Bands and musicians BANDS

Nosferatu (1979)

Not to be confused with the Goth band founded in the late '80s by Damien Deville, this was a short-lived two-piece outfit made up of Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers and Robert Williams, late of Captain Beefheart.

The collaboration lasted little over a year, during which they released one album also called 'Nosferatu' in '79. They may not have lasted long, but that album is oh, SO good! Dark, menacing and extremely Gothic, it includes a superb cover version of Cream's 'White Room' (which I think is superior to the original) and the spooky 'Losers in a Lost Land'. Guest musicians include Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh from Devo, Ian Underwood from Frank Zappa's band, and Ian Dury.

With the album cover decorated with a still from F.W.Murmau's classic 1922 silent vampire film, and the inner jacket bearing pictures of a lifesize Hammya mask and Harry Houdini doing unnerving contortionism, this is early Gothic Punk at it's very best. It may well have been inspired and influenced by Werner Herzog's film of the legend of Nosferatu, which came out the same year and was almost certainly a big hit with Messrs.Cornwell and Williams.


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Do You Remember Nosferatu (1979)?

Do You Remember Nosferatu (1979)?