Siouxsie and the Banshees singles poll

Happy House vs Spellbound

oh shi

have we done this?

"Spellbound" or "Slowdive" or "Peek-a-Boo" or one of the others

Can't decide between Melt, Swimming Horses and Spellbound.

http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/1nWozPwiOT8lugoldb10Wn

for those who want to remind/inform themselves before voting

I hovered over Spellbound three times before voting Playground Twist. But the answer is probably Spellbound.

So it is represented, will vote for Melt!

looking at all of those songs together in a list, these are dearest to my heart:

"Mittageisen"
"Happy House"
"Christine"
"Spellbound"
"Cities in Dust"
"Candyman"
"Song from the Edge of the World"
"Peek-a-Boo"
"The Last Beat of My Heart"
"Kiss Them for Me"
"Face to Face"

it is getting harder and harder to not just say "Spellbound" and call it a day

I voted for Last Beat of My Heart because no-one else will and because it doesn't deserve a zero. Spellbound will walk it.

gonna lol if "Cities In Dust" gets goose-egged

might vote "Slowdive" so it gets some love. absolutely ridiculous choice for a single tbh which is why i <3 it so i think

this is super-tough

"Cities in Dust" is rather tremendous, isn't it?

i could easily vote for "dazzle" or "spellbound" or "cities in dust" or "israel" or...

The strings on "Overground" are marvelous.

In other words I need a glass of wine and a few hours.

Fireworks, being a non-lp single, is usually criminally overlooked in their canon.

Peek-A-Boo was the first thing I ever heard by them and still sounds astounding and explosive to me, in my head, right now.

Went straight for "The Staircase"

It's remarkable to me how her voice and delivery changes over the years, from someone really not taking care of her instrument to someone forced to.

peeeeeeeek a booo

I don't get why Cities in Dust is the obvious pick and I do like the song.

Can't vote against Happy House

that said i am shockingly ignorant abt most of these, which should make DJP appropriately angry at me. i think ive heard like 5 of them maybe? xposts

Tempted to go for Kiss Them For Me but I love Christine and Spellbound, duh.

in '95 "O Baby" sounded like bad Cathy Dennis.

Old-guy vote for "Hong Kong Garden," definitely one of my favourite British punk singles. Except for the covers, I know nothing else.

that said i am shockingly ignorant abt most of these, which should make DJP appropriately angry at me. i think ive heard like 5 of them maybe?

lol jjj, I was shockingly ignorant of a good number of these until...5 years ago? Ned was very disappointed in me

also want to just point out again, there's a Spotify list of these

http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/1nWozPwiOT8lugoldb10Wn

jjj, if you don't dig the early singles (esp. "Mittageisen" and "Playground Twist") I will be shocked

definitely Cities In Dust

Spellbound or Cities in Dust. voted Spellbound

lol I need to go home and clean/do laundry and instead I'm setting at my work computer blasting "Happy House" into my ears

no spotify at work but i will do due diligence i promise. also i could live forever w/o ever hearing kiss them for me again and that would be ok by me.

and now "Christine"

I can't remember which station it was, but one of the mostly-syndication Twin Cities stations used to do their own bump cards when going to commercials and for one of their shows, they used "Christine" as the background music for the bump card. I wish I could remember which show it was because it was a terrible show but I used to watch it so I could hear snippets of this awesome song whenever it went to commercial.

oh shi

have we done this?

I did an albums one at some point.

They Said I'd be Impressed: The ONCE UPON A TIME Siouxsie & the Banshees Singles Poll

^ shorter poll of the first singles comp

Was "Overground" really the only single from The Scream? That's the only album I have. (I had Once Upon a Time on cassette but I think I left it at my parents' house.)

Ha xpost "Love in a Void" isn't on here!

Love in a Void was the b-side to Mittageisen

Really? Whoa.

I remember "Playground Twist" being my favourite but I'm listening through again.

weird

The record was promoted as a double A-side release at the time, but only "Mittageisen" was tracked on the UK singles chart, where it peaked at number 47. Nevertheless, "Love in a Void" was included on the 1981 compilation Once Upon a Time: The Singles. Putative A-side "Mittageisen" later appeared on the band's B-side compilation Downside Up.

Ha, this stuff is better without the videos.

Mittageisen was what the record's sleeve art was based around.

Whereas "Love in a Void" was a 'past' classic even by the time it was issued.

Voted "Peek-a-boo". Surprisingly, the earlier singles are not holding up for me.

1. Peek-A-Boo
2. Dazzle
3. Fireworks
4. Cities in Dust
5. Melt
6. Spellbound

the opening string part to Dazzle has been going through my head constantly lately

this thread has put me in a good place that i wish i had never left. i am gonna go listen to bauhaus and the cure as soon as i figure out what my fave siouxsie single is.

swimming horses is so amazing

lot of good stuff, but my knee jerk reaction is slowdive

my first reaction is "Christine" though i think that might not be the correct answer

gonna lol if "Cities In Dust" gets goose-egged

― (thinks and smiles) (DJP), Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

might vote "Slowdive" so it gets some love. absolutely ridiculous choice for a single tbh which is why i <3 it so i think

― dayove cool (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is super-tough

― Prince Rebus (donna rouge), Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Cities in Dust" is rather tremendous, isn't it?

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i could easily vote for "dazzle" or "spellbound" or "cities in dust" or "israel" or...

― Prince Rebus (donna rouge), Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My God, how did all of you get inside my mind? IN THAT ORDER!

If I'm going to be rigorously honest, I would need to vote for Cities In Dust. But I almost can't bear to pass over the cruelly neglected "Song From The Edge Of The World." I think even Siouxsie has said she's not crazy about that lovely song.

"kiss them for me" is a great late-period entry

"Christine" is the song I have used w/most success to change opinions on S&tBs.

Kinda wishing I'd voted for "Arabian Knights" now.

because BASS

the only version of "Last Beat..." I know is the live one on TUAT.

i feel awful saying this, but devotchka actually did a pretty good version of it.

lol I made a joke in my last post

"Happy House"
"Christine"
"Israel"
"Spellbound"
"Arabian Knights"
"Fireworks"
"Dazzle"
"The Killing Jar"
"The Last Beat of My Heart"

Difficult. "Christine" was the song that made me sit up and pay attention to the Banshees. It remains an absolute favourite, so I guess I'll go with that, but a lot of these songs are astoundingly awesome. "The Killing Jar" is really underrated.

This is a happy house. I need to know more of these. This one sticks though.

Israel for me. Fantastic guitar sound.

"Israel" for me as well though I'd go for "Swimming Horses" next if I was allowed. It always sounded to me like the perfect fusion of LSD-fried "Top"-era Cure and The Banshees. Which it was!

Anyway - "Israel" because it is a monolith.

Before relistening, I thought my decision would be between Christine or Dazzle, but I'd forgotten about Arabian Knights, and it's been stuck in my head for days. I can't figure out if it's racist or feminist or neither or both. It's so damn forbidding whatever it is. That plodding bass in the final verse. And while I've always thought McGeoch's guitar in this phase as the prototype for 4AD and shoegaze, I'm also hearing the line "myriad lights" as the prototype for words-over-meaning lyrics that followed, like "Pearly Dew Drops" or "Driver 8". Then to think that "boys, goats and things" made it to #32.

I'm sad "Candyman" isn't getting any love. That bass!

i'm all about "candyman", best single ever and extremely danceable

I'm relistening to these right now

HKG - A lot of this is fantastic, catchy, bounce and awesome, but it's all wrapped in a package I find incredibly uncomfortable to listen to in 2012; this is blatantly offensive in spots.

TS(M) - The lurching piano that comes into the end of this really makes the song. I love how unafraid they were of playing with meters outside of 2/4 and 4/4 from the get-go of their career.

PT - I massively underrate this song when I'm not listening to it. The sax solo is great, Siouxsie sounds really fraught and upset, and the kids that come in at the end are super super creepy.

Mittageisen - I adore the groove to this song. I first learned about it when Massive Attack used it as the foundation for their song "Superpredators", which appeared on the soundtrack to The Jackal. I think it's dripping with sleaze and menace.

more to come as I continue listening

If Spellbound doesn't win, I am going to have an episode.

Man, so much love for Spellbound. I don't remember it nearly as well as many of these, probably becuase I've never owned "Juju" and I own "Twice Upon A Time," but not "Once..."

HH - Musically, I find this to be a really weird juxtaposition of uplifting and desperate. The lyrics and their delivery up against the minor key jangle pop roils together in a mix of conflicting emotion that just slays me.

Christine - The low-key GROOVE to this is all time. I could play this on repeat for hours; this is I think the first single where they do something that reads as unambiguously uplifting. The transition from the suspended minor chords in the verses into the major key chorus and bridge is just glorious fun.

Israel - I don't have strong opinions on this song. I think it works really well but I rarely want to go back to it.

Spellbound - Every sonic detail in this is arranged perfectly, from the booming drums to the crisp guitar to Siouxsie's escalatingly fraught vocal delivery. So so so amazing.

AK - This song oozes languid cool. Coming from Juju, it also sounds like perfection.

Fireworks - I can't really attach to this song either. I always enjoy it as it plays but it never really sticks once it's over.

Slowdive - Now THIS SONG, with its menacing slow build and those creepy guitar squeals, is the stuff of nightmares. Really great creep factor here.

Melt - I appreciate this song more in theory than I do in practice. I like all of the things they're going for but the song falls a little flat to me.

Dear Prudence - I have spent years telling myself that I like this song more than I actually do. I think they do what they can with the source material but this is fundamentally a stupid, stupid song that I never actually want to hear.

Swimming Horses - Now THIS, OTOH, is stomach lurching queasy awesomeness. The rhythm lurches in a manner evocative of rough waves and the rest of the music glides effortlessly over it. Fucking great.

Dazzle - I heard this song first so I didn't realize that this was basically a bombastic redo of Spellbound until years later. For all of that, I think it works; the drums suffer from muddiness but, aside from that, there's a sense of doominess and peril tied into the glittering prize that makes me love this song.

Overground - Wow I like the original version of this so much more. It's a fundamentally great song, but I don't think this treatment of it works; I feel like the strings especially are pulling against the rest of the instruments in a manner that bogs down the overall song.

Cities In Dust - Fuck yes, this is a dance jam. Heady subject matter, undeniable rhythm section, great keyboards, and that CHORUS. Wonderful.

Candyman - Although THIS is the song that made me love Tinderbox. I'd just seen the movie "Candyman" when I first heard this and now the two are linked in my head. I think kicking off your album with a frenetic number about a child predator is great, but releasing it as a single is even better.

This Wheel's On Fire - I like the concept of this song more than the song itself. This is another song that I think goes for a mood that it can't sustain because the instrumentation sucks the momentum out of it.

The Passenger - This song is a total see-saw for me. Half the time, I think it's an underdeveloped grating mess that doesn't live up to its potential, and the rest of the time I'm bouncing up and down going "LA LA LA LA LALALA".

SFTEOTW - This, OTOH, is a fucking jam and a half. All of that propulsive energy and the soaring chorus! Wonderful.

Peek-A-Boo - Everything about this song is genius. The beat, the accordion, the lyrics, another stellar, stellar vocal performance on an undeniable chorus... This was the first Banshees song I ever heard and for years I was afraid to delve too deeply into their catalog because I figured nothing they could do would be as amazing as this.

The Killing Jar - It's a decent uptempo rock song, nothing particularly distinctive, but again it's another killer Banshee chorus that elevates everything around it.

The Last Beat of My Heart - THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, SENSITIVE SONG THEY EVER RECORDED. Siouxsie never sounded better singing, the sentiment is just overwhelming, and the arrangement hits all of the right emotional notes without overstepping into becoming cloying or artificial.

dude Dan, do you have Spotify? if so you should LISTEN TO JUJU IMMEDIATELY

http://open.spotify.com/album/7BStJYAop11lxYKHS7ajxb

the worst song on here ("Head Cut") is still good, but every other song is just escalating levels of "wait, WHAT THE HELL THIS IS AMAZING"

Yeah, I need to fill in that gap, pronto.

KTFM - I just love the shuffle beat to this. This song also has pacing problems but again I think the chorus ties things together and elevates the song.

Shadowtime - Time has not been kind to this song. I feel it kind of slogs nowadays, plus there were other songs on the album that would have been much more interesting/fun singles ("Cry" especially, but also "Little Sister").

F(OTU) - I shouldn't like this as much as I do. It's a huge pile of nonsense that barely hangs together as a song... but it does, and because of that it's a goofy pile of awesome.

F2F - This is just majestic. I love the sweep into the chorus and the sense of marching precision in the synths on the verses.

O Baby - This is really pleasant and surprising, given the OTT excess all over Superstition. I don't often turn to this song but I always enjoy it when I do.

Stargazer - This is as good a way to bow out of the scene as any other, really. It's a driving number, full of energy, yet still exhibiting restraint and a sense of the age that had settled over the band (they let the remixes go OTT). Not the greatest song, but far from the worst, and really a good way to say a fond farewell to a group that hit creative peaks so high with such startling regularity. It's basically like aural comfort food to me.

The keychange in Candyman is the killer, for me.

oh god, yes; especially how terrified and fragile Siouxsie sounds on that final verse in that key

AK is a great song, but they should have relased Sin in My Heart. The frenzy of it....

I think you could make an argument for any given song on Juju a single, except maybe for "Voodoo Dolly"

Sorry, "Passenger" haters. Not only was it my intro to Iggy Pop, but I loved the horn chart and Siouxsie's grand, Marlene Dietrich-style delivery for their own sake.

I am going for DP simply because my cousin mentioned it at the funeral. I WAS LIKE OMG HE KNOWS S&TB. Fucking a. Too bad I rarely see him.

Sorry, "Passenger" haters. Not only was it my intro to Iggy Pop, but I loved the horn chart and Siouxsie's grand, Marlene Dietrich-style delivery for their own sake.

Same here. I love this song, even though it isn't my favorite single.

A good friend of mine told me that recently when he set the pub quiz, he put 'Happy House' on the music intros round and not one single person in the pub got it right.

how many thought it was The Weeknd?

No idea, I'll have to ask him. Since the pub is generally known as a hard rock/metal-oriented pub (and it does have a fair amount of 'old goth' clientele), I was incredibly surprised.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Damn.n

kiss them for me in masssively popular shocker.

hey who's my swimming horses compadre??

That's me, baby!

*high five*

I missed this poll, but would've voted "Happy House," which sounds amazing in a big room.

Surprised "Kiss them for me" did so well.

how did I miss tthis poll? guess that's waht I get for only checking out bookmarks... anyway, DJP making a lot of sense on this thread.
Pretty sad to see Face to Face with zero votes - classic goth dance jam

Then again, if someone said it was the least good S&B singe, I'd believe it.

no that would be any of the singles off 'Superstition', incl KTFM

Kiss Teeth For Me

I am trying to figure out if I forgot to vote in my own poll because I could have sworn I voted for "Mittageisen"

I would just like to remind folks that that Spotify playlist upthread is still around and you all should spend some time listening to it

yeh i've been listening to it quite a bit since this poll finished, didn't really know them that well before - love most of it esp Hong Kong to Spellbound, but really not getting Slowdive & Kiss Them so far. were they doing a lot of acid circa Christine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayj_GVllmsc

Despite going on a Siouxsie completist tear in the late 80s/early 90s, I missed "Song From the Edge of the World" since it was a standalone single and not on any of the compilations released until the 00s (after I'd stopped paying attention to Siouxsie compilations). So basically, it's like a brand new 26 year-old song to me today and I am giddy atm.

oh yeah, that is totally badass

You've heard "Fireworks", right? That's also one that slipped through the cracks for a time.