"There is a fun, flippant side to me, of course. But I would much rather be known as the Ice Queen."
Gulp. Our Patron Saint of Fishnets, Miss Siouxsie Sioux is 60 years old today!
I have always adored Siouxsie. Ever since first seeing her on Top Of The Pops strutting like some unearthly Amazon to Hong Kong Garden, I just knew she was something very different; an awesome talent with an awesome stage persona, and excitingly scary. As Ben Hewitt in the Guardian put it so succinctly: she has a "macabre mystique". Siouxsie was second only to Debbie Harry among my adolescent icons.
Irredeemably photogenic, hers has to be one of THE faces of the 20th (and any other) century - instantly recognisable. Her musical legacy, too, is wide-reaching and well recognised. Without her (and the Banshees), there would be no "Goth movement". Her songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Massive Attack and Red Hot Chili Peppers; myriad artists - from Morrissey to PJ Harvey, from Bono to Sinéad O'Connor, from Courtney Love to Ana Matronic - have all paid their due homage to her influence.
There is only one Siouxsie.
And thank heavens for that! Here are some of my choices from her vast repertoire...
Peek-a-Boo (Spec Goth Disco Edit):
However, this remains my all-time favourite (and is among my top tunes ever) - Happy House:
Many happy returns, Siouxsie Sioux (born Susan Janet Ballion, 27th May 1957)
A goddess, except for being involved in the birth of the goth
ReplyDeleteI reckon "Goth" to be by far the least offensive of the "yoof movements" - although the lady herself refuses to be aligned with it, or any other "cult"... Jx
DeleteCouldn't agree more! Siouxsie is the Morticia-like mutha of us all x
ReplyDelete"I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all... It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade."
DeleteIndeed.
Jx