David J

David J
David J in concert in 2006
Background information
Birth name	David John Haskins
Born	24 April 1957 (1957-04-24) (age 54) in Northampton, England
Genres	Alternative rock, gothic rock, post-punk, psychedelic rock
Instruments	Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica
Years active	1979–present
Labels	MCA Beggars Banquet Records Plain Recordings Heyday Situation Two
Associated acts	Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, The Sinister Ducks, The Jazz Butcher, Cabaret Oscuro

David John Haskins (born 24 April 1957, Northampton, England), better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician. He was the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and Love and Rockets.

He is the older brother of Kevin Haskins, also a musician and member of Bauhaus.

Life and work

David J wrote the lyrics of several Bauhaus songs (including their first single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead"). He sang backing vocals on many songs, and sang lead on "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?". He began writing music for a solo career while still in the band, and continued after the band's breakup, releasing the dark Etiquette of Violence and Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh, and played bass on two Jazz Butcher albums (A Scandal in Bohemia and Sex and Travel). J was also a part of the very short-lived band The Sinister Ducks, which included saxophonist Alex Green and comics writer Alan Moore. He also released a collaborative single, "Armour" / "Nothing" with artist and poet Rene Halkett, of the original Weimar Bauhaus school of art and design.

In 1985, J, his brother Kevin Haskins and Daniel Ash formed Love and Rockets: J once again played bass guitar and also shared songwriting and vocal duties with guitarist Daniel Ash. His most notable lead vocal from this period was the minor hit "No New Tale to Tell". J maintained his solo career during breaks from Love and Rockets, releasing Songs from Another Season and Urban Urbane after his band's success with the single "So Alive". He also released one of the first #1 hits from the newly created Modern Rock Tracks charts, with "I'll Be Your Chauffeur". J participated in a Bauhaus reunion in 1998. Love and Rockets broke up in 1999, after seven albums. Following what was billed as a one-off performance of Bauhaus at the 2005 Coachella concert festival, the band reformed for a successful tour of the Americas in late 2005 and Europe in early 2006.

J has also appeared on releases by Porno for Pyros and Jane's Addiction. J joined Joyce Rooks and Don Tyler to make up the instrumental ensemble Three, who released their first album, Evocations in late 2005. He played bass guitar for several tracks on the electro musician Mount Sims' 2005 release Wild Light.^[1]

In 2003, J started work on the instrumental score for an independent film about Elizabeth Short directed by Ramzi Abed, entitled The Devil's Muse. The soundtrack included guest artists and singers such as Ego Plum, Johnny Dowd, Abby Travis and Nora Keyes.^[2] He has also regularly shown his art in galleries across the globe, as well as being a resident DJ at numerous Hollywood hot-spots like The Standard Hotel, Kung Pao Kitty, and Knitting Factory. In 2005 he composed the original music for a stage production of Samuel Beckett's Cascando. In 2008, J wrote and directed a play, Silver for Gold (The Odyssey of Edie Sedgwick).^[3] J also released Go Away White with his Bauhaus bandmates and reformed Love and Rockets, who played at Coachella Music & Arts Festival that same year.

In 2011, J played bass for Voltaire's album Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children!.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details
1983	Etiquette of Violence Label: Situation Two Records
1986	Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh Label: Glass
1989	Songs from Another Season Label: Beggars Banquet Records
1992	Urban Urbane Label: MCA
1995	The Birth Caul Label: Charm
1996	The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theater of Marvels Label: Cleopatra Records
2003	Estranged Label: Heyday

EPs

Year	Album details
1983	"The Promised Land" Label: Glass
1984	"V for Vendetta" Label: Glass
1985	"Blue Moods Turning Tail" Label: Glass
2002	"The Guitarman" Label: Heyday
2003	"Mess Up" Label: Heyday

Singles

Year	Album details
1981	"Nothing/Armour" Label: 4AD
1983	"March of the Sinister Ducks" Label: Situation Two Records
1983	"Joe Orton's Wedding" Label: Situation Two Records
1984	"I Can't Shake This Shadow Of Fear" Label: Situation Two Records
1990	"I'll Be Your Chauffeur" Label: RCA
1990	"Fingers On The Grease" Label: RCA
1992	"Candy On The Cross" Label: MCA
1992	"Space Cowboy" Label: MCA
1992	"Some Big City" Label: MCA
2010	"Hank Williams To The Angel Of Death" Label: iTunes Exclusive
2010	Tidal Wave of Blood Single Label: Saint Rose Records

Compilations

Year	Album details
1986	On Glass Label: Situation Two Records
1998	On Glass: The Singles Label: Cleopatra Records
2003	Embrace Your Dysfunction Label: Heyday

See also

References

1. ^ Metroactive Music
2. ^ Dread Central
3. ^ Suicidegirls.com

External links

• Official website
• AllMusicGuide entry
• Myspace Page
• SuicideGirls interview with David J of Bauhaus
• David J on Combat Radio
• LA Weekly interview
• Los Angeles Stage Times preview of The Chanteuse and the Devil's Muse
• Interview about spectacles for Kirk Originals
• Blog about Not Long For This World, The Chanteuse and the Devil's Muse, Silver for Gold, and David's living room shows
• Interview about Chanteuse
• Hybrid magazine interview about Bauhaus reunion
• Billy Corgan's Starry Records artist page
• Redcat official website page for Silver for Gold

Persondata
Name	J, David
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Date of birth	24 April 1957
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