I probably should have posted this on Halloween, but it didn’t occur to me until now.
The interview was actually first conducted in 2019, but British rock journalist John Robb just recently re-surfaced his chat with Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash in tandem with Bauhaus’ recent tour. I actually had tickets for a Bauhaus gig at Radio City Music Hall in June or July of 2020, but that obviously didn’t happen. They re-scheduled for 2021 with a show at Brooklyn’s magisterial King’s Theatre in Flatbush. I neglected to get tickets for that show, but it, too, was cancelled over VISA concerns. New York can’t seem to get a break.
In any case, I remember listening to this interview --- which you can hear below – the first time in 2019 and this particular point struck a chord (pardon the pun) with me, but I later forgot about it. Listening again this morning re-ignited the intrigue.
Towards the end of the discussion, Ash alludes to cribbing the riff from the band’s iconic, breakout 1979 single, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” from, in his own words, “a very, very, very well-known pop song,” further conceding that he messed with the tuning and slowed it down a bit. Robb does not press him to own up to whatever song it might be, nor does Ash elaborate further, presumably lest some songwriter’s solicitors come calling.
In case you’re unfamiliar, you can hear the original recording of the single below. I’ve always been struck by the simplicity of the riff in question. Subtract the electrical storm of effects and reverb, and it’s a deceptively uncomplicated sequence of largely major chords spilling over the top of David J.’s dubby bass notes and Kevin Haskins’ suitably deathless bossa-nova pulse.
Listen again.
After being a massive fan of this track for decades, it’s very hard, for me, to hear it out of context, but if I had to speculate, I’m thinking … maybe “The Girl from Ipanema” by Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto and Stan Getz. But that’s just a guess.
What do YOU think?
ADDENDUM: We have our first guess. A reader named Vladameer unearthed a quote wherein Daniel Ash copped that it was from an "old Gary Glitter song, slowed right down." Vlad suggests it might be "I Didn't Know I Love You `Til I Saw You Rock n' Roll."
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