Siouxsie & the Banshees
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| Siouxsie & the Banshees | ||
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 Siouxsie and the Banshees, from Peepshow album art. Budgie (left), Siouxsie Sioux (center), and Steven Severin (right).
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| Background information | ||
| Also known as | Janet and the Icebergs | |
| Origin | Bromley, London, UK | |
| Genre(s) | Punk rock Post-punk Gothic rock Alternative rock |
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| Years active | 1976-1996, 2003 (reunion tour) | |
| Label(s) | Polydor Records, Geffen Records | |
| Associated acts |
The Creatures The Glove |
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| Website | http://siouxsie.com/ Siouxsie Sioux and The Creatures official website. Also features news regarding current Siouxsie & the Banshees developments. |
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| Members | ||
| Siouxsie Sioux Steven Severin Budgie |
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| Former members | ||
| Sid Vicious Marco Pirroni Kenny Morris Peter Fenton John McKay John McGeoch Robert Smith John Valentine Curruthers Martin McCarrick Jon Klein Knox Chandler |
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Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band that formed in 1976. Led by Siouxsie Sioux (vocals) and Steven Severin (bass), the band's only constant members, the Banshees formed in the wake of the Sex Pistols and soon became one of the major bands in the post-punk movement. After an enforced change of musical direction leading to a redefining of their image, together with the addition of new drummer Budgie and a procession of guitarists including Robert Smith (also of The Cure) and John McGeoch, the Banshees also became instrumental in the creation and development of gothic rock into the next decade. The group released several successful albums and singles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including "Cities in Dust", "Peek-a-Boo", and "Kiss Them for Me", while its members also dabbled in side projects. The Banshees disbanded in 1996, with Sioux and Budgie continuing to record music as The Creatures, a side project they had started in the 1980s.
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[edit] Formation
The band was originally formed to fill an empty space on a bill at the first UK based "international punk rock festival". This show was organized by Malcolm McLaren at the 100 Club on London's Oxford Street on September 20, 1976.
The initial line up consisted of "Bromley Contingent" members Siouxsie Sioux (pronounced like the name "Susie"/"Suzy"), Steven Severin (real name Steven Bailey aka Steve Spunker/Havoc), Marco Pirroni (later of Adam and the Ants and Rema Rema) and John Simon Ritchie, later known as Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, on drums. On this occasion their set consisted of a lengthy and chaotic improvisation based around "The Lord's Prayer", which also included lines from songs like "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", "Smoke on the Water" and "Twist and Shout".
A poor-quality recording of the concert is available.
[edit] Style and notoriety
Siouxsie courted much controversy in the band's early days with her dress, often wearing bondage clothes and fetish wear. She was also heavily criticized for wearing swastika armbands, although she always maintained that this was intended to be for shock value rather than any form of display of Nazi or fascist political sympathies.
Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones' infamous "you dirty bastard, what a fuckin' rotter" comment during the band's December 1976 interview with Bill Grundy, which helped to fuel their notoriety, was sparked when Grundy attempted to "chat up" Siouxsie on prime time TV.
[edit] History
By February 1977 the Banshees were taking themselves seriously as a musical unit. They recruited Kenny Morris and Pete Fenton to their line up, which was by now gigging regularly and had attracted a solid fan base. Fenton was subsequently sacked and replaced in July by John McKay. It was not until 1978 that they finally obtained a record contract with Polydor Records, whereupon they released their first single "Hong Kong Garden" (which reached the top ten in the UK), followed soon after by the album The Scream.
Their second album, Join Hands, was released in 1979, and included a lengthy version of the aforementioned "Lord's Prayer" track. However, two days into a tour promoting this album, Morris and McKay quit the band. They were hastily replaced by Robert Smith (whose band The Cure were supporting the Banshees during the tour) on guitar and Budgie (real name Peter Clarke, formerly of The Slits, Big In Japan and The Spitfire Boys) on drums. After the completion of the tour, Budgie stayed on as the Banshees' permanent drummer, whilst John McGeoch, formerly of Magazine, joined as guitarist.
McGeoch played on the albums Kaleidoscope, Juju, and A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. He was hospitalized in 1982 after collapsing onstage in Madrid during the tour for the latter. He was replaced on tour by Smith, who later became a full time member. Smith contributed to the live double album Nocturne and to Hyæna, but quit the following year to concentrate all his energy on fronting The Cure.
Ex-Clock DVA guitarist John Valentine Carruthers replaced Smith. The Banshees recorded The Thorn EP with Carruthers and cellist/keyboardist Martin McCarrick, who later became a full-time member.
1986 saw the release of Tinderbox and the single "Cities in Dust", followed in 1987 by the non-album single "Song from the Edge of the World" and the covers album Through the Looking Glass. Carruthers was absent from one of the music videos.
Following a lengthy break, the rest of the band recruited McCarrick and the ex-Specimen guitarist Jon Klein and recorded Peepshow, Superstition and The Rapture. Klein left after the completion of the latter album, and was replaced on tour by ex-Psychedelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler.
While probably best known in the United States for dance-oriented sonngs such as "Kiss Them for Me", Siouxsie and the Banshees have done everything from punk (in the 1970s) to goth to new wave. How to classify this band depends on what era/song/album one is talking about.
Siouxsie and Budgie also started an irregular side-project band called The Creatures in 1981 which, especially since the demise of the Banshees, become the full time vehicle for their recording activities. In July 2006, it was announced that Sioux had signed a record deal as a solo artist with Universal. Release of new material expected for 2007.
[edit] Influence
Out of all the bands to emerge from the original UK punk scene and later the post punk and goth rock scenes, Siouxsie and the Banshees still remain one of the most influential. Unlike many of the other bands that came out at this time, Siouxsie and the Banshees never were considered sell-outs by their fans. The band in their twenty years influenced many musicians of all kinds and genres. Acts as diverse as Jane's Addiction to Jesus and Mary Chain to Garbage and Jack Off Jill to The Cure have all stated that Siouxsie and the Banshees influenced them.
[edit] Discography
For a complete list of albums, EPs, singles and videos see Siouxsie & the Banshees discography.
[edit] Trivia
- "Peek-a-Boo" was the first number-one song on Billboard magazine's Modern Rock Tracks chart on the week ending September 10, 1988.
- Siouxsie and the Banshees used the alias "Janet and the Icebergs" for three gigs in 1980, Siouxsie's "real" middle name and an ironic band name[1].
- The band got their name from Edgar Allan Poe's Cry of the Banshee and "Siouxsie" as a tribute to the Sioux tribe because Siouxsie Sioux "hates cowboys".
- Their single "Kiss Them for Me" was their highest chart placing single on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Dear Prudence" was their highest on the UK singles chart, reaching number three.
- Siouxsie and the Banshees' last show was in Belgium.
- When Boy George was spliting up from then-boyfriend Jon Moss, he played parts of "Drop Dead/Celebration" on Moss' answering machine.
- Siouxsie and the Banshees state their influences among others as: T Rex, David Bowie, The Doors, The Beatles, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground.
- Poetry slam artist Big Poppa E references Siouxsie & the Banshees in his performance poem The Wussy Boy Manifesto.
- Prior to the Banshees signing to Polydor Records in 1978, a diehard fan started a "Sign the Banshees Do It Now" graffiti campaign which was put on most of the major labels in London at the time. Siouxsie Sioux once said "It was actually a big fan of ours who'd probably be really embarrassed if he knew I told you, no no no! it was actually Les Mills who went on to manage The Psychedelic Furs. He had blonde hair, a leather jacket and studs, with SIOUXSIE on it. For those two years (prior to the Banshees signing) he was pretty obsessive about it, then he got his own band together."
- The artwork for both the album A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and its single "Slowdive" was based on Gustav Klimt.
[edit] See also
- The Glove - Steven Severin's side-project with The Cure's Robert Smith
- The Creatures - Sioux and Budgie's side-project.
- Steven Severin - Extracurricula and post Banshee production, compositions and releases.
[edit] References
- Bill Grundy Interview
- Allmusic.com
- article on Shirley Manson
- Fantazee.com
- page on the band from Punk77.com
- Billboard Artist Biography and Chart Positions
- Paytress, Mark (2003). Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 1860743757.
[edit] External links
- Siouxsie.com is the official Siouxsie Sioux and The Creatures (Siouxsie and the Banshees off-shoot band) website, with a shop and news section.
- The Banshees & Other Creatures A comprehensive website with lots of information, with a forum, news section, discographies and band member interviews. The ONLY unofficial site to be recommended by the official website.
- Untied Undone.com is a fan site with lots of information, images, and even some video of Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Fantazee is Vernette Butler's excellent Siouxsie site, containing a complete history, official and bootleg discographies and much more.
- Vamp.org's Siouxsie and the Banshees Site Contains lyrics, album covers and other images, and magazine articles related to SATB.
