Siouxsie and the Banshees - The Early Years

by Laurence Hedges

Monday 20th September 1976 saw one of the most unexpected moments in music history when what was to become one of the most iconic, important and mimicked bands of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s took to the stage at The 100 Club in Oxford Street, London. A last-minute addition to the '100 Club Punk Special' that included The Clash, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and The Damned, an unknown Siouxsie and The Banshees, comprising Sid Vicious, Steve Severin, Marco Pirroni and Siouxsie Sioux, unleashed twenty minutes of 'performance art' improvisation, featuring fragments of 'Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles', 'Twist And Shout' and 'Satisfaction'. 'The Lord's Prayer', which was to become a staple of Siouxsie and The Banshees' early live repertoire, was a white-noise assault on the senses and a barometer of the alienation many teenagers felt from the bloated nature of mid-1970s 'arena rock'. Several line-up changes later, in 1978, Siouxise and The Banshees were propelled into the pop stratosphere. Signed to a major record label, the band released 'Hong Kong Garden' and wrote one of the most influential post-punk albums of all time, The Scream, a savage critique of curtain-twitching suburbia, the cheap titillation of the tabloids, and the dangers of believing and following any one doctrine. 1979's Join Hands, influenced by the political landscape in Britain and further afield, and the catastrophic loss of life in World War One, was a milestone of the band's increasing maturity, from the adrenaline-fuelled stomp of 'Icon' to the phased guitar, saxophone and bells of 'Playground Twist'. After a tour fraught with fractiousness, a new line up with Slits' drummer Budgie and Magazine guitarist John McGeoch, together with Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin, released the band's most experimental album, Kaleidoscope, which was a heady mix of psychedelia and sonorous adventures including the singles 'Happy House' and 'Christine'. Siouxsie and The Banshees The Early Years explores the adventures, trials and tribulations of a band defying categorisation. Their uncompromising brilliance is exemplified by three unique albums, which are chronicled in the pages of this authoritative survey.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

242 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2023

Reviews

[Ray Smillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will hold my hand up and admit to still loving the first two Banshees albums to this day (apart from the Lords Prayer dirge, a prayer I deliberately never learned). Quite liked their later work but not as much as The Scream and Join Hands.

I was a victim of McKay and Morris walking out in Aberdeen as their planned gig in Dunfermline a couple of days after never happened. On the plus side I did see the classic line up a year earlier in Edinburgh.

Getting back to the book, this is well researched and interesting, particularly to fans of the early Banshees and still count myself as lucky to have seen them live in 1978, supported by Spizz Oil.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was thoroughly entertaining and a quick read. Going back to the beginning for Siouxsie and the Banshees was a real treat. This book follows them from their first appearance at the 100 Club in 1976 up to 1980 with the release of Kaleidoscope. The author does a great job going into detail on what was happening historically and musically in England and the US. I listened to each album as it was being detailed and I hadn't listened to those early albums in their entirety in quite some time. I definitely put Kaleidoscope in a different category than the first two albums.
There is a long chapter after Join Hands discussing the famous (or infamous) disertion of duty by John McKay and Kenny Morris. What was interesting for me, being a life long Banshees fan was to learn of how many guitarists had been influenced by McKay's playing. Perhaps this is because everything I had read previously only focused on Siouxsie and Severin's reaction to him leaving. You can see also how Seventeen Second by The Cure was directly influenced by Robert Smith filling in on guitar for the Join Hands tour.

Once Budgie and John McGeoch came on board for Kaleidoscope the band really took it to another level with their musical talents which lead to Juju (which of course is considered a Gothic masterpiece), on to A Kiss in the Dreamhouse and Hyeana where they first started to utilize strings to dramatic effect.

[Michael Bully · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable, intense and interesting work. Probably not a good first introduction for anyone starting to explore the work of Siouxsie and the Banshees, but I gained a lot from it. I bought the first three albums ‘The Scream’, ‘Join Hands’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’ as they appeared, and quite a number of the singles. I thought that I was really quite familiar with the music and lyrics. But from reading this book, which particularly draws in the influence of film, art, and the contemporary music of the time, makes me want to play the whole back catalogue from this era again from the band’s history and listen with a new ears as it were.

The author starts with the very early days of Punk and goes up to the Autumn of 1980 just before the single ‘Israel’ was released. It is emphasised that though Siouxsie and bassist Severin knew the Sex Pistols and the Banshees’ revulsion against suburban life complimented Punk well , they were very different musically.And the differences showed. The Banshees’s offering Nico a support slot did not go down well with the 1977 crowd, though after the rise of Joy Division and Bauhaus, would have worked. And having a hit single with ‘Hong Kong Garden’ (1978) got the expected quibbles from earlier Siouxsie and the Banshees fans.

Siouxsie’s earlier use of a swastika armband and the original dodgy lyrics to ‘Love in a Void’ are not brushed under the carpet by the author, but balanced out by highlighting the band’s open support for anti-Nazi artist John Heartfield.

Of course the biggest challenge the band faced was that after at last getting signed, and gaining some success, the UK tour to promote the second album ‘Join Hands’ nearly finished the band off after guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris walked out one afternoon. Siouxsie and Severin managed to salvage some dates with Robert Smith and Budgie helping out. And the group survived.
Early interviews are drawn on , and virtually every track recorded by the band is examined. It is a dedicated piece of writing and I hope that Mr Hedges will write a sequel.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for Banshees’ fans! But it could have benefited from better editing (inconsistent punctuation, a few spelling errors, odd references/comparisons to Radiohead, mixing up Joey and Tommy Ramone — unless Joey WAS an influence on Budgie’s drumming).

Admittedly this is all a bit nitpicky. None of these minor errors undermine the credibility of the book. The information is solid, the coverage is thorough, interviews/other sources are well-integrated. Overall, the book is a very enjoyable read.

Looking forward to reading the next two volumes!

[Kenneth Mackay · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1979 turned up at the Kinema Ballroom in Dunfermline to watch the band only to be told the band had split up the night before in Aberdeen, so bought the book to get the story behind the break up , found that part of the book interesting , but puts me off a book when the author starts reviewing every drum , guitar part and vocals on every song on every album

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have benefited from some decent editing and less reliance on using obscure words in an attempt to sound/look intelligent. It became a chore to read because of this. 3 stars because the book inspired me to re visit the first 3 Banshees albums so all was not bad.
Disappointing.