Siouxsie And The Banshees

In 1992, in the pages of the British magazine Melody Maker, Siouxsie Sioux looked back over her artistic journey through twelve essential records. What emerged was a richly varied background drawing on very different worlds: the glam rock of Marc Bolan and David Bowie, the urban nihilism of Lou Reed and the Stooges, American punk, the contemporary music of Philip Glass, and even Bernard Herrmann's film scores and the classical compositions of Prokofiev.

The first great point of reference for Susan Janet Ballion was Marc Bolan and the song "Jeepster". Even more than the music, what struck her was his ambiguous, elusive image. "Bolan's image and his ambiguous sexuality had a huge impact on me," she recalled. "He dressed almost like a drag queen, wore make-up and had an openly feminine side. I didn't need female role models. My sister, who was ten years older than me, went to Art College and was surrounded by gay friends, so all of this seemed perfectly natural to me. I was a tomboy and hated the idea of having a boyfriend. Ironically, though, I was genuinely fascinated by Bolan and his feather boas."
David Bowie arrived not long after. His appearance on "Top Of The Pops" was a cultural shock for a girl who couldn't stand bands like Mud and Rubettes. "I defended Bowie and Bolan fiercely whenever anyone mocked them for their effeminate looks," she said. She also recalled a curious episode involving Bolan: when the Banshees performed a version of "20th Century Boy", the T. Rex frontman came to see them live and, apparently, didn't even recognise his own song. Shortly afterwards he invited them to appear on his TV show, but the plan fell through because of the tragic car accident that cost him his life.

Discovering Lou Reed and "Transformer" marked another decisive turning point. "I'll never forget the first time I saw that cover, with the heavy eye make-up, the black nail polish and the lipstick," she explained. She was also struck by the dry irony of songs like "Vicious". Growing up in the London suburbs, she found her surroundings suffocating: boys always ready for a fight and girls constantly judging one another. That's why she preferred to hang out in the capital's gay clubs, which she described as a safe haven. "I had loads of female friends there, who just happened to be men."
Among her glam passions were Roxy Music as well. Bryan Ferry won her over with his "disdainful smile", Brian Eno with his synthesizers and eccentric clothes, while Phil Manzanera struck her as a kind of sci-fi character straight out of "Doctor Who". "Roxy Music and Bowie weren't the targets we wanted to wipe out in 1976," she explained. "The real enemies were the supergroups and those charmless rock dinosaurs, devoid of glitter, sex or any other form of vitality."
The darkness of John Cale held an equally important place. His version of "Heartbreak Hotel", featured on "Slow Dazzle", accompanied a difficult period of her adolescence. "It gave me chills," she recalled. "I was becoming more and more withdrawn, spending my time shut in my room, angry at the world." During that period she often tagged along with her sister, who worked as a go-go dancer, eventually landing a job at one of the pubs she used to frequent. That bleak, sinister song, in short, seemed to give voice to her state of mind.

If John Cale represented the more troubled side of her personality, the Stooges embodied pure rage. "Iggy Pop was perhaps the most fascinating of them all," she said. "His narcissism and the way he pushed everything to the extreme fit perfectly with my own aggression and restlessness. I felt ready to explode." That tribute would later come full circle with the famous cover of "The Passenger", included on Siouxsie And The Banshees's 1987 album "Through The Looking Glass".
In 1976, meanwhile, Siouxsie recalls having literally worn out the Ramones' debut album. She remembered spending her days at bus stops menacingly humming the chorus of "Beat On The Brat". Living in Bromley and Chislehurst, she felt isolated and broke, but made up for it with an intimidating attitude that let her get away with paying reduced bus fares, with no conductor ever daring to challenge her.

An even more traumatic experience came with Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack for "Psycho". "It completely shattered me," she confessed. Years later she played that music for John McGeoch, who told her: "That's exactly how I want my guitar to sound." The impact of Alfred Hitchcock's film was such that for years the English singer harboured an almost childish fear of showers, even going so far as to frighten her mother by brandishing a bread knife and re-enacting the film's famous scene.
Among the female figures she admired was Patti Smith. "After Nico, she was the first true female author in rock," she claimed. She wasn't referring only to the songs, but also to her attitude, image and stage presence. "She was the Nirvana of her era," she said. Unlike many of her Seventies heroes, often defined by a strong feminine quality, Patti had distinctly masculine traits. Around that time, she recalled, she was working in a bar but got fired after the owner spotted a tabloid photo of her taken at a Sex Pistols gig — a band she was a well-known groupie of, as part of the famous Bromley Contingent.

In the Eighties, on the other hand, Siouxsie discovered Philip Glass, despite an initial wariness sparked by an interview in which the composer discussed his own work in scientific and rational terms, an approach she found distant from her own sensibility. Over time, though, Susan came to appreciate the obsessive repetition of his compositions, drawing a line between it and seemingly unrelated touchstones like "Sister Ray" by Velvet Underground, Herrmann's film scores and the works of John Cage. All elements that would go on to shape the evolution of the Banshees.
Another revelation came in 1980 during a trip to the United States. Watching the full-length version of "Caligula", she was struck by the closing credits set to Prokofiev's music from "Romeo and Juliet". Not knowing who the composer was, she spent weeks humming it to anyone she met. "I was fascinated by its power," she explained. Around that time she was into bands like Public Image Ltd., Wire, Joy Division and Gang Of Four, but she hated the labels critics kept inventing. "Punk, new wave, post-modern: they were all boxes people tried to shut you in." Among the tags she was given, one remained her favourite: "A spider on stilts".

The last record on the list was "Der Mussolini" by DAF. "Right Said Fred were ridiculous. DAF were the real deal," she stated bluntly. For Siouxsie, the German group represented the embryo of what would later become industrial and Electronic Body Music. Those sounds brought back nights spent at the Heaven and Cha Cha's clubs, her first experiences with LSD, and a life lived in a house nicknamed "Crocodile Road". "It was a happy, demonic and decadent time," she concluded. "God only knows what the neighbours thought".

Alongside the Melody Maker interview, Siouxsie had also put together a compilation based on her main musical influences: here it is below.

• Marc Bolan: "Jeepster" (from "Electric Warrior")
• David Bowie: "John, I'm Only Dancing" (from "Changesonebowie")
• Lou Reed: "Vicious" (from "Transformer")
• Roxy Music: "Virginia Plain" (from "Greatest Hits")
• John Cale: "Heartbreak Hotel" (from "Slow Dazzle")
• The Stooges: “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (da “The Stooges”)
• Ramones: "Blitzkrieg Bop" (from "Ramones")
• Bernard Herrmann: "Psycho" (original film soundtrack)
• Patti Smith: "Land" (from "Horses")
• Philip Glass: "Einstein On A Beach" (four-LP box set)
• Prokofiev: “The Second Suite: The Montagues And The Capulets” (da “Romeo And Juliet”)
• DAF: "Der Mussolini" (from "Alles Ist Gut")

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

23/06/2026