of the UK in the same scene either. So people - fans and press - noticed that we were trying something a little out of the ordinary. Also, things happened very quickly for us -Ausgang's 1st ever show on Sept 28, 1983 was in a medium range venue called The Powerhouse in Birmingham, which hosted 'alternative' nights, and it was packed and we went down a storm! Our 2nd show was supporting Hanoi Rocks at another large Birmingham venue, the Tower Ballroom, our 3rd was supporting Sex Gang Children at another big venue, Digbeth Civic Hall, and our 4th show was our debut in London. From these we received local and national reviews. And in 1984 we were signed to Criminal Damage Records, who put out our 1st 3 singles. We felt like we were kings of the world!!! Kings of the world, now that you mention that, makes me spontaneously think of the ‘Weight’ videoclip released by Cherry Red Records. Such a vibrant and lifely performance. Ausgang for sure owns the stage! Cherry Red Records by the way, or better yet, Anagram Records (which is a division of Cherry Red Records) released a ‘Best of’ album in 2001. How did that collaboration happen? So, Tim Madgwick from Cherry Red Records got in touch with me out of the blue and asked if I'd be interested in putting together a 'best of Ausgang' album for the label. Of course I said yes, but I wondered why after all this time? After all, we split in 1987. It became obvious that without us even knowing it, interest in Ausgang had continued in the underground 'Goth' and 'Deathrock' scenes - especially in the rest of Europe and America. So, I chose the track listing, wrote the sleeve notes and oversaw the artwork.'Last Exit' was born. When it was released, I received quite a few emails asking us to perform shows around the world from promoters who obviously thought we'd reformed. I said no - I don't do that anymore. But when I got in touch with the rest of the band to tell them about the album, I mentioned the offers to play live. They thought it was a great idea and convinced me we should do some shows. The first one was the Undercover of Darkness festival in Munster, Germany. It was amazing! A packed venue full of fans half our age, who knew all the words to the songs and who brought their slabs of vintage vinyl for us to sign! We had a blast! That was the start of the Ausgang Revival! - 5 - And then there's also the 2022 'This Was Our Downfall' early demos & rarities compilation released by Old Skull Records & Bat-Cave Productions. What is Ausgang up to these days? I came across a box of old Kabuki and early Ausgang demo cassette tapes in a box that I'd forgotten all about. I had no way of playing them as I no longer had a cassette player. I just happened to mention this to an old Ausgang fan, Paul Rabjohn, who said he could digitise the cassettes. When he sent me the memory stick with the songs on, I was amazed how good they sounded! Mick Mercer suggested I put them up on bandcamp, which I did,and lots of people started buying the downloads. Then Batcave Productions/Old Skull got in touch with me to ask if we'd like to release them as a vinyl album on their label. We knew those guys from when they promoted a few shows for us in Poland, so we were more than happy to collaborate with them. Now we have a new drummer, Victor, and bass player, Sarah and we're playing all over the world. We've got Germany coming up, London, San Antonio and Mexico City. We're writing new material all the time and we're currently deciding what our next release should be. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be
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