Das Tor

I used to follow a local band when I was 16 or 17 called Das Tor. They were awesome. Nearly won Battle of the Bands at the Queens Hall in 1987 (or thereabouts). They were Goth but they were rock too - not Soppy Goth but Rock Goth. They did the best cover version of Sympathy for the Devil I've ever heard and they'd have rather died than cover Wild Horses. Doing a cover version of Sympathy for the Devil shouldn't be allowed, but what they did with it was brilliant and an exception to that particular law.

I went to a gig in Leeds and The Sisters of Mercy - The Sisters of Bloody Mercy turned up to see Das Tor. (They're not Nuns although that would have been funny).

I used to put egg white and sugar in my hair to get it to stand up and I'd dress totally in black. I thought I looked *ace*. When it rained my hair would fizz a bit.

People would cross the street to avoid us, but we were harmless. We'd take our hats off when hearses drove by (occasionally I could fit a hat on my big hair).

One time at a bus stop at 2am waiting for the Night Rider (not David Hasselhoff - it was a bus) some smartly dressed tugger decided to have a go because I wasn't dressed like him (him who was dressed like his dad.... he wore a tie to go clubbing... a bloody tie....) I told him I'd been to a fancy dress party and it confused him for a minute, till a light bulb went off above his head and he demanded to know how come I had long black hair?!! (It was black that night - not purple) I was about to be on the end of a bit of a kicking when Les Hall intervened. Les Hall. Lead singer of Das Tor. Bloody awesome.

Tugger laughed and went on his respectable way and then Les was gone as the bus turned up.

Das Tor split up and I got respectable (sort of). Time moved on.

Anyway; tonight I was trying to think of a title for this photo (lovely evening!!!) and The Gateway popped into my head. And as is the way with a wandering mind like mine, I suddenly remembered Das Tor, which is German for The Gateway.

So I played with Google and found some old videos of Das Tor! I used to have some live cassettes and stuff but they all got chewed up or lost or lent, but I realise I might actually be able to track some copies down now I've made a connection. I might not even like the music anymore - I might cringe a bit - or I might have a mid life crisis and grow my hair again :o)

I know this photo doesn't technically have a gate....