siouxsie and the banshees: classic or dud? search and destroy

Turns out according to the bio "Hong Kong Garden"'s lyrics were, says La Sioux, "mentally dedicated to my local Chinese takeaway in Chislehurst High Street, which opened when I was 12 or so and at a time when there were loads of skinheads around. I was so sorry for the racist abuse that the people who worked there used to get. I always wished I was Emma Peel and that I could beat the shit out of the skinheads." Well then.

Search: Urg, that's hard. I'll go with my personal underrated fave, "Cannons"

They actually talk about that a bit in the book, so you're not alone there. Weird thing is that even though I've heard that album any number of times I can't recall for the life of me how it goes!

I was a huge, huge fan in the 80s, saw them live several times (they were shit hot) once with Robert Smith on guitar which must be like a goth's wet dream or something. But for some reason I went right off them very quickly and don't listen to them at all now (well, apart from the nostalgic tug of "Hong Kong Garden" and "Jigsaw Feeling"). Maybe it was me, maybe it was "Dear Prudence"

I too read Paytress' book (whilst on jury duty) and enjoyed it so much that I was genuinely sad when it was over.

Has anyone heard the new Creatures record? It's been getting glowing reviews.

Am I the only one who genuinely appreciates "Kiss Them for Me"?

*Thinks it's alright* - sign me up.

chapterhouse/siouxsie sample

I do like "Kiss Them for Me," I thought it was very alluring and interesting (and I loved the subject matter). Great video too -- reminds me that a decent video collection and B-side comp is WELL overdue from them.

I LOVE THAT SONG.

_Hai!_ sounds a lot like the spacier moments of _Boomerang_ with bigger, fatter drums, which of course means that I think it's GODLIKE.

Anyone hear anything about Siouxsie?

total evil riffage, amazing off kilter drum beat from budgie

(Actually, this doesn't really surprise me, but hey; I'll take every "you were right" that gets flung my way.)

search: everything, especially "Painted Bird"

destroy: who told they are dud.

Regardless, in spite of the opinion that everyone seems to be throwing around, I love the Dear Prudence cover. And Spellbound is absolutely amazing.

*sway, sway, hand flutter*

(xpost: Hmm, Atnevon's production point might explain why _Tinderbox_ is perfect; it's the fulcrum point between their two extremes.)

Actually, I think that the last time I listened to them might have been in 2001.

DJP otm

Of their many strangenesses, they're a perfect singles band with very cohesive albums. The ...Upon at Time comps are intense, joyful, and unaccountably earwormy. The albums are intense, oppressive and the singles melt perfectly into the moodiness, the joy reconfigured.

I might be the only fan of gloss to have disliked "Face to Face" since 1992. Stephen Hague + the Banshees didn't pair well.

It’s great at the goth club. And the b-sides were pretty fun too

I came around on tunafish sandwiches and still love listening to The Lords Prayer …

I bought Hyæna and Tinderbox around the time of release, saw the Through the Looking Glass tour and opening for David Bowie at Angel Stadium Glass Spider. But none of that comes close to Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju poll

Been a SATB fan since I first saw the video for "The Passenger" on 120 Minutes in the 80s (didn't even know that it was an Iggy cover yet), but somehow I'd just never gotten around to listening to 'The Rapture' until I heard "Stargazer" on a "vintage alternative"-type radio show. Now I've heard it and think it's great! I guess that was a quality effort to sign off with, and I might think it's even a click or two better than 'Superstition.'

Definitely. Rapture was good but their time had passed. Superstition is the only low point in their discography

Also, Downside Up is the best b-side 4xCD box. I’ll fight with it in the reissue goth war

If I could second this.

Definitely. Rapture was good but their time had passed. Superstition is the only low point in their discography

Of the two times I saw them, Lolla 91 was good but yeah I remember thinking that beyond a couple of killer singles that was an uneven effort to be touring for, putting it mildly. But I did see The Rapture tour stop at the Wiltern and that was really lovely -- the songs from that album killed live, the overall setlist and crowd vibes were great. It kinda put a pin in everything just so, so I never bothered with the reunion. (Did see the Creatures with John Cale a few years later and that was a fine addendum, though I do regret not seeing the Boomerang tour in 1990.)

Downside Up is fantastic - I listen to CD1 of that more than most actual Banshees albums though the other discs are almost as great.

The Rapture is a top five Banshees CD imo

Feels like Superstition was their (weak) attempt to break the American mainstream, while Rapture was them saying fuck it (would also reflected in the set lists of both tours).

I love Shadowtime. Also love love love the b-sides Staring Back and Return. Great memories of Dear Prudence on the first Lollapalooza tour at sunset.

Thanks for recommendations! Still exploring but I…

- forgot how truly amazing “dazzle” is
- should probably add making the connection to this and “happy house” to the “things I was really old before” thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRq-MXBkTM

Happy birthday, Severin!

this thread prompted me to dig out Once Upon A Time, except my copy is on tape so i had to recreate it from the lps a track at a time. didn't have the single version of Israel but did have the 12" version. and i had to stop after Candyman because i have nothing newer. but nice to be reminded.

yes, Dazzle is good, but the extended version sounds a lot like a cd skipping. was probably ground-breaking at the time.

(also included Metal Postcard because it was a single but curiously missed from Once...)

Budgie memoir announced. Unfortunately no way I can find yet to preorder on paper in US.

And on top of that!

https://thejohnmckay.bandcamp.com/album/sixes-and-sevens

McKay's burgeoning status as the anti-guitar hero was halted when he and Banshees drummer Kenny Morris - at odds with Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin - fled the band just after the start of a tour supporting the group's second album, Join Hands. It was a weekly music paper scandal, later the subject of a BBC documentary, and Siouxsie's vitriol working its way into the lyrics of a later Banshees b-side, "Drop Dead / Celebration". Aside from a solitary single on Marc Riley's In Tape label nearly a decade later, no music was heard from McKay again.

So it comes as a major surprise to learn of a pile of excellent recordings made in the years just after he left The Banshees, unheard by all but a very few, some of which feature drummer Kenny Morris, plus Mick Allen from Rema Rema, Matthew Seligman of the Soft Boys and longer-term collaborator Graham Dowdall and John's wife Linda . . . the latter three of whom are now sadly deceased.



WHAT

argh not released until May 6th

oooh!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhPUScImUU4

There are some quotes from Steve Severin in the Lollapalooza oral history book that are so gratuitously dickish I'm genuinely unsure whether they're meant to be sarcastic or not.

incredible, thank you xp

totally new to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02K1U8otN7Q

Sounds like it's been a bit of a success, that album! And apparently well received at live shows too, I like the photo of him and Johnny Marr together backstage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCCxG5V5oks

^ Budgie of Siouxsie And The Banshees started out in nightclub cabaret acts, aged 13

he was on radio 4's A Good Read recently talking about Nausea - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002f8tl