Bauhaus
Bela Lugosi's Dead

Bela Lugosi was a legendary Hungarian actor who became extremely famous for his portrayal of the vampire count in the 1931 film "Dracula". His accent, owing to his origins (Transylvania was once part of Hungary), his aristocratic manners, his magnetic gaze, and his naturally sardonic smile made him perfect for vampire roles. Even in his private life, he was a unique individual: he lived in a house-castle, dressed in stage costumes, and slept in a coffin-bed. It is unclear why he did all this, perhaps to better immerse himself in the character, or perhaps due to a mad self-suggestion, or simply to gain publicity; in any case, it seems that at his funeral in 1956, he lay on the coffin with his inseparable cloak.

The Bauhaus from Northampton were inspired by the symbiosis of person/character and the death of this bizarre and mysterious actor for their first excellent single "Bela Lugosi's Dead".
The instruments all play in an unconventional manner, to the point of seeming post-rock ante litteram: the disconnected and sinister ticking of the drums, the bass playing the same three dark notes as if it were a piano, the screeches, the reverberations, the tears, and the "siren" effects of the guitars, tend to evoke eerie atmospheres and recall the noises of an old horror film (the ticking of an old pendulum clock, the creaking stairs of an old house).
And then the voice, that gloomy voice of Peter Murphy, creeping in with very low and dark tones after more than two minutes of instrumental introduction and ending with dramatic and surprising high notes that reveal a remarkable vocal range. The echo effect applied to the voice makes an already memorable vocal performance even more evocative. The b-side "Boys" is a worthy companion to this masterpiece single, where the instruments are again played in an original manner, focusing almost exclusively on the rhythmic aspect, but serving a structure with a somewhat more recognizable song form compared to "Bela Lugosi's Dead", which is instead a suite of a full nine and a half minutes.

After this maxi single dated 1979, Bauhaus would release four respectable albums before their premature breakup in 1983, never again matching the creative peak reached with their debut track.