Siouxsie And The Banshees; De Nieuwe Kade, Tiel, Holland

Picked up from 100 Greatest Bootlegs

Siouxsie And The Banshees; De Nieuwe Kade, Tiel, Holland. Date: July 7th 1981

basement67 notes:

Siouxsie And The Banshees released ‘Ju Ju’ their fourth album on June 6, 1981, a record now bestowed with classic status - like their other percussion heavy release, the 1978 debut ‘The Scream’.

The Ju Ju tour was the first and only time that I saw the Banshees, I had been interested in the group since 1977, after hearing the session they recorded for BBC Radio One, broadcast on the John Peel show. Siouxsie & The Banshees were often described at that time, as the best unsigned group in London and it would not be until 1978, that they were taken on by Polydor records.

The European tour began on June 14th 1981 in Brussels, and ran to the end of the summer before the group flew to North America for dates throughout October and November.

This Dutch FM broadcast is an upgrade taken from a master source and includes Happy House which had not been previously available. It features seven live versions of tracks that appear on ‘Ju Ju’, only missing ‘Into The Light’ and ‘Monitor’ (the latter performed but not broadcast as were ‘Christine’ and ‘Red Light’). ‘But Not Them’ was a new track played live by the Banshees in concert, it had been written by the ‘Creatures’ after the Ju Ju sessions and the song would be eventually released on their Wild Things EP in September 1981.

This is a superb recording; the clarity highlights the extraordinary and unique guitar playing of John McGough. High-class audio equipment has been used, it is hiss free and doesn’t sound compressed. Few recordings of this quality circulate from the early eighties and although I may be slightly biased having seen the band on this tour, this is my favourite Banshees recording from this time (1980-81).

Siouxsie And The Banshees – Peepshow

Peepshow by Siouxsie and the Banshees is widely considered to be one of their most accessible and eclectic albums, blending their signature gothic quirkiness with pop hooks and experimental arrangements, leading to widespread critical acclaim upon its release and earning its reputation as an adventurous and "re-energized" record. The album showcases a wide range of styles, from grand ballads to infectious pop songs like "The Killing Jar," while also exploring cinematic and psychological themes through its lyrics and diverse orchestration. While some critics found the album's combination of elements to be a highlight, others noted occasional moments where experimentation overshadowed melody, but Peepshow remains a critically beloved and influential work within their discography. 

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Hyaena

There had been considerable tumult in the Banshees' camp between the release of 1982's A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and 1984's Hyæna. Guitarist John McGeogh had been sacked; Robert Smith had replaced him on a long-term loan, and after a year of group solo projects (The Creatures and The Glove), Smith wanted to mark his time in the studio with Siouxsie. The resulting single (here as a bonus track), Dear Prudence, became their biggest UK hit in late 1983. Broadening the eclectically experimental landscape of 1982's Kiss in the Dream House with the occasional string arrangement and a spacious sound mix, Siouxsie and the Banshees' Hyæna nicely bridges the gap between the band's handful of more-punk-than-pop early releases and their run of new wave, radio-friendly hits from the late '80s and early '90s.
Traditionally an album that has split the audience, it bridges the gap between the raga-like material on JuJu and their later period. The lyrics are suitably bleak – 'a dead sea of fluid mercury' (Dazzle); 'from the fury pit, a reek of misery' (Pointing Bone); 'eat me, feed me, with your belching, foul breath' (We Hunger) - and ably demonstrate the underbelly of pop at the time of Wham! and Nik Kershaw. And though echoes of classic albums like Kaleidoscope and JuJu are heard in dark and menacing tracks such as "Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man" and "Blow Your House Down," the emphasis here is on layered arrangements and pop tunes. Disguised as art-house production numbers ("Dazzle"); tasteful horn and keyboard parts expand the group's guitar-dominated sound and provide Siouxsie with an airy and dreamlike backdrop in which to fully display her considerable vocal talents.
Anchored by the signature sound of Steven Severin's bass, Budgie's exotically adept percussion work, and Siouxsie’s vocal enchanting with the appropriate air of need and detached drama, it is the Banshees psychedelia running riot. Seriously though, Hyæna qualifies as one of Siouxsie and the Banshees' finest moments.

Siouxsie And The Banshees – Tinderbox

Tinderbox was Siouxsie and the Banshees' seventh studio album; and by the time of its release in April 1986, the band had become unwilling and unwitting figureheads of the now well-defined Goth movement in the UK. Recorded at the same studios in Berlin where David Bowie had recorded "Heroes", Tinderbox arrived as many of their original peers had either long splintered or resorted to parody. Sioux and Severin were being asked about their longevity and that, as being ten years in to their career, should they not be pushed aside like the prog dinosaurs had been a decade previously. Siouxsie was having none of it and told Sounds curtly that "We haven't replaced Genesis or Yes by any means." And she’s right – this was not a band resting on their laurels. It was a band pushing forward, seizing the moment. Producer Hugh Jones allows the Banshees to put together an effective mix of icy dramatics on the first studio album with ex-Clock DVA guitarist, John Valentine Carruthers. The album was trailed by the single Cities In Dust, one of Siouxsie's best vocal performances. The last days of Pompeii vibe seemed to chime perfectly with the times as the excess of the 80s was spiralling out of control. Tinderbox is a rollicking, demanding listen. Carruthers, aware of being the fourth guitarist in the band, dives head-first into the melee. It's fairly unrelenting listing. By now, they had perfected the overlaying of acoustic guitars on their work – hear Cannons, the album’s finest track. The galloping attack of Budgie's drums compliments the slippery liquidity of Carruthers’ guitar on Party's Fall.

 

Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Scream

The first wave of punk was becalmed in the doldrums by November 1978. Post punk was still a figment of some prepubescent journalist’s imagination. Politically, the UK was part grey Orwellian uber-state, part suburban dream zone, part police state. As with many groups from the punk era, Siouxsie And The Banshees are primarily remembered as a “singles” band but this ignores the absolute crucial impact The Scream had on UK music at the time. Sheet metal guitar, pounding, tribal drums and Siouxsie’s part Nico-esque dominatrix meets primal yelp vocals made The Scream unlike anything else released that year.

The Banshees had left punk pogoing and spitting firmly in their rear-view mirrors, with an album as unexpected as it was ground-breaking. To paraphrase Paul Morley, The Banshees were punk like Pharaoh Sanders or Miles Davis were punk. They were squalling, uncompromising, visceral, energetic, spacey and melodramatic all at the same time.

Opener Pure sets the tone. A whirling dervish of a song with nods to Can and the Velvets, it spirals in and out of control as Siouxsie’s paranoid lyric leads the charge. Metal Postcard is perhaps the central song on the album. John Mackay’s screeching guitar intro hints at Hitchcock’s Psycho soundtrack while Kenny Morris’s thunderous attack gives the song a primitive air. Dedicated to anti-Nazi John Heartfield, Metal Postcard lays waste any hint that The Banshees had fascist overtones.

The Beatles-slaughtering cover version of Helter Skelter has an almost joyful glee in its climbing, fluttering changes. There is clearly a reverential tone to Siouxsie and friends with nods to their musical heritage, but this is all something very new. Switch, the longest and perhaps most complex song on the album closes. A claustrophobic, creeping dread lingers throughout before it lunges breathlessly to an end.

Siouxsie And The Banshees – Juju

Dark, Sexy And Enticing, ‘Juju’ found Siouxsie And The Banshees shaping the future of post-punk and laying the template for the emerging goth scene. The Banshees’ fourth album, 1981’s Juju, remains the chameleonic post-punk outfit’s landmark release. It attracted reams of critical acclaim and cemented its creators’ reputation as one of the most exhilarating and distinctive rock acts of the early 80s.

Asian Knights

More from the vault marked Siouxsie And The Banshees, Live. Continuing the love of all things Banshees and especially the Bob Smith year of service I have one of the few warm up gigs that allowed the band to iron out any creases before their big gigs in The Royal Albert Hall. Bob holds his own here with a John McGeoch set that would test even the best. The sound here is really good, as you’d expect with a Japanese performance from the 80’s with only Painted Bird suffering from the dreaded tape flip. All the usual suspects are represented with Steve and Budgie doing their best to evoke the sounds of an earthquake during Fireworks through sheer bloody mindedness. If you expect any punches to be pulled for the new boy on guitar, forget it. Siouxsie gives her usual perfect is the only option performance and shows off her live chops through-out the blistering set list. My only gripe is the lack of early singles, but by now the Banshees had officially moved on and nearly all traces of the first incarnation had been wiped away. A document of a short period in time of a constantly evolving, almost everlasting band.

Kaleidoscope

After Join Hands, guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris departed the Banshees, leaving the band at a crossroads. Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin elected to soldier on with ex-Slits drummer Budgie and two guitarists, ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones and John McGeoch of Magazine as guest Banshees. Despite the personnel upheaval, the result is a surprisingly strong record: Kaleidoscope. While a number of the songs here are still dark-hued and feature bleak lyrics, they are made very palatable by extraordinarily imaginative production values featuring intricate synthesizer-flecked arrangements; psychedelic touches in "Christine," spaceship synthesizer swoops in "Tenant," and rhythmic camera clicks in "Red Light" all enliven their respective songs. Sound quality here is lighter and much clearer than on previous releases. Sioux's singing shows noticeable improvement here, still tuneless at times but also exhibiting more range and subtlety than previously. The song "Hybrid," a Joy Division-style number, shows her vocals running the gamut from primitive to inspired. Other highlights include the galloping, vibrant up-tempo number "Skin," the spooky and atmospheric "Lunar Camel," the medium-tempo rocker "Trophy," and the punky vocalise "Clockface." Kaleidoscope was a make-or-break album for Siouxsie and the Banshees, and happily the band came through strongly.

Banshees Live In Germany

This is a definite must have for all of you who own every single recording she ever made and adored her for her glamorous and over the top style, sultry contralto, and wild excursions into very different styles of music on each album. And the one thing you could depend on with Siouxsie was that she gave it her all - particularly in concert.

On this live recording, she is in really, really, really good voice (even better than the later Nocturne). But, I think the thing that I love about these old tapes and her recordings is that they were done without auto-tune and never lip-synced. It is raw. It is emotional. It is real. It is her. And even now, if her voice is lower and a bit more shall we say Dietrich-esque she is still that way. She has aged gracefully and is still the undeniable Queen of Punk.

Have you noticed? Has the 1977-1979 line up on the cover yet this gig is from 1981…true bootleg

Banshees; Live In London 1982

A quick recap; Siouxsie And The Banshees were awesome live during the early 80’s period with Steve Severin, Budgie and John McGeoch (plus the additional assistance of Robert Smith). The Hammersmith Odeon in west London has been the scene of many great gigs by hundreds of great bands over the years. This show from 28^th December ‘82 was the first of two sold out nights for the Banshees in London on their ‘A Kiss In The Dreamhouse’ UK tour with Robert Smith filling in on guitar following the departure of John McGeoch earlier in the year. The atmosphere is electric as the band kicked off with Fireworks then taking their time to introduce the audience to their new tracks from the Dreamhouse album. Night Shift wakes the crowd up and launches them in a hedonistic race towards salvation with Slowdive, Painted Bird, Arabian Knights and Overground before the Banshees launch into Halloween and Voodoo Dolly to close the set. But it’s not over, the band come back out for all the people who chose not to go home for Christmas…

Join Hands

This was Siouxsie And The Banshees second album, released on September 7th, 1979, featuring their single Playground Twist, which I arguably believe is their best, although it isn't often one says that about a band's second effort. The musical inventiveness here goes further from The Scream. It is a shame that John McKay and Kenny Morris left the group in acrimony right afterwards, as they both played a big part in this version of the Banshees in my opinion. McKay's simple but inventive and strategic guitar combined with Morris' martial-influenced playing and Siouxsie's incendiary vocals, which often (although this may sound long-winded) has the aura of a heroic Joan Of Arc-style warrior, although she would herself sneer at such a comparison. Of course a lot of people say she isn't really a singer, but since this is punk rock, who cares really?

Do We Still Kiss In The Dreamhouse

Evolution, as always, is the key to survival. By the time Siouxsie and the Banshees released A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, they were already an established commercial and critically acclaimed force in Britain; their prior album, Juju, hit the Top 10 and remained in the charts for nearly 20 weeks. However, for a couple of punks from London raised on the notion of tearing things down and building it back up in their own image, safe commercial success was never an option.

A Kiss in the Dreamhouse sees the Banshees push their music down unexpected corridors of mayhem. While not psychedelic in the traditional sense, the album produces a surreal and otherworldly mood by flashing unusual sound effects, eerie loops and Sioux’s atypical and out-there lyrics. Its muscular production job and creative arrangements present a band fast approaching mastery of their gothic pop craft while expanding their sound to encompass art pop orchestral backing and studio effect experimentation.

Guitarist John McGeoch and drummer Budgie, already formidable presences in the band since joining two albums ago, dominate the proceedings with their powerful command of space. Sharp pricks of electric riffage and chiming acoustic arpeggios bite into opener “Cascade,” out of the gate, the Banshees sound tight and to the point.

What makes …. Dreamhouse such a compelling listen is the band’s keen sense of what makes a song work and their willingness to break those rules in favour of whatever the hell they want to throw into the mix. By subtly weaving these unexpected sounds around their post-punk song writing, the Banshees pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and into art pop punk bliss.

Like An Animal

The Glove's Blue Sunshine is a one-off collaboration between The Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie And The Banshees' Steven Severin which resulted in an eccentric, and at times incompatible, mix of psychedelic sounds wrapped around alternative '80s pop. Writers Smith and Severin's more eccentric tendencies are as likely to evoke pictures of a carnival as a funereal march, but the backbone rests largely on tightly constructed tunes with occasional forays into the experimental. Jeanette Landray sings the majority of the tracks, while Smith takes the lead twice amongst a smattering of instrumentals. Standout tracks include the Middle Eastern-twinged "Orgy" and the more conventional "Mouth to Mouth." Smith's distinctive warbling on the first-class "Perfect Murder" takes the album directly into Cure territory, as do the instrumentals which could equally find a home on Seventeen Seconds. While musically diverse, the album's lyrics rarely stray from the dual themes of death and sex, furthering the Gothic undertones so often heard in Smith and Severin's previous work. Blue Sunshine's eclecticism makes this an interesting side note for long-time fans of the Cure and Siouxsie And the Banshees, but a somewhat more inaccessible listen for others.