Screaming Dead

The band, named after the English title of Drácula contra Frankenstein, the 1972 horror film directed by Jesús Franco, was formed by guitarist Tony McCormack, who recruited former singer with The Waste, Sam Missile, bass guitarist Mal Page, and drummer Mark Ogilvie.

The band built up a strong local following which spread farther afield with coverage in fanzines such as Gez Lowery’s Rising Free and through sales of their demo tape. They followed their first tape with a more formal release, the Children Of The Boneyard Stones cassette, which came with a badge and a copy of the band’s own fanzine, Warcry.

They then self-financed their debut vinyl release, the ‘Valley of the Dead’ 7″ single, initially released on their own Skull Records label, but when it sold out of its first pressing within a week it was picked up by No Future records. The band’s next release, the ‘Night Creatures’ 12″ single, saw them break into the UK Indie Chart, reaching number 22 in September 1983.

While the band were at times tagged as Goths, the label was rejected by Bignall, who in a posthumous interview stated “Screaming Dead were a punk rock band, there’s no doubt about that! We had a bit of an interest in the horror theme, and that was how we decided to present ourselves.”

For their next release, the band recorded a cover of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’ which was also an indie hit and was recorded as a tribute of sorts to Brian Jones who is buried in their hometown of Cheltenham. In 1984, taking inspiration from X-Ray Spex, the band recruited saxophonist Nick Upton, the band also signing to Nine Mile Records, who issued their last two releases ‘The Danse Macabre Collection’ 12” and ‘A Dream Of Yesterday’ 12” on the Angel label. The change in sound lost a lot of fans, and with interest in punk rock declining, the band eventually split up in 1985.

Night Creatures

Formed in 1980 Screaming Dead were a punk band with a strong interest in the dark and morbid. Inspired by the Ramones and Sex Pistols the Screaming Dead’s early tracks are gloriously brash, immediate slices of fast and furious splatter Punk Rock. Visually the band was informed by British Punk’s original sense of sartorial individuality and style, a deep appreciation of Hammer Horror films, the sleaze trash glamour of the New York Dolls and the brooding malevolence of early-Seventies era Rolling Stones. The striking look, which included a liberal use of make-up, ensured the band stood out from the Punk and Oi crowd. They dubbed themselves ‘Horror Punk’. By 1983, a redefinition of the band’s artwork and a musical move towards atmospherically dark, romantically melancholic material resulted in the Screaming Dead’s transformation into a truly original band. It was confirmed on record by that year’s magnificent Night Creatures 12” EP. However, as so often happens with pioneers it’s left to others to pick up the major accolades. In this case, just remember that long before Death Cult, Sex Gang Children, Alien Sex Fiend, Sisters Of Mercy, The Mission and a raft of others who found widespread success and adoration playing Punk infused dark music (later labelled Goth, Death Rock and a myriad of other terms) there was the Screaming Dead; the true instigators, originators and motivators.