Tones on Tail: Glenn Campling, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins
If you’ve ever gone looking for live footage of Tones on Tail — Daniel Ash’s and Kevin Haskins’ short-lived post-Bauhaus, pre-Love and Rockets musical project — you know what a black hole that is. Which is why it’s so thrilling to see Glenn Campling, the band’s erstwhile bassist, sharing incredibly rare live footage of the trio performing in Scotland in 1984.
Campling has been uploading footage of Tones on Tail’s May 27, 1984, set at Night Moves in Glasgow to his YouTube channel for the past week, sharing the first seven songs from the 11-song performance. (Missing: A cover of Bauhaus’ “Slice of Life,” “Go!,” “There’s Only One” and “OK, This is the Pops”)
Watch it below.
In a new interview with Torched Magazine, Campling explains that the performance was filmed by former Bauhaus manager Graham Bentley, who recently has been converting old live footage from Betamax to digital. He re-discovered the Tones on Tail video along with the desk audio recorded by sound engineer Pete Edwards — who worked for Bauhaus and Tones on Tail — and sent it to Campling.
“After much fiddling and twiddling, I’ve combined the desk audio with the live footage to produce a very rich sound,” Campling told Torched Magazine. “I also thought to add some backstage fun and frolics in the mix — a personal insight, reflecting our light-hearted mood at the time.”
By the end of 1984, Tones on Tail would be over, and Ash and Haskins re-teamed with Bauhaus bassist David J as Love and Rockets. In 2017, Haskins and Ash formed Poptone — with Haskins’ daughter, Diva Dompe, on bass — and performed sets heavy on Tones on Tail material, with some Bauhaus and Love and Rockets thrown in. Now Ash and Haskins are reuniting with their Bauhaus bandmates for at least two shows in Hollywood this fall. As for Campling, he’s making music in a new group called Lonestation.
Below, check out a playlist of the live Tones on Tail material that Campling has uploaded to YouTube. Update: We’ve added three more songs to it.
And head over to Torched Magazine to read the full interview with Campling.
Tones on Tail
Live at Night Moves, Glasgow, Scotland — May 27, 1984
1. “War”
2. “Performance”
3. “Burning Skies”
4. “Lions”
5. “The Never Never (Is Forever)”
6. “Happiness”
7. “Movement of Fear”
8. “Slice of Life” (Video missing)
9. “Go!”
10. “There’s Only One”
11. “OK, This is the Pops”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Undead, undead, undead: Bauhaus reunites for first concert in 13 years this November
- Watch: Poptone plays Tones on Tail’s ‘Go!’ live — plus 20-minute interview with group
- First look at Tones on Tail-heavy setlist from Poptone featuring Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins
- Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins reunite as Poptone, will resurrect old bands’ music on U.S. tour
- Tones on Tail ‘Weird Pop’ vinyl best-of to feature rare and unreleased tracks
The setlist is here: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/tones-on-tail/1984/night-moves-glasgow-scotland-3bcb1418.html
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Slicing Up Eyeballs completely rocks!
I’m hearing a little Gang of Four influence—angular choppy guitar etc. & this is a nice performance by Tones On Tail.
Used to get really stoned in college listening to these guys, but not sure why I bothered. Their songs were a serious trip even without drugs.
When I saw Poptone, it was Izzy Glaudini on bass and not Haskins’ daughter, Diva Dompe. Izzy Glaudini is in a band with Diva Dompe however, called Automatic.