Day After Day #279: Cities in Dust

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Cities in Dust (1985)

Before she became one of the most influential figures in post punk, Siouxsie Sioux (aka Susan Ballion) was known for being one of the first fans to follow the Sex Pistols around when they were initially playing in London. Siouxsie, Steven Severin and several others became known as the Bromley Contingent (because most were from the Bromley area of London). When one of the bands dropped out of the 100 Club Punk Festival in September 1976, Siouxsie suggested she and bassist Severin fill in, despite not having a band name or other members. With the help of Marco Pirroni on guitar and Sid Vicious on drums, the two played a 20-minute improvisation based on "The Lord's Prayer."

After the festival, the band was asked to play other gigs. Eventually, Siouxsie and Severin added drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist Peter Fenton and played some shows in early 1977; Fenton was replaced by John McKay. By 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees were selling out shows and signed a contract with Polydor, releasing their debut album The Scream in November of that year. A second album, Join Hands, came out in 1979, getting good reviews. A few days into the tour, McKay and Morris left an in-store appearance after an argument and quit the band. Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of the Slits, joined as the new drummer, but the search for a new guitarist took longer. A new band called the Cure was opening for them on tour and its guitarist, Robert Smith, offered to fill in on guitar if they couldn't find anyone and the band finally accepted. After the tour ended, Smith returned to the Cure.

The band later added John McGeoch of Magazine as their new guitarist and made Kaleidoscope, their third album. After two more albums, McGeoch was fired after having issue with alcohol abuse and Robert Smith rejoined the Banshees in 1982. In 1983, Siouxsie and Budgie, who were now a couple, worked on an album for their side project the Creatures, while Severin and Smith were recording as the Glove. Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded a cover of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence," which hit #3 on the U.K. Singles chart, released a live album and finished their sixth album, Hyaena. Smith left again just before the album came out in May 1984.

Although the band was big in the U.K., it hadn't made much of a dent in the U.S. to this point. That changed with "Cities in Dust," the lead single from their album Tinderbox, which featured new guitarist John Valentine Carruthers. The single was released in October 1985, a dark dance-rock song about the volcanic eruption in 79 AD that wiped out the entire city of Pompeii.

"Water was running, children were running/You were running out of time/Under the mountain, a golden fountain/Were you praying at the Lares shrine?/But, oh oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend/Oh oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend/We found you hiding, we found you lying/Choking on the dirt and sand/Your former glories, and all the stories/Dragged and washed with eager hands/But oh oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend/Oh oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend."

Siouxsie's commanding presence carries the song, but there's a lot going on musically: majestic guitars, toy piano, thundering drums, electronic effects. 

"Hot and burning in your nostrils/Pouring down your gaping mouth/Your molten bodies, blankets of cinders/Caught in the throes, and/Whoa oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend/Oh oh, oh your city lies in dust, my friend."

The song hit #1 on the U.K. Singles chart and #17 on the U.S. Dance Clubs Songs chart. The song got some play on alternative rock radio; in the Boston area, it could be heard regularly on WBCN and WFNX.

Siouxsie and the Banshees performed the song in a club scene in the 1986 Anthony Michael Hall movie Out of Bounds. The song was also featured in the movies Grosse Pointe Blank and Atomic Blonde, as well as the TV shows 13 Reasons Why, Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Siouxsie was already a goth style icon years earlier, but as the band's videos got more play on MTV, that image only became amplified. Songs like "Peek-a-Boo" (which went to #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart) and "Kiss Them for Me" (which was #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and all over commercial rock radio) got plenty of play on MTV. 

The timing of "Kiss Them for Me" was perfect, as it was a big hit in the summer of 1991 as the band was playing on the first Lollapalooza tour, in the second-to-last spot right before headliners Jane's Addiction. The Banshees only released one more album, 1995's The Rapture, before disbanding in April 1996. Siouxsie and Budget continued playing as the Creatures).

In 2002, Siouxsie, Severin, Budgie and guitarist Knox Chandler reunited for the Seven Year Itch tour, which beame a live album and DVD the following year. McGeoch died in his sleep after an epileptic seizure in March 2004 at the age of 48.  The last 20 years have seen a number of reissues and compilations, but the band itself has remained inactive.