Mummy and Daddy



Whitehouse is an English power electronics band formed in 1980 in London. They are known for their controversial and often shocking lyrics and imagery, which have been interpreted as misogynistic, sexually deviant, and extremely violent, leading to censorship and public backlash. The band’s name is a provocative reference both to the British moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse and a British pornographic magazine of the same name. The only constant member throughout Whitehouse’s history is William Bennett, who previously played guitar with Essential Logic and recorded as Come before founding the band. Over the years, the lineup included members such as Kevin Tomkins, Paul Reuter, and Philip Best, with Peter Sotos joining in the 1990s; after Sotos left in 2002, the band continued as a duo until Bennett ended the project in 2008 to focus on his Cut Hands project. Bennett is also known as DJ Benetti in the Italo disco scene. Whitehouse’s music is released exclusively through their own label, Susan Lawly. Their sound is characterized by harsh noise, aggressive analog synthesizers, and distorted vocals, creating a deliberately intense and confrontational listening experience. Influenced by early industrial acts like Throbbing Gristle and SPK, as well as literary figures such as Marquis de Sade, Whitehouse pushed noise to an extreme, aiming to beat the listener’s consciousness. Albums like Total Sex (1980), Buchenwald (1981), and Psychopathia Sexualis (1982) explore themes of aggression, pathology, and taboo subjects, often referencing notorious serial killers and sadists. Their music confronts societal taboos and moral boundaries with relentless sonic aggression and disturbing content. After a hiatus in the mid-1980s, the band returned in the 1990s with more compact, harsh sounds that incorporated digital techniques, collaborating notably with Peter Sotos on Quality Time (1996). Whitehouse remains a foundational and influential name in power electronics, known for their uncompromising artistic vision and ability to provoke strong reactions, helping shape the underground noise and industrial scenes. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.