Siouxsie and the Banshees

You fuckers better comment on my thread, or else I will be forced to blow.

I bought the cassette single back in the day. Isn't it about Jayne Mansfield?

Council Bluffs! The last time I was there I couldn’t keep my legs closed... and then it all changed!

this song brings me back to college in 1991. I loved the gold velvet gown

R2, Yes, it's about Jayne. It even has the same title as the Stanley Donen-directed film with Jayne, Cary Grant, and Suzy Parker.

The band's from Liverpool, England. Just like the Beatles (hence their cover version of Dear Prudence). The band did a lot of covers and made them their own instead of just copying the original.

Siouxsie and her then husband Budgie had also a side project called The Creatures which released some great albums and singles.

Kiss Them For Me and the album it came from, Superstition were my introduction to the band and I loved a lot of their early stuff as well. The band has a massive B-side collection (Downside Up) with lots and lots of interesting tracks.

An overlooked and forgotten major player in the British Invasion of the 80's. They were great.

I think she's an icon and would make a great subject for a biopic, a la 24 Hour Party People or Control.

Probably one of the must underrated bands there is. Their music is just incredible. One of the few bands that did go through post punk, goth, New Wave, Pop & Rock and made it look organic and effortless.

This is why she's considered the Priestess of Punk

One of the greatest (and kookiest) Xmas songs EVAH!

Myeah. Not a good example of their talents, r11. Just sayin'.

Saw them at Radio City when Superstition came out, the venue was sold out - what a fabulous goth audience that night!

I wonder if Siouxsie Sioux is her real name.

My favorite Siouxsie song is "Gecko."

Number One College Radio Song for the Summer of 1985!

"Hot and burning

In your nostrils!

Pouring down

Your gaping mouth!"

I love them, but I still mishear their lyrics all the time.

I like “Happy House.”

"It glittered and it gleamed

For the arriving beauty queen

A ring and a car

Now you're the prettiest by far."

I want this carved on my headstone.

I've been slowly getting into this band, and they are SO good! I love discovering old bands and realising just how good they are and how fun it's going to be diving into their stuff. I have their Best Of which I really love, though after listening to all their singles start to finish, I think they could just release them like that and it would be perfect. It bothers me that the Best Of doesn't include songs like "Swimming Horses" for example.

Before I started listening to them I thought I would know what sort of music they made just because of the "goth" label, but they are so much more varied and experimental than I realised. I also had a listen through many of their B-Sides and there is some truly excellent stuff there too and it seems like they really used their B-Sides to explore different styles that may not fit in on their albums. Oh, and I listened to the first Creatures album and really enjoyed it too. "Gecko" is wonderful.

It's the non-single album tracks that I have left to really get stuck into. I have only really listened properly to Juju and Peepshow in full and they are both excellent. From what I've heard not every album of theirs in consistent, but I'm sure there's still enough good stuff there to discover.

I'm so glad to have discovered them now, and that they had their hey day before all this cancellation stuff, because I don't think they could get away with a song like "Arabian Knights" now, but it is so good!

Along with Dear Prudence, better than the original.

Pronounced See Owks See - my friend Brenda told me how because she’s from ENGLAND.

Soox-sie?

Pronounced Susie. She is from Bromley in Kent, on the outskirts of London. She was part of the early punk scene in London in the 70s., hanging around with the Sex Pistols etc. She rose to prominence with a theatrical performance of the Lord’s Prayer at the 100 Club in London. I know this because I was a fan the minute I heard Hong Kong Garden when I was about 12.

Her performance name is just a fun borrowing from the Indian tribe, the Sioux (pronounced Soo) — so Soo-sie, or Susie as r24 says.

It has confused simple-minded people on occasion though, so I enjoy putting it in Rose’s mouth.

I love that their songs are written about such interesting and diverse topics, not just your standard love songs. I'm not a huge encyclopaedia on the band (yet haha), but I know that "Arabian Knights" is about that princess who disappeared in Saudi Arabia, and "Swimming Horses" is a criticism of honor killings, and "Kiss them for Me" about Jayne Mansfield" and "Cities in Dust" is about Pompeii and how important we think we are as humans only to be potentially wiped out in a moment. I'd much rather listen to music exploring these topics than endless songs written about someone pining over another person, being cheated on, or dancing in da club.

Siouxsie's real name is Susan Janet Ballion.

Name the ladies here. One of them has sadly passed, they had cancer.

She’s a fucking goddess! I’m listening to Hong Kong Garden right now

Somewhere there is video of me with big Bob Smith/Siouxsie hair, dancing like....well, a banshee.

The video is one of the most beautiful ones ever. I love so much of the band's output but this was really a culmination for me, remains an all time fave.

Night Shift is one of my faves. Fuck the mothers kill the others!

Juju is such a great album, R31. I am stuck on "Monitor" at the moment. Once I read the lyrics I realised just how creepy it is, like something out of J. G. Ballard's High Rise.

Listening to this album I feel I can hear the influence it had on bands like Garbage too.

After reading this thread I listened to Superstition last night. First time I'd ever heard SATB and it was indeed beautiful.

Peek-a-boo sounds awesome cranked on the stereo. Cities in Dust was their first song I ever heard, as a friend was really into mid-80s British bands. I bought their covers album and enjoyed it.

Such a great band. Love their vesion of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger."

I got to see them at the Whiskey A Go Go early in their career (1980) and then again at the Hollywood Palladium (1986?). Great memories.

Oops... "version"

This is a favourite.

A recent ranking of their albums.

That ranking article has me excited to dive deeper into their albums. When the lowest ranked album on the list is still talked about as being good, that's exciting.

Kiss Them For Me & the album Superstition were my introduction to Siouxsie & The Banshees. But as it turns out fans don't like the album very much and blame producer Stephen Hague for making an overproduced electropop album erasing the band's raw sound and edginess for the most part. Unfortunately, because of how the album came together there are no demo versions without Stephen Hague's influence. However, Stephen Hague also produced the Batman Returns song Face to Face which received more praise by the fans for some reason.

Recently I got obsessed with the song The Rapture from the same named album (their last one if you don't count the Best Of which featured the track Dizzy or the 7 Year Itch Live album). Really beautiful and ethereal. From that album Sick Child was used in the 90s movie The Craft and Not Forgotten was used in the camp classic Showgirls (plus a new track by the band called New Skin).

In a way I'm glad I wasn't around to be a fan of them in the day, because I can see how when you're used to a certain sound, it can be disappointing when your favourite band changes. But from the future looking back, seeing the band as a whole, I think it's so cool how they kept evolving.

Wonder why Siouxsie and Budgie never had any kids, they were married for quite a long time, around 15-16 years.

It was probably heavily marketed by the record company, but otherwise I never understood why Dear Prudence got so much attention over their other songs (I know, The Beatles, fine). They had so much of their own original material, and so much originality in it, and it was such amazing music, that it seems a shame that a cover song appears to be their best known work. Maybe I'm wrong about how much attention it got. Does anybody else know?

I hate how (what I'm assuming) the record label changed her look to make her more "palatable" looking in r30's video. But it does show you that the camera loves her.

I love one of the comments in the YT video for, "Spellbound":

"Played this song in my Honda Civic, and it turned into a black hearse with purple velvet interior."

r43, radio stations were also a much bigger powerhouse back then and I imagine radio DJs saw it's a Beatles cover and ran with it.

[quote] Wonder why Siouxsie and Budgie never had any kids, they were married for quite a long time, around 15-16 years.

Siouxsie is a cat lady. I imagine she likes them more than having kids on her own.

His face was full of intent

and we shook with excitement

then the victim stared up

looked strangely at the screen

as if her pain was our fault

but that's entertainment

what we crave for inside

They are not forgotten. There are kids still discovering Siouxsie Sioux. My daughter flipped her wig when she heard “Christine”, and went into a deep dive to hear more.

Their high point was the Juju album. A brilliant record with my favorite Banshees song, Spellbound. In listening to thet album you can he hear how they influenced everyone from Everything But The Girl to The Smiths.

I still play their early albums regularly. They sounded like like nothing else.

I'm checking out the second The Creatures album, Boomerang. It is SO good! Now I just wonder: why didn't I know about this earlier?

Do they have more songs like Peek A Boo? Love that one, but have a feeling it's a bit of an anomaly? I loved her collaboration with Basement Jaxx, too.

I'm probably not enough of an expert on them to give you a proper answer R52, but from what I'd heard so far, I'd say there are quite a few anomalies amongst their stuff. They are much more varied and experimental than you might think from them being considered "goth". Their B-sides in particular are where they really let loose, and there is some great stuff there. One of my favourites is "El Día de los Muertos".

The Creatures is also a great place to find them doing different stuff too. I've only heard the first two of those albums, but have enjoyed them both. Very percussion heavy.

If you like "Peek-a-Boo" and haven't already, then checking out the whole album, Peepshow, is recommended, it's very good. Even if you just start with the following singles after "Peek-a-Boo": "The Killing Jar (Lepidopteristic Mix)" and "The Last Beat of My Heart".

On the road to New Orleans A spray of stars hit the screen

R54 - Her daughter Mariska Hargitay, was in the back seat when the car drove under the back of a semi in heavy fog. Poor thing.

WTF does Siouxsie have to do with Jayne Mansfield's horrific death?

r56: Siouxsie and the Banshees' song "Kiss Them For Me" is about Jayne Mansfield.

From Wikipedia:

Siouxsie Sioux's cryptic lyrics were an ode to actress and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield – using the actress's catchword "divoon", referring to her heart-shaped swimming pool and her love of champagne and parties, and to the grisly automobile accident which claimed her life in 1967. "Kiss Them for Me" was also the name of a 20th Century Fox motion picture made in 1957 starring Mansfield and Cary Grant.

R28, where is that photo from?

I've got:

Back row L-R: Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, ?, Siouxie Sioux. Front row L-R; Poly Styrene (RIP), ?

Debbie Harry, Viv Albertine (from The Slits), Siouxsie Sioux, Chrissie Hynde, Poly Styrene and Pauline Black (from The Selector).

[R28], where is that photo from? I've got: Back row L-R: Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, ?, Siouxie Sioux. Front row L-R; Poly Styrene (RIP), ?

That's a photo taken in Aug 1980 in London. Blondie's Chris Stein and music photographer Micheal Putland took a series of photos that night. The blond next to Debbie is Viv Albertine from The Slits. The woman next to Poly Styrene is Pauline Black from The Selector.

The Creature's Anima Animus is Peek-A-Boo-ish.

Here's one of the photos from Chris Stein's collection. Chris was a good photographer, he was always taking beautiful photos of Debbie.

The band is not from Liverpool r6, the founders Siouxsie and Steve Severin were famously the "Bromley Contingent", i.e. from Kent, as r24 pointed out.

Budgie was from Liverpool, but he joined later.

Haven't heard this song in a couple of years, thanks for reminding me of it OP, it's fantastic.

R37 - Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, Viv Albertine, Sioxusie Sioux, and, at bottom, the late, great Poly Styrene and Pauline Black.

SATB's Downside Up Box Set is a treasure trove of experimental B-sides (and The Thorn EP).

Awesome R66, I listened to that collection before I'd even got stuck into the album tracks, and really enjoyed a lot of what they were doing with their B-sides.

R37's pic reminds me of another of my favourite songs - Let's Do Rock Steady by the Bodysnatchers. Pauline Black was the singer.

Aargh, the Bodysnatchers' singer was Rhoda Dakar, I get her and Pauline Black mixed up.

I think this is my favourite version from that photo session.

A few years back a friend in NYC was teaching Chris Stein's kid at PS 3, a public elementary school in the W Village. He and Harry split up years ago and I think are still friends, but guess he got himself a younger babymomma. He said Chris was quiet and nice.

R59, So glad you mentioned Poly Styrene. She is still an idol of mine because she was so original. XRay Spex wouldn’t get airplay now.

You have to Obey her.

I am not into women, obviously.

However, sometimes a woman makes a song that is perfect. OP has made one.

If I wasn't gay, I'd totally do Siouxsie.

I love this remix of Kiss Them For Me.

This video is one of the very few (only?) occasions when Siouxsie isn't wearing her full-on goth makeup, and she's beautiful.

This song is also different from their usual post-punk fare, it's fucking brilliant.

Siouxsie also dabbles in the lady love.

[quote]"I've never particularly said I'm hetero or I'm a lesbian. I know there are people who are definitely one way, but not really me. I suppose if I am attracted to men then they usually have more feminine qualities."

A 19th century French Christmas carol given the Siouxsie treatment-

Cities in Dust is my all time favorite.

Siouxsie and Adam Ant had a very similar look in the beginning.

Robert Smith from The Cure pretty much ripped off his shtick from Siouxsie.

There's a cover of Wheels on Fire that Siouxsie did that's used on Ab Fab. It's awesome.

[quote]There's a cover of Wheels on Fire that Siouxsie did that's used on Ab Fab. It's awesome.

Can you link Siouxsie's version? I've never heard it.

This Wheels On Fire, the version used on AbFab, is by the great 1960s school chick Julie Driscoll and Ade Edmondson (Jennifer Saunders’ actor husband).

This song was written by Bob Dylan and the Bands's Rick Danko. Jools and her band Brian Auger & the Trinity also had a hit with this song.

"This Wheel’s On Fire’ was written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko in 1967, but only really rose to prominence when it was covered by Julie Driscoll three years later and peaked at #5. It has been lauded as a cornerstone in the psychedelic era of British music, which is probably why it works so well as the Ab Fab theme. The recording for the series’ theme song features vocals by Ade Edmondson (Ms Saunders’ husband), and although the titles for each series changed dramatically over its sporadic run, the recording remained the same for several years."

I've been a fan since high school (late 80s-yes, I am ancient) and seen the Banshees/Creatures/Siouxsie multiple times live. I know it seems no big deal now, but there were few bands fronted by a woman back then other than a few trailblazers like Siouxsie, Chrissie Hynde, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and a few others. And I really got them with their dark and twisted view of suburbia and Hitchcockian sensibilities--very dark and twisted with a pop sensibility. I hope Siouxsie is enjoying her retirement in France with her cats.

[quote]Robert Smith from The Cure pretty much ripped off his shtick from Siouxsie.

What a ridiculous statement, their music isn't even all that similar. Both bands are British, that's about it. So many bands during that era had the pale face and dark hair look, which then was labeled 'goth' by the music press. Lord knows everything needs a damn label, music should simply be enjoyed.

Despite Robert Smith briefly being in The Banshees, musically, I hear no similarities.

Siouxsie hated Robert Smith, called him Fat Bob.

Then we'll have to agree to disagree r82.

And the Wheels on Fire cover was used on the Ab Fab opening. They used a couple of versions over the run of the show.

Did they? I don't think I've ever heard AbFab using the Siouxsie version. For example, Kylie Minogue sang the end credits version for the movie.

I'm a massive fan of Ab Fab, and love Siouxsie and the Banshees and have listened to their cover version many times and never heard it used as the opening for Ab Fab. As said above, it was Julie Driscoll and Ade Edmonson originally (for "The Last Shout" it was Marianne Faithful and P.P. Arnold) then from "Gay" on I think it was Debbie Harry and Ade Edmonson, and then Kylie for the movie version. Oh and there was an end credits sequence with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley singing it once, and the end of Paris had French singer Hermine Demoriane.

R80, here's the Siouxsie and the Banshees version.

[quote] Siouxsie hated Robert Smith, called him Fat Bob.

For some reason, or reasons, Siouxsie always had a ... well, ... complicated relationship with the band's guitar players. The have never stuck around for long. Steven Severin and Siouxsie are the only original band members, Budgie joined the band later and stuck with them (at some point was even married to Siouxsie).

I had a bit of a crush on keyboardist and Cello player Martin MacCarrick who was part of the group on their last few albums (I believe he first was on the cover album Through the Looking Glass, but officially joined the band for Peepshow).

R83, that’s so funny. I had a wonderfully eccentric roommate at boarding school who introduced me to all of this music in probably 1984. She did the winged eyeliner and weird vintage clothing and called him “Fat Bob”, too. So that’s what I called him. I’ve heard “Mad Bob” as well.

I just came across this, haha: