June 11, 2009
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ON THE RECORD |
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Take What You Can of Him
Decades later, Murphy is pushing 52 (although you’d never notice it with his on-stage antics —he dances, swings his hips, wails out some of the sultriest tunes and, last year, even stripped down to his trousers for a mid-song mic change). On his Web site at petermurphy.info under the header “Just who is he?” (or who people think he is) lives a collection of biographies from various writers. Some claim he has been called a “Literary Mystic,” “Sufi Sage,” “Dark Lord,” the “Most Pretentious Man on Earth,” and just a bloody wanker. Still, as so most artists who know nobody truly understands them or their art, Murphy likes to remain a mystery. Self-promotion is not his forte, nor does he fancy generic album reviews. On his Myspace page, Murphy solipsistically proclaims “I don’t care that you know nothing about me. I’d rather have someone write about me who knows nothing, because I’m sick of these biographies that just repeat the same old simple things, and that attach me to the same old simple past, and that repeat the same old half-truths about who I am and what I do....” A slim Pixie, thin and forlorn? Why yes, don’t mind if we do. He goes on. Agreed. So we will not spend too much time trying to explain his new single “Instant Karma” (the original, of course, by John Lennon) because we don’t want to piss off the Gods. But speaking from experience, as a gallivanting spectator at his last show in South Florida, I can confess I’ve never wanted to run home and make love as much as I did that night — soul-penetrating voice and all that. Well you could call it love. All influence to countless other musicians and genius aside, it’s a show not to be missed, even if you’re not a fan of the music. Although it’s not too clear why you wouldn’t be. At the very least you will be entertained by the between-song comic relief that only, it seems, Murphy could craft. Maybe his voice goes all deep, the smoke swirls about just before the stage, he sways dramatically towards the audience and he says “I bet you all think I talk like this.” True story. Peter Murphy will perform at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach on June 24. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 in advance and $35 at the door. 18+ show. Pick up tickets at respectablestreet.com or call 800-594-8499. |
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Peter Murphy, his persona in tow, will lurch into South Florida like so much fog machine fluid as he makes his way to Respectable Street on June 24 on a not-so-secret “Secret Cover Tour.” The British vocalist, who was the front man of post-punk slash goth overlords Bauhaus, started his singing career in the late ‘70s.