Artist

Siouxsie and the Banshees

1976-1996, 2002·London

Siouxsie Sioux, born Susan Ballion in Kent, grew up in what she has described as an isolated Bromley childhood, and found her way into punk's inner circle as one of the most visible members of the Bromley Contingent alongside future bandmate Steve Severin. She was there on Bill Grundy's Today programme when the Sex Pistols swore on live television, and Jon Savage later described punk's effect on people like her as a hand grenade dropped in the gladioli. The Banshees themselves started almost as a dare: at Malcolm McLaren's prompting, Siouxsie and Severin put together a lineup with Marco Pirroni on guitar and a young John Ritchie, soon to be Sid Vicious, on drums, and played a twenty-minute improvisation of the Lord's Prayer at the 100 Club in September 1976. By their first Peel Session, the ramshackle beginners had turned into something else: tribal, stentorian, strangely psychedelic. That transformation continued once John McKay and Kenny Morris settled in as the band's guitarist and drummer, sharpening the group into what one writer called a serrated, sensuous attack unit years before their debut album even appeared.

At a glance

Active
1976–1996, 2002
From
London, UK
Records in the issues
4 (1978–1982), 1 of them a Start here pick
Original label
Polydor
Listening guide track
“Forever”

Listen

In the UK Post-Punk listening guide: “Forever”

Spotify

In the issues

  • UK Post-Punk
    Principal · 1977-1984

    UK Post-Punk is a music scene from United Kingdom, 1977–1984. Its principal artists include Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Fall and Public Image Ltd. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.

  • Shoegaze and Dreampop
    An influence · 1982-1997

    Shoegaze and Dreampop is a genre from Thames Valley and London, UK, 1982–1997. Its principal artists include My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride and Cocteau Twins. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 16 dated events.

  • UK Goth
    Principal · 1978-1985 · Members

    UK Goth is a music scene from London, Leeds, Northampton, UK, 1978–1985. Its principal artists include Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy and The Cure. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 14 dated events.

Records

Family tree

Bands that shared members with Siouxsie and the Banshees, and who.

  • Magazine1977–
    John McGeoch
  • The Flowers of Romance1976–1977
    Kenny Morris, Marco Pirroni, Sid Vicious
  • The Creatures1981–2005
    Budgie, Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin
  • The Glove1983–1983
    Robert Smith, Steven Severin
  • The Cure1977–
    Robert Smith
  • John McGeoch

Places

  • The 100 Club
    London · 1942-present · UK Post-Punk

    This Oxford Street venue hosted the September 1976 Punk Festival where Siouxsie and the Banshees performed their first-ever gig with a 20-minute improvisation, marking what many consider the first proto-post-punk performance.

  • Morgan Studios
    London · 1967-2001 · UK Goth

Voices

Quotations from the issues, each matched word for word against the source it links to.

“There was no such thing, it was just a bunch of people drawn together by the way they felt and they looked”
Steven Severin, Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist. Source · UK Post-Punk

Terms

Motorik
A steady, driving 4/4 drumbeat associated with German krautrock, pioneered by Can's Jaki Liebezeit and Neu!'s Klaus Dinger.