

So lets start with a brief history lesson. Yes it can be a little difficult to pin down exactly when and where goth came from, but most agree that it started in the late 70′s to early 80′s. It was a subculture based around a genre of music. Some of the most popular bands being Bauhaus, UK Decay, Siouxsie and the Banshees etc. These bands garnered a lot of very dedicated fans that have stuck around throughout the years. Back when the community was still new there weren’t many complicated guidelines for what made someone goth. Basically all you had to do was listen to the music and have dark tastes. Yes!! This is exactly as it could have remained without the silly qualifiers. Most goths had a dreary view of the world and their attitudes often reflected that. As the years went by, the club scene and community grew. Throughout the late 80′s and early 90′s came the second and third wave goth bands. Alas this is where everything starts to sort of fall apart and everyone’s attitude begins to change. Again, I must disagree. I came to the music in 1990, to the “scene” (as in I was sneaking underage into goth clubs) a few years later and attitudes were not “falling apart”. We were strong and vibrant and (I say this with a touch of Irony) alive. The second wave of bands was beginning, new record labels were forming, there was an influx of zines… all these things coalesced us into a subculture that had even more to offer and ushered in a globalization of Goth.



Throughout the 90′s the subculture became a little more exposed. This bothered a lot of goths who were there for the original scene. Most preferred that the scene and its music stayed underground. Because of this, many goths, old and modern were becoming divided. Yes, “tourists” are kinda annoying, but did any of us suddenly decide to hate the Cure because they got so big? No! And even if only a few people were “converted” to the subculture, great! I think everyone should recognize Bob as a genius. And they certainly didn’t court the fame, it just so happened that the general public got it right this time. This is around the time that everything began branching off into sub styles. Most young goths weren’t just goth. They were Cyber goth or Romantic goth. All the original kids from the scene were now referred to as traditional or Trads for short. Maybe somewhere, but not in NYC. Goths were Goths. The industrial kids were maybe called rivet heads, but it’s not like they really wanted to be “one of us”. Many Trads resented what the scene had become and insisted that the only way a band could be considered goth was if they had a very particular sound and the only way someone could be taken seriously as goth was if they listened to the bands with that sound. But evidently this stunted the evolution or growth of the music. Whereas genres like pop, rock and country have evolved and grown over the years along with the new generations of fans, goth music for the most part stayed the same. Again, I must disagree. The spectrum of Goth is wide and diverse. Yes, the hallmarks of guitar based Gothic Rock remain the same, but can’t you say that for many styles of music?