Siouxsie Sioux and the Unrelenting Banshee Challenge a Creature

Can one artist inspire more artists than most? Is trailblazer an understatement? And can her challenging of convention inspire a Banshee at a record store to confront a young man before he becomes a monstrous creature? If we are talking about Siouxsie Sioux and one of her fans, the answer is yes.

In the late 70’s the post punk scene in Europe saw a disruptive influence hit the stage. When it did, nothing would ever be the same in music again. Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees, led by Siouxsie Sioux, would command stages and build fans while A & R men and others in the record industry would try to reduce them…and her.

Under her leadership they would not relent. The music was haunting and gritty. Her look and stage performance broke gender norms. A male dominated punk scene that was beginning to be a caricature filled with toxic men would get an infusion of a woman with a mind and a vision of her own.

Melancholy songs of love, loss, and isolation would change the face of punk and post punk. Goth music would rise into the consciousness of a broader audience as well. For 11 albums with the Banshees, 4 with The Creatures and 1 solo album, her music still haunts the airwaves, playlists, and record players across the world.

As far as inspiration? A few artists have been inspired by her unapologetic example.

The shadow she cast over the industry inspired many acts. Some artists who claim Siouxsie Sioux as their inspiration for being are as follows.

PJ Harvey, Sinéad O’Connor, Charli XCX, Florence + the Machine, Brody Dalle of The Distillers, Hayley Williams, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, Wolf Alice, Chvrches, Gillian Gilbert of New Order, St. Vincent, Joy Division, The Cure, and Radiohead. What I have given you is not a comprehensive list. It is barely the tip of the iceberg.

To be able to have this kind of influence that crosses genres, genders, and generations takes more than black makeup, bondage inspired clothing, and a unique voice and sound. Her inspiration is a direct challenge to the music industry that does not understand artists and fans.

The source of the inspiration is her exemplary embodiment of the punk DIY ethos. The only way her vision was going to be heard was by eschewing conformity and gender roles while being fiercely independent and true to her vision.

Her influence is so vast that there are a multitude of peer reviewed papers ranging from sociology to women’s studies that cover her influence on culture.

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Siouxsie never identified as a feminist. She lived her life on her terms. But her and Joan Jett showcased that there was not a lack of women in rock and punk, there was a lack of representation. Their unrelenting sprits inspired a movement in the 90’s called the Riot Grrrls. It was not just music. It was self published zines, feminist theory, and a movement that would guide feminism into the third wave and open doors for women writers, journalists, and musicians.

I would meet a Riot Grrrl at a record store who was a Banshee that would challenge my views.

When choosing her stage name and the band name, words mattered. Siouxsie became her stage name in honor of the Sioux tribe because she did not like cowboys. The Banshees was in honor of Vincent Price and his performance in the 1970 movie “Cry of the Banshee”. But Banshee has another meaning that my Irish blood loves.

In Celtic legend a banshee is a female spirit. When the spirit wails and screams it is a warning of impending death in one’s family. The wail of a banshee is a warning that something is wrong. And I would hear a Banshee’s scream.

Record stores were a unique space for me. Like our columnist Jeremy Ritch wrote about, I had my musical muses and my gatekeeper was church culture. My love of music led to staff at three record stores to befriend me. In the 80’s and the 90’s I worked in various stores in a local mall. My constant was an assistant manager at a Record Town named Doug. When they got new stuff in he would seek me out wherever I was working and tell me he put something to the side that he thought I would like.

There was a legendary record store in Joliet Illinois named Crows Nest. When I entered there, I felt like Norm in Cheers. Everyone knew my name. Like Doug, they were my guides to new and innovative music.

But in a store called Sound Warehouse in Lemont, there was Catalina. She filled a special need for me that the other two could not. I loved female artists and she was my musical guide.

Catalina was a short Cuban woman about my age with a penchant for leather and punk eye makeup. Her hair was shaved on one side and the rest of it swooped over to the other side with multiple colored highlights over her jet black hair. This was 1991 and more than a decade before it was popular to color your hair certain colors.

Catalina and I developed a fun routine as she became my musical guide. No matter what she guided me to she always tried to get me to buy a Siouxsie and the Banshees album. She would walk me to the register with whatever I had and the banter would happen.

“So we will be getting “Through the Looking Glass” with this Kate Bush album?”

“No, Catalina. Just Kate Bush.”

“We’ll have nothing to talk about on our first date if you don’t get this.”

“Hey Pat! If you buy Peepshow or even Nocturn today, you will become a better person and people will know you are special. You need this! Your life is empty without it!”

Over many months we would get into longer conversations and one day she asked me what it is about Siouxsie I did not like. The real answer was I was not socially evolved yet. I loved women in music, but I was small when it came to visuals. Boy George and Siouxsie made me uncomfortable because there was a visual blur of gender presentation. My perceptions kept me from discovery. I was not going to admit to that, so I pivoted.

“Maybe I don’t know enough about her. Why do you love her so much?”

She told me how her music changed everything for her. In a repressive Catholic household and friends that loved vapid songs where women were less, there was someone who sang of dreams and love in a different context where women were not less. Without the Banshees the punk scene would just be a bunch of Straight Edge toxic rapists in Catalina’s opinion.

She told me about new underground zines and local female punk and goth bands who would pass the mic at their shows and let women scream out their pain and grievances. She needed a space to speak and there was something new happening.

Her religious family was holding her down and she felt feminism had no space for Latina or black girls, but in this new thing that was brewing, she belonged. All women had a space there.

And then she turned it back to me.

“I want you to discover her not just because the songs are great, but I feel like you need her.”

I looked at her with confusion.

“Pat, do you know how many pretty preppy boys walk into this record store and ask a girl advice for women in the music scene?”

I shrugged.

“Zero. And yeah, that is hot, but it matters. When you see them as musicians that you respect, you see us. You see me. And in a package like yours, that is not normal. And you don’t see what’s in front of you. So much of what you listen to and love is inspired by her. She is the center of everything that you appreciate in music and I think if you gave it a chance you would see so much more.”

About this time her manager called her and a few employees over for something and I was running late for work.

I was in Bible College when all of this was going on and had recently gone through a breakup with someone I liked a lot. The church I was going to was attending a large pro life anti abortion rally in Chicago.

This last girlfriend really shook me to the core about how my church viewed abortion and women. I was at a crossroads. I no longer felt comfortable with the position of pro life. But as a Bible College student it was made clear to me by the pastoral staff that this rally was not optional for me.

I did not drive, I was a part of a caravan in church vans that was going to the rally. As we entered the arena there were pro choice groups protesting. I just kept my eyes forward. One of the church deacons tapped me on the shoulder and told me jokingly that I had a fan.

I looked beyond the barricade and Catalina was with the protestors staring right at me calling me a mother fucker and a lying piece of shit. I ran up to the barricade and said her name. She screamed at me, “Fuck you! We’re done! I don’t want to ever see your in the fucking store again!”

A crowd was developing around us. Protestors were calling me names and people from my church and others gathered around. A man on “my side” pushed Catalina hard. She stumbled back violently, caught her footing and came right back up to his face. A woman from “my side” grabbed Catalina by the hair and scratched her face while calling her a whore. I pulled her off of Catalina and the man who pushed Catalina punched me in the face.

Fights were starting to break out and police were approaching. I pulled 2 more people off of Catalina, looked for an opening through the crowd, grabbed her by the hand and led her…and me…away from the cops. I looked back at her at one point. Her face was bleeding and her expression was fury and fear all at once.

A few blocks later we were away from the crowd. I asked her if she was okay. She panic screamed and cried and hit me in the chest with open palms repeatedly. This was adrenaline and fear working it’s way out of her system. She wailed like a…well…you know. After a few moments she stopped and said, “Why aren’t you stopping me or yelling at me, dude?”

“Because you’re right, Catalina! I shouldn’t have been there. And I don’t know what to think about this church stuff anymore. I feel like god wants me to be a pastor but things keep happening like this and I think we’re the sinners and the monsters. Not you. And a girl I really liked just broke up with me and I am pretty sure it’s because of shit like this that I don’t even believe but I’m scared to stand up to them. And ya know what? She was right to dump me.”

She wiped blood from her face and regarded me for a moment. Her face softened as I rubbed my sore jaw.

“So the music. The respect. It’s not bullshit. This is who you are Pat. Not that guy! I know what it’s like to be repressed by church people. They want you to be something you’re not and they manipulate you like one of those dolls on strings. I’m sorry. I know what that feels like. Look, I’m going to a thing next week with some of the people I told you about with the Zines and music. You should come. I think they would like you and you could learn how to get away from those people.”

“I think I’d like that, Catalina. But me and a buddy are going to Ohio in a few days. I need to get my head clear. When I get back, I’ll come to the record store and I’d like to meet your friends and learn more. But. Are we good? Are we still friends?”

“You pulled some bitches off me and I think I know you. That other dude is a masque. I get it. We’re good.”

She paused for a moment, gently touched her scratches and asked me a question.

“So. How bad is my face?”

“She got ya pretty good, Catalina, but you’ll heal. And mine?”

“You got a hell of a bruise starting, Pat.”

We smiled and chuckled a little.

Then she said, “We should go back to the stadium, see if the coast is clear, and take your car home.”

“I came by church bus.”

“Well shit, Pat. How we getting home?”

Dedicated to Erika

Every Feminist Friday is Dedicated to my friend Erika!

Erika died on Christmas leaving behind a family that has immediate needs.

Click here to read the story of how Erika saved my life when we were teenagers.

Click here to donate to the Gofundme a friend and local PRIDE organizer set up to help the family Erika was taken away from

If you liked this article, you may like the story about Cyndi Lauper and the importance of feminism and a space for women like Catalina.

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