Short shameless confession
 

For the last two weeks I have been listening to almost nothing but Siouxsie and the Banshees. I kinda missed the first half of their career and forgot how great they were for the second half.

~ do i have any amens from this particular crowd? Be-Bop? ~

Only from Beavis when he's watching the Peek-a-boo video.




That's a brave thing to admit to, btw.

You have my respect.

An amen from me, but it's not been a vice of mine for years.

My short shameless confession was being obsessed this (2014!) Christmas by Kelly Clarkson's Underneath the Tree. Then again I was still incarcerated in the nuthouse at that point. I watched it every day I was allowed internet access.

I loved Siouxsie and the Banshees as a kid.

Mainly because of this song - (I actually bought my one and only copy of Now That's What I Call Music, for this track). I was 14 when it came out and completely obsessed with ancient history - fascinated by Pompei:



But Dear Prudence was also a firm favourite:



I loved her look. I loved that she was the antithesis of the cute girly pop star.

Her attitude in Dear Prudence - and the style of her singing wouldn't be out of place in today's scene.

Cities In Dust was the single that gave them the second half of their career, and it's just marvelous when you listen to the details of it. I love a song that is about something but doesn't put it in your face. You could listen to the single a hundred times and not put together that it's about Pompeii. "Water was running. children were running. We found you hiding, we found you lying." That could be about anything; it's all roughly sinister; until you find out what it actually is about, at which point it can be about nothing else.

It's a neat trick for a single and Siouxsie's howling just goes perfectly.

They did this again a few later with "Kiss Them For Me". You actually have to do research to find out that the song is about the horrific death, by car crash, of Jayne Mansfield. And when you realize that, the entire song changes and becomes extremely dark. This was played in dance clubs.

"Kiss them for me, I may be delayed
Kiss them for me, I may find myself delayed."

Oh it isn't just a throwaway line. She was delayed... she was dead. How is the car crash revealed?

"On the road to New Orleans
A spray of stars hit the screen"

If you hit PLAY, you will immediately find that this song about Jayne Mansfield's death is painted with the beats of world music. Their drummer is one of the finest and most creative ever.

Amen. Somehow, I missed them back in the day, and have come to enjoy them by listening to XM First Wave. I realize now that I also missed some great bands like Oingo Boingo and Concrete Blonde.

Had never really thought about it in that way, UT. But yeah - I totally agree. I always liked the way their songs were about all kinds of different things. Instead of just the usual songs about love affairs or losses - they were like old fashioned ballads in the variety of subject matter.

I think that was one of the reasons I loved Bob Dylan and Tom Waits as well.

Short shameless confession
 

When I was a kid, about 10, I guess, I mowed yards and saved my money, and rode my bike to Big K to buy a 'Peaches and Herb' album.

Attachment 50989

Because of this song:



I only learned a few minutes ago that the 'Peaches' in the video is not the original Peaches, she's the second one.

I've been listening to an absurd amount of Bowie over the last 4 months...no apologies.

I think Bowie and his critics have been too hard on Tonight and Never Let Me Down...they're good albums.

Also...he made a fantastic New Jack Swing album that few in the US paid attention to and then got killed off because of his record company (Black Tie White Noise).