Line #23 Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees


1	%%
2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17088720270.55585800
3	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a787158c_f36c_4163_b382_cd2c44f5a2bb.png]]
6
7	->''Following the footsteps of a rag doll dance,\
8	we are entranced -- Spellbound.''
9	-->-- "Spellbound"
10
11	Siouxsie and the Banshees were a [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} British]] rock band (for a given definition of "rock," anyway) formed in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux (born Susan Ballion) and bassist Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey). They are regularly cited as being one of the more influential UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} bands in the history of the genre, and they are considered one of the [[TropeMakers founders of]] GothRock.
12
13	While their roots were very much in the PunkRock scene (the impromptu gig that led to the band's formation featured [[Music/SexPistols Sid Vicious]] on drums), they quickly branched out and began to employ a wide variety of instruments and musical styles. The band's core lineup was rounded out in 1979 by drummer Budgie (born Peter Edward Clarke). Temporary guitarists included Music/{{Magazine}}'s John [=Mc=]Geoch and Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}'s Robert Smith. The band broke up in 1996, and had a one-off reunion in 2002.
14
15	Siouxsie and Budgie had a side project, Music/TheCreatures, from 1983 to 2005, based more on percussion and influences from various locations: Hawaii, Spain, France and Japan.
16
17	----
18
19	!!Principal Members (Founders in '''bold''', final lineup in ''italics'')
20	* '''''Siouxsie Sioux''''': Vocals (1976-1996, 2002)
21	* '''''Steven Severin''''': Bass, keyboards (1976-1996, 2002)
22	* '''Marco Pirroni''': Guitars (1976)
23	* '''Music/SidVicious''': Drums (1976, died 1979)
24	* Peter Fenton: Guitars (1977)
25	* Kenny Morris: Drums (1977-1979)
26	* John [=McKay=]: Guitars (1977-1979)
27	* ''Budgie'': Drums, percussion, keyboards (1979-1996, 2002)
28	* [[Music/{{The Cure\|Band}} Robert Smith]]: Guitars (1979, 1982-1984)
29	* [[Music/{{Magazine}} John McGeoch]]: Guitars (1980-1982, died 2004)
30	* John Valentine Carruthers: Guitars (1984-1987)
31	* Martin [=McCarrick=]: Keyboards, strings, accordion, dulcimer (1987-1995)
32	* Jon Klein: Guitars (1987-1995)
33	* ''Knox Chandler'': Guitars (1995-1996, 2002)
34
35	----
36
37	!! Studio Discography:
38	* ''The Scream'' (1978)
39	* ''Join Hands'' (1979)
40	* ''Kaleidoscope'' (1980)
41	* ''Juju'' (1981)
42	* ''A Kiss in the Dreamhouse'' (1982)
43	* ''Hyæna'' (1984)
44	* ''Tinderbox'' (1986)
45	* ''[[CoverAlbum Through the Looking Glass]]'' (1987)
46	* ''Peepshow'' (1988)
47	* ''Superstition'' (1991)
48	* ''The Rapture'' (1995)
49	----
50
51	!! This band provides examples of:
52	* AlbumTitleDrop: The opening track of ''Peepshow'', "Peek-a-Boo", features the phrase "'''peep show''', creep show, where did you get those eyes?"
53	* AlternateAlbumCover: The original release of ''Join Hands'' depicts four of the soldier statues from the Guards Memorial overlaid atop a white background. The 2015 vinyl reissue, meanwhile, sports the originally intended cover depicting an excessively photocopied Holy Communion card.
54	* ArtShift: An unusual audio version on "Peek-a-Boo". Each line was sung into a different mic to give a variety of different textures to Siouxsie's voice.
55	* ArtistAndTheBand: ''Siouxsie'' and the ''Banshees.'' One of The Banshees, Steven Severin, is a frequent co-writer for the band's songs.
56	* AsianStoreOwner: An incident in which a group of workers in a Chinese restaurant were racially harassed by skinheads, which Siouxie witnessed, became the basis for "Hong Kong Garden."
57	* {{Backmasking}}: The instrumentation to "Peek-a-Boo" was created this way.
58	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The disc label for the UK single release of "Cities in Dust" depicts a Greco-Roman illustration of a man and a woman having sex, tying in with the song's lyrics about the destruction of Pompeii. Because of the pornographic nature of the image, many releases of the single add a large black circle over the penetration.
59	* CelebrityElegy: "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" memorializes the late John Heartfield, a visual artist and antifascist credited with pioneering the use of art as a tool for political activism.
60	* CoverAlbum: ''Through the Looking Glass''. Includes covers of Music/{{Sparks}}, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/TheDoors, Music/IggyPop, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/{{Television}}, and Music/TheBand, of all people.
61	* CoverVersion: The band covered two songs from Music/TheBeatles' ''[[Music/TheWhiteAlbum White Album]]'': "Helter Skelter" on their debut album ''The Scream'' in 1978, and "Dear Prudence" as a standalone single in 1983.
62	* DeathSong: "Kiss Them for Me" is about Creator/JayneMansfield, and the final verse talks about her car accident death.
63	-->On the road to New Orleans\
64	A spray of stars hit the screen\
65	As the tenth impact shimmered\
66	The forbidden candles beamed
67	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover art for ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Siouxsie_%26_the_Banshees-Juju.jpg Juju]]'', ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Siouxsie_%26_the_Banshees-A_Kiss_in_the_Dreamhouse.jpg A Kiss in the Dreamhouse]]'', ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Siouxsie_%26_the_Banshees-Hyaena.jpg Hyæna]]'', ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/Siouxsie_%26_the_Banshees-Peepshow.jpg Peepshow]]'', and the live album ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Siouxsie_and_the_Banshees_-_Nocturne.jpg Nocturne]]''.
68	* DoubleEntendre: Some people believe the song "Slowdive" to be about sex or masturbation.
69	* DownerEnding: Not really to the band itself, the breakup seems to have been pretty amicable, but their final album, ''The Rapture'', ends with the pretty damn depressing "Love Out Me", which ended up being the band's final song.
70	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Siouxsie, Robert Smith, and John Carruthers.
71	* ElderAbuse: "Spellbound" includes a lyric about throwing elders down the stairs for not saying their prayers.
72	* EthnicMenialLabor: One of the key points in "Hong Kong Garden."
73	* EpicRocking: Not what one might expect from a band linked to PunkRock, but they had their moments:
74	** "Switch" from ''The Scream'': 6:58.
75	** "Voodoo Dolly" from ''Juju'': 7:05.
76	** "The Lord's Prayer" from ''Join Hands'': 14:08. A version of this was also the first song the band has ever performed in front of an audience.
77	* EverythingIsAnInstrument: "Red Light" uses a camera shutter as percussion.
78	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin; From the lyrics of "Slowdive:"
79	-->"It's slowdive
80	-->When you dive slow."
81	* GenreMashup: They quickly grew out of their UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} / PostPunk beginnings and began to explore a wide variety of musical genres.
82	* GlassShatteringSound: On "Sin In My Heart."
83	* GothRock: TropeMakers alongside Music/{{The Cure\|Band}} and Music/{{Bauhaus}}; incidentally, their debut album was a substantial influence on the genre's {{Trope Namer\|s}}, Music/JoyDivision. That said, much like the Cure, they combined it with [[GenreMashup quite a few other genres]] and were often poppier than the norm for the genre, sometimes bordering on NewWaveMusic. The band themselves have actually repeatedly criticized the way they're so often called a 'goth band,' factoring into their shift to a more accessible sound and the minimization of their ghoulish image on ''Superstition''.
84	* GriefSong: Quite a few. "Rhapsody," for instance, although the grief there isn't induced by the death of a person.
85	* InvoluntaryDance: "Spellbound" depicts the narrator and her friends "following the footsteps of a rag doll dance" thanks to a witch's spell.
86	* LeadBassist: Steve Sevrin is one of the band's principal songwriters, along with Siouxsie Sioux.
87	* LeadDrummer: Budgie was also also part of the main songwriting time with Steve Sevrin and Siouxsie Sioux.
88	* LighterAndSofter:
89	** ''Superstition'', being a much more danceable, accessible and poppy effort than previous (and later) albums, dabbling with SynthPop and AlternativeDance. Compare "Kiss Them For Me" or "Shadowtime" with virtually any song from their other albums, and this becomes very apparent.
90	** ''Kaleidoscope'' was this after the downright ''bleak'' DarkerAndEdgier album, ''Join Hands''.
91	* LongRunnerLineUp: The core members of the band were the same for nearly all the 17 years of their run: Siouxsie, Steven Severin (the founding members) and drummer Budgie. The latter was recruited to play for their 1979 ''Join Hands'' tour: he was originally supposed to be a temporary member, after the previous drummer [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quit abruptly mid-tour]], but ended up remaining until the band's breakup in 1995. The fact that [[RomanceOnTheSet he hooked up with and subsequently married Siouxsie]] probably helped.
92	* LooksLikeCesare: Siouxsie Sioux and Robert Smith both wore stark white makeup with black eyeliner and scraggly black hair as part of their stage images.
93	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: "She's a Carnival" revolves around a girl who "smiles like Mardi-Gras" and captivates the narrator with her energetic and sensual personality.
94	* MinimalisticCoverArt:
95	** ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Siouxsie_%26_the_Banshees-Join_Hands.jpg Join Hands]]''
96	** The [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Siouxsie_Israel.jpg Israel]] single.
97	* MisterSeahorse: The single "Swimming Horses" has "He gives birth to swimming horses" as the chorus.
98	* MsFanservice: Siouxsie is perceived as quite attractive, despite the band's overall eerie look. In fact, the reason why the Music/SexPistols guitarist Steve Jones started dropping f-bombs to host Bill Grundy during their notorious interview was because [[DirtyOldMan Grundy]], who was drunk at the time, made an explicit pass at a then 17 year old Siouxsie.
99	** In the band's early years, she would sometimes perform onstage topless. This also made its way into The Creatures' album covers.
100	* NewSoundAlbum: All the time. Virtually every album changes their sound up to an extent:
101	** ''The Scream'' is harsh, minimalistic PostPunk and PunkRock.
102	** ''Join Hands'' is even more [[DarkerAndEdgier bleak, harsh and minimal]] than its predecessor, as well as being somewhat more experimental as well.
103	** ''Kaleidoscope'' has a much more eclectic and textural sound due to the addition of John [=McGeoch=] and Budgie as guitarist and drummer/percussionist, and also dabbles in slight psychedelia and electronic elements (both of which were to crop up again to a much larger extent on later albums).
104	** ''Juju'' is much DarkerAndEdgier and more chaotic than ''Kaleidoscope'' and even dabbles in Art Rock.
105	** ''A Kiss In The Dreamhouse'' turns up the Art Rock even further in addition to diving headlong into PsychedelicRock.
106	** ''Hyæna'' continues with the Art Rock and PsychedelicRock mix, but has a slightly different take on it due to the departure of John [=McGeoch=] and the arrival of [[Music/TheCureBand Robert Smith]] as guitarist, resulting in a more melodic and pop-influenced sound. At the same time, the album is even more experimental than its predecessor.
107	** ''Tinderbox'' returns to a DarkerAndEdgier and less psychedelic sound, while keeping the more 'pop' influences that would become more pronounced with each album after it. It also experiments with GlamRock and even on "Cities In Dust", dance and electronic elements that were last seen on ''Kaleidoscope''.
108	** ''Peepshow'' turns up the electronic and dance influences even further while also experimenting with a wide and eclectic range of styles and influences.
109	** ''Superstition'' is where the SynthPop and AlternativeDance elements that had started with "Cities In Dust" and grown with each album peak, on this album which is by far their [[LighterAndSofter poppiest and most accessible]].
110	** ''The Rapture'' gets [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and more melancholic again]] and removes the dance and electronic elements while also incorporating GlamRock and WorldMusic influences, nodding to Siouxsie and Budgie's work in The Creatures.
111	* OminousMusicBoxTune:
112	** Combined with LastNoteNightmare in "Carousel."
113	** "Mother", although it's more soothing at the same time.
114	* OurBansheesAreLouder: "Banshees" is the name used to refer to Siouxsie Sioux's bandmates, and her own dark getup and wailing singing voice evoke the ghouls and the doom that they herald.
115	* PostPunk: The band were one of the UK scene's major players, with their image factoring into the overlap between post-punk and GothRock.
116	* ProtestSong: "Arabian Knights" is about rampant misogyny in the Middle East.
117	* PunkRock: At the beginning of their career, right down to having Music/SidVicious as their first drummer. They quickly moved on.
118	* PuttingOnTheReich: Siouxsie Sioux would occasionally don Nazi armbands in early performances, tying in with PunkRock's wider appropriation of fascist imagery and history for shock value. The scene -- and the band with them -- ultimately abandoned the Nazi allusions when the musicians realized that it was attracting actual neo-Nazis who thought they were in good company. This and the lyrical content of "Hong Kong Garden", a satire of anti-Asian racism that some listeners mistook for the genuine article, resulted in the band including "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)", a CelebrityElegy for antifascist artist John Heartfield, on their debut album to clarify to audiences that they weren't a Nazi band.
119	* PyroManiac: "All fire and brimstone, this jack-o'-lantern, he likes to watch the buildings burn..."
120	* RearrangeTheSong: The CD release of ''Tinderbox'' adds on the 12" remix of "Cities in Dust", which emphasizes the dance elements of the song and pushes the guitar far back in the mix instead of having it drive the song.
121	* ReCut: The original CD edition of ''Tinderbox'' adds the B-sides "The Quarterdrawing of the Dog", "An Execution", "Lullaby", and "Umbrella" and the 12" version of "Cities in Dust" as bonus tracks, bringing its runtime up to just over an hour in the process. The 2003 remaster, meanwhile, removes the B-sides and adds the 12" remix of "The Sweetest Chill", an early version of "Song from the Edge of the World" with John Valentine Carruthers on guitar, and the demo version of "Starcrossed Lovers".
122	* RevolvingDoorBand: They cycled guitarists every few years after ''Join Hands'' was released.
123	* ScaryScarecrows: "Scarecrow." Differs from most examples in that the lyrics have a vaguely sexual subtext.
124	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John [=McKay=] ditched the group without notice after the second album.
125	* ShoutOut:
126	** Steven Severin's stage name is taken from Severin von Kusiemski, the main character of Creator/LeopoldVonSacherMasoch's novella ''Literature/VenusInFurs''.
127	** "Peek-A-Boo" has the line "Golly, jeepers, where'd you get those weepers? Peep show, freak show, where did you get those eyes?", which is enough of an overt nod to Hollywood showtune "Jeepers Creepers"' opening lines that the band had to give "Jeepers" songwriters Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer a co-writing credit to avoid legal action.
128	* StalkerWithACrush: A favourite lyrical theme, such as in "Carcass" and "Head Cut."
129	%%* TakeThat: "Drop Dead." (Zero-Context Example)
130	* TomboyishVoice: Siouxsie, who once described herself as possessing a "masculine" aura (at least in comparison to Budgie's more "feminine" one), has a deeper-than-average voice, but a wide range (from from [=G2=]-[=G#6=]). Her unique vocals are part of why the band are so beloved.
131	* WordSaladLyrics: You often get the impression Siouxsie's trying to tell you something, but you can't quite figure out ''what''.

Context Music / SiouxsieAndTheBanshees