City

Leeds

West Yorkshire, UK

Leeds appears in 4 Songsheets issues: UK Post-Punk, UK Goth, Shoegaze and Dreampop and C86 and Indie Pop. 4 artists in the archive came from here, including Gang of Four, Pale Saints and The Sisters of Mercy. Key places include The Phonogram Club (later The Warehouse) and The Riley Smith Hall. The issues date one event here, in 1985.

Gang of Four and the Mekons emerged from the Leeds art school scene, combining punk energy with Marxist theory and funk rhythms.

Scenes

001
UK Post-Punk
015
UK Goth
Primary
008
Shoegaze and Dreampop
050
C86 and Indie Pop
Primary

Artists from Leeds

  • Gang of Four

    Formed at Leeds University in 1976, Gang of Four built a sound where Marxist theory and dance floor physicality had to coexist, whether they liked it or not.

  • Pale Saints

    Pale Saints signed to 4AD in 1989, the same label and the same year as Lush—both spotted by Ivo Watts-Russell at The Camden Falcon as the scene around Camden was starting to cohere.

  • The Sisters of Mercy

    Leeds band fronted by Andrew Eldritch and his drum machine Doktor Avalanche, named after Leonard Cohen's song because 'calling ourselves the Captains of Industry wouldn't have been as funny.' Their mechanized rhythms, cavernous reverb, and literary lyrics made them goth's darkest commercial success, despite Eldritch's lifelong rejection of the gothic label.

  • The Wedding Present

    David Gedge and Keith Gregory formed the Wedding Present in Leeds in 1985 from the remains of the Lost Pandas, and released their singles on their own Reception label.

Places

  • The Phonogram Club (later The Warehouse)
    1980-1985 · UK Goth

    A crucial venue for the Leeds goth scene where the Sisters of Mercy and other northern bands developed their sound. Andrew Eldritch's connections to Leeds University's music scene made this converted warehouse space central to the city's dark alternative community.

  • The Riley Smith Hall
    1960s-present · UK Goth

    Leeds University venue where the Sisters of Mercy played numerous early shows, with Andrew Eldritch's connections to the university's music scene helping establish Leeds as a northern goth stronghold alongside London and Northampton.

What happened here

  1. 1985
    First and Last and Always Peaks at UK No. 14

    Sisters of Mercy's debut captures scene at commercial peak before band's implosion; tours with new lineup cement goth's stadium viability.

    UK Goth

Records made by artists from Leeds