The Serpentine and sensuous but somehow still scary Siouxsie Sioux, like Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra, Siouxsie’s dancing performance seems to lure out demons for some dastardly end. This new approach to the band’s sound with Talvin Singh on tabla gave Siouxsie And the Banshee’s their first US Top 40 hit (No. 23) but unfortunately the album Superstition where the song was featured, ended up being their second last and one wonders if they lost their way whilst penetrating the American charts. After this there was one last stab with their final album The Rapture in 1995.

Superstition was produced by Stephen Hague better known for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, The Pet Shop Boys and New Order records, the assistant engineer was Nigel Godrich – and we all know where he landed. Looking back on it, the recording is stiff and lifeless, instead of having a groove it suffers horribly from dated programming but the song is a wonderful clash of catchy and the obscure that Siouxsie executed so well. I loved it at the time and still have a soft spot for it even though it’s those classic early singles and albums where the greatest material lies. They invented their own sound, were a major player in creating the Goth movement and couldn’t sound like anything but themselves.

One of the great bands to come out of the Punk movement with depth, ideas and personality to spare despite their insistence in playing it all down as antiheroes. A band that may have been initially inspired by the idea that ‘anyone could do it’ and that actually playing your instrument might be a hinderance but in reality Budgie’s drumming was top notch, the consummate musician and with the late John McGeoch ex Magazine on guitar between 1979 – 1982 playing memorable tuneful guitar lines or jagged scraping cacophonies, it only took some simple plectrum bass from Steve Severin to keep the Punk ethic alive and make for a seriously great band. Siouxsie was the icing on the cake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Them_for_Me_(song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition_(Siouxsie_and_the_Banshees_album)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouxsie_and_the_Banshees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouxsie_Sioux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgie_(drummer)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Severin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McGeoch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creatures