Watch Stan Lee duet with Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy on ‘That Old Black Magic’
Whilst there might be much that separates the art of Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy and the late comic book pioneer Stan Lee, more connects them than meets the eye.
Although not to the same extent as Lee, Murphy has had a tremendous impact on comics. This comes via Neil Gaiman’s widely influential title, The Sandman. The series’ main character is Dream, who also goes by the name of Morpheus among many others. He is one of the seven ‘Endless’, a group of beings also featuring Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium and Destruction. Morpheus is the Lord of Dreams, and the story follows his journey to reclaim his kingdom after being captured by cultists, with the overarching theme that, often, change is unavoidable.
Gaiman based Dream on the Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy. A well-known fanatic of good music, Gaiman has discussed his love of the likes of Tori Amos and The Velvet Underground over the years, with him also a fan of the British goth pioneers. When creating Dream, one of his most famous characters, he looked to the Bauhaus man for inspiration. The author wrote on his Tumblr in 2013: “The original idea-model for Morpheus was Peter Murphy from Bauhaus.”
Before this, in 1997’s The Sandman Covers, Gaiman said: “The Sandman image was inspired by Peter Murphy, the ex-Bauhaus singer and Maxell tape model because when artist Mike Dringenberg saw the original sketches for the character, he said: ‘He looks like Peter Murphy from Bauhaus.'”
Therefore, when the event ‘Stan Lee’s In Parties’ – a nod to the Bauhaus track ‘She’s In Parties’ – materialised in September 2012 at Los Angeles’ Club Nokia, people shouldn’t have been too surprised. Held to commence the Marvel Comics legend’s annual Comikaze festival, the evening featured a set from Murphy, which saw him play a host of classic songs. However, the night’s highlight was when Stan Lee joined him on stage to cover the classic American standard, ‘That Old Black Magic’.
Notably, Harold Arlen wrote the song with lyrics by Johnny Mercer in 1942. Since then, the likes of Glenn Miller, Gordon Jenkins, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr. have all recorded versions of it, popularising it as a classic song from America’s swing age. Featuring gothic lyrics, it appealed to the supernatural elements found in both Murphy and Lee’s respective oeuvres.
Welcoming Stan Lee to the stage in 2012, Peter Murphy told the audience, “Stan informed a lot of my childhood. Thor, Odin,” with the comic book legend asking them, “Exciting isn’t it?” The 89-year-old Spider-Man creator was in energetic spirits for the performance and, at one point, looked at Murphy and joked, “I wish he was a girl!”
Watch Peter Murphy and Stan Lee perform ‘Old Black Magic’ below.