October 31 is just around the cobweb-covered corner, and it suddenly occurred to me that this is going to be the first Halloween in the past few years without one of my favorite concerts: the Newmyer Flyer-produced Halloween Howl. With Ronnie temporarily out of commission, his annual spooktacular show featuring creepy classic rock n’ roll tributes to things that go bump in the night is on a hellish hiatus, and I feel compelled to fill the murderous musical void. After all, rock n’ roll Halloween songs are as plentiful in my music library as left-over candy corn.
Today’s song is not a track you’re likely to hear during the Halloween Howl, but if you were at any of the shows at the Hamilton or Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club, you might have heard it before the show began or during the intermission when Ronnie generously allowed me to DJ. |
Siouxsie and the Banshees got their start in the mid 80s, after spending a fair bit of time hanging out with a renowned pack of Sex Pistols fans called the Bromley Contingent. Photos from that era show Siouxsie Sioux already sporting her signature spikey black hair and enough eyeliner for both her and Chrissie Hynde.
The first incarnation of the Banshees featured future Adam and the Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni, and future Sex Pistol(s) Sid Vicious on drums(!) In two years the band evolved from an abrasive and somewhat tuneless group to one of the UK’s most popular and prolific 80s band. Vicious was quickly replaced by exSlits drummer, Budgie, Perroni made way for exMagazine guitarist John McGeoch, and the band began to to release one swirling, shimmering, poppy hit after another; often with a ferocious, tribal dance beat. In 2004, Nigel Williamson wrote in the The Times: “… they helped to invent a form of post-punk discord full of daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation. The Banshees stand proudly alongside PIL, Gang of Four and The Fall as the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era.” |
With that kind of praise it seems more than appropriate to kick off this little Happy Medium Song of the Day tribute to Halloween with music by the gothic queen of punk and her band. The Happy Medium Song of the Day is “Halloween,” from Siouxsie and the Banshees 1981 album, Juju. More razor blade guitars and less razor blade apples please! (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)