Pop Culture: The Goth Subculture

The late seventies and early eighties saw the beginning emergence of the Goth subculture: a group of social misfits that appear to always find themselves on the outskirts of mainstream pop culture. It is a complex subculture with great depth and beauty where many of its citizens share a profound connection with the darker aesthetic, are predisposed to depression, and are often willing to explore interpersonal and sexual relationships with little inhibition or regard for societal norms.

There is rarely a single moment in history when one can pinpoint the exact moment when a subculture emerges. It’s a slow building of multiple influences. However, one can definitely pinpoint where the Goth subculture was first identified. Splintering off of the British punk movement, the term “Goth’ was coined in the UK by journalists and public figures in the music industry as early as the late seventies and caught fire in the eighties. In Valerie Steele’s Gothic:Gark Glamour she recounts, “The earliest significant usage of the term (as applied to music) was by Anthony H. Wilson [part owner of Joy Division’s label] when he described Joy Division as Gothic compared to the pop mainstream” during an interview on a BBC program regarding the band’s upcoming record (127). Many people credit Bauhaus as the true grandfather’s of Goth with their release of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” David Thompson and Jo-Ann Greene, “Undead Undead Undead” The Study of Gothic Subculture, uncover that Bauhaus’ intention with the song was tongue-in-cheek, according to frontman Peter Murphy (?). But, the presentation of the song and the band’s aesthetic took to its fans and the Goth subculture was given birth. In addition and along side of Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux of the Banshees ...

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