I can see where youre coming from with that. I think the actual first goth band was probably Xymox (aka Clan of Xymox). They were around in the early 80s. At least thats the earliest goth band I can think of. Anyone beg to differ?

Is Love and Rockets any good?

I only know of one of their songs and its pretty good IMO. The song I know is "So Alive" (not the POD song)

Hard choice. I'm a great fan of both. I chose JD because I think there was a lot more depth and complexity to Ian Curtis's lyrics, and I they used a broader palate of musical styles than Bauhaus.
Also, I lived through every Joy Division song at least once, sometimes multiple times, in my teens and 20s!

Um...NO.

Bauhaus is the frist Goth band...In The Flat Field came out in 1980 and established the whole style. The Cure, Fields of Nelphium and Christian Death are also good, but Clan of Xymox just copied what came before...they didn't really record anything 'till after the original goth bands had died out...

i voted joy division

does anyone here know of the band comsat angels? their album 'sleep no more' from 1981 deserves a mention.

guess you proved me wrong! Im not too much up on my goth but that was the earliest goth I could think of off the top of my head.

I really enjoy listening to both bands, but I would have to pick Bahaus between the two.

Clan of Xymox were pretty lite-weight, but I loved the first two albums and some of the singles. The "Twist of Shadows" album was great, too, but it was 100% pure synth-pop, not Goth at all. Clan of Xymox still puts out an album every couple of years (now on Metropolis), but it's pretty much just Ronny Moorings, and has become self-parody, IMO.

BTW, Goth has suffered the same fate Punk suffered by the mid-'80s. Goth is now just an adjunct of White Trash. You're more likely to find your purported "Goth chick" hanging out at a biker bar than alone in an alcove reading Edgar Allen Poe.
There is a phenomenon I have dubbed "Hillbilly Goth."

Communication Satellit Angels/Comsat Agels/CS Angels. Their early songs were good early '80s pop, but by '86 they were totally drab and boring.