a> 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!
b> Isabelle (from 1959) is the name of a girl that wrote Andrew a letter asking him why he didn't write a song that was just his voice and piano, thus begetting 1959.
c> The Sisters of Mercy mailing list is dominion-request@ohm.york.ac.uk
d> Alt.gothic on Internet is also a good place for goth discussion not necessarily appropriate to the Sisters list.
e> The name the Sisters of Mercy was taken from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name. The Sisters of Mercy is a real order of nuns as well as a common term for prostitutes. Thus a fairly good metaphor for a rock n roll band. Music is a near religeous experience for some and getting up on stage and playing the same songs night after night is form of prostitution.
f> the address for Heartland is:
Heartland
2 North Row
Warminster
Wiltshire
BA12 9AD
Tel: 0985 215883
Fax: 0985 217680
g> the address for the Reptile House Ltd.(the SOM fanclub) is:
the Reptile House
P.O. Box H.P. 29
Leeds 6
England
XIII. Mailing List Etiquette
a. GIFs (or any large file for that matter). Please do NOT post GIFs to the mailing list without first posting a notice to determine interest. If there is enough interest that it is easier to post it than simply mail it to the interested parties, THEN post it. Many people have disk quotas for their incoming mail and/or pay for their Internet access and you're only costing your fellow list members money by posting things that may only have a very limited appeal to the membership at large.
b. Information about particular bootlegs can easily be obtained from the discographies. Chances are very that, unless it's been released in the last month, the information you're looking for is in the discography. The individual parts of my version are available separately and any part may be obtained via ftp or mail without having to obtain the other parts as well. So think carefully about what you're doing. Are you simply being to lazy to get the information yourself, or have you tried and not found what you're looking for?
c. Appropriate topics for the list are, naturally, anything to do with the Sisters of Mercy. This is not a general Gothic chat list. Ask yourself if this is Sisters related or be more appropriate to Alt.gothic. We realize that not everyone has Internet access to the alt groups however, and SOME off-topic chat is ok, but if it goes on for more than a few days, consider taking the discussion to e-mail.
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