The Leather Nun: Force Of Habit 1987

 

The Leather Nun are a Swedish rock group. Careening from garage rock to goth and pop-rock, Leather

Nun became cult heroes in their native land and wide abroad. The Leather Nun (a.k.a. "Lädernunnan") was formed in 1978 in Gothenburg, Sweden by radio DJ and fanzine editor Jonas Almquist (vocals) who, after getting agreement from Genesis P. Orridge to release a single on the Industrial Records label, recruited Bengt "Aron" Aronsson (guitar), Freddie Wadling (bass), and Gert Claesson (drums), all from punk band Strait Jacket.
                                         

Naming themselves after a London stripper and inspired by both Throbbing Gristle and Lou Reed (Almqvist's half-spoken, half-sung vocals were obviously patterned after Reed's), Leather Nun recorded

their industrial-leaning debut EP, Slow Death, in 1979. Although many people think so, Jonas Almquist says the band did not take their name from the American underground comic Tales from the Leather Nun. He also tells that it was not taken from the stage name of a London stripper, but chosen because "it felt just as a clockwork name for a band who based its music on the dynamics between the pure innocent and the black shameful ...".
                        

                                           
In the early 1980s, the band soon attracted controversy by showing adult movies as part of their live shows and often shocked some audiences by being accompanied by strippers when on stage and over

their use of hard-core gay pornography. A handful of singles followed before The Leather Nun released their first LP, Alive in 1985, a live album recorded in Denmark. A handful of singles followed before Leather Nun released their first live LP, Alive, in 1985. Their debut, Lust Games, followed the year after. The group's imported singles found their way onto U.S. college radio stations, earning substantial airplay with "Pink House," a deadpan parody of John Mellencamp's "Pink Houses." Their sophomore effort, Steel Construction, was issued in 1987, as Leather Nun's American audience began to eclipse their small following in Sweden.
                                

In 1987 the group released the top-selling compilation LP Force of Habit (consisting of the handful of

singles plus other tracks from Lust Games), first in the US, adorned with a controversial cover shot by photographer Mick Rock. Also in 1987 "Jesus Came Driving Along" appeared in the soundtrack of the film Dudes and gained them more airplay and success. 1987 even saw the release, but only in the EU, of their second studio album, Steel Construction, which was critically acclaimed and also reached No. 5 in the UK Indie Chart.
                          

In 1988 The Leather Nun were reviewed in Rolling Stone and quoted to be the first rock act to sell condoms as tour merchandise. It was during a sold-out Leather Nun-show at the legendary Scream club

in Los Angeles, that The Cult-vocalist Ian Astbury (major Leather Nun-fan) met with Swedish Leather Nun-fan and to-be video director Jonas Åkerlund (Madonna, The Prodigy, Metallica, Lady GaGa) and forming a long-standing friendship. Jonas Åkerlund used music by The Leather Nun in his debut movie Spun feat Mickey Rourke. In August 1988 the band played at the 'Glasnost Rock' festival in Tallinn, Estonia, the first international rock festival to be staged in the Soviet Union, together with amongst others Big Country and PiL.
                      

Their third studio album, International Heroes, was produced by Kim Fowley and was released in 1990,

again only in Europa! While releasing their fourth studio album Nun Permanent (produced by Mick Ronson) in winter 1991, their record company went bankrupt and could no longer deliver copies of the album. Being without a record company The Leather Nun continued to play gigs for a few years, but never got so successful again. The group finally broke up in 1995, but has reunited on some occasions since then. In 2005 they had a short very successful comeback, but did not release any new albums.
                             

The band released the Mick Ronson-produced Nun Permanent in late 1991. The band eventually split

up in 1995. While Leather Nun occasionally reunited in the years that followed -- Almqvist even formed a tribute band, Leather Nun: Reloaded, in 2009 -- it wasn't until 2015 that they returned with their fifth album, the Bowie-meets-Sisters of Mercy Whatever (Wild Kingdom/Sound Pollution), their first in nearly 25 years. In 2017, they issued Vive La Fete! Vive La Revolution, a recording of their Glasnost Rock '88 festival appearance.
                          

The Leather Nun – Force Of Habit
Label: Wire Records – WRCD 008
Format:    CD, Compilation
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Alternative Rock

TRAXS

                           

01. I Can Smell Your Thoughts   4:18
Guitar – Jim Lagneforce
Keyboards – Fredrik Adlers
Remix – Aron
Written-By – Aronsson, Almqvist
02. Jesus Came Driving Along   3:12
Written-By – Aronsson
03. Pink House   3:56
Written-By – Aronsson, Almqvist
04. For The Love Of Your Eyes   5:07
Written-By – Almqvist
05. 506   6:17
Written-By – Almqvist
06. Desolation Avenue   7:34
Written-By – Aronsson, Almqvist
07. Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)   3:54
Written-By – Andersson/Ulveus
08. Prime Mover   4:57
Written-By – Aronsson, Claesson, Almqvist
09. Death Threats   0:56
Written-By – Almqvist
10. Have Sex With Me   4:25
Written-By – Almqvist
11. F.F.A.   5:55
Written-By – Aronsson, Wadling, Claesson, Almqvist, Cazazza
12. No Rule    3:00
Written-By – Almqvist
13. Lollipop   4:30
Written-By – Aronsson, Almqvist
14. Fly Angels Fly   2:57
Written-By – Almqvist
15. On The Road   3:12
Written-By – Aronsson, Almqvist

MEMBERS

                        

Vocals – Jonas Almqvist
Bass – Anders Ollson
Drums – Gert Claesson
Guitar – Nils Wohlrabe
Guitar, Keyboards – Bengt 'Aron' Aronsson
Management – Mike's Artist Management
Producer – Aron (tracks: 6, 13), Bill Buchanan (tracks: 1 to 4, 7, 10,), The Leather Nun (tracks: 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 147 MB
Flac  Size: 425 MB