Dave Vanian the first Goth?

[Dramatica Addams]

Was Dave Vanian the first music person (silent movie actors had it a looong time ago) to go for a gothic look?
I mean I don't know the specifics but he seemed ot have that look from the beginning, 1976 when as far as i can see not too many people were going for it. Of course there could be plenty of musicians who went nowhere and had the look but i'm talking about known people here whee
And yes i'm aware susie sue was aorund then but here look was punk, not goth then.
Discuss^^

PS. if anyone metions tribes and architecture i WILL hurt them...  

[GilAskan]

Musically, it was Bauhaus who kicked the genre off...

Stylistacally? He's a candidate, but oddly enough, I would say that it was the Addams Family who were the first goths in the sub-culture sense. Before them, there was Edgar Allen Poe. He was pretty goth-y: pale skin, all black clothes, very macabre.



It's really hard to gauge who was the "first goth". A lot of the culture happened all at once, so it's just a matter of deciding "what is goth" before we can decide who started it.  

[Zarl]

I agree with Gilaskan.
Edgar allen poe. probably for known.
Then we also have in eupoean history with people that we havn't really seen pictures of, Like jack the ripper.  

[Lady_Anastasia]

Eccentric artists with tastes for the macabre have existed always. The only thing that's changed recently is the development of a more pronounced subculture.

I bet if you went back far enough, there was a caveman somewhere who no one liked because he wore black furs, rubbed coal over his eyes and painted dramatic cave doodles. rofl  

[GilAskan]

Lady_Anastasia

I bet if you went back far enough, there was a caveman somewhere who no one liked because he wore black furs, rubbed coal over his eyes and painted dramatic cave doodles. rofl

Yeah, it's true. I made- *cough* found proof of it.

 

[Choboxer]

gonk HES TOO GOTH!

Louise Brooks FTW
Silent movie actors had to wear dark make up so they would have a face on screen, otherwise they would be all bleached out.
Louise brooks however, wore that make up all the time, plus had the V bangs, creepy pets and a flair for dark humor.  

[GilAskan]

To actually address the question (which I didn't in my previous posts)...

In terms of who was the first goth ("goth" referring to the subculture), I would put my vote in for Peter Murphy of the Bauhaus. Besides being part of the definitive goth band (Bauhaus), he really defined the style with his Vampire-y victorian clothes, morbid 20's-horror-movie inspired stage antics, and fascination with existentialism.

 

[xX x0mbie Xx]

GilAskan

Lady_Anastasia

I bet if you went back far enough, there was a caveman somewhere who no one liked because he wore black furs, rubbed coal over his eyes and painted dramatic cave doodles. rofl

Yeah, it's true. I made- *cough* found proof of it.

ROFL lookit it go!
sorry im amused  

[Cockroach Waltz]

Wasn't Andi Sexgang once mentioned as the first goth fan or something?

 

[GilAskan]

Cockroach Waltz

Wasn't Andi Sexgang once mentioned as the first goth fan or something?

Andi is responsible for the creation of the term, or rather, without him, it would never have applied to the subculture. He was a fan of the original bands, but then again, so were a lot of people. He was one of the first fans of the first-wave to get famous within the same scene, I suppose.  

[Sinister Kung Fu]

Cockroach Waltz

Wasn't Andi Sexgang once mentioned as the first goth fan or something?

Not quite. A few of the people in the Batcave scene, most notably Ian Astbury, referred to him as the Gothic Goblin, mainly because he lived in a building called Visigoth Towers.  

[Cockroach Waltz]

Sinister Kung Fu

Cockroach Waltz

Wasn't Andi Sexgang once mentioned as the first goth fan or something?

Not quite. A few of the people in the Batcave scene, most notably Ian Astbury, referred to him as the Gothic Goblin, mainly because he lived in a building called Visigoth Towers.

Its a real shame about Ian.

If only The Cult didn't become that bloated hard rock band it did.