Ludus

Ludus was a British post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1978 which featured artist, designer and singer Linder Sterling. It played jazz-, avant-garde- and punk- oriented material. The band influenced singer Morrissey, later of The Smiths and a solo artist, who remains one of the group's most vocal fans.

History

The band was founded by Linder Sterling, who in the arts and music scene was credited as Linder, having designed the cover of Buzzcocks' single Orgasm Addict and Magazine's debut album Real Life; Kadmon was formerly in Manicured Noise. Shortly after the formation, ex-Nosebleeds drummer Philip "Toby" Tomanov and bassist Willie Trotter joined to complete the band. It debuted live at the Factory Club, supporting The Pop Group, in October 1978, the same month it recorded a first studio demo. Later, it toured in some parts of England, like the Eric's Club in Liverpool and, travelling with Magazine, The Venue in London, in November the same year.

Since its live debut at The Factory, Ludus was favourably reviewed in the press. In January 1979, Paul Morley, writing for NME, remarked:

Ludus (disambiguation)

Ludus may refer to:

Ludus (ancient Rome)

In ancient Roman culture, the Latin word ludus (plural ludi) has several meanings within the semantic field of "play, game, sport, training" (see also ludic).

An elementary or primary school attended by boys and girls up to the age of 11 was a ludus. Ludi were to be found throughout the city, and were run by a ludi magister (schoolmaster) who was often an educated slave or freedman. School started around six o'clock each morning and finished just after midday. Students were taught math, reading, writing, poetry, geometry and sometimes rhetoric.

Ludus was also the word for a board game, examples of which include ludus latrunculorum and ludus duodecim scriptorum, or a game played with knucklebones (astragali).

Latin poetry often explores the concept of ludus as playfulness, both in the writing of poetry as a kind of play and as a field for erotic role-playing. "Poetic play (ludus, ludere, iocum, etc.)," Michèle Lowrie observes, "denotes two related things: stylistic elegance of the Alexandrian variety and erotic poetry."