I'm thinking of popping along to his Hull event next month. I'd sort of class myself as being a second wave goth (I was just 16 in 1985), so missed out on seeing Bauhaus & The Sisters but was madly into them. With Leeds just an hour away on the train, our teen goth group would go through to The Duchess & Warehouse to see the subsequent later 80s Leeds 'goth' bands of the time (Rose Of Avalanche, Red Lorry, Mission etc).
Goth for me and most others I hung around with felt like a very loose co-op of influences. Along with the typical Cult, Cure, Siouxsie stuff we loved The Cramps, B-52s, New Model Army, The Bunnymen, Nick Cave and Joy Division as well as Magazine, Chameleons, The Sound, Cocteau Twins, Psychedelic Furs and The Smiths.
I never really got on with the Alien Sex Fiend / Specimen / Sex Gang Children stuff though, it always felt like more of a Southern goth thing.
Through hearing cover versions or references in interviews it also lead to me discovering Suicide, The Doors, Velvets, Stooges, Love, Fairport Convention and much more.
So yeah, as gateway music scenes go, I've got a lot to thank my teen goth phase for.