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Siouxsie and the Banshees were originally formed in order to fill an empty space on the bill at the first 'international punk rock festival' organised by Malcolm McLaren at the 100 Club in London's Oxford Street on September 20th, 1976.
The initial line up consisted of 'Bromley Contingent' members Siouxsie Sioux (real name Susan Janet Ballion), Steve Severin (aka Steve Spunker/Havoc), Marco Pirroni (later of Adam and the Ants and Rema Rema) and Sid Vicious (real name John Simon Ritchie), later of the Sex Pistols, on drums. On this occasion their set consisted of a lengthy and chaotic unrehearsed improvisation of "The Lord's Prayer", which also included lines from songs like "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Smoke On The Water" and "Twist And Shout".
"God it was awful" and "excruciating!" were two eye-witness accounts of their performance. This was not a unanimous view, however. A recording of the piece which circulates, though of relatively poor quality, demonstrates that the group gave a performance which commanded and repaid attention.
Siouxsie courted much controversy in the early days due to her dress, often wearing 'bondage' clothes and fetish wear. She was also heavily critisised for wearing swastika armbands, although always maintained that this was intended to be for 'shock value' rather than any form of display of political sympathies.
The infamous Bill Grundy interview with the Sex Pistols, which led to notoriety for the Sex Pistols in December 1976, was sparked when TV presenter Grundy attempted to 'chat up' Siouxsie on prime time TV.
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 gigging regularly and had attracted a solid fan base. Fenton was subsequently sacked and replaced in July 1977 by John McKay.It was not until 1978 that they finally obtained a record contract with Polydor Records, where upon they released their first single "Hong Kong Garden" (which reached the top 10 in the UK), followed soon after by the album The Scream.
Their second album, Join Hands, was released in 1979, and included a lengthy version of the aforementioned "Lord's Prayer" track. However, two days into a tour promoting this album, Morris and McKay unexpectedly quit the band. They were hastily replaced by Robert Smith (whose band The Cure were the Banshees' support for the tour) on guitar and Budgie (real name Peter Clarke, formerly of The Slits and Big In Japan) 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.
(the story from hereon in still to be written, something more substantial than the following would be nice...)
While probably best known by the mainstream for songs like "Kiss them For Me", Siouxsie and the Banshees has done everything from punk (in the 1970s) to goth to new wave. How to classify this band depends on what era/song/album one is talking about.
Siouxsie and her husband Budgie also started a 'side project' band called The Creatures.
The Scream Polydor, 1978
Join Hands Polydor, 1979
Kaleidoscope 1980
Juju Polydor, 1981
Once Upon A Time: The Singles Polydor, 1981
A Kiss In The Dreamhouse Polydor, 1982
Nocturne (live) 1983
Hyaena 1984
Tinderbox 1986
Through The Looking Glass Geffen, 1987
Peepshow Geffen, 1988
The Peel Sessions 1991
Superstition Geffen, 1991
Twice Upon A Time: The Singles 1992
The Rapture 1995
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