The Goths

It's hard to give an exact date of birth of gothic. At the end of 70's many new groups emerged with a somewhat dark sound and/or image. Punk preceded it, when there was a need for a distinctive non-conformist alternative culture. Maybe gothic came as a sort of reaction against punk, at the same time a group of people seemed to share certain needs and tastes. New Wave or dark pop music had a lot of influence on people who would later call themselves gothic. Perhaps the first real goth anthem was `Bela Lugosi's dead' by Bauhaus. The story goes that gothic originated from the London club the Batcave, but when this club opened in 1981, gothic already was well on its way. But the bands that performed there, like the Virgin Prunes and Alien Sex Fiend with their horror image, helped to spread the movement.
Gothic music, as all counter-cultural forms, articulated an explicit nonconformist stance “vis-à-vis” the dominant establishment. It opposed narrow sexual mores and traditional established religions. The music celebrated the dark, shadowy side of life and had a distinct fascination with death. Its slow, driving sound was frequently described as melancholy, gloomy, even morbid. Those enthralled by the new gothic culture found the vampire the single most appropriate image for the movement. Uk Decay was labelled as goth, their artwork showed imagery of death and vampires, which became stereotypes and which originated from horror magazines.
Gothic is more than a type of music, it's a lifestyle, it's an attitude. Most people in the gothic scene want to distinguish themselves from the average, everyday world, where there is not much room for fantasy and deviation from the norm. Gothic can be a fantasy world to escape into, a dark romantic world. You can express a gothic feel in music, but also in clothing, art, literature, film. Some have a nostalgia for the past, others embrace modern technology. For some people music is the most important, for others it's more about the look. But it's all interconnected. And there is a variety of styles, not only in music. Take fashion for instance. Some Goths wear romantic clothes, like dresses with lots of lace and velvet. Others prefer a fetish look, with leather and latex. And others don’t care at all if their clothing is gothic enough. Some symbols and icons have become usual in the gothic world, when you look at record covers, flyers, etc. Graves and things to do with death, vampires and witches, ruins and gothic architecture, romantic symbols like roses, Celtic symbols, fetish themes, but also modern `cyber' images and many more. The music, despite the addition of electronic sounds and dance-beats as the genre has evolved to present, continues to emphasize minor chords, sparse, minimalist rhythms, and slower tempos characteristic of an recognizable "eerie" or "gloomy" texture. This type of danceable electronic music is also sometimes called 'dark techno'. Belgium was the founding father of Electronic Body music (EBM).