Making Flippy Floppy

School. Work. School. Work. (Bar). School. Work. No time to update blog...

This blog IS returning to daily, I SWEAR.

Anyhoo, having finally read the fantastic Siouxsie & The Banshees Authorized Biography from a few years back (and WHAT a read - far more rock star debauchery than I would have imagined!), I've been on a bit of a Siouxsie kick lately. It's always amazing to me that this woman is so under-recognized by the music press etc. for her groundbreaking contributions to rock music. Is this a sexist thing? In the male-dominated world of early Bristish Punk, this is a likely possibility, and that's rubbish. Whenever you see "time-capsule" type TV segments or magazines articles on early punk, they always mention the Pistols and the Clash, Ramones, etc. - all the boys, but Sioux rarely gathers a mention. Unlike most of the punk acts of the era, Sioxsie was a survivor, quickly adapting and inventing new genres along the way. Arguably, The Scream (1978) is the first goth album, born of the darker side of UK punk. It's shadow would inspire countless moody boys and girls to don black eyeliner and fry thier hair, many of them starting bands of thier own and taking the vibe in multiple directions. The Banshees sheer dark force and power on thier first five albums is so impressive, but yet a footnote in the Rock History books. For shame.

Here's a wonderful B-side from 1987 that had somehow managed to escape my radar until recently. It's a truly demented cover of The Modern Lovers' "She Cracked", with lyrics that, um, take on a whole new meaning when sung by Sioux. Delightfully odd...