It's been some time in the making... here's exactly how it came to be.....

Having debuted (in this country) five titles at the immensely successful Anti-Heroin concert (CANNONS, THE SWEETEST CHILL, 92 DEGREES, PARTY'S FALL and THIS UNREST) and with the congregations applause still ringing in their ears... the Banshees entered Matrix studios for two days to work on demos of the new material.  The following day (April 15th) kicked off a twelve day pre-production session with Hugh Jones in the madness inducing beige carpeted confines of the Nomis Complex.  When they emerged (April 26th) they had also written the music and lyrics to a further two songs CANDYMAN and LANDS END (though the latter wasn't quite finished).  On May 4th 1985 they boarded a plane and flew in the direction of Germany to Belin's Hansa (by the wall) studios.  The entirety of the next day and their first in the studio was spent acquiring suitable drum sounds.  Day 2 the guitars and bass were recorded for one of the newer songs CANDYMAN.  Day 3 commenced with a backing track for CANDYMAN... then preparatory sounds to provide a backing track for the offspring of a musical marriage of two songs PARTY'S FALL (MK1... because it went through several key changes during recording).  Day 4 continued with the backing track for PARTY'S FALL... then 92 Degrees... the origin of which goes back to the writing and recording of demos at the end of '84 when Bob Ezrin was the prospective producer... something that didn't reach fruitition due to conflicting views on the Banshees musical direction... the song began with bass and drums.  Day 5 the addition of the first of John's guitar parts. Day 6 more guitars. Day 7 even more guitars but for CANDYMAN. Day 8 guitars for 92 DEGREES. Day 9 a non starter designated a maintenance day due to the studio ceasing to function.  Day 10 recording resumed with THE SWEETEST CHILL... a song written on bass by Steven... to which John added the thin sounding guitar in the middle section.  Then Siouxsie recorded her first vocals of the visit... for 92 DEGREES, CANDYMAN and PARTY'S FALL during which time it was discovered that the instruments used on the backing track had to be tuned up a tone to accommodate Siouxsie's vocals... so a new backing track was recorded... but after a couple of run throughs it still didn't seem to be working.  Day 11 recorded backing track for THE SWEETEST CHILL.  Day 12 recorded the backing track for THIS UNREST... which was written in November '84... the first stage commencing with a bass line to which John added the middle guitar section... which was played continually down in Matrix studios until they wrote the scary parts where the song goes mental... then it was back to PARTY'S FALL (MK2).  Day 13 recorded baas for PARTY'S FALL, THIS UNREST and 92 DEGREES and guitars for PARTY'S FALL.  Day 14 guitars for THIS UNREST.  Day 15 more guitars on THIS UNREST and vocals for 92 DEGREES.  Day 18 they began work on the still incomplete LANDS END... a song which for some time had consisted of only guitars and drums.  Siouxsie then wrote the lyrics (she actually wrote all the lyrics on the album) and Steven wrote and recorded the bass line that day... then John recorded the first guitars for the song.  Day 19 more guitars for 92 DEGREES and Siouxsie recorded the voice on THE SWEETEST CHILL.  Day 20 more guitars for LANDS END and Siouxsie recorded backing vocals for THE SWEETEST CHILL.  Day 21 although the producer wasn't present Siouxsie still managed to provide the voice for THIS UNREST.  Day 22 recorded the backing track for the first song ever written for the album during the period in Nov '84... Steven wrote a bass line and John added guitars (it was also the first song off the album performed for a 'live' audience... 21/11/84 at Barcelona's Discoteca 54)... CANNONS.  Day 23 Budgie recorded drums and percussion on a song (which still hasn't been finished) with the working title of STARCROSSED.  Day 24 continued working on STARCROSSED.  Day 25 recorded a backing track for STARCROSSED and the demo of a song written 'on the spot'... it was something Steven had been playing for ages and for which he already had lyrics... he and Siouxsie played it in the control room and Budgie worked out the drums to a drum machine... LULLABY.  Day 26 recorded the backing track for LULLABY... which was virtually the last thing they did in Berlin (though there are a couple of songs that were worked on but were never finished).  Day 27 and Day 28 (June 1st) were spent doing monitor mixes... then it was over... their stay in Berlin that was...

Back to Blighty and virtually straight into The Garden studios... where they did overdubs (mainly guitars) between June 3rd and June 30th.  Breaking off from recording on July 1st... they began rehearsing until 17th (during which time a trial mix of PARTY'S FALL was started)... the day after which they left the country for a tour of France and Italy.  During the Italian part of the tour Jones sent the group a tape containing a final mix of PARTY'S FALL... which received a unanimous 'thumbs down'...

On their return to England the group decided to leave Jones to attempt further mixes of the Berlin recordings... while they went into Matrix studios (29th) to record b-sides for the single.  The two contenders for the title being PARTY'S FALL and THE SWEETEST CHILL.  The first b-side to emerge was when Steven took a portastudio tape recording of drumbox and keyboards to the studio.  They played around with it all day until Siouxsie had written some lyrics and what had started as a b-side had transformed into the actual a-side... CITIES IN DUST (on 31st they recorded AN EXECUTION as a b-side... mixing both that and CITIES IN DUST on August 1st)...

August 3rd they returned to The Garden and spent two days mixing CANDYMAN.  The following day they started mixing THE SWEETEST CHILL... something they were still doing on the 9th... by which time they had to leave the country to headline Belgium's annual 'Seaside Festival' in De Panne on the 10th.  Then the group accompanied the road crew and travelled overnight to headline the Mont De Marsan Festival in southern France.  When they returned on the 12th... Hugh Jones was still sweating over THE SWEETEST CHILL.  Two days later the group heard the results... were unimpressed and reached the conclusion that they were working with the wrong man... he was soon seeking employment elsewhere.  On the 28th Steven flew to Amsterdam to meet Chris Kimsey who'd been contacted to produce a mix of THE SWEETEST CHILL for possible release as a single.  Two days later (in Steven's absence the others had returned to Matrix studios to record QUARTERDRAWING OF THE DOG as an extra 12" track) during that recording session Steven returned from Amsterdam... played bass on what had already been recorded... then they all went  to Eel Pie 2 Studios... to record a 12" version of CITIES IN DUST (the group were still adamant (contrary to Polydor's suggestions) it would be the single).  The results weren't what they'd expected and that particular 12" version was scrapped.  They returned to Eel Pie 2 on September 3rd and mixed QUARTERDRAWING OF THE DOG.  At this point the group began thinking about working with someone else... and for once Polydor came through with their suggestion of Steve Churchyard.  Churchyard joined the group in Air Studios on 10th and 11th and they did a new 7" mix of CITIES IN DUST... which became the ultimate version which was released as the single and appeared on the album (he also did the released version of the 12" mix of CITIES IN DUST).  A decision was made to resume work (in Matrix) on the songs recorded in Berlin.  So from 16th to 22nd they recorded final overdubs and attempted to work out what Jones had done.  Then the group took a break... not to rest... but to commence rehearsals for a U.K. tour that was looming ever closer.  Those rehearsals were only disrupted on 27th when with director Tim Pope they filmed the CITIES IN DUST video in Fulham studios.  The U.K. tour lasted from October 5th to November 28th.  Then on December 2nd Steven and Budgie (accompanied by former Banshees' producer Mike Hedges) went to BBC radio studios to mix a 'live' recording of the Oxford concert from the tour... for transmission on BBC Radio 1.  That same day having already proved his capabilities on CITIES IN DUST... Steve Churchyard began mixing the album (in Air studios).  The schedule went as follows... December 4th finished CANDYMAN... 6th finished 92 DEGREES... 9th started PARTY'S FALL... finished 12th and started CANNONS... finished 14th and started THIS UNREST... finished 16th... 17th Siouxsie recorded a new vocal for LANDS END and finished the mix... then with Christmas just around the corner... on Saturday December 21st THE SWEETEST CHILL was finally mixed and that was that... the album... though untitled... was finished...

It wasn't until January 1986 that the album was titled.  During the sessions in Milo studios... if my memory serves me correctly... whilst working on b-sides Steven had written some lyrics which contained the word TINDERBOX... perfect...

So TINDERBOX was unleashed April 18th simultaneously in the U.K., Europe and U.S.A.  I've not seen any overseas reviews of the album... but predictable as ever the U.K. music had conflicting ideas as to its validity... to some of them it apparently sounded like more of the same from the Banshees... let me state quite categorically that TINDERBOX IS NOT MORE OF THE SAME... No doubt you'll have heard it by now... what do you think?

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

BACK

Let me take my mind back to a girl that I once knew at school... At the age of 14 the young Sioux wasn't too interested in music... she never bought pop papers or glossy teen magazines and didn't possess many records... there didn't seem much point when their communal record player was dominated by her older brother and sister... Then there was the girl at school... you know the type... she always had her arms full of teen idol literature and the inside of her desk-top had a dog-eared image torn from the glossy pages of FAB208 tacked to it... at which she'd smile each time she reached in for her books... The girl in question had stars in her eyes (and hair) for only one... the diminutive one with the cork screw hair.

Aided by the luminary pages of the pop press... it was she that introduced the school girl Sioux to the mind bent magic of Marc Bolan... her puppy love for him stretched beyond the paper page and onto the black vinyl of her complete collection of Bolan and T.Rex's records... she'd even seen him in the flesh 'in concert' (something else that Sioux didn't bother with... choosing instead to share her spare time between nut and berry picking in the woods... roller-skating and cycling with her only local friend (non of her school friends lived local) a rebellious convent schooled girl... and getting scared and thrilled watching her 'superball' crash completely out of control and disappear beneath the wheels of a truck... or through a neighbour's window... Sioux was definitely the fresh air type.)

Newly interested... Sioux began listening out for Bolan on the radio and watching his numerous appearances on BBC T.V.'s 'Top Of The Pops' as Get It On... Jeepster and Telegram Sam bled new blood into the charts... Who could have predicted that in the few years that followed her initiation to the sound of the teenage idols... Sioux would find herself in a position her Bolan crazy school friend would have given her right arm to be in?

On 20/09/76 at the 100 Club in London... complete with name change... she stepped into the spotlight herself to front the (then) makeshifting mania of Siouxsie & The Banshees... Originally intended as a 'one-off' gesture... they decided to take the group a step further... then another... then... In November 1977 at the Music Machine in London as support act to Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers... from the 'star-bar' a familiar face watched them in action... Things had come full circle... the face was Marc Bolan... What had attracted him there that night was that Nils (then the Banshees' manager... who had met Marc through his acquaintance with June Bolan) had told him that the Banshees did a version of 20th Century Boy... It's reputed that during the Banshees performance... Bolan asked "when are they going to do it?"... to which the reply was "they're playing it...".

Following their performance... the Banshees were introduced to Bolan... who must have been impressed by them because the conversation revolved around his television show 'MARC' and although the Banshees didn't arrange a further meeting or if they'd definitely appear on his show... from what he said it was obvious he wanted them to... It wasn't long before Bolan and the Banshees' paths crossed again (while out watching a group) and on that occasion he talked at great length with Nils regarding the groups appearance on 'MARC'... arranging for them to all go out for a meal together to talk about exactly what the Banshees would do on the show.

Sadly... due to Bolan's untimely death (in a car crash on 16/09/77) their plans never reached fruition... Sioux's thoughts on the incident... "... it was quite sudden... quite uncanny as well... Bolan being someone I'd never seen but finally met... just as an acquaintance really... but... funny... within that short time of us meeting... he just went and died".

What does she remember about the 'MARC' television show?... "he looked like he was enjoying it... but I don't think the format was quite right for him... ( I think the presentation was terrible... the group looked awful when compared with him... he was really getting back on form)... "I felt a bit sad that he couldn't see it maybe... that he should have had someone more in tune with what he should have been presenting himself as..."... (I think whatever say Bolan had regarding the show's presentation was probably very limited... maybe due to the fact that he'd fell from public grace once and was only then (at the time of the show) making a serious comeback... no disrespect meant... but he was probably lucky to get the show)... back to Sioux... "I mean... he was completely despised by some of the music press apparently... when he was really popular... they scoffed his music because it was for young people... because he was so popular..."... (the usual press backlash... they heap so much praise on an artist (or group) when they are underground and barely scraping a crust together... that some of them can't fail to be recognised and ultimately progress to mass popularity... but once they break through the surface and head overground... forfeiting their press appointed 'underground' tag... then they had better watch out... it's only a matter of time before the same people (some of them anyway) that had been influential in their success pull the long knives on them... 'build them up to cut them down')... "... and of course that's all forgotten... and everyone says (now) what a god send he was..."... (always in retrospect)... "... still... it never stopped his fans buying his records anyway..."  Bolan was dead... but he'd left plenty for everyone to remember him by... Many have tried to ape his style and songs... others choose instead to adopt his songs to their own inimitable style.   Not all were successful in their attempts... but I'd say the Banshees most certainly were... by amplifying the originals rawness to its limit with pure heartfelt energy... the song in question... 20th Century Boy... It was released in March 1979 as the 'b-side' of The Staircase (Mystery) single... Although Steve had more than a substantial knowledge of Bolan and T.Rex (he possessed all their records)... there was never any thought out decision for the group to do a version of the song... that just happened during rehearsals in their more formative days... Peter Fenton (then their guitarist) suddenly blasted into the opening power chords of the song and they developed it from there... It became part of their 'live' performance long before it was ever recorded.

It has been suggested that it's common knowledge that Bolan was approached as producer for the Banshees' Join Hands album... sorry to disillusion you... but Join Hands wasn't recorded and released until 1979... two years after his death... Having said that... there is a recording connection between Bolan and the Banshees... The last album released by T.Rex before Bolan's death... Dandy In The Underworld was engineered by Mike Stavrou... who co-produced (with Nils Stevenson) and engineered the Banshees' Join Hands album (released August '79)... and co-produced (again with Nils) both the Playground Twist/Pulled To Bits (released June '79) and Mittageisen (Metal Postcard)/Love In A void (released September '79) singles... The Banshees got on quite well with Stavrou and it was partly due to his German girlfriend (who also worked at Air Studios) that the group recorded a German version of Metal Postcard (that had featured on their debut album The Scream... released in 1978)... She corrected Dave Woods' translation and helped Sioux to tackle the more incongruous words and get the pronunciation right... so that the end result didn't sound to text book.

You'll notice that Sioux chose Bolan's Think Zinc as one of her top ten records... When asked why she chose that song in particular... her answer indicated that it could have been any one of the many there are to choose from... "I couldn't have a top ten without Marc Bolan..."

Had she listened to much of the earlier Tyrannosaurus Rex records?... "no... only when Steve or Nils played them to me... they didn't really make much impression on me... maybe it was because it was too much after the fact... but I remember the sleeves looked awful...".

One question remained to be asked... what's so special about Bolan?... "he had a brilliant voice... that's the main thing... that made him sound so special... the same way that someone like Lou Reed has a special voice... they're much more identifiable because they've got an unorthodox way of singing... but it works and you couldn't imagine it any other way... it's definitely them... There's so many faceless voices around nowadays that have no character of their own... A lot of people are getting their voices trained and I think maybe that's a detriment... they are actually thinking about singing before they sing... whereas I'm sure someone like Marc Bolan just did it... he probably improved himself as he did so..."  (in the same way that Sioux did)... "... if you start analysing it... then you're going to lose a bit of the character from it... which I think Bowie did..."..."I remember someone once asked me if I went to Toni DeBrett (singing coach)... I replied that I met her once for a lesson... I just found it... there's things you can't do if you're singing in a trained way... you can't be unrestrained with some vocal performances if you get really involved in it... it's very much to do with the mood... you can't restrain yourself with technique because you can't get a brilliant scream and not do a bit of damage to your voice at the same time... it sounds like it hurts and if you do it often enough then it does... but if that's the sound you want... You can't be taught how to scream or to have a guttural feel to it... because they teach you not to use your throat or rely on your head and the resonation you can get within them... they want more pure note... which can be very limiting if you're interested with textures with voices..." "... he also had a very untaught guitar sound... he really used to let it rip... very distinctive... very memorable..."

So that's what Sioux thinks of Marc Bolan... I wonder what kind of an impression she had on him?... He once wrote in his weekly column in the Record Mirror (issued dated 02/07/77) accompanying a photo of him with his arm around her... "The pic you see of me on this page is with a little lady called Siouxsie, who was playing with her group called the Banshees at the London Music Machine a few weeks ago when I was along to listen.  She does a version on stage of one of my old hits!  Twentieth Century Boy, which is really interesting and nothing like mine.  I thought she was great and it's always a real compliment for someone to take one of your songs and do something different with it.  This lady has er... potential!".....

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

BACK

The Banshees had been recording a new album in Berlin... then on July 1st to 7th 1985 they rehearsed before commencing a Franco Italian Tour on 9th in ANNECY... 1oth BANDOL... 12th TURIN (Collegno Park)... home of embittered Juventus fans as a result of the European (football) Cup tragedy... Riot Police units turned out in force prepared for mass outbreaks of violence... They'd anticipated correctly... though the actual source of the trouble bore no relation to the aforementioned tragedy... it came from frustrated fans who were locked out of the packed arena.  Tear gas was administered to quell the seething masses... but clouds of the deterrent drifted over the walls and into the concert area... The audience were affected first... and on observing their tearful reaction Siouxsie thought they'd been overcome with emotion... but she and the Banshees soon learnt the real reason... but they played on blinded by tears streaming down their faces to emerge triumphant heroes after three encores (Siouxsie inhaled so much of the foul fumes that her throat was affected for the following few days)... 13th CATTOLICA (Sports ground)... 14th CORREGIO (Festa de Unita)... 17th ROMA (Castella St. Angello)... 18th NAPOLI (Teatro Tenda)... 19th en route to Taranto... the group spent a sun soaked afternoon exploring the ancient ruins of POMPEII... (having visited the arena where unfortunates were thrown to the lions... Siouxsie, Budgie and Steven were accosted by autograph hungry (Non English speaking) Italians... there's no escape..)... The visit proved culturally and artistically stimulating to the point of inspiration and the writing of CITIES IN DUST... (my friend...)... 20th TARANTO and the first time I'd witnessed the group in an 'open air' situation and didn't know if their performance would be as effective as it is in indoor venues... any apprehensions were immediately quashed... 22nd FIRENZE rescheduled from 16th...

Back to Blighty and into the studios... August 10th... headlined Belgium's annual SEASIDE FESTIVAL in DE PANNE... a muddy all day affair that was (almost) unbearable... until darkness descended and Ennio Morriconne's (soundtrack for John Carpenter's movie) 'The Thing' boomed out of the p.a. and chilled the audience to the marrow... then... Siouxsie & The Banshees descended onto the stage and cracked the frozen quag and things warmed up... the resulting performance was well worth the wait... Overnight drive... 11th MONT DE MARSAN another festival headliner... in the circular banked surroundings of the town's ornate bullring and the temperature rocketed out the top of the thermometer... Another day of tedious local talent (Killing Joke being the only exception)... accompanied by the pitiful sight of glue gazed youth... Night came and with it the Banshees though you'd have thought they weren't there judging the audiences (non) reaction... they were (totally) non-starters... It was akin to watching the group acting out something on a film set... with all the onlookers ordered into statutory silence... The group were brilliant... but their contempt for the audience (and the surroundings perhaps?) was barely concealed and when the audience did decide to respond... right at the death of the 'set'... it was too late... They neither deserved or got an encore... which prompted them to make much noise... will they never learn?... Back into the studios... then... October 5th PRESTON (Guild Hall) commenced the group's BIGGEST EVER TOUR OF THE BRITISH ISLES... 7th SHEFFIELD CITY (City Hall)... 8th BRADFORD (St. George's Hall)... 1oth GLASGOW (Barrowlands)... 11th EDINBURGH (Playhouse Theatre)... 12th NEWCASTLE (City Hall)... and the U.K. release of the CITIES IN DUST single... 14th LEICESTER (De Montfort Hall)... 15th MANCHESTER (Apollo Theatre)... 18th BRIGHTON (Conference Centre)... 24th LONDON (Hammersmith Odeon)... DISASTER!... towards the end of the concert... during CHRISTINE... Siouxsie leapt... her body twisted... her left leg didn't... pop!... she fell agonisingly to the stage her left knee dislocated...  Words can't express my feelings at that moment... time stood still... then she was carried off stage... Budgie returned and made a brief emotional announcement... the show was over... possibly the tour?... the audience had no way of knowing... For lesser mortals it might have been...  Siouxsie was rushed to Charing Cross Hospital... where... despite protests from the patient... a full leg plaster was applied... 25th LONDON (Hammersmith Odeon)... uncertainty... everything hinged on a return visit to the hospital and a specialist's decision... Radio stations nationwide broadcast bulletins updating Siouxsie's condition and if that night's concert would take place... Back at the hospital the regular plaster cast was substituted for a light-weight one... but it had already been decided that if possible THE SHOW MUST GO ON... and it did... That night the group took the stage amidst a clamorous welcome from the audience... the when Siouxsie appeared... what a noise!... like rampant rogue elephants!... THE GRAND RETURN... assisted by two members of the road crew to the centre of the stage... she perched herself on a high stool by a couple of skeletons (Jos and Pete)... who'd later take the spotlight themselves to trip the light fantastic during Cities In Dust... 26th LONDON (Hammersmith Odeon)... 29th the plaster cast was displayed to the nation during a 'live' appearance on BBC TV's WHISTLE TEST... they performed CITIES IN DUST and LANDS END...  November 1st DUNDEE (Caird Hall)... 2nd CARLISLE (Sands Centre)... 4th LIVERPOOL (Royal Court Theatre)... 5th NOTTINGHAM (Royal Concert Hall)... where the hall security got unnecessarily out of hand... but they got their just deserts when some of them were fired on the spot... Later that night Siouxsie complained that her leg was giving her considerable pain... so first thing the following morning she was rushed back to London to see a specialist... Due to the extra pressure exerted on her good leg she had trapped a nerve in her back... Heat treatment was administered and she made it back in time for the next concert... 7th WOLVERHAMPTON (Civic Hall)... 9th ST. AUSTELL (Cornwall Coliseum)... 10th BRISTOL (Hippodrome)... and the first time I noticed the road crew had become masters of puppets and introduced new inhabitants to the Happy House... But everything wasn't okay with Siouxsie... her condition was getting on top of her and she decided she couldn't perform the next night... 11th CARDIFF (University) cancelled... the same day that a waxwork Siouxsie went on display in the main foyer of London's Virgin Megastore alongside those of Hendrix, Lennon and Jagger... 14th OXFORD (Apollo Theatre)... 15th POOLE (Arts Centre)... 16th CARDIFF (New Ocean Club) the rescheduled University date... 18th FOLKSTONE (Leascliffe Hall)... 19th IPSWICH (Gaumont)... 20th NORWICH (East Anglia University)... Across the Irish Sea... 23rd BELFAST (Avoneill Centre)... 24th DUBLIN (S.F.X. Centre)... Back across the Irish Sea... 28th LONDON (Royal Albert Hall)... the last night of the tour... another sellout?... need you ask?... Once again Siouxsie & The Banshees had been faced with potential disaster and they had laughed in its face and steamed on regardless... 'nuff said... 29th only hours after the final concert the plaster cast was removed and presented to the winner of a BBC Radio competition for writing the best poem describing the incident...  A lengthy period of convelescence and physiotherapy began for Siouxsie to rebuild the injured and shrivelled limb... Although this meant no 'live' activity... Siouxsie managed aided by her skull topped cane (a present from Steven) to accompany her fellow Banshees in the studio until the end of the year to complete another album and single...

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

BACK

February 11th 1986, the entire day (and into the early hours of the 12th) was spent shivering on the set of the CANDYMAN VIDEO... (a brief history... after their last video the group mutually decided that they'd take a break from director Tim Pope... they looked at various show reels and re-established a link with Clive Richardson who'd wanted to work with them since he'd directed the Arabian Knights video in summer '81 (he directed many of their videos around that period)... Then began the slightly more than usual length production meetings... at which point Joe Lyons (photographer) got involved designing the set and lighting... "it was like having the old team back together..." ... There was also the addition of Colin Swift who proved pretty nifty with the scissors and material creating the costume(s) Siouxsie wore...  Having decided it was time to return to a 'performance' format video (seemingly some people think the boys dance better with their instruments... not true say I) they approached the shoot differently... concentrating more on the actual set and colours... which was all achieved by carefully calculating all the camera angles and shots before actually filming anything... All the superimposing that is visible in the finished video was done later during the editing stage... They'd wanted to make the video as quickly as possible... they succeeded)... 28th CANDYMAN single released in the U.K.

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

BACK

In last issue's epilogue I mentioned that BBC Radio 1 would (on03/11/84) be broadcasting another in their 'MY TOP TEN' series... their chosen guest... SIOUXSIE... During the hour long programme she talked with D.J. Andy Peebles about the ten songs she'd chosen and her reasons for doing so... this is what she  said...

LOVE IS THE DRUG - ROXY MUSIC

"... that era of Roxy was very important to a lot of young people that were getting interested in clothes and their own type of music... it was just very colourful... Roxy weren't just great fashion leaders... their music was great then... that's what gave it the edge... I saw them 'live' at Wembley (in London)... they had a huge video screen so that if you were at the back you could still see everything... and they always had the gorgeous looking backing singers...

SLEEP WALKERS WOMAN - SCOTT WALKER

"... I thought that this was a very unusual record... I really like the lyrics and the quality of it is very... it's good to wake up or go to sleep to... he needed to be a pretty confident vocalist to attack a song like this... It would be a shame if people were disappointed by this because they were expecting the strain to carry on with what they remember the Walker Brothers by..."  FROM THE ALBUM - CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

VITAMIN C - CAN

"... this group has the best drummer I have ever heard... very impressed by him... in that if you listen to the music... the drums are 'way up front'... louder than anything else there... but it's not infringing on the music... it's very musical drums..."  FROM THE ALBUM - EGE BAMYASI

CAROLINE SAYS PART 2 - LOU REED

"... he's definitely been an influence on me... he was part of probably the best group ever (The Velvet Underground)... this record that he did on his own is just really beautiful... It was hard to pick one track from the album... the whole album is very convincing... I can't really say anything about it... I think it's really special..."  FROM THE ALBUM - BERLIN

ROMEO AND JULIET - PROKOFIEV

"... this piece of music is so bolshy... it's so strong and powerful you can just listen to it and feel a surge of energy going through you... I heard it for the first time when I first saw Caligula in New York ('81... before it was released in the U.K.)... and it was the theme music to the titles at the beginning of the film... and I made a fool of myself when I came back to London... trying to hum this to a lot of people... trying to find out what it was..."

THE PASSENGER - IGGY POP

"... I've strong visual memories of the Banshees first playing in Paris (France) in '77 and Iggy was playing in a huge red and white tent in a field there... and we got escorted over to this field... got out... and right in the distance (we still had to trek across the field to the tent) was this song playing..."  FROM THE ALBUM - LUST FOR LIFE

VENUS IN FURS - THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

"... the mystery to me about The Velvet Underground is... that's there's no one in that group that's just a drummer/bassist or guitarist... They've all gone on to do things on their own that stand up in their own right... They obviously carved their own sound for themselves and were also involved with the controversy of Andy Warhol etc... People of my age... if they love The Velvets... don't really know that much about it... they've read a lot about it... I'm sure a lot of people think they missed out by being too young to be there at the time..."  FROM THE ALBUM - THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO

JOHNNY REMEMBER ME - JOHN LEYTON

"... it's something that's haunted me since I was 5 or 6 (years old)... it was my brothers record... he played it... There was a lot of records around at that time that were love songs about people's girl/boyfriends that had died in tragic car or motor-bike accidents... it was never considered gloomy or anything... just a tragedy... I love the backing vocals on this record... they have the quality that only belongs to that era..."

SCHOOL'S OUT - ALICE COOPER

"... dedicated to my old school..."

THINK ZINC - MARC BOLAN/T.REX

"... I couldn't have a top ten without Marc Bolan..."  FROM THE ALBUM - ZIP GUN BOOGIE

Siouxsie Sioux

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23rd January 1986 touched down in Los Angeles U.S.A. for a first hand taste of the Hollywood movie machine in motion (a film script had come their way during the Air recording period... The group read it and after initially thinking it would be just another music orientated movie with Siouxsie & The Banshees as a token group appearing in it... they were proved wrong because OUT OF BOUNDS has all the potential of being an action and splatter filled thriller with plenty of depth to it... It has been directed by Richard ('Tightrope'... which the group viewed on the '85 British tour and liked) Tuggle...  On arrival... Budgie and John went in search of a 'Gretsch White Falcon' guitar to hire for use in the movie... Off up Sunset Boulevard and they were lost and walked smack into a street fight which almost ended in disaster for John... In the hustle and bustle he exited across the street and a car slammed on its brakes... screeching to a halt at his feet... surprised he fell on to the bonnet of the car... o lucky man... But they did find the elusive 'Falcon'... 24th went to the Columbia Pictures set... which was situated in the oldest part of downtown Los Angeles... the set had been purpose built inside a huge warehouse to resemble the interior of 'The Dirtbox' club (which actually does exist) where Siouxsie & The Banshees are seen to perform in the movie... The group's home for the day was a huge caravan/trailer divided into four individual (personalised with each of their own names) rooms... but the air conditioning didn't work and the heat caused their make-up to melt every time they applied it... Camera call was 3pm...when they began performing short playbacks of CITIES IN DUST... What had intended to have been a limited 'shoot' time due to the enthusiasm of the director and his crew they actually spent a lot longer than the movie's financial directors had wanted them to... Budgie recalled... "it was a lot easier than doing Top Of The Pops due to the sheer professionalism of the whole thing... all the 150+ extras... cameras... director and assistants all knew what they were doing... which made it a lot easier for us... compared with T.O.T.P.'s who do the same thing week after week and still get things wrong... it was a dream..." ...I've seen the actual Banshees' footage that will appear in the movie and can't wait to see it fill a huge cinema screen... you'll be impressed... believe me... Cities In Dust will be featured on the soundtrack album to accompany the movie's release.

Billy 'Chainsaw' Houlston

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