Siouxsie, Nico, Cocteaus, Shangri-Las, Bobbie Gentry … a celebration of the sound of Goth!

About this episode

Cathi Unsworth discusses her experiences as a teenage Goth and her new soundtrack album featuring influential Goth artists.

Cathi Unsworth was a teenage Goth, enthralled as much by Joy Division and the Banshees as by the Brontës, Bram Stoker and Aubrey Beardsley. We loved her book ‘Season of the Witch’ and she’s since put together a soundtrack album, ‘Dressed In Black’, featuring the Goth divas she most admires and adores. And talks to us here about everything from murder ballads, the Industrial Revolution and Victorian literature to …   … John Peel, Siouxsie, Joy Division and her teenage Goth conversion among the “hedge-goths” and “field-goths” of rural Norfolk   … the phenomenal life, lyrics and mysterious disappearance of ‘Swamp-witch’ Bobbie Gentry   … has Goth eaten Punk?   … why BBC banned Billie Holiday’s “Gloomy Sunday”   … the ‘death discs’ of John Layton, the Shangri-Las and Twinkle   … how Cabaret and Julie Driscoll coloured Siouxsie and the Banshees   … Shirley Collins’ Death And The Lady – “now that’s what I call a pandemic!”   … did Liz Fraser speak fluent Faerie?   … Nico – “if I had a machine-gun I’d kill you all!”   … and how Juliette Gréco looked the devil in the face.   Order copies of ‘Dressed In Black: Goth Divas From The Dark…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, Alex Gold

Guest: Cathi Unsworth

Topics covered

• Goth music
• literature
• teenage experiences
• cultural influences
• music history
• female artists

Keywords

• Goth
• music
• Cathi Unsworth
• Siouxsie
• Bobbie Gentry
• literature
• Joy Division
• female artists
• soundtrack
• teenage experiences

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC

Products: Dressed In Black

Books & works: Season of the Witch, Death And The Lady, Gloomy Sunday, the ‘death discs’ of John Layton

Places: Norfolk

More episodes of Word In Your Ear

• Dave Balfe remembers the Teardrops, Blur and a very big house in the country · June 12, 2026 · 52 min
• Star Ratings - do we love/hate/need them? Five-star debate here! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ · June 11, 2026 · 38 min
• Brian Epstein & the Beatles - what he did and what he hid · June 9, 2026 · 30 min
• Are we nearing Beatles Overload? plus the rock star with the most children (41!) · June 8, 2026 · 49 min
• The glorious story of Funk from James Brown to Off The Wall · June 3, 2026 · 43 min
• Leo Sayer has met everyone – rock legends, sport superstars, future presidents … · June 2, 2026 · 33 min