NOVEMBER 10th 9.30 a.m. and we headed west out of London towards the depths of the Berkshire countryside... the radio murmured unmemorable music and the weatherman promised rain... the perfect climate for outdoor filming... I don't think.  On arrival at the FOXHILL STABLES (they actually supply specially trained horses that are constantly used in all the major British TV shows... and their carriages are used for the Dracula movies etc)... we were greeted by its friendly occupants and surrounded by cats and dogs of every breed... but what of the horses?.. While someone conjured up breakfast we adjourned to the location to meet the film crew and DUMPTY and CORNET... the magnificent black steeds that were to charge about with our heroes on board..  Acquaintances made it was back to the stables for some nose - bag... and while the group made-up I swallowed a belly full of black coffee in preparation for the threatened cloudburst.  Faces on and suitably attired it was time for action.  Back on location... the horses and carriage was stationary... a gleaming vision in purple... black and turquoise.  The caped coachman boarded... his black masked face expressionless.  A few softly spoken commands... a motion of the reins and the wheels turned towards the track.  Enter Sioux... wearing an ensemble pilfered from the wardrobe of Cruella DeVille... the villainess with a taste for draping herself with freshly flayed Dalmatian... but don't worry dear reader... Sioux's creation is FAKE FUR... visually perfect for the video but murder to keep out of the mud.  So it was... that after a trial run down the track the carriage wasn't quite so gleaming.  It sped this way... then that and as the wheels churned mud on the outside... Sioux sat in all her splendour on the inside... that was until she chose to tilt her fur encased face out of the window... SPLAT!... 'okay Steve... take your position...' the commanding words of director Clive and the Banshee Boys were introduced to the action... one by one...  Steve waited amongst the undergrowth... and waited... and waited... and... the sound of approaching hooves indicated his wait was over... the carriage slowed down (but didn't stop)... the door flew open and Steve stumbled in aided by Sioux... not the most graceful of boardings but it was a bit more difficult than hopping on a 283 to Hammersmith.  Budgie and John fared no better on their first attempts... everyone on board collapsed into laughter as each Banshee was dragged on board... the video was proving to be fun with a capital F.  Eventually sufficient 'pick - up' footage was 'in the can'... the horses rested and the crew and group adjourned for ploughman's or Chilli... mmm.  During the break a rather extraordinary character entered the picture.  The crew's equipment and vehicles were parked in the drive way of a woman who's lived alongside the film location... aside from the bushes there aren't a great deal of public conveniences in the countryside... so the woman kindly allowed everyone the use of her toilet (and kitchen when it came to making coffee as the night drew in)... that was all those that didn't mind running the gauntlet with her two over amorous Great Dane dogs.  Sioux was in feline heaven and everyone who met the marvelous old woman took an instant liking to her and her attitude to life... as she wallowed in her self confessed senility while grinding bones and fresh flesh to feed the multitude of moggies... 'I don't mind telling you how old I am... but please don't ask me to start counting my cats'... the world is a better place for people like her.  The day rapidly became night and filming moved down the lane to the local ford... where it was discovered that since the location had been chosen... the level of water dividing the road had risen due to recent rainfall.  Mellisa (Producer) meticulously submerged stones and gravel to ease the run for the horses and carriage.  The resulting disturbance of the water angered two anglers who eventually (after turning the night air blue with insults) took their leave with their rods between their legs.  It suddenly became very eerie as arch lights illuminated the surrounding foliage and ford... imagine you're in a pitch black room and the only source of light is that of a fridge with it's door open... that's what the carriage had transformed into.  Fortunately no one took an early bath... then it was back to the original location while the horses went back to the stables for some well earned nose - bag.  Rested and fed they returned and The Banshees clambered back aboard the mobile fridge for more of the same shots... only this time under the cloak of darkness.  What had happened to the promised rain?... no complaints.  Occasionally a motorist happened onto the filming... and their journeys temporarily halted as they were forced to witness the steam snorting steeds careering through the undergrowth urged on by the whip wielding coachman... the passengers looked on curiously.  The hours had flown and although Clive's head was still spilling out ideas for additional shots... all there remained time for was a lip synching Siouxsie.  10 p.m. and time to seek solace and to become the conversation point for many a winter night to come... in the local pub... 'time gentlemen please'... and guess what?.......... the heavens opened and an almighty storm broke... what timing..........

For four hors on both NOVEMBER 10th and 11th... the group entered PINEAPPLE DANCE STUDIOS and aided by choreographer BEYHAN... the chaps were guided through a series of leaps and rolls and made to get active... get physical and work their bodies... eventually settling for motions that they felt most comfortable performing.  Sioux used her own natural movements which Beyhan helped her to refine and define in order to accentuate the best elements of those movements.  Thursday 13th 9.30 a.m. and it's raining... the nause merchant cab driver took Budgie and I on an unwanted guided tour of Greenford in search of GRIPHOUSE STUDIOS... the location for day two of the 'shoot'.  Sioux was first to merge from the dressing rooms clad in mock Dalmatian... she climbed onto a pedestal... click... around it turned... 'cue playback'.  If your memory serves you well...'  a vision of feline grace.. ha.. ha.. not so the chaps... instruments in hand they turned and wobbled... but their concentration prevented any of them coming a cropper... the real fun was yet to come.  First the chaps performed death defying leaps through the air and on each other... then they regressed to those best (or not) daze of primary school... ' right children... down on the coconut matting and roll around like worms'... laugh?.. I nearly lost consciousness... especially when Sioux changed her ballet pumps for stilettos and proceeded to step over and in-between the rolling Banshee 'worms'... dangerous stuff... 'now Caruthers make like a mule'... bent double John wore a brave face as he transported a flailing Sioux across the studio... not once... but again and again and...  Running sdrawkcab... Sioux donned a leather mask... was carried through the air by Steve and John and into Budgie's arms to be twirled to the ground.  More acrobatics... then on to the full group performance with instruments... sadly I doubt you'll get to see Steve and John's Hendrix tongue and raised axe-hero posturing... and Sioux leaping on to the drum riser snatching spare Budgie bashers and accompanying him for the cacophonous finale... mega... but who knows.  I did say this was a fun video... one take... print it.  Then there was a slight set back... after various attempts to get a wind machine blown bunch of multi coloured table clothes to resemble the top of a twirling Bedouin tent was aborted... the material was slashed to provide Sioux with handfuls of multi coloured ribbons to whirl and twirl.  The wind machine provided a suitable wind swept effect... and the chaps put the remaining table clothes over their heads and ran around Sioux in gay abandon (more for the cutting room floor I fear)... 'we're coming to get you...'  The mood changed from the frivolity of flailing ribbons to the eeriness of  'The Evil Dead'... the lights dimmed and Sioux fondled and eternally lit perplex dome... the effect increased when smoke was pumped into the dome... 'we're coming to get you'... Another mood change... light the blue torch paper at arms length and retire to a safe distance... everyone complied... except Sioux... who had to face the camera while colourful Catherine Wheels spat sparks behind her head... sometimes... some of them proved to be the proverbially damp squibs.  As the smoke and the sulphurous smell cleared... huge wooden wheels were rolled in and the group practiced a few preliminary spins... action... spin those wheels... as the stark lighting cast colossal shadows Sioux prowled to the playback... while the Banshee Boys ducked... dived and disco jived... until one of them (who shall remain nameless) flipped up and out... toppling one of the wheels from its mounting... BONK... smack on top of Budgie's head... 'everything was going great... then I got hit with a wheel... which may or may not be in the final cut... the final cut's in my cheek... I got a hefty whack in the back of my ear... my head was on fire'... CUT... sadly filming reached an abrupt end... fate had cheated us out of the sight of Sioux flailing a flaming ball of fire around her head... such is life........

So fingers crossed... maybe this video will get the mass media saturation that the group's past videos deserved but never got... wait and watch those cathode rays...

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

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Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

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Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

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PIANO TUNERS BOOGIE - WINIFRED ATWELL

"... an old 78 rpm record I've still got somewhere... though there's a piece missing out of it now it's still playable... When I was a kid we had a wind-up gramophone... It was the record I played all the time... I liked it because the record used to spin round really fast and go (recreates the sound of the needle on a crackly old record)... my liking for the record has as much to do with what it was being played on as what the record was.  The b-side was 'Poor People Of Paris'... she used to whistle just one note... I use to think... she sounds really mad..."

WITH HER HER HEAD TUCKED UNDERNEATH HER ARM - STANLEY HOLLOWAY

(remember the Banshees' on 'Play At Home' and Budgie's rendition of 'Stanley Holloway's 'Albert and the Lion'?... same person).  "... because it contains the line... 'she walks that bloody tower'... the word 'bloody' use to be a swear word when I was a kid... It was probably in the same box as Winifred Atwell with big (once more recreates ancient crackly scratch noises)..."

OH PRETTY WOMAN - ROY ORBISON

"... I remember watching Top Of The Pops and seeing this bloke with shades on in a really crummy film of mini-skirted girls walking up and down in front of the camera... It was the combination of the guitar sound and the image... it seemed like a very rude song to me..."

GROOVIN' WITH MISTER BLOE - MISTER BLOE

"... an instrumental... it had harmonica on it... I think that's where I first heard harmonica... Probably sounds awful now... but it sounded good then..."

THE BURNING OF THE MIDNIGHT LAMP - JIMI HENDRIX

"... just a beautiful melody... classical... a beautiful thing... I could just listen to that first phrase going round and round without any words coming in almost..."

AMERICAN WOMAN - THE GUESS WHO?

"... it reminds me of stock car racing in Kirby (the same way that Norman Greenbaum's 'Spirit In The Sky' reminds me of riding the waltzers at fairgrounds in St. Helens)...this record was always playing... although I didn't know what it was it really fitted all the cars being continually smashed up... demolition derby... I'd never seen anything like it... It was really scary for me because I was still quite young then... being out with the big lads and all the noise of motor bikes and heavy cars... everything was really heavy duty... This record seemed dead aggressive then (the guitar sound coming out of the tannoy speakers around the track sounded really tinny)... it all seemed to fit... really fab..."

LOW RIDER - WAR

"... I heard this record in pubs later on... but I remember when it was released thinking there was nothing in the song... it all sounded like one note... that was the beauty of it... It hardly lifted or went up and down... like the (low rider) cars themselves.  it crawls along... one of those things that go along but hardly move... that kind of 'dat' sounding cow bell... it's all on the off beat... once it starts it doesn't stop... it's a driving song... I suppose I've got a fixation... I dream about driving... one day probably when I learn to drive I'll lose it and the recurring dream... I'll stick to my bicycle for now" (Budgie has since passed his driving test... I'll have to check on those dreams)...

BURLESQUE - FAMILY

"... it's just a strange sound... I listened to it again recently and it sounded awful... I couldn't believe how badly it was recorded... but Roger Chapman had a really strange voice... he could get away with sounding like he'd swallowed a load of glass and then singing into the microphone... The sounds on the record sound pretty ordinary now... but then they sounded really discordant and daft... it didn't sound like a regular record (most of these songs sounded a little bit barmy... I think Winifred Atwell would have liked this one)... the arrangements sounded really mad... I'm only saying this in hindsight... it's only now that I can put it all together...

T.REX - RIDE A WHITE SWAN

"... because it was just glorious... it was like the simplest thing I'd ever heard... it seemed like one day it wasn't there then it was way up in the charts... I'd never heard a voice like it and became a Marc Bolan fan from then (for the next couple of years anyway)... it was so wonderful I actually wanted to get a guitar and go (sings the lead guitar refrain)... good b-sides as well..."

THE UPSETTERS - RETURN OF DJANGO

"... first record I ever bought I think... I saw Pans People dancing to it on Top Of The Pops... I couldn't believe the saxophone... at the time I wasn't sure it was a saxophone... suddenly I realised I liked instrumental things... I didn't even know the type of music it was... it didn't matter to me... that was brilliant... I went out and was really proud I'd got this Trojan (the record's label) record... wrote my name on the label... I thought that I'd discovered it... that's what was all important then... Then it was used for a Cadbury's Fruit and Nut chocolate advert... I thought that was great because I didn't think a lot of people had heard it before then... so I use to go around telling people... you know what that is?... it's Return Of Django by The Upsetters..."

Budgie

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