[3] The group consisted of Daniel Ash (guitar, saxophone), Peter Murphy (vocals, occasional instruments), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass).

[5] Their 1981 second album Mask expanded their sound by incorporating a wider variety of instruments—such as keyboards, saxophone and acoustic guitar—and experimenting with funk-inspired rhythms on tracks like "Kick in the Eye".

[21][22] "Bela Lugosi's Dead" was strongly influenced by the band's interest in reggae and dub, styles in which the bass and the drums play prominent roles.

[23] Daniel Ash explained the inception of the song: "I was talking to David (J, bass) on the blower one night and told him I had this riff, using these trick chords that had a very haunting quality to it.

"[27] Signing with the 4AD label, Bauhaus released two more singles, "Dark Entries" in January 1980 and "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" in June 1980, before issuing their first album In the Flat Field in October 1980.

[32] One of Bauhaus' first US shows was in a venue called Space Place in Chicago, Illinois in September 1980, booked by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, the owners of the independent record label Wax Trax!

In an unconventional move, the group shot a video for the album's title track as a promotional tool for the band, rather than any specific song from the record, filmed in a hazardous and abandoned Victorian shoe factory in Northampton.

David J explained: "Once we had filmed the scenes in the factory, we set off for a second location: the woods on the grounds of the Spencer family's country estate – another illegal situation, and a potential threat to the monarchy.

"[42] The music video was originally intended to show a physical representation of the spirit, including "a single dancer with a white face mask and body paint who would come onto the stage whilst the band performed the song and literally 'lift' Peter and give him wings.

[44] Nico made a guest appearance when the band played a gig in Salford University for a cover performance of the Velvet Underground song, "I'm Waiting for the Man".

[55] This correspondence came about due to Halkett's younger neighbor telling him of hearing about a group called Bauhaus on the John Peel Show on BBC radio.

With "Nothing", David has written a perfect arrangement for what is a quite concentrated philosophical idea and it becomes so much more than the words..." [58] After Bauhaus disbanded, the members of the band began solo work.

Murphy worked briefly with bassist Mick Karn of Japan in the band Dalis Car before embarking on a solo career with albums such as Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986), Love Hysteria (1988) and Deep (1989).

According to David J, the bands Bauhaus related to in the post-punk scene were Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Devo, Gang of Four, Cabaret Voltaire, and the Pop Group.

[39] Among bands and singers who influenced Bauhaus, they cited Siouxsie and the Banshees,[82] David Bowie, T-Rex, Roxy Music, Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd,[83] New York Dolls,[84] Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the Doors,[39] Alice Cooper,[39] MC5,[85] Ramones,[39] the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Residents,[86] Captain Beefheart,[87] Suicide,[39] Kraftwerk,[88] Neu!,[89] Can,[90] Faust,[89][90] the Beatles, the Rolling Stones,[91] the Who,[92] Bob Dylan,[39] Tom Waits,[39] Serge Gainsbourg,[39] Lee Scratch Perry,[93] King Tubby,[93] Mikey Dread,[94] Kurt Weill,[57] Scott Walker,[95] and Jacques Brel.

[100] Peter Murphy cited Doris Day, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, the Everly Brothers and his experiences from Mass in Catholic school as highly influential to his singing.

"[106] Ash also mentioned his appreciation of bands such as the Only Ones, the Damned, Television, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and said that the Stooges' Raw Power as one of his all-time favorite records.

As David explained: "At the time, Northampton had a large Rastafarian population, centred around the Matta Fancanta Youth Movement, which had its base at the old Salvation Army Citadel on the corner of Sheep Street, just across from Derngate Bus Station.

They would hold monthly events featuring two outfits competing against each other, spinning dub plates—instrumental tracks direct from Jamaica—and blasting them over the huge speakers while their respective 'toasters' took turns freestyling over the top.

They would really go to town, painting up the entire place in the red, green, and gold of the Ethiopian flag and wearing suits and outsized hats to match, while the women would dye their hair.

[114][115][116][117][39][89] Outside of music, Bauhaus's influences were often artistic and literary and included William S. Burroughs,[118] Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac,[119] Bertolt Brecht,[57] Arthur Rimbaud,[39] Charles Baudelaire, Comte de Lautréamont,[120] Jean Cocteau, André Breton, Surrealism,[39] German Expressionism, Greek Mythology,[121] Ingmar Bergman,[39] David Lynch, Oscar Wilde,[122] Franz Kafka[39] and Antonin Artaud.

"[123] Bauhaus combined these influences to create a gloomy, earnest and introspective version of post-punk,[124] which appealed to many music fans who felt disillusioned in the wake of punk's collapse.

That said a lot for our confidence and courage and total absurdity; that it was possible to demonstrate that those ideas form an artistic point of view, come from another outside force – i.e. the collective creative thing.

[139] Likewise, Kevin Haskins felt that bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees were more influential to goth subculture than themselves and mentioned that Bauhaus were "...more three dimensional, more art rock".

[141] Various bands and artists with goth associations pointed to Bauhaus as an inspiration, including Type O Negative,[142] Alien Sex Fiend,[143] Zola Jesus,[144] Deine Lakaien,[145] AFI,[146] Buck-Tick,[147][148][149] Lycia,[150] Jaz Coleman (of Killing Joke),[151] the Cult,[152] Glenn Danzig (of Misfits),[153] Greg Mackintosh (of Paradise Lost),[154] She Wants Revenge,[155] the Dresden Dolls,[156] Soul Merchants,[157] She Past Away[158] and Wolfsheim.

[160] Bauhaus were also influential upon many industrial rock groups and artists, like Ministry,[161] Marilyn Manson,[162][163] Nine Inch Nails,[164][165] Nitzer Ebb,[166][167] and Skinny Puppy.

[168] In addition, Bauhaus were hailed by various alternative/indie rock performers and groups, including the Flaming Lips,[169] Steve Albini (of Big Black),[170][171] Jehnny Beth of Savages,[172][173][174] Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement),[175] Alan Sparhawk (of Low),[176] Bradford Cox (of Deerhunter),[177] Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Trees),[178] Jesse Hughes (of the Eagles of Death Metal),[179] Courtney Taylor-Taylor (of the Dandy Warhols),[180] Jeff Ament (of Pearl Jam),[181][182] Alex Henry Foster (of Your Favorite Enemies),[183] Nicholas Thorburn (of Islands),[184] Matt Noveskey (of Blue October),[185] Jane's Addiction,[186][187][188][189] Soundgarden,[190][191][192] the Smashing Pumpkins,[193] A Neon Rome,[194] ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead,[195] Hole,[196] whose lead singer Courtney Love admitted that a lot of her songs are "complete Bauhaus rip-offs",[197] Interpol,[198] My Chemical Romance,[199] the Twilight Sad,[200] Shearwater,[201] and Elliott Smith.

[260][261][262][263][264] Additionally, comic book writer Alan Moore wrote the sleeve notes of Mask and contributed an anonymous Bauhaus review called "Phantoms of the Teenage Opera" to the UK music paper Sounds.

[265][266][267] The 1984 music video of the song "You're the Inspiration" from the American band Chicago featured lead singer Peter Cetera wearing a Bauhaus T-shirt.

[269][270] In the Beavis and Butt-head season 3 episode "Meet God, Part II" (1993), they view and comment on a music video for Bauhaus' Bowie cover, "Ziggy Stardust".