“Cuts You Up” – Peter Murphy
When seminal Goth band Bauhaus broke up in the early 80s, its members went two ways. Daniel Ash, David J, and Keith Haskins went mainstream with their new band Love and Rockets. But former lead singer Peter Murphy continued to make darker music that, while not pure Goth, certainly was aimed more at the college/alternative/modern rock audience.
This single, released in early 1990, was Murphy’s biggest solo hit. It spent a then-record seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock chart, knocking Love and Rockets’ “So Alive” from #1 in the process. But it had a certain crossover appeal as well. I remember the local station where I went to school – which was part of an automated, satellite network and two years away from going to local DJs and a Modern Rock play list – squeezing it in often between Richard Marx, Madonna, and the B–52s. I’m glad they did. It’s a great song I likely would have missed since I was still listening mostly to Top 40 and New Jack Swing-era R&B at the time.