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Early years (1980–1983) The Sisters of Mercy were formed in
Leeds, England, in 1980 by
Gary Marx and
Andrew Eldritch, driven by their desire to hear themselves on the radio. On this single, Marx played guitar through a practice amplifier while Eldritch played drums, which he had purchased from Langford. Each member contributed to the songwriting: Eldritch penned "Damage Done," while Marx wrote "Watch". The band later regrouped with
Craig Adams on bass, while Eldritch's drumming was replaced by a
drum machine, allowing him to focus solely on vocals. The drum machine was named "Doktor Avalanche," a title that continued with its numerous successors. Eldritch assumed responsibilities for lyric writing, Doktor programming, and record production, while co-writing the music with Marx and, occasionally, Adams. This lineup is generally recognized as the first definitive Sisters formation. It commenced with the Doktor/Eldritch/Marx/Adams incarnation of the band performing a gig at the Riley Smith Hall of the
Leeds University Union building in early 1981. Since the exact date remains unrecorded, for historical purposes, both the band and fans often celebrate the anniversary of the concert on 16 February 1981 at
Alcuin College,
York, which marked the band's second performance; Hussey and Adams went on to form a new group called the Sisterhood. Their setlists featured songs Hussey had intended for the Sisters of Mercy; he would later record and release many of them with his new group. Meanwhile, Eldritch protested against their use of the
Sisterhood name as being too similar to the Sisters of Mercy and the name of his band's fan community. In an attempt to stop Hussey's band, Eldritch released the single "Giving Ground" by his own band,
the Sisterhood. The single was later followed by the album
Gift. Hussey's band eventually named themselves
the Mission. Hussey has since expressed regret about the entire incident. According to some sources, with these releases, Eldritch allegedly won, over Hussey and Adams, a race for a £25,000 advance (a sum opening the song "Jihad" on the
Gift album) offered by the publishers to the first member of the Sisters of Mercy to release any output. This would tie Eldritch to WEA and release Hussey and Adams from their contract with the same record company. According to the Mission's manager Tony Perrin, the case never went to court, and Hussey's new band was able to release their material through an independent outlet. However, Eldritch stated elsewhere that the "2-5-0-0-0," which opens "Jihad" on the Sisterhood LP, represents the sum of money he won from the Mission in the civil courts. He stated in an interview recorded in Boston that the English courts did not recognize either his or the other members' legal right to the name "the Sisterhood." He said the courts required a release for anybody to claim ownership of the band name, which was the motivation for the initial Sisterhood single. After that single had been released, Eldritch officially owned the name and could sue, which he did, winning £25,000 in the lawsuit.
Floodland era (1987–1989) Left to his own devices, Eldritch recorded
Floodland, marking a shift away from guitar-based rock toward atmospheric,
Wagnerian rock and keyboard-oriented explorations pioneered on
Gift. The album was produced by Eldritch and Larry Alexander, with contributions from
Jim Steinman on two songs, one of which is "
This Corrosion". "This Corrosion" was a composition that Eldritch had already recorded (if not released) with his Sisterhood collaborators. The
B-side featured "Torch," the last song from the previous line-up. Then-manager Boyd Steemson maintained that the chart success was no surprise for the band. Eldritch later considered producer Steinman to have been more pivotal in securing funding for additional production than the songs themselves. The band did not perform live during this period but did mime on
Top of the Pops, among other shows. "This Corrosion," "
Dominion," and "
Lucretia My Reflection" were released as singles, with their videos compiled in the 1988 VHS release
Shot, alongside a video for "1959."
Vision Thing era (1989–1993) The next incarnation of the Sisters of Mercy featured an unknown German guitarist, Andreas Bruhn, whom Eldritch allegedly discovered playing in a
Hamburg pub and brought into the band in April 1989. Joining him were bassist
Tony James, former guitarist of
Sigue Sigue Sputnik and bassist/songwriter for
Generation X, and last-minute recruit
Tim Bricheno, formerly of
All About Eve, on guitars. The new line-up kicked off with the
Vision Thing album, released in October 1990, produced by Eldritch (one song, the single "
More," was a co-production and co-written with Steinman). The album also featured guitarist
John Perry, with backing vocals by
Maggie Reilly. The title is derived from a quotation by then-Vice President
George Bush in 1987 and marked another change of direction, this time toward guitar-oriented rock. The band launched a world tour from 1990 to 1991 to promote the album. In 1991, they organized a controversial North American tour in a double act with
Public Enemy. Fearing a clash between the predominantly white fans of the Sisters and the primarily Black following of Public Enemy, several cities banned the performances, leading to the tour being canceled halfway through. Late in 1991, bassist James left the group to pursue a solo career, and the band continued by using a pre-recorded backing track. The US tour fiasco did not help the already strained relationship between Eldritch and the Sisters' new record company
EastWest, a
WEA subsidiary (the band was assigned to it in 1989 following an internal shuffle within WEA). Conflicts with WEA led to the termination of the band's US record distribution deal circa 1991–92, meaning later recordings became available in the US only as imports. Under the insistence of the record company, the band re-recorded their early single "Temple of Love" (with
Ofra Haza on additional vocals and Tony James on bass) to promote the collection of their early independently released singles, entitled
Some Girls Wander By Mistake (1992). Early in the year, the band performed the track on
Top of the Pops with Haza and Tony James, marking the final time the recording line-up for
Vision Thing shared the stage. In June 1992, Eldritch dismissed Boyd Steemson, the band's manager for ten years. Around this time, Bricheno began focusing on his other band, XC-NN (originally, CNN). Meanwhile, Bruhn released his debut solo album,
Broon. Bruhn claimed that the songs on the album were offered for the next Sisters release, only to be rejected by Eldritch. Eldritch denied these allegations, stating he was never offered the songs. In 1996, the band was revived for several gigs supporting the
Sex Pistols, with Bruhn's place initially taken by
Chris Sheehan. During subsequent tours, the guitarist position rotated between Sheehan and Mike Varjak. In late 1997, the contract with EastWest was terminated after the company agreed to accept material recorded under the
SSV name instead of the two albums for which the Sisters of Mercy had contractual obligations. The company consented to accept the material (techno-like droning featuring mumbling vocals by Andrew Eldritch, without drums) without listening to it first. The recordings were never officially released and circulated only through pirate MP3s. Following the release, the official Sisters of Mercy website contained the same "update" for several years:
Recent history, developments and ongoing touring activity (2005–present) In 2005, the Sisters of Mercy recruited
Chris Catalyst as a guitarist, followed by the addition of
Ben Christo on guitar in 2006. Christo recalled, "I got a call one afternoon from an unknown number. With very little preamble, the caller, without introducing himself, stated, ‘We might want you to be in our band.'" Subsequently, in 2006, the Sisters of Mercy embarked on a world tour that spanned North America, Europe, and South America. The band has maintained an active touring schedule, performing at headline shows and music festivals almost every year, showcasing both released and unreleased material. In 2019, frustrated with Eldritch's slow-paced work ethic, Catalyst left the band. Shortly thereafter, Australian guitarist Dylan Smith was recruited. In 2023, Smith was dismissed on the first day of their Autumn European tour. Consequently,
Kai from
Esprit D'Air was quickly recruited mid-tour as their new guitarist. In the same year, Chris Catalyst rejoined the band, taking on the role of the Doktor Avalanche operator after touring member Ravey Davey's departure. In 2024, the Sisters of Mercy announced an upcoming North American tour scheduled for Autumn, with performances planned across the USA and Canada.
Possible fourth studio album In October 2006, Side-Line Music Magazine announced that the band was in talks with the Universal sublabel W14 Music. In the same year, three Sisters of Mercy reissues were released on 3 November in Europe (and 30 October in the USA) via WEA International:
First and Last and Always (1985),
Floodland (1987), and
Vision Thing (1990). All contained bonus tracks taken from related single releases. The band has yet to release any new material, but in 2017 they embarked on a European tour in August and September. The band has performed thirteen new songs during concerts held between 2019 and 2024, such as "There's a Door", "Don't Drive on Ice", "I Will Call You", "Show Me (On the Doll)", "When I'm on Fire", "On the Beach", "But Genevieve", "She's a Monster", "Here" and "Quantum Baby", but no studio recordings have been made available. Since 2012, some of the shows have featured a guest appearance by the Irish singer Lisa Cuthbert, who performs her cover version of "This Corrosion" on piano. ==Influences and legacy==