YouTube - Souxsie!

I could easily say that Siouxsie and the Banshees is my favorite band and has been since I first heard them when I was a teenager. I recently looked at her videos and interviews on YouTube. I am just as fascinated by all of it as I would have been if YouTube existed when I first heard them. After collecting all of her music and listening to it for years, I can easily sing along as I click on each video, including a few videos I knew and a few I didn't know from the late 70's when she was more punk than goth. I was able to find two interviews that took place in America, one was 8 minutes and the other was 2. I missed those ten minutes of television when they aired. Through the interviews I can better grasp Siouxsie as British pop as well as American underground goth. It's really amazing how many videos she did and how many of her concerts were filmed. Without YouTube I would not have access to these clips.

Siouxsie Sioux is known to be the "Goddess of Punk" and the pioneer of goth. She could easily be classified as a leader of feminism as well. She transformed the conventional feminine beauty of blonde hair and smiles into something darker, cooler, more intelligent and stronger. She was heavily involved in fashion and the visual aspect of art. She challenged female sexuality by portraying her sexuality abiding by her own rules, similar to Madonna in that way (not as raunchy though). She incorporates aspects of global culture in her work by commenting on Israel and Hong Kong in her songs, having one CD called Juju, a West African word for supernatural object (derived from the French word joujou meaning toy), as well as naming herself after a Native American tribe. You could even say her make-up resembles iconic images of Cleopatra and, in one of her interviews, she explains the Flamenco influence incorporated in the music of The Creatures (a side project with the bassist and her husband, Budgie).

Her influence carries on today and it's the element of Siouxsie, or punk, that I saw in Lady Gaga that inspired my first post. I think many critiques would gasp that I would even suggest such a thing. Lady Gaga is often criticized for not doing anything innovative even though she is looked upon as an artistic pop star. I see why they say that. However, I don't think any musical artist can compare to Siouxsie. She really had an insatiable energy and almost magical creative stamina that carried her through the past 30 years. I can spend hours clicking around YouTube to see her live performances, array of music videos and interviews. There is such a variety posted on YouTube; it's hard to choose what to post here.

An old concert clip -

(Yes that is Robert Smith from The Cure on guitar - he filled in for a year or so when they had problems with getting a stable guitarist)

A French Christmas Carol -

"In November 2006, within a year of its launch, YouTube was purchased by Google Inc. in one of the most talked-about acquisitions to date."