Love and Rockets’ ‘Earth, Sun, Moon’ turns 39 on 9 September
Love and Rockets released “Earth, Sun, Moon” on 9 September 1987 through Beggars Banquet, produced by the band with Derek Tompkins.
Love and Rockets released its third studio album, “Earth, Sun, Moon”, on 9 September 1987 through Beggars Banquet in the UK, with Big Time Records handling the US release. The album turns 39 this year. Love and Rockets produced the record themselves, assisted by Derek “Guru” Tompkins, with Ted Sharp engineering. A recording studio or location is not documented in the sources checked.
The album followed 1986’s Love and Rockets’ ‘Express’ turns 40 on 15 September and continued the band’s move away from its gothic rock origins toward a more psychedelic, folk-influenced sound. Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins formed Love and Rockets in Northampton, England, in 1985 after the breakup of Bauhaus.
What is on Love and Rockets’ ‘Earth, Sun, Moon’
The original LP runs 12 tracks: “Mirror People”, “The Light”, “Welcome Tomorrow”, “No New Tale to Tell”, “Here on Earth”, “Lazy”, “Waiting for the Flood”, “Rain Bird”, “The Telephone Is Empty”, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven”, “Earth, Sun, Moon” and “Youth”, with a total running time of 49:55. The CD edition added a slow version of “Mirror People” as a bonus track. Mel Thorpe played flute on “No New Tale to Tell”, credited on the sleeve as “‘Monkey Man’ Flute”.
Five singles followed the album’s release: “The Light” (June 1987), “No New Tale to Tell” (September 1987, which reached number 18 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart), “Waiting for the Flood” (December 1987), a remixed “Mirror People” (March 1988) and “Lazy” (June 1988). The album was remastered in 2001, and outtakes from the sessions later appeared on the 2013 box set “5 Albums”.
About Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets formed in Northampton, England, in 1985, when guitarist Daniel Ash, bassist David J and drummer Kevin Haskins regrouped after the 1983 split of their previous band, Bauhaus. Ash and Haskins had also recorded together as Tones on Tail between 1982 and 1984 before David J rejoined them. The new trio signed to Beggars Banquet and released its debut album, “Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven”, in 1985, followed by “Express” in 1986.
“Earth, Sun, Moon” in 1987 gave the band its first US chart entry with “No New Tale to Tell”. The band’s commercial breakthrough came with the 1989 self-titled album “Love and Rockets”, carried by the US top-10 hit “So Alive”. Further albums followed with “Hot Trip to Heaven” (1994), “Sweet F.A.” (1996) and “Lift” (1998), the band’s final studio album before splitting in 1999. Love and Rockets has reunited periodically since, including runs of live dates in the late 2000s and again from 2023.
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