Museum of Devotion formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1986. Our original lineup included James Cooper on vocals, guitar, drum machine and keyboards; and Robert Anderson on lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and programming.
Peter Cooper joined Museum of Devotion as a bass guitarist; and Christi briefly joined the band on vocals and percussion before returning to their original lineup as a duo in 1988.
The first Museum of Devotion album, “…to the Pink Period” was recorded in 1988. The pink period sessions were recorded at Old School House Studios in Ann Arbor, Michigan, under the record label Lively Arts, a division of New Rose Records in Paris, France. The album received critical acclaim[1] [2][3] and positioned the band into the Coldwave genre within the electro-industrial scene along with bands such as This Mortal Coil, The Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, and Asylum Party.[4]
Museum of Devotion released the “Racist” EP in 1989, which featured a more electronic spin to their style, including an aggressive cover of “Groove Line” by the funk group Heatwave.
In 1990, Museum of Devotion pressed “Wants Verses Needs” which featured the Belgium top ten dance track “Sunshine”. On this album the band paid tribute to the United Kingdom power house Squeeze by doing a dark version of Take Me I’m Yours. In 1991 an obscure Los Angeles DJ mix emerged with the “Sunshine” singles.
The Return of Museum of Devotion
Museum of Devotion went into a hiatus before returning in 2014 with new material and the same Coldwave attitude. Despite the band’s absence from the scene, their relevance remains, as seen by tracks such as “Canary in a Cathouse” and “Devotion” continuing to be on regular spin rotation by DJ’s across Europe and the United States in the gothic rock and Darkwave scenes.
Museum of Devotion have recently completed a video for the 1990 single, “Slomo”; and have recently finished an EP entitled “Another Cold Wave”, which will be released in 2014.
Museum of Devotion Members
- Robert Anderson – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and programming
- James Cooper – vocals, guitar, keyboards, drum machine
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