Siouxsie Sioux

Susan Janet Ballion (born May 27, 1957 in Bromley, London), better known by her stage name, Siouxsie Sioux (IPA: [sʉzi sʉ]), is the lead singer of both the influential punk/gothic rock band Siouxsie & the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures.

In the mid-1970s, Siouxsie Sioux was a member of the Bromley Contingent, a group of teenagers devoted to the Sex Pistols. Other members included Billy Idol, Tony James, Jordan, and fellow Banshees founder, Steven Severin.

Early life

She was the youngest of three children, born at Guy's Hospital in South London. She attended Mottingham Secondary Modern School for Girls in Kent. Her mother was a bilingual secretary, her father a laboratory technician who milked serum from poisonous snakes.

When Sioux was 14, her father died from complications of alcoholism. At age 15, she suffered ulcerative colitis, an experience she described later as "surreal." Later she stated that "it completely de-romanticised the body for me."

While growing up, Sioux was often left to look after herself in an undisciplined atmosphere. Even before his death, her father's alcoholism kept him incapacitated, forcing her mother to work full time. The garden at their home north of Petts Wood grew into a jungle, with high hedges and rambling roses, until the neighbours complained.

During her teens, she was a self-confessed loner and started getting into music like David Bowie, Lou Reed, T Rex and The Stooges and started visiting the local gay discos. She became very well known in the London punk scene for her outrageous glam, fetish and bondage attire, which became staples of punk fashion.

Professional career

Sioux's first gig was as an unrehearsed fill-in at the 100 Club's "Punk Rock Festival" - two nights in September 1976 - organised by Malcolm McLaren.

In 1976 the Bromley Contingent followed the Sex Pistols to France, where Siouxsie was punched by an Arab for wearing a cupless bra, black vinyl stockings and a black armband with a swastika on it. Sioux later said that the armband was intended as a campy joke and that she did not, at that time, appreciate the implications of wearing a swastika. "The Nazis were not only anti-Semitic but anti-anyone different, anti-anyone like me."^{[citation needed]}

When asked again about the Nazi connection Siouxsie had this to say in a 1999 interview for Attitude magazine:

"Ohhh, yes," she sighs, raising those eyebrows (like big black aeroplane wings), "Now I just say 'Yeah, I'm a Nazi. Course I am.' I've always been fascinated by symbols, whether it's the crucifix, the hammer and sickle or the Star Of David. And it wasn't just me that brandished the swastika around. When I was growing up, it was always (adopts old codger voice) 'The youth of today... I fought the Second World War so bums like you can loaf around on the Social Security,' so it was a way of antagonising that generation. ln those days there wasn't so much information about the war or the Holocaust, and I didn't realise what vandals the Nazis were: all the art, the books they destroyed. Their aim was not only to promote Aryan purity, but to erase anything that might have competed with their superiority, like the Greeks. Wearing that armband was much more in the spirit of The Producers - you know, Springtime For Hitler - an amazing movie. That was camp, rather than death-camp. I was appalled that anyone would take it [seriously]..."

Grundy interview

One of Sioux's first public appearances was with the Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy's television show in December 1976^[1] as part of the Bromley Contingent. In the course of Grundy's interview with the members of the Sex Pistols, he tried to flirt with her:

Grundy: "Are you worried, or are you just enjoying yourself?"

Sioux: "Enjoying myself."

Grundy: "Are you?"

Sioux: "Yeah."

Grundy: "Ah, that's what I thought you were doing."

Sioux: "I always wanted to meet you."

Grundy: "Did you really?"

Sioux: "Yeah."

Grundy: "We'll meet afterwards, shall we?"

It was in reaction to this exchange that Pistols guitarist Steve Jones called Grundy a "dirty sod" and a "fuckin' rotter," leading to a media furor that was to have a major impact on the Pistols' subsequent career.

Sioux later had a falling out with Johnny Rotten and the two are no longer friends. In his autobiography No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, John said the feud started when Siouxsie showed up at his house and excitedly told him she had just bought a new washing machine and suggested they have a "washing machine party". John thought this was ridiculous and called her a fake and a fraud. Apparently the two never talked again and whenever Sioux would walk by John's house he would lean out the window and yell, "How's the washer!?". Over the years John was very vocal of his dislike for Siouxsie and the Banshees.

With the Banshees

Shortly after the Grundy interview, Sioux formed Siouxsie and the Banshees with fellow Bromley Contingent members Steven Severin on bass, Marco Pirroni on guitar, and, for a brief time, future Sex Pistols bassist John Simon Ritchie, better known as Sid Vicious on drums. When Vicious joined The Sex Pistols he was replaced by Kenny Morris. Pirroni left to form Rema Rema, and later joined Adam and the Ants, and was replaced with Peter Fenton who in turn was replaced by John Mckay. The original lineup was in part conceived by Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren as a fill-in band at the 100 Club.

From their first album, 1978's The Scream, to their breakup in 1996, Siouxsie and the Banshees were one of the most successful, groundbreaking punk rock bands, and helped create the "goth" style of music and dress; Sioux's trademark black eyeliner, bondage gear, and icy stage persona was a huge influence on later goth, deathrock and punk acts.

McKay and Morris left the band in the middle of a tour. The split involved an argument involving an autograph session in Aberdeen at a long-since defunct record shop called "The Other Record Shop" (a major punk and new wave stockist). As the tour was with The Cure the ever obliging Robert Smith stood in on guitar and was with both bands for a short while. Morris and McKay were eventually replaced by Budgie (Peter Clarke) on drums, and John McGeoch on guitar.

In 1981, she and Budgie formed The Creatures, who sporadically perform and record to this day.

More recent years

Sioux married Budgie in 1991. The following year, ostensibly "fed up with fans staring through the windows of their basement flat" in west London, she and Budgie moved to France. They now live in a converted farmhouse in a small village in south west France, where they have "a garden, cats and mountains of books." A few years ago, they set up their own label, Sioux Records, and they have recently finished building a studio in their house.

Sioux is the featured vocalist on the title track to Basement Jaxx's 2003 album Kish Kash.

In 1994, she recorded the song "The Lighthouse" on French producer Hector Zazou's album Chansons des mers froides (Songs from the Cold Seas). Sioux and Zazou adapted an excerpt of the poem "Flannan Isle" by English poet Wilfred Wilson Gibson into lyrics. The song included the incantations of a female Nanai shaman recorded in Siberia, and musical performers included Budgie and Mark Isham.

She won the Icon Award at the Mojo Honours in London in June 2005.

The song Hong Kong Garden was featured in the film Marie Antoinette in 2006.

The song Dizzy was featured in the film Notes on a Scandal in 2006. Additionally, the character of Sheba Hart played by Cate Blanchett mentions she worshipped Siouxsie as a teen. An old photograph of Sheba is shown with a Siouxsie-style appearance, and a Siouxsie & The Banshees album is used as a prop.

Sioux has started work on her first solo album, which is slated to be released in 2007. In 2005, she released a DVD from her "Dreamshow" tour which went to the top of the UK Music DVD charts.^{[citation needed]}

Dallion or Ballion?

For years there has been some confusion regarding whether Siouxsie's real surname is actually "Dallion" or "Ballion". Her authorised biography^[2] now clears up the issue: she herself admits that her real surname is actually "Ballion".

She allowed "Dallion" to be the misunderstanding because of shame about her home life and not wanting fans to come around and have tea with Mrs. Ballion (her mother) — the fans would come by the family home, and her mother would invite them in and share all kinds of stories embarrassing to an increasingly popular local singer and club personality. "Dallion" even appears in the credits of an early movie; whether it was an intentional or unintentional misprint, Sioux used that to legitimise somewhat the belief that "Dallion" was correct.

Albums

Siouxsie & the Banshees

• The Scream 1978
• Join Hands 1979
• Kaleidoscope 1980
• Juju 1981
• Once Upon a Time: The Singles 1981
• A Kiss in the Dreamhouse 1982
• Nocturne (Live) 1983
• Hyaena 1984
• The Thorn 1984
• Tinderbox 1986
• The Peel Sessions 1987
• Through the Looking Glass 1987
• Peepshow 1988
• Superstition 1991
• Twice Upon a Time: The Singles 1992
• The Rapture 1995
• The Best of Siouxsie & the Banshees 2002
• Seven Year Itch (Live) 2003
• Downside Up 2004
• Voices On The Air: The Peel Sessions 2006

The Creatures

• Wild Things 1981
• Feast 1983
• Boomerang 1989
• A Bestiary Of 1997
• Eraser Cuts 1998
• Anima Animus 1999
• Hybrids (Remix Album) 1999
• Sequins In The Sun (Live) 2000
• Hai! 2003

Film appearances of songs include The Punk Rock Movie (Don Letts, 1977); Jubilee (Derek Jarman, 1977); Out of Bounds (Richard Tuggle, 1986); Batman Returns (Tim Burton,1992); Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995); The Craft (Andrew Fleming, 1996); The Filth and the Fury (Julien Temple, 2000); 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002); Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006); Monster House (Gil Kenan, 2006); Notes on a Scandal (Richard Eyre, 2006)

References

Wikipedia information about Siouxsie Sioux This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Siouxsie Sioux". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.