Theatre of Hate are a British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band formed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, in 1980. Led by singer-songwriter

Kirk Brandon Kirk Brandon (born 3 August 1956) is an English musician best known as the leader of the bands Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny and a former lover of Boy George. Musical career Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, south Lo ...

(formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of

the Straps The Straps are an England, English streetpunk band, formed in 1977 in Battersea, South London by vocalist Howard Jackson and guitarists Dave Reeves & Steve MacIntosh & Brad Day on drums Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

and the Straps).

The Pack

The Pack were a British punk rock band formed in 1978, comprising

on guitars and vocals, Simon Werner (died 26 November 2010) on guitars, Jonathan Werner on bass, and Rab Fae Beith (later of

UK Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

) on drums. Beith was eventually replaced by Jim Walker.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Spear of Destiny", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, The band released two singles in 1979, ""Heathen" and "King of Kings", and the ''Kirk Brandon & The Pack of Lies'' EP in 1980, before splitting. Their posthumous releases were the ''Long Live the Past'' EP (1982), ''The Pack Live'' 1982 live album, recorded in 1979 and released on cassette only on Walker's Donut Records label, and the collection ''Dead Ronin'' (2001).

Discography

Live albums

*''The Pack Live'' (1982, Donut Records)

Compilation albums

*''Dead Ronin'' (2001, Yeaah!)

Singles and EPs

Theatre of Hate

In 1980, The Pack disbanded. Joined by Luke Rendle (drums), Steve Guthrie (guitar), and John Lennard (saxophone), bassist Stan Stammers completed Brandon's line-up to form Theatre of Hate; the Werner brothers subsequently joined

The Straps The Straps are an England, English streetpunk band, formed in 1977 in Battersea, South London by vocalist Howard Jackson and guitarists Dave Reeves & Steve MacIntosh & Brad Day on drums street punk band Stammers had played for prior. Inspired by

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

's book '' Theatre and its Double'', the new band took its name from the concept of the

Theatre of Cruelty The Theatre of Cruelty (french: Théâtre de la Cruauté, also french: Théâtre cruel) is a form of theatre generally associated with Antonin Artaud. Artaud, who was briefly a member of the surrealist movement, outlined his theories in ''The Theat ...

: "Artaud called for the emotional involvement of the audience. Singer Brandon borrowed the thespian term because he was trying to do the same." "Original Sin", Theatre of Hate's first single, was released in November 1980 as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "Legion"; reaching No. 5 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, it was followed by the singles "Rebel Without a Brain" in April 1981, and "Nero" in July. Early attention focused on the band as a live act, its full-length debut in 1981 being the album ''He Who Dares Wins (Live at the Warehouse Leeds)'', released on vinyl by Burning Rome Records. Guthrie left the band shortly after the album's release. Another live recording followed, ''Live at the Lyceum'', issued on cassette, also in 1981. In August 1981, Mick Jones of

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

produced ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'', Theatre of Hate's first (and only) studio album to be released prior to the band's dissolution the following year. Guitarist

Billy Duffy William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult. Early life Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playing the guit ...

(formerly of

The Nosebleeds The Nosebleeds are a punk band formed in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England in 1976. The band is well known in modern rock history for the later successes of its individual members, notably Morrissey (the Smiths), Billy Duffy (the Cult), and Vin ...

) joined the band soon after the album had been recorded, and drummer Rendle was replaced by

Nigel Preston Nigel Preston (4 April 1963, Birmingham, England – 1 April 1992) was an English drummer. He was a founding member of the Cult. He also played and recorded with Theatre of Hate, Sex Gang Children, the Baby Snakes, the Gun Club and DeLuca. He ...

. Heralded by the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

single "Do You Believe in the West World" (which afforded the new line-up the band's one appearance on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

), ''Westworld'' was released in February 1982 by Burning Rome Records, peaking at No. 17 the following month during its seven week run in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Recorded in September 1981 in Berlin, the live album ''He Who Dares Wins'' was also released in February in an attempt to curtail the sale of bootlegged recordings of Theatre of Hate concerts. A follow-up single, "The Hop", was released in May 1982 and peaked at No. 70. Of the two further singles planned for release, only "Eastworld" was issued, in August. In 1984, and subsequent to Theatre of Hate's split two years previous, Burning Rome Records released ''Revolution'', a compilation album that spent three weeks in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 67. This posthumous album also included "Americanos", Theatre of Hate's final, unreleased single.

Other projects

Brandon went on to front

Spear of Destiny A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

with bassist Stammers. Brandon also was a founding member of the punk

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Dead Men Walking Dead Men Walking are a British based rock supergroup with a multi national line-up, who have toured the UK, Ireland and the United States. From 2001 to 2006 they were led by Mike Peters of the Alarm and Kirk Brandon, of Spear of Destiny, with a ...

, while Stammers formed

Plastic Eaters Plastic Eaters are a punk rock group formed in 1996 by English musician Stan Stammers and vocalist Rob Daly. Stammers was formerly bass player with Theatre of Hate and later Spear of Destiny. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, the band are n ...

in 1996. Preston played with

Sex Gang Children Sex Gang Children are an early gothic rock and post-punk band that formed in early 1982 in Brixton in London, England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, their singles and various other tracks have been pack ...

before joining former bandmate Duffy as drummer for

the Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

on their 1984 album ''

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...

''. Preston later played with

the Baby Snakes The Baby Snakes were an Irish rock band formed in 1985. The original line-up featured Frank Rynne, Niall O'Sullivan and Johnny Bonney. In October 1985 they recorded a radio session for Dave Fanning's RTÉ radio show and reached No. 13 in Fanning ...

and

the Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club w ...

. He died in 1992.

Reformation

Theatre of Hate reformed in 1991 for the Return to 8 tour, which included original band members Brandon, Stammers and Lennard, with the addition of three Spear of Destiny members, guitarist

Mark Thwaite Mark Gemini Thwaite (born 15 June 1965) also known as MGT, is an English musician, and has been the guitarist for a number of rock bands and artists over the last two decades, including The Mission, Trip-Hop pioneer Tricky, Peter Murphy of Bau ...

(also formerly of the Mission), drummer

Pete Barnacle Pete Barnacle is an English rock drummer who has played for various bands including Gillan,Thompson, Dave (2004) ''Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story'', ECW Press, , p. 214 Girl,Jasper, Tony & Oliver, Derek (1985) ''The international En ...

and keyboard player Volker Janssen. A live recording of the

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further developme ...

show featuring this line-up was later included in the ''Act 4'' compilation. Theatre of Hate's unreleased second studio album, recorded in 1982, was released as ''Ten Years After'' in 1993. In 1994, a line-up of Brandon, Stammers, guitarist John McNutt and drummer Art Smith went into Mix-O-Lydian Studio in

Boonton Boonton is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline of 149 (− ...

, New Jersey with producer Brad Morrison to record a new album under the Theatre of Hate banner. As ''Stone in the Rain'', it was released by

Anagram Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

in 1995, credited to Kirk Brandon's 10:51; it was released in the US a year later as a Theatre of Hate album, retitled ''Retribution''. A 1996 tour featuring a line-up of Brandon, McNutt, Smith and new bassist Knut Knutson resulted in the live album ''Retribution Over the Westworld'', issued that year by Receiver Records. Another album of 1982 material recorded with Jones, ''

Aria of the Devil ''Aria of the Devil'' is the second of two studio albums by Theatre of Hate issued posthumously after the band's dissolution in 1983. It was released in 1998 by Original Masters/Snapper Music Track listing All songs written by Kirk Brandon. # ...

'', was released in 1998 by

Snapper Music Snapper Music is an independent record label founded in 1996 by former head of Castle Communications Jon Beecher, Dougie Dudgeon and funded by Mark Levinson from Palan Music Publishing. In 1999, Snapper broke away from its Palan parent company ...

, while ''Live at the Lyceum'' was reissued as ''Love Is a Ghost'' in 2000. To coincide with ''Westworlds 25th anniversary, Theatre of Hate reformed for a week-long tour culminating at the

Carling Academy Islington The O2 Academy Islington, formerly known as the Carling Academy Islington, is an indoor music venue situated in the N1 Shopping Centre accessible via Upper Street and Liverpool Road, in the London Borough of Islington. It is run by the Academy ...

on 29 April 2007. Of the original line-up, only Stammers was unavailable, due to conflicting schedules and family commitments in the US where he now lives. Replacing him was Craig Adams (former bassist for numerous bands including

the Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasin ...

, the Mission, the Cult,

the Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh languag ...

and Spear of Destiny), joining Brandon, Guthrie, Lennard and Rendle for the reunion. In May 2012, Theatre of Hate, with a line-up of Brandon, Stammers and Lennard, augmented by

Adrian Portas Adrian Portas is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Portas plays several instruments including guitar, keyboards, and drums. He has been a member of the bands Dollface, New Model Army, and Sex Gang Children. Portas wrote all of the song ...

(

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

, Sex Gang Children, Spear of Destiny) on guitar and Mike Kelly on drums, reunited again for three ''Westworld'' 30th anniversary concerts, held in Bristol, London and

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

. 2013 concerts in Birmingham and Bristol with this line-up were self-released as the CD/DVD set ''Live 2013''. After Kelly was replaced by Danny Ferrani, Theatre of Hate recorded a new four-song EP, ''Slave'', self-released in 2014,. The band issued a free single, "Day of the Dog", in 2015. In 2016, Theatre of Hate released the album ''Kinshi'', self-released via

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

. It was followed by ''Black Irony'' the following year and ''Utsukushi-sa (A Thing Of Beauty)'' in 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1982, Burning Rome Records) (UK No. 17) *''Ten Years After'' (1993, Mau Mau Records) *'' Retribution'' (1996, Dojo Records) *''

'' (1998,

) *''Kinshi'' (2016, self-released) *''Utsukushi-sa (A Thing Of Beauty)'' (2020, Eastersnow Recording Company)

Live albums

*''He Who Dares Wins (Live at the Warehouse Leeds)'' (1981, Burning Rome Records) (UK Indie No. 1) *''Live at the Lyceum'' (1981, Straight Music) *''He Who Dares Wins'' (1982, Burning Rome Records) (UK Indie No. 3) *''Original Sin · Live'' (1985, Dojo Records) (UK Indie No. 12) *''Retribution Over the Westworld'' (1996, Receiver Records) *''He Who Dares Wins/He Who Dares Wins II'' (1996, Dojo Records) *''Love Is a Ghost'' (2000, Receiver Records) *''Live at the Astoria 91'' (2006, Easterstone) *''Live in 82'' (2006, Easterstone) *''Live in Sweden'' (2006, Easterstone) *''Live 2013'' (2014, self-released)

Compilation albums

*''Revolution'' (1983, Burning Rome Records) (UK No. 67, UK Indie No. 1) *''The Complete Singles Collection'' (1995,

) *''The Best Of'' (1996, Dojo Records) *''Act 1'' (''Revolution'' and ''Live in Sweden 81'') (1998, Eastworld Recordings) *''Act 2'' (''Ten Years After'' and ''He Who Dares Wins 1'') (1998, Eastworld Recordings) *''Act 3'' (''Retribution'' and ''Live at Bingley Hall 82'') (1998, Eastworld Recordings) *''Act 4'' (''T.O.H the Sessions'' and ''Live at the Astoria 91'') (1998, Eastworld Recordings) *''Act 5'' (''The Singles'' and ''He Who Dares 2'') (1998, Eastworld Recordings) *''The Best of Theatre of Hate'' (2000, Recall2cd) *''The Singles' (2001, Neon)'' *''Hits from the Westworld'' (2001, Dressed to Kill) *''Propaganda – The Best of Theatre of Hate'' (2001, Music Club) *''The Singles Collection'' (2002, Yeaah!) *''The Sessions'' (2006, Easterstone) *''Artificial Sunlight'' with

(2011, Easterstone) *''Westworld 30th Anniversary'' (2014, Eastersnow Recording Company)

Singles

Reference work

*''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' No. 102 (February 1988)
Chart runs in the UK Singles Chart since 1952

References

External links

Kirk Brandon's official websiteStan Stammers' official website
{{Authority control English gothic rock groups English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1980