1980

The Sisters Of Mercy are formed in Leeds by Gary Marx (guitar, vocals) and Andrew Eldritch (guitar, drums). With one guitar, a three-watt practice amp and no money, they record a single "to hear ourselves on the radio". The Merciful Release label is founded to issue it and one thousand copies are pressed. The record gets played on the radio. Described by the band as "unobtainable and even more unlistenable", "THE DAMAGE DONE /WATCH /HOME OF THE HIT-MEN" is now worth hundreds of pounds - and it's still rubbish.

1981

Sensing that something horribly huge is within their grasp, the duo decides to "start again, properly". Andrew Eldritch, by his own admission "a very bad drummer", becomes by default the band's lead singer as Gary Marx concentrates on guitar and Craig Adams is recruited on bass. An essential move seems natural to the Sisters but is to set them crucially apart from (and ahead of) their peers: they are now anchored and driven by the legendary Doktor Avalanche, drum machine. The band makes its live debut on February 16th, somewhere between The Stooges and Suicide, or Motorhead and Chrome. Marx has connected his guitar to a record-player pre-amp which feeds back uncontrollably and Eldritch has turned the echo to maximum. The first-ever set kicks off with a twisted cover of Cohen's "Teachers" and ends with a juggernaut howl which might have been "Silver Machine" but was in fact "Sister Ray". The audience gets the point. The Sisters Of Mercy gradually refine their noise and their ability to be loved and hated. Towards the end of the year Ben Gunn is added as a second guitarist.

1982

The second record, "BODY ELECTRIC /ADRENOCHROME", is Single Of The Week in Melody Maker. It will be almost three years before a Sisters single does NOT become Record Of The Week somewhere. Unfortunately, the backlash will last for ever. The Sisters Of Mercy eventually deign to play London, and Tony James of Generation X asks Mr Eldritch to join a band ( - offer declined, with thanks). A radio session for the BBC foreshadows the next classic single and the Sisters tour Britain with the Psychedelic Furs. November sees the release of "ALICE / FLOORSHOW", that now-familiar blend of persistent and irresistible melody, hypnotic technoid riffing and a vicious hook shining seductively above the riptide....The band begin to dominate the independent charts like nobody else before or since.

1983

Early months are spent touring the country with an army of supporters. A set of Sisters standards is variously spiked with an audacious selection of covers, including "Gimme Shelter", "Jolene" and even Hot Chocolate's "Emma". A second radio session follows the release in March of the new single "ANACONDA / PHANTOM". The twelve-inch EP "ALICE / FLOORSHOW / PHANTOM / 1969" is also the band's first American release. In May, instead of capitalising on their notorious brand of melodic overdrive, The Sisters Of Mercy issue "THE REPTILE HOUSE EP", some of the finest and most haunting Sisters songs swamped in a magnificently perverse mix of slithering cruelty. After the first extensive tour of Europe, and before a short series of concerts in America (Ben Gunn's last), it is decided to spend the proceeds on the band's first trip to a 24-track studio. Despite every effort to invest the whole sum in multi-tracking guitars ad infinitum, the Sisters come out with a three-track single in October. "TEMPLE OF LOVE" is in every respect a monster. Backed with "HEARTLAND" and "GIMME SHELTER", it is destined to be their last independently released record.

1984

Wayne Hussey joins the Sisters. Concentrating upon the acoustic and twelve-string guitars, he makes his debut in April. Prior to a UK tour in May, the band announces that it has signed to WEA. "BODY AND SOUL / TRAIN / BODY ELECTRIC (re-recorded) / AFTERHOURS", a four-track single described by Eldritch as "a vision of heaven with everyone on speed", narrowly misses the UK Top Forty, and a third BBC session showcases some of the material which will later comprise the Sisters' first album. Demos are recorded and the band travel to New York in August to play two sell-out dates. Work on the LP is postponed due to Eldritch's exhaustion yet the band continues to play live, culminating in the 'Black October' tour. The Sisters' European audience continues to grow, particularly in Germany and the UK. "WALK AWAY / POISON DOOR /ON THE WIRE" is released. There are, however, barely concealed tensions within the band. Many are tempted to read into the lyrics of "Walk Away" a public appeal to Gary Marx. Worries about Eldritch's exhaustion and his not-so-private leisure pursuits are fuelled by the lyrics to "On The Wire".

1985

Another single, "NO TIME TO CRY / BLOOD MONEY /BURY ME DEEP", is issued in February and the 'Tune In, Turn On, Burn Out' tour opens in March. Gary Marx's departure is announced as the debut album goes straight into the Top Twenty. Flawed and scarred it may be (certainly from a production standpoint), but "FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS" is still regarded as a collection of classicsongs. The Sisters stage an end-of-tour concert in July at London's Royal Albert Hall as The Sisters Of Mercy celebrate the first pinnacle of their existence. Eldritch is expected to leave the stage with his usual "Goodnight!" but tonight it's "Goodbye". He has already decided that this will be the only Sisters performance to be filmed, that the resulting film is to be titled "WAKE". It will be five years before The Sisters Of Mercy play live again.

1986

Craig Adams and Wayne Hussey have left the band; disagreements over material and touring were understandable, particularly those arising from Hussey's desire to launch a separate career (taking Adams with him). The split was amicable enough. Nevertheless, an understanding was breached when the duo's demo tapes began to re-appear under various permutations of the Sisters' name. Disputes therefore arose and were settled with extreme prejudice until the dear departed are advised that they have a legal right to call themselves "The Sisterhood". In a matter of weeks they are due to play live under this name. As a recording artist, Eldritch has an exclusive recording contract with WEA, who protect their option on the other band, and Eldritch currently has no way of making a challenge via the concert platform. Even worse, RCA (who are publishers to all involved) plan to give half of the Sisters' publishing advance to the other band. Thoughtful parties follow the logic, look at the calendar and realise that the whole advance will go to the first party to make an album. Eldritch is presently a vocalist without a band, new songs, or any record company support. But he is thoughtful. He issues a polite warning to the other parties, which is ignored. By swift coincidence, Merciful Release unleashes "GIVING GROUND" by its own "Sisterhood". An Eldritch production, the single streaks to the top of the independent chart. Now there is effectively only one "Sisterhood", and the other band will be forced to change its name. The album "GIFT" follows quickly. Performed by a loose coalition of forces allied to Merciful Release, but written by Andrew Eldritch. As they write his cheque, RCA are left pondering the exact meaning of the opening line "two five zero zero zero ...jihad!" Some say that RCA earned so much money from the various Sisters that they should have paid each band the whole advance. Some say the album was recorded impossibly fast, and written to be unlistenable, to sting RCA and escape the contract ( - Eldritch was promptly dropped). One thing is undeniably true: Eldritch was by this time in Hamburg. The German word for 'poison' is 'Gift'.

1987

Eldritch had thrown everything in the air and it had not come down. The Sisters Of Mercy were the most bootlegged band of the decade, but had completely stopped playing live when they seemed at the height of their power. Eldritch had set up camp in Germany, so the English press pronounced him retired or dead. After "Gift" they should have known better. Ahead of its time, this dense soundscape extrapolated some of the most important elements of the Sisters' psyche. Without losing sight of the original Sisters' vicious trash aesthetic, it assimilated the advances in continental dance music, and developed them further. The layers of ersatz Elgar and chant added an aching poignancy to the terse and savage wit of the lyrics. Insistent and tuneful, the songs were harnessed to a menacing synthetic groove somewhere between the New York underground and the hardcore techno-beat of Brussels and Berlin. Eldritch was enjoying his new-found freedoms. Rumour fed on rumour, and in the apparent absence of the band the legend just grew. As it always does. The Sisters were bigger than ever before, and in a position to refocus with confidence on the future. Expectations rose to fever pitch as the next phase was launched. THIS CORROSION / TORCH / COLOURS" is released by WEA. The single enters the UK Top Ten and becomes the #1 Alternative Record in America, despite the lack of record company support - as usual. It is announced that Patricia Morrison has been recruited and that the band has no plans to enlarge further. This presages a phase of video-based promotion. Video is a gratuitous and expensive medium which the band has traditionally scorned. Nevertheless, on TV screens all over the planet, the torrential rain of "This Corrosion" sets the pace for a series of spectacular videos. The second album "FLOODLAND" is released in November. "Floodland" places the guitars of the first album against a backdrop of keyboards inspired by the experimentation of "Gift". A fifth-generation Doktor Avalanche drives a body of songs which highlight Eldritch's maturity as a singer and songwriter.

1988

A dramatic video set in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra heralds "DOMINION / EMMA" which charts at number 13 in the UK. LUCRETIA MY REFLECTION / LONG TRAIN" then provides the Sisters with their third chart single from the "Floodland" LP.

1989

A compilation video ("SHOT") is issued, featuring the three singles from "Floodland" and an additional clip of "1959" which was filmed in India during the shooting of "Lucretia My Reflection". Incidentally, "1959" is still the only Sisters video produced and directed by Andrew Eldritch, and the absence of anybody else's agenda makes it different from (and better than) all the others ....although it can be remarked of the later videos that "Dr Jeep" is funny, "Detonation Boulevard" is eminently watchable, and Eldritch is a genuine love-god in "Under The Gun".

1990

Guitarist Andreas Bruhn joins the band; he and Andrew Eldritch write songs for the next album. Tony James replaces the recently departed Patricia Morrison. Guitarist Tim Bricheno completes the line-up, as the third LP "VISION THING" is being finished. "Vision Thing" is released in November. It is preceded by a single, "MORE / YOU COULD BE THE ONE", which continues the band's hard-earned tradition of international chart success, particularly in Germany. Compared to its predecessor, "Vision Thing" is a stripped-down affair. Half of the finished mixes for the album are shelved in favour of rough mixes from earlier stages of the recording session, 'monitor mixes' which retain the immediate feel of the songs. The guitars are more direct than they were on "Floodland" and there is far less emphasis on the layering of sound which characterised the previous Sisters album. Keyboards are kept to a bare minimum, and the baritone voice of Eldritch is clear amid the storm. The lyrics retain their usual oblique sub-texts, but there is a new directness of language on the surface. It has been noticed that there is no sense whatever of 'victim' on the "Vision Thing" album (maybe because this had too often been fallaciously inferred from the overlooked ironies of previous records). "Vision Thing" is confident to the point of arrogance, commanding to the point of sheer callousness, an intellectual tour-de-force of beautiful cruelty. The band play surprise concerts in Ireland. "DOCTOR JEEP" is released as a single, coupled with rare live tracks. Brazilian warm-up dates are followed by a European tour starring two nights at London's Wembley Arena.

1991

The Sisters Of Mercy mark the tenth anniversary of their live debut with two shows for the members of The Reptile House (the Sisters' information service) in their birthplace of Leeds. There is a tour of southern Europe. "WHEN YOU DON'T SEE ME / RIBBONS (live) / SOMETHING FAST (live)" is released as a single in Germany. A North American tour opens on March 25th in Ontario. The first concert sells out in two hours. Another trip to northern Europe follows in April and May, Poland and Hungary fall to the Sisters before an arena-tour of Germany. The band returns to the States for an arena-tour on which they are supported by Public Enemy. By the time the tour starts some promoters have unfortunately decided that a mixed-race audience is a dangerous thing. Radio City Music Hall is sold out, but the authorities in Detroit refuse to allow a concert to take place at all. The Sisters cut loose in Miami, and seal their year with a guerrilla-raid on the European festival circuit, most particularly at 'Rock Am Ring' and a headline appearance at the Reading Festival. Another day, another thirty thousand people. Tony James decides this is a suitable moment to move on in his quest for howbusiness Valhalla.

1992

The compilation album of early material "SOME GIRLS WANDER BY MISTAKE" is released in May. A completely re-recorded "Temple Of Love" (featuring Ofra Haza) is released as a an accompanying single: "TEMPLE OF LOVE (1992)" crashes into the UK chart at number 3, and becomes the Sisters' biggest international hit so far. Summer festivals in Germany are followed by a sellout show at Birmingham's NEC. The final gig of the year is in front of thirty thousand Belgians at the Pukkelpop Festival, preceded by a warm-up show in the living room of a Reptile House member in Oberhausen. Bricheno and Bruhn initiate solo projects, and the band takes a sabbatical break.

1993

Summer shows supporting Depeche Mode in Europe are followed by the first Greatest Hits album "A SLIGHT CASE OF OVERBOMBING". A single featuring new guitarist Adam Pearson "UNDER THE GUN / ALICE (1993)" is released simultaneously, and assumes its automatic place in the top ten. The compilation video released in 1988 is updated by the addition of the "Vision Thing" promos, and re-released as "SHOT REV 2.0". The year ends with a tour of Germany, supported by The Ramones, and three British shows in Brixton and Birmingham (at the NEC again). For a time there will be silence...

1994

...while Eldritch argues with East West. Aren't record companies useless? Aren't East West the most useless of all? Signing to WEA was one thing, finding oneself with East West is another. Since "Vision Thing" the band have been "seriously underwhelmed".

1995

Still arguing with East West, or rather: not talking to East West any more. As far as its recording contract goes, the band has effectively been on strike for five years now. Andrew Eldritch starts remixing industrial dance records and is rumoured to be active in trance music.

1996

No progress at the record company, but live goes on: guitarist Chris Sheehan joins up. Ravey Davey starts playing nurse with the Doktor as The Sisters Of Mercy swing into another summer of festival appearances in Europe.

1997

The band is available for weddings, barmitzvahs and any discussion involving both Gary Glitter and Kierkegaard.

They are:

Andrew Eldritch - vocals

Adam Pearson - guitar

Chris Sheehan - guitar

Ravey Davey - nurse to the Doktor

Doktor Avalanche - drums

The band do some festivals, the summer tour is named 'Distance over time' and consists of 11 dates. A project called SSV emerges and was made to brake the deal with Warner East West. Featuringonly the voice of Eldritch it is sold to WEA and Eldritch is released from his contract in early '98. He later ackowledges the album as unlistenable, after his recording contract has been cancelled.

1998

The Sisters start off the new year with a new tour. 'Event Horizon' lasts for 18 dates. Rumours tell of a single release in the first part of the year; exactly on the day after his contract with WEA has run out. . But nothing appears. Summer arrives and the Sisters head out on a new tour, the 'Summer' tour. Taking it's name perhaps from the'Summer' single, which whishfully should have been out before the tour. Interviews on TV and in various newspapers reveal Eldritch in spendid mood. A new release is on the steps but the Sisters "lack an American distributor and a record label with lots of cash".

(Originally from a Virgin Interview. Reprinted without permission, complete with alterations and additions.)