Theatre of Hate

Infobox musical artist
Name = Theatre of Hate


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = London, United Kingdom
Genre = Post-punk and Gothic rock
Years_active = 1980 - 1983
Associated_acts = The Pack
Spear of Destiny
Dead Men Walking

Label = Burning Rome Records
Mau Mau/Demon Records
Original Masters/Snapper Music
URL = [http://www.kirkbrandon.com/ KIRKBRANDON.COM]
Current_members = Kirk Brandon
Billy Duffy
Steve Guthrie
John Lennard
Nigel Preston
Luke Rendle
Stan Stammers
Past_member =

Theatre of Hate is a post-punk band which formed in Britain in 1980.

Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bassist Stan Stammers (The Straps/Epileptics), saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis/The Straps.

Inspired of Antonin Artaud's book "Theatre and its Double", the band takes its name from the concept of the Theatre of Cruelty: "Artaud called for the emotional involvement of the audience. Singer Kirk Brandon borrowed the thespian term because he was trying to do the same." [cite book
last = Beech
first = Mark
title = The A-Z of Names in Rock — and the Amazing Stories Behind Them
publisher = Robson Books
date = 1996
isbn = 1-86105-059-3]

The Pack

The Pack is a British punk rock band formed in 1978. Comprising Kirk Brandon (vocals, guitar), Simon Werner (guitar), Jonathan Werner (bass), and Jim Walker (drums). It was a precursor to the post-punk/New Wave act, Theatre of Hate.

Discography

Albums

*"The Pack Live" (live album, recorded 1979, released 1982, cassette only)
*"Dead Ronin" (compilation, 2000)

ingles

Theatre of Hate

Theatre of Hate garnered much early attention as a live act and in 1981 made their debut with the concert LP "He Who Dares Wins Live at the Warehouse Leeds". Shortly after the album's release however, Steve Guthrie left the band.

Another concert recording, "Live at the Lyceum" followed, and in August 1981 Theatre of Hate entered the studio with producer Mick Jones of The Clash to record their first non-live album debut, "Westworld", which was released on February 19th 1982 and went on to reach the UK Top 20.

Shortly after the album was recorded new guitarist Billy Duffy (formerly of The Nosebleeds) joined the band and drummer Luke Rendle was replaced by Nigel Preston. The album also spawned the Top 40 single "Do You Believe in the Westworld?" which was released in November 1981.

In late 1982, Theatre of Hate released another live album entitled "He Who Dares Wins: Live in Berlin", and Billy Duffy was fired from the band in December 1982..

In spring 1983, Theatre of Hate disbanded. Brandon went on to front Spear of Destiny with bassist Stan Stammers and guitarist Billy Duffy started Death Cult with singer Ian Astbury, which would later become successful after shortening their name to The Cult. A post break-up compilation album "Revolution" spent three weeks in the UK album chart.

In 1991 Theatre of Hate reformed for the Return to 8 tour which included some of the original band members, these included Kirk Brandon, Stan Stammers and John 'Boy' Lennard, with the addition of Pete Barnacle on drums and Mark 'Gemini' Thwaite on guitar.

In July/August 1994 Kirk Brandon, Stan Stammers, John McNutt and Art Smith went into Mix-O. Lydian Studio, Boonton, N.J. with Brad Morrision to record a new album under the Theatre of Hate banner."Retribution" wasn't released until early 1996 in both the US and UK.

To coincide with "Westworld"'s 25^th anniversary, Theatre of Hate reformed for a week-long tour culminating at the Carling Academy Islington on 29^th April, 2007. Of the original line-up, only Stammers was unavailable, due to conflicting schedules and family commitments in the US where he now lives. [ cite web
title = Message from Stan about the Theatre of Hate reunion
url = http://www.stanstammers.com/news.html ] Replacing him was Craig Adams, former bassist with The Cult, The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission, joining Brandon, Guthrie, Lennard, and Rendle for the reunion.

Discography

Albums

Studio

*"Westworld" (1982) (UK #17)
*"Ten Years After" (released 1993)
*"" (released 1996)
*"Aria of the Devil" (released 1998)

Live

*"He Who Dares Wins" (1981) (UK Indie #1)
*"Live At The Lyceum" (1981)
*"He Who Dares Wins: Live In Berlin" (1982) (UK Indie #3)
*"Original Sin Live" (1982, released 1985) (UK Indie #12)

Compilations

*"Revolution" (1984) (UK #67, UK Indie #1)
*"The Complete Singles Collection" (1995)

ingles

ee also

*Kirk Brandon
*Stan Stammers
*Spear of Destiny
*
*Dead Men Walking

References

*Record Collector #102 (February, 1988)
* [http://www.polyhex.com/music/chartruns/chartruns.php/ Chart runs in the UK Singles Chart since 1952]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.kirkbrandon.com/ KIRKBRANDON.COM (official web site)]
* [http://www.stanstammers.com/ STANSTAMMERS.COM (official web site)]
*http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~randall/OtherBands/Pack.htm
*http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~randall/TOH/TOHIndex.html