Cuts You Up - Peter Murphy

Groovy!

"Cuts You Up" is a U.S. Modern Rock number-one hit from Peter Murphy's third solo album Deep in 1990.

"Cuts You Up" was the second single from the record; the Bowie-esque track became the American modern rock hit of the year, spending seven weeks at the top of the U.S. Modern Rock charts and crossing over to Album-oriented rock radio (#10) and the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart (#55). Following its success, Deep reached number 44 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.

Peter John Murphy (born 11 July 1957) is an English gothic rock vocalist. He was the vocalist of the rock group Bauhaus, and later went on to release a number of solo albums, such as Deep and Love Hysteria. Thin, with prominent cheekbones, a rich Baritone voice, and a penchant for gloomy poetics, Murphy is often called the "Godfather of Goth."

Murphy was born near Northampton, England, and raised in Wellingborough, England. Whether rising from coffins on-stage, driving a hearse called the "Bauhearse," summoning thunder storms, or appearing in concert as vampires, Bauhaus were one of the establishing acts of the Goth movement. Their use of spacey recording effects and theatrical aesthetics was evocative of both early horror films and glam rock; they became an influential group in the early days of gothic rock.

In 1983, Bauhaus appeared during the opening sequences of the horror movie The Hunger, performing one of their most popular songs, "Bela Lugosi's Dead". The camera focused almost exclusively on Murphy during most of the scene, panning only briefly to the stars David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve.

Bauhaus reformed in 1998 for a tour, and once again in 2006 for a tour with Nine Inch Nails. The latter group's front man, Trent Reznor, and Murphy were guests on several radio shows together, often performing three to four duets per radio show. Reznor cites Bauhaus as one of his primary musical influences, and had toured with Murphy earlier in both their careers.

By 1983, Bauhaus broke up and Murphy went on to new projects not involving Bauhaus members Kevin Haskins, David J, or Daniel Ash. After some brief dabbling with acting and dance - including a slightly odd televised performance to Bauhaus's "Hollow Hills" - he soon formed Dali's Car with Mick Karn, the bass player from Japan. The group recorded only one album, which was a commercial flop.

Murphy's solo career over time became more varied than Bauhaus, ranging from pseudo-pop to haunting ballads that showcased his deep and complex vocals, with lyrical themes that are often metaphysical or religious. His knack for such lyricism and the occasional pop-reinvention did, however, cause some initial trepidation by the record-buying public. After the commercial non-start of Dali's Car, Murphy's first solo album was similarly overlooked. Should the World Fail to Fall Apart did spawn several singles, including a cover of Pere Ubu's "Final Solution" that made a minor splash on the club scene.

The follow-up, Love Hysteria, did much better. It also marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration with songwriter Paul Statham, who co-wrote songs with Murphy until 1995. The resulting singles "All Night Long" and "Indigo Eyes" helped garner a wider following, and the black-and-white video for "All Night Long" entered rotation on MTV.

The pinnacle of Murphy's solo popularity came with the release of Deep. For this album Murphy reinvented himself as somewhat of a rock-god, now sporting hair dyed platinum blonde and performing a much more aggressive alt-rock sound. The single "Cuts You Up" from Deep held on to the top spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for longer than any other single before - displacing "So Alive" by his former Bauhaus-band mates Love and Rockets. The record was unbroken until the release of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Cuts
• You
• Up
• Peter
• Murphy
• groovy
• goth
• dance
• pop
• rock
• 90's
• 90s
• '90s
• Bauhaus
• deep
• waffles
• retro

[stevedancer]

Awesome. The master!