| Siouxsie And The Banshees |
Article Index for Siouxsie |
Website Links For Siouxsie |
Information AboutSiouxsie And The Banshees |
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British Rock band that formed in 1976. Led by the singer Siouxsie Sioux and the bassist Steven Severin , the band's only constant members, the Banshees formed at the advent of the 1970s British Punk scene and soon became one of the major bands in the Post-punk movement. Their music influenced a large range of very diverse bands over the years amongst them . James Murphy interview from LCD Soundsystem The group released a total of eleven studio albums from 1978 to 1995. 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 organised by Malcolm McLaren at the 100 Club on London 's Oxford Street on September 20 , 1976 . Other bands on the bill for the night's performances included Subway Sect , The Clash and the Sex Pistols. The initial line up consisted of " Bromley Contingent " members Siouxsie Sioux , Steven Severin , Marco Pirroni (later of Adam And The Ants and Rema Rema ) and John Simon Ritchie, later infamous 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 such as " Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles ", " Knockin' On Heaven's Door ", " Smoke On The Water " and " Twist And Shout ". 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 and not for political reasons. She later wrote the songs " Metal Postcard (Mittageisen) " (to the memory of the anti-Nazi artist John Heartfield ) and the single " Israel ". 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. 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 Gig ging 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 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 their first album. Nick Kent wrote in the '' mated with much of the ingenuity of ''Tago Mago''-era Can , if any parallel can be draw''. At the end of the article, he added this remark :''Certainly, the traditional three-piece sound has never been used in a more unorthodox fashion with such stunning results''. elogious article of Nick kent published in the NME for the release of ''The Scream'' Their second album, '' Join Hands '', was released in 1979, and included a version of the "Lord's Prayer". Two days into a tour promoting this album, Morris and McKay quit the band. They were 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 ) 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 '' including the singles "Happy house" and "Christine" singles and in 1981 on '' Juju ''. His third album with the band was 1982's '' A Kiss In The Dreamhouse ''. The British press greeted it enthusiastically. Richard Cook in the ''NME'' finished his review with this sentence: ''I promise. This music will take your breath away''. dithyrambic reviews of "A Kiss In the Dreamhouse" published in the NME and the Melody Maker But the guitarist, worn by the recording process of these songs, was hospitalized on his return to a promotional trip to Madrid. He was replaced on tour by Robert Smith, who became a full-time member between 1982 and 1984. Smith contributed to the live album and DVD '' Nocturne '' and to the studio album '' Hyæna '' as co-composer, but quit the following year to concentrate on 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 Covers album '' Through The Looking Glass ''. Following a lengthy break, the rest of the band recruited McCarrick and the ex- reappeared with another album, the critically acclaimed '' Boomerang ''. One of the most languorous songs from this record, "Killing Time", was covered live by Jeff Buckley a few years later list of songs covered by jeff buckley . In 1991, the Banshees returned with the single "Kiss Them for Me", mixing Beatles strings over a dance rhythm. This single peaked in the U.S. singles charts at number 23, allowing them to reach a new audience. '' Melody Maker '' praised the last two studio albums '' Superstition '' and '' The Rapture ''. For their last tour in 1995, Klein left and was replaced by ex- Psychedelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler. Morrissey recorded a duet with Siouxsie called " Interlude " during that period of time : this one-off single was published under the banner of the two artists names. In 2002, Sioux, Steve Severin and Budgie reunited briefly for the Seven Year Itch tour, which spawned the 2003 '' Seven Year Itch '' live album and DVD. The group's 1978 single "Hong Kong Garden" features on the soundtrack of Sofia Coppola 's 2006 film '' Marie Antoinette ''. In July 2006, it was announced that Sioux had signed a record deal as a solo artist with Universal . Her first solo album '' Mantaray '' will be released on September 10 , 2007 preceded by the " Into A Swan " single out on september 3. The album will be available in the U.S on October 2 . The album has already gained critical acclaim. The influential site Pitchfork wrote 'She really is pop' before to finish the review by 'It's a success'. pitchforkmedia Mantaray review Concerts are now planned in europe for this autumn. Mantaray tour dates INFLUENCE ON OTHER ARTISTS The band in their twenty years influenced many musicians of all kinds and genres. They had a strong impact on Trip Hop acts :
The band also influenced the following artists :
MUSICAL GENRE Shirley Manson of Garbage stated she never considered the band as goth. Shirley Manson, excerpt of the Foreword of the Siouxsie & The Banshees biography by Mark Paytress (2003) DISCOGRAPHY ''For a complete list of albums, EPs, singles and videos see Siouxsie & The Banshees Discography .'' SEE ALSO
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|