A closeup of Eldritch at a concert in Portland, OR, in March of 2006.

Eldritch performing at a Sisters of Mercy concert in February, 2006.

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, reoriented gothic rock and, in later years, also flirted with pop and hard rock. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Eldritch_mic_backlit_2-21-06. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Eldritch_mic_backlit_2-21-06. ... is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... For the religious organisation of this name, see Sisters of Mercy. ... In music, a band is a group of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of a musical arrangement. ... Post-punk was a popular musical movement beginning at the end of the 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid 1970s. ... Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ... For other uses, see Pop music (disambiguation). ... “Hard Rock” redirects here. ...

Eldritch also programs The Sisters of Mercy's drum-machine tracks (known as "Doktor Avalanche") 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 The Sisterhood (in order to keep former band members from using the name) which was shortly abandoned in favour of continuing working under The Sisters of Mercy banner. Merciful Release is a record label started by Andrew Eldritch, frontman with Leeds outfit The Sisters of Mercy. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... The Sisterhood was a short-lived English goth band, consisting of Andrew Eldritch (writer and producer), drum machine Doktor Avalanche and the Chorus of Vengeance of Lucas Fox (drums), Patricia Morrison (bass and vocals), James Ray (guitar and vocals) and Alan Vega (synthesizer and vocals). ...

Before The Sisters

Andrew Eldritch was born in the small cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England in 1959. Eldritch later wrote a piano song named 1959, alluding to the year of his birth, starting with the line Living as an angel in the place that I was born. Statistics Population: 15,102 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TL535799 Administration District: East Cambridgeshire Shire county: Cambridgeshire Region: East of England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Cambridgeshire Historic county: Cambridgeshire Services Police force: Ambulance service: East of England Post office and telephone Post town: ELY... Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs) is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Eldritch studied French and German literature at the University of Oxford before moving to Leeds around 1978 to study Mandarin Chinese at the University of Leeds; he left both courses before getting a degree (he speaks fluent French and German, and has some knowledge of Dutch, Italian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Latin; he claims he has forgotten the Chinese he learned ([1]). During this period, Eldritch was a freelance drummer in the local Leeds punk scene (in his own opinion, a bad one). German literature comprises those literary texts originating within Germany proper and written in the German language. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is on all of the Northern and Southwestern Chinese dialects. ... The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research university, one of the largest in the United Kingdom with over 32,000 full-time students. ... Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian (sometimes just Croatian or Serbian) (srpskohrvatski, cрпскохрватски, hrvatskosrpski, hrvatski ili srpski or srpski ili hrvatski), earlier also Serbo-Croat, is a South Slavic language. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

The Sisters of Mercy

In 1980, Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx formed The Sisters of Mercy. On the first single, "Damage Done/Watch/Home of the Hit-men", Eldritch played the drums, a task he was later relieved of by the drum machine Doktor Avalanche, allowing him instead to focus on his vocal performance. Over the years, nine members have left the group, several of them citing conflicts with the frontman as a reason for their departure. These include Patricia Morrison who claimed she had been paid an average of £300 per month for her time with the Sisters of Mercy whilst the more publicised feud between Eldritch and Hussey has become established in modern rock folklore. Interestingly and perhaps unfairly in the case of Eldritch's work, both individuals were subjected to a hate campaign by the popular music press throughout the eighties. Hussey suffered especially at the hands of New Musical Express once his 'breakaway' band, The Mission had formed. Eventually, Eldritch's conflicts with the record company EastWest would effectively set him on a "strike", an absolute refusal to record any new material. Gary Marx is a lead-guitarist (b. ... For the religious organisation of this name, see Sisters of Mercy. ... old logo current logo Eastwest Records was started in 1955 as a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. ...

The 1990s

Following the release of the band's last studio album to date, Vision Thing, Andrew Eldritch's work has included vocal contributions to Garry Moore and Sarah Brightman studio recordings. In attempt for cross-cultural understanding he initiated a 1991 U.S. tour of The Sisters of Mercy in a double-bill with hip-hop act Public Enemy. In 1995 he interviewed David Bowie for the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine. Prevented by contractual obligations to appear under his own name, he is also rumored to have produced a couple of techno albums under various pseudonyms during the 1990s, a rumor he would not deny when asked about it. Vision Thing, the third and last album by UK band The Sisters of Mercy was released in 1990 (1990 in music), on bands own label Merciful Release (under distribution contract with EastWest). ... Garry Moore smoking as he often did while hosting Ive Got A Secret Garry Moore (January 31, 1915 – November 28, 1993) was born in Baltimore, Maryland as Thomas Garrison Morfit. ... Sarah Brightman (born August 14, 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, actress and dancer. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Public Enemy, also known as PE, is a hip hop group from Long Island, New York, known for their politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... David Bowie (IPA: []) (born David Robert Jones on 1947 January 8) is an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and audio engineer. ... This article is about the magazine. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

In 1997 Eldritch produced the SSV album "Go Figure", featuring his vocals over drumless electronic music. The album finally freed him from his contractual obligations, as EastWest agreed to waive their claims for two more Sisters of Mercy albums in exchange for the recordings. The SSV tracks were however never officially released. The full name of the band is SSV-NSMABAAOTWMODAACOTIATW, said to be an acronym for "Screw Shareholder Value - Not So Much A Band As Another Opportunity To Waste Money On Drugs And Ammunition Courtesy Of The Idiots At Time Warner". [2] SSV is the shortened name of the band SSV-NSMABAAOTWMODAACOTIATW, formed by Sisters of Mercy singer Andrew Eldritch in 1997, as a way to get out of the Sisters contract with WEA. Eldritch provided a duo of relatively obscure techno music producers some spoken vocals, and they quickly put together... old logo current logo Eastwest Records was started in 1955 as a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Backronym and Apronym (Discuss) Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, laser, and ABC, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. ...

Recent career

Now in semi-retirement from his musical career — The Sisters of Mercy still tour every so often, having played a 69-date tour in the first half of 2006 [3]), but no new recorded material has been released for sale since 1993 [4]. Despite this, the band continues to debut new material on stage on a semi-annual basis, infrequently playing secret gigs under a pseudonym in their spiritual home of Leeds. Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

In February 2006 Andrew Eldritch made a long awaited return to tour in the United States in celebration of the band's twenty-fifth anniversary. The "Silver Bullet Tour" kicked off in Las Vegas, NV at the House of Blues and continued for several months, including concerts throughout the United States. The tour also included dates in the UK, Germany, Italy, Greece, France, and many other European countries. Eldritch was joined on this tour by Chris Catalyst of Robochrist fame and independent musician Ben Christo.

Songwriting and philosophy

The devices in Andrew Eldritch's lyrics include literary allusions (most prominently to the works of T. S. Eliot, Leonard Cohen and Shakespeare), erotic imagery, metaphors of drug culture, and an acrimonious criticism of the Republican Party of the United States, with which Eldritch flippantly claims to have a "hate-hate" relationship, in view of the Bush dynasty, Christian fundamentalists, and the military-industrial complex. Politically, he has claimed to be "traditionally a Labour supporter" despite his "anarcho-syndicalist tendencies". Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. ... Leonard Norman Cohen, CC (born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... The Bush family: President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, former First Lady Barbara Bush, and former President George H. W. Bush sit surrounded by family in the Red Room (White House) on January 6, 2005, together to celebrate the senior couples 60th wedding anniversary. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... President Dwight Eisenhower famously referred to the military-industrial complex in his farewell address. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. ...

Gothic associations

Though Andrew Eldritch is often called the "Godfather of Goth" :D[5], 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, who were marketed by their management as "gothic" in the late '70s. [6] as well as Bauhaus, going so far as to coin the term "Sisters of Murphy" to draw a parallel between the band and Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy. For the religious organisation of this name, see Sisters of Mercy. ... Post-punk was a popular musical movement beginning at the end of the 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid 1970s. ... Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ... This article is about the band. ... Bauhaus are an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978 by Peter Murphy (vocals), Daniel Ash (guitar), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass). ... Photo of Peter Murphy from a 2006 Bauhaus concert. ...

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" [7]. 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. Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ...

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 notes that, "I'm constantly confronted by representatives of popular culture who are far more goth than we, yet I have only to wear black socks to be stigmatised as the demon overlord." [8]. Yet most of the Sisters' audiences throughout the eighties and early nineties did experiment with distinctly Gothic attire and there has never been a documented rebuttal to the fans who parted with their had earned monies in order to carry the Sisters through the so-called period of Goth through record and ticket sales. Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ... For the religious organisation of this name, see Sisters of Mercy. ... This article discusses Humanism as a non-theistic life stance. ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ...