The Creatures
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| The Creatures | ||
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 Advertisement for the Creatures first release, Wild Things from 1981.
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | London, UK | |
| Genre(s) | Experimental Alternative rock |
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| Years active | 1981- | |
| Label(s) | Geffen Records, Sioux Records | |
| Associated acts |
Siouxsie & the Banshees | |
| Website | http://siouxsie.com/ | |
| Members | ||
| Siouxsie Sioux Budgie |
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The Creatures were formed in 1981 as a side-project for Siouxsie & the Banshees members Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie. Sioux and Budgie married in 1991.
Contents |
[edit] History
Siouxsie & the Banshees' Siouxsie Sioux (vocals) and Budgie (drums and percussion) released their first EP as The Creatures (Wild Things) in 1981, introducing a much more primitive and drum-driven Banshees sound. The erotic sleeve art featuring Siouxsie and Budgie half naked under shower (which was inspired by scenes from the movie Psycho) caused some controversy. Another shoot featured Siouxsie naked under many flowers and shallow water, inspired by a John Millais painting Ophelia. The title track was a reworking of a hit by The Troggs. Songs such as "So Unreal" and "Mad Eyed Screamer" drew inspiration from the novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin and local characters met in Hyde Park, London, respectively. The EP reached a decent #24 on the UK singles chart.
In 1983, between the release of the Banshees album A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and their live album Nocturne, The Creatures recorded and released their first full length album Feast (#17 UK Albums Chart). The band decided to determine where to record the album by randomly placing a pin on a map of the world. The result was Hawaii, which led to the featuring of The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters on some tracks. The song title "Inoa 'Ole" is Hawaiian for "No Name". "Ice House" was inspired by an obscure television play. "Dancing on Glass" is based on an Indian musical (sounds of broken glass created by Siouxsie and Budgie dancing on broken mirrors with tough shoes on). The singles "Miss the Girl" (which took it's inspiration from the book Crash by J. G. Ballard and had an unofficially banned promo video with a set designed by The Creatures themselves) and "Right Now" (originally by Mel Torme) were also released around this time and reached #21 and #14 (making it the highest charting Creatures single) respectively on the UK singles chart.
After numerous Banshees projects (the albums Nocturne, Hyaena, Tinderbox, Through the Looking Glass and Peepshow), The Creatures decided to record their next album Boomerang in a stone barn in Jerez, Andalucia, Spain. It didn't enter the UK album chart however it did reach #197 on the Billboard 200, though it is critically acclaimed and widely regarded as Siouxsie and Budgie's crowning achievement as The Creatures. The single "Standing There" (about the different types of abuse from men directed mainly towards women) reached #53 on the UK singles chart, while "Fury Eyes" (about the novel In The Eyes Of Mr. Fury by Philip Ridley) didn't chart. The album featured a wide range of musicians to help give it an immensely exotic feel.
Budgie explains the song "Manchild" here: "It's a story based in Colombia before the drugs cartel, it's about a small child caught up in a feud, this vendetta between his village and another rival village. In a minor way it is all about drug trafficking, but ends with the stronger village wiping out the whole male population of the other village until there was just one boy left called Nelsito. It was understood that he would live till he was at least 18 before he was assassinated, but he was shot on the way to school."
And his comments on "Willow": "It's kind of about how my mother died as it was a black area and I hadn't realised what had happened until I saw my brother. He told me what went on with the family and I never really knew until a year afterwards, and I wrote it down directly after that".
"Fruitman" was in fact a local they encountered during recording. "Simoom" means "dry wind" in Arabic and was written about the Salman Rushdie affair.
A year after Siouxsie & the Banshees disbanded in 1996, the long-time out-of-print Wild Things EP and Feast album were re-released through the compilation A Bestiary Of The Creatures along with all B-side tracks from the era, which pleased fans greatly.
Early in 1999, The Creatures released their first studio album in just under a decade Anima Animus. Its cold and hard electronica sound was a slight departure from Boomerang 's very organic atmosphere, and pleased as many as it upset. It reached a very modest #79 on the UK album chart. The Eraser Cut (an anagram of The Creatures) EP faired less than moderately well. Exclusive fan club live albums Zulu and Sequins In The Sun were released around this time and quickly went out of print, as did singles "Sad Cunt", "2nd Floor", "Exterminating Angel", "Say" (a tribute to The Associates lead singer Billy Mackenzie who committed suicide in early 1997), "Prettiest Thing" (which has a similar theme to that of the album title) as well as a special single of live material.
The song "Another Planet" was discovered on the soundtrack to the movie Lost In Space and was then radically reworked. "Don't Go To Sleep Without Me" was included on the soundtrack to The Blair Witch Project. The Creatures collaborated with Marc Almond on the song "Threat Of Love", available on his album Open All Night.
Late 1999 saw the remix album Hybrids which featured remixes of tracks from Anima Animus and the Eraser Cut EP, reworked by Howie B, Paul Thomas, John Roome, Doug Hart & Paul Freegood, Ollie Brown & Sam Britton, The Black Dog, Tony Justice & Danny Endemic, The Beloved, Jonn Jo Key, Tom Stephan and A1 People. It did not chart. Neither did the two-track single "Take Mine" or the live single "Murdering Mouth" released in June and September 2000. A compilation of unreleased Anima Animus-era tracks was released as U.S Retrace 2000 to happy fans. Rocket Ship and Red Wrapping Paper were released to fan club members in 2001.
Siouxsie and Budgie returned with a full-length album Hai! in 2003, reaching #153 on the UK album chart. Recording began less than 24 hours after the Banshees had completed their reunion tour Seven Year Itch, when Budgie got to fulfill a lifelong ambition to work with Leonard Eto, the basis of the album being a spontaneous drum duet between the two. The cover photo is called "The Shinto Bride" by Kimiko Yoshida. It was recorded in Japan, yet the music does not really reflect this, except with titles like "Godzilla!" and "Imagoro" (Japanese for "About This Time"). Critics reviews have been generally favourable. It was re-released over the next years in special forms. An album of the instrumentals was also made available.
A semi-successful single "Godzilla!" was promoted quite well and earned a respectable #53 on the UK singles chart. "Attack Of the Super Vixens" (inspired by Russ Meyer's film Super Vixens) was released during the tour for the album, and the song was eventually included in Hai! re-releases. Also in 2003, Siouxsie was a guest vocalist on the Basement Jaxx track "Cish Cash" (vocals recorded without any meetings).
In mid-2005, Siouxsie Sioux released a "solo" DVD entitled Dreamshow which was a massive fan-pleaser, featuring many songs spanning her time in both Siouxsie and the Banshees and in The Creatures. She wore a multitude of intricate and beautiful Japanese-inspired costumes and was backed up by an orchestra as well as Budgie and Hai! collaborator Leonard Eto. It also included more obscure album tracks and songs not usually played live such as Banshees classics "Obsession", "Shooting Sun", "The Rapture", "Not Forgotten". It also included a special bonus performance at the 100 Club, where the Banshees played their first ever gig.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | UK | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Feast | 17 | - |
| 1990 | Boomerang | - | 197 |
| 1997 | A Bestiary Of | - | - |
| 1999 | Anima Animus | 79 | - |
| 1999 | Zulu | - | - |
| 1999 | Hybrids (remix album) | - | - |
| 2000 | US Retrace | - | - |
| 2000 | Sequins In the Sun | - | - |
| 2003 | Hai! | 153 | - |
| 2004 | Tokyo Drum Sessions | - | - |
| 2004 | Hai! (2004 version) | - | - |
[edit] EPs
| Year | Album | UK | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Wild Things | 24 | - |
| 1998 | Eraser Cut | - | - |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Modern Rock | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | "Right Now" | 14 | - | - |
| 1983 | "Miss the Girl" | 21 | - | Feast |
| 1989 | "Standing There" | 53 | 4 | Boomerang |
| 1990 | "Fury Eyes" | 81 | 12 | Boomerang |
| 1998 | "Sad Cunt" | - | - | - |
| 1998 | "2nd Floor" | 119 | - | Anima Animus |
| 1999 | "Exterminating Angel" | - | - | Anima Animus |
| 1999 | "Say" | 72 | - | Anima Animus |
| 1999 | "Now Buy Zulu" | - | - | - |
| 1999 | "Prettiest Thing" | 91 | - | Anima Animus |
| 2003 | "Godzilla!" | 53 | - | Hai! |
| 2005 | "MVM Promo 12 inch" | - | - | - |
[edit] External links
- The Creatures + Siouxsie Official Website
- 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.
