Siouxsie & The Banshees - 10 Reasons Why

[klee]

Half-shameless plug, half shopping list of why you should think Siouxsie & the Banshees are fucking amazing.

Siouxsie & The Banshees first album, The Scream is rereleased today with a second CD full of hard-to-find goodies. The rest of the band's 11 studio albums, plus one live album, will be released over the coming weeks.

Right then, plug over. Why should you like them?

1. Rather than being a goth band, which they're often mistaken for, The Banshees were the first post-punk band of note. Anyone who likes dense, angular, jagged sounding guitar and weird noise music should forget Bloc Party right now and listen to this instead.

2. Siouxise Sioux is an icon of the first order. Look: -






3. They're responsible for one of the very few Beatles' covers which improves on the original, Dear Prudence.

4. A criminally underrated band, they invented a new template for female fronted bands. Frontwomen didn't have to be blond, nice and smiley anymore. Without Siouxise there would be no Shirley Manson, Goldfrapp or Ana Matronic to name but a few.

5. It's all about the drama. I challenge you to name a band better at melodramatic pop.

6. They didn't stagnate - they developed. Starting out as a guitar-led punk band, they experimented with goth, tapeloop music, orchestral pop and even recorded an album with Pet Shop Boys producer, Stephen Hague.

7. Their last few albums, Peepshow, Supersitition and The Rapture are sophisticated pop music as it should be done. Take note, Katie Melua.

8. It might have been released in 1979, but Hong Kong Garden still pisses over most of the 'indie' music released today.

9. If image is everything, Siouxsie's right up there with David Bowie and Madonna in terms of changing it to keep up with the times, yet never losing her sense of self.

10. Originality is a very rare commodity: The Banshees were an original band and continue to be so.

Apologies for the lengthy fan-wibbling.

[ScissorSister]

I'm into Siouxsie in a small way. I've just not really tried hard enough to seek out some more material. I have a few tracks but not much.

Siouxsie is truly an icon though. Her style is unique and you right about there being no Ana Matronic, Shirley Manson or Alison Goldfrapp out there strutting their stuff.

And Hong Kong Garden does kick the arse of a lot of indie music. And Dear Prudence is a fantastic cover.

[marknyc]

I admire your enthusiasm, Klee. I take issue with your first point, though. Siouxsie & The Banshees were and remain a PUNK band. They may have been the only punk band to successfully adapt their music to the post-punk/'new pop' era of the eighties, but Siouxsie remains true to her punk roots, as The Banshees live shows have always proved.

Thurston Moore recalled the day backstage at Lollapalooza when Jerry Garcia died and Kim Gordon's uncle, a Grateful Dead roadie, was sitting in the Sonic Youth dressing room telling stories. Siouxsie stumbled in and impressed everyone with her profane anti-hippie rhetoric ala 1976. Also, I recall Siouxsie always causing trouble at every Banshees/Creatures concert I ever saw. Always kicking bouncers or causing mayhem by telling people to ignore seating designs. And she stepped on my hand once and smiled. PUNK!

And Siouxsie is never given enough credit for being one of the most important fashion icons of the twentieth century. Like it or not.

I'm looking forward to these re-issues. I'm especially excited for Nocturne, as it is one of the finest live albums ever recorded (with an amazing opener of 'Israel') and I hope a proper DVD of it gets released (if it hasn't already - i should check).

Everyone at least needs the Once Upon A Time/Twice Upon A Time singles collections.

[klee]

marknyc said:

I admire your enthusiasm, Klee. I take issue with your first point, though. Siouxsie & The Banshees were and remain a PUNK band. They may have been the only punk band to successfully adapt their music to the post-punk/'new pop' era of the eighties, but Siouxsie remains true to her punk roots, as The Banshees live shows have always proved.

Thurston Moore recalled the day backstage at Lollapalooza when Jerry Garcia died and Kim Gordon's uncle, a Grateful Dead roadie, was sitting in the Sonic Youth dressing room telling stories. Siouxsie stumbled in and impressed everyone with her profane anti-hippie rhetoric ala 1976. Also, I recall Siouxsie always causing trouble at every Banshees/Creatures concert I ever saw. Always kicking bouncers or causing mayhem by telling people to ignore seating designs. And she stepped on my hand once and smiled. PUNK!

And Siouxsie is never given enough credit for being one of the most important fashion icons of the twentieth century. Like it or not.

I'm looking forward to these re-issues. I'm especially excited for Nocturne, as it is one of the finest live albums ever recorded (with an amazing opener of 'Israel') and I hope a proper DVD of it gets released (if it hasn't already - i should check).

Everyone at least needs the Once Upon A Time/Twice Upon A Time singles collections.

Yes to all your points. I've always regarded PUNK as being a state of mind rather than a style of music - and The Banshees always stayed faithful to that, thankfully.

I never saw them live, but I have seen The Creatures (Siouxsie's, and the Banshee drummer Budgie's side-project). Their performance at the Royal Festival Hall, where they used a full string section, is out now in the UK on DVD, though it won't work on US players.

The band's autobiography - possibly the published book with the worst punctuation I've ever read - is fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. I never knew, for example, that they used to listen to a lot of Pink Floyd. Equally, it's strange to think they came close to cracking America in the late 80s.

[Rofo]

2 more reasons to love them..

Face to face
Peek - A -Boo

That is all.

[diamond doggie bag]

Holy god do I love Siouxsie more than any other person in music. She's just fucking fierce in every way.

***cue lots of excited rambling about the mighty Siouxsie and her Banshees***

OK, I do find it hard to talk about the woman and band because it's hard to convey how much I love them wihout resorting to lame cliches and annoying platitudes. In short - I think they are one of the mightiest acts ever. They had a great ear for crafting canny pop too - their music was always accessible and inviting no matter how far they pushed the envelope or what style they dabbled in.

And I have noticed over the last year or so Siouxsie and the Banshees have gradually starting to get the attention and respect they deserve. In a world where trails of dribble piss like Chris Martin are revered like saints, it's bloody long overdue.

Siouxsie and the Banshees also achieved the impossible - they released two greatest hits CDs that I can listen to every song on and love (the Once and Twice Upon A Time CDs mentioned before if you're wondering). Nobody else has managed that ever.

And am I ever stoked I came across this thread!

[diamond doggie bag]

littlebummerboy said:

2 more reasons to love them..

Face to face

That is all.

Funny fact - I distinctly remember the way I discovered Siouxsie and The Banshees. I was watching Batman Returns, and Face to Face starting playing in the scene where Michelle Pfiefer (sp?) arrives at the ball. They grabbed me by the you-know-whatties right there and then. Ha Ha!

[n69n]

i'm THRILLED about the reissues & receiving the respect they deserve!!
i'm most excited for the reissue of KISS IN THE DREAMHOUSE (my favorite of their albums)!

theyve been a huge influence on my life, art, sense of humor, etc etc etc


btw: the first concert i ever went to was the TINDERBOX tour!

[ThatTree]

Amazon UK says February 27 for the Nocturne DVD. I am so there, and the remasters are going on my wish list.