courtesy of AMG:
The song was the band's first single, released in August 1979, and is often considered to be the first gothic rock record released.
The song is over nine minutes in length and was recorded "live in the studio" in a single take. David J, the band's bassist, claims on his website to have written the lyrics. By far their most famous work, its minimalist, free-form nature evoked a mixture of The Doors, early Pink Floyd and experimental 'Krautrock' bands such as Can and Neu. The singing does not start (in the studio version) until several minutes into the track. The dub-influenced guitar sound was achieved by using partial barre chords and allowing the top E and B strings open, adding to the drone-like quality of the song.
The title references horror film star Béla Lugosi (1882-1956), who did much to establish the modern vampire image as the title character in the 1931 film Dracula. (Lugosi was, in fact, buried in his Dracula cape - an event depicted in the film Ed Wood.
