(Raw Data Set) Through a glass darkly: How Goth reflected and reimagined the Sixties

Abstract

When Goth emerged as a post-punk music genre and subcultural style in the late 1970s and early 1980s, its references to the past included nineteenth-century Gothic literature and classic Hollywood 'monster movies' such as 1931's Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. Less discussed, however, is Goth's inclusion of 1960s culture into its repertoire. While the 1960s are often synonymous with the Mod joys of 'Swinging London' and the cheerful flower power of San Francisco, it was also a period marked by the popular Hammer Horror films and the real-life terrors of the Moors and Manson Murders. As children of the 1960s, Goth's originators could not help but reference the sights and sounds that shaped their childhoods. In this light, the music produced by bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy conjure a darker side of that decade. This article assesses how the original wave of Goth musicians drew upon the 1960s to invent a dark psychedelia for a new generation of youth.