David J. Haskins' Who Killed Mister Moonlight: Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction Available on Amazon and Select Bookstores
This memoir offers a no-holds-barred account of his band's rapid rise to fame and glory in the late 70s, their sudden dissolution in the 80s and their subsequent reunions
Suite 7, October 31, 2014 (Newswire.com) - David J. Haskins' much anticipated new Bauhaus/Love & Rockets memoir, Who Killed Mister Moonlight? Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction will be available on Amazon and select bookstores Thursday, October 23rd. Described by Watchmen and V for Vendetta writer Alan Moore as an "invaluable account of a strange and spectral cultural era." The book has garnered enormous praise from an early review with the editor of Post-Punk.com declaring "the best post-punk book period."
"I was compelled to write this book," says founding member David J. Haskins. "It took seven years to finish. Every day at noon I would sit down at my desk in the old 1920‘s haunted apartment building in Hollywood and write for two hours solid, take a break and then resume for a further hour. It all came pouring out. The highs, the lows, the passion, the naiveté, the hubris, the audacity, the poetry, the violence, the gallows humour, the insanity, the recklessness, the inspiration, the commercial suicide, the hedonism, the turmoil, the delirium, the genius, the shadows and the dazzling bright white light.
Venturing back into that deep and often very dark cave was a daunting enterprise but as I said, one was compelled. I had no agenda other than to tell the truth from my point of view. I am aware that some of the content is sensitive and harrowing in the extreme but if you do not tell the whole story then, well, it is simply not the whole story. It is my sincere hope that the compassion and empathy which I know informed the telling will come across to the reader and by book’s end, the complex dynamic which existed in this seminal band of beautiful but damned brothers will be understood in a clear new light."
Thanks to David J's very loyal and supportive fan base, he successfully raised over $12,000 on KickStarter for his TOME ON TOUR. The outcome of this generosity will have David J on a nationwide book tour which begins in Los Angeles on Halloween.
Current dates scheduled are:
Friday, Oct 31
Book Soup
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, Nov 3
Elliot Bay Books
Seattle, WA
Thursday, Nov 6
Powell's Books
Portland, OR
Friday, Nov 7
Book Passage
Corte Madera, CA
Tuesday, Nov 11
Joe's Pub
New York City, NY
Additional hard cover copies are now available for book review. To request an interview or copy of the book, please email karen@gorgeousmediagroup.com.
About Who Killed Mr. Moonlight:
A rollicking, heady ride loaded with sex, narcotics, violent spats and some of the most deliciously dark rock music ever created, Who Killed Mister Moonlight? Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction is Bauhaus bassist David J. Haskin’s intimate memoir wherein he describes in captivating detail the seminal spark that led to gothic rock, the turbulent disintegration of his highly influential band and the personal spiritual journey that followed.
Soaring from the glowing embers of punk rock’s cataclysmic burn out, Bauhaus (Peter Murphy on vocals, Daniel Ash on guitar, Kevin Haskins on drums and the author on bass.) initiated post-punk’s primary manifestation. With an inimitable sound and great style, this gang of talented mutant misfits seared their mark on England’s musical scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s , only to “…fly too close to a screaming black sun and die on the Icarus wing,” writes Haskins. Regardless, the band’s pervasive spirit would live on long after its demise, influencing the work of musicians such as Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan and many more.
Featuring cameo appearances by a wide range of fascinating characters, including William S. Burroughs, Genesis P. Orridge and Rick Rubin, and a forward penned by poet and author Jeremy Reed, the autobiography opens with the haunted nativity that resulted in Bauhaus’s debut hit ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, and offers an unmitigated recounting of the band’s rapid rise to fame and glory in the late 70s, their sudden dissolution in the 80s, and their subsequent—and often contentious—reunions. Where it is germane, Haskins also touches on his work with Love and Rockets and various other collaborators and delves deep into his exploration of the occult.
The book’s publication will be supported with live performances by Haskins in both the U.S. and Europe.
Brimming with wit, wisdom and wonder, Who Killed Mister Moonlight? Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction is a one of a kind rock ’n’ roll memoir.