"Champagne for my real friends. Real pain for my sham friends" (used as early as 1860 in the book The Perfect Gentleman. Famously used by painter Francis Bacon)



mercoledì 11 marzo 2026

MORTE DI UN PROGETTO EDITORIALE? (Bansheeiana)

 

MORTE DI UN PROGETTO EDITORIALE?

(Bansheeiana)

 

Mesi fa, tramite un amico, fui informato del progetto editoriale di una “oral history” dedicata a Siouxsie & The Banshees.
Sono libri che, francamente, lasciano un poco il tempo che trovano, ma sono anche il polso delle “fan base”: una per The jam e una per The Smiths, ad esempio.

 

Propongo un paio di miei contributi, e ottengo lo sta bene.

 

Il primo è uno scritto che fu pubblicato nel blog, cui feci un minimo editing: https://steg-speakerscorner.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-alternate-mcgeoch-bansheeiana.html

 

Il secondo, invece era nuovo, e avrebbe potuto essere un poco più articolato.
Dato un silenzio dalla fine del 2025 ho chiesto notizie: sembra che il progetto si sia arenato.
Non mi stupisco molto.
Eccolo qui di seguito il secondo contributo.

 

BANSHEES FLASHES

 

For my second entry in the book I opted for small souvenir sketches: they are easy to write and read.

They all, somehow, as for John McGeoch entry, relate to the band as a kind of “second, very loose, family” (sounds like “The Addams Family”? Well, they stand ex aequo as my families of choice).

Please, rest assured: I am not claiming to be better than any other long-time follower of the band, just that somehow, I obtained the confidence of the Banshees.

With a big thank you to the band, Billy Houlston, Tony Selinger (and many more).

 

 

1983, autumn: Tony Selinger gifts me with an AAA pass (his?) for the two RAH gigs.

 

1983, end of the year: I receive a postcard from Siouxsie: it is from Israel, but the stamps are from England: it works as a Christmas card.

 

1984, March 29th, Milano: Tony gives me an MC7 with a mix of Hyæna.

 

1984, summer, Steve Severin:

-          June: Steve quotes in an interview for Sounds the cassette tape I sent him months before.

-          July: Steve sends me a very nice postcard from Canada.

 

1984, June 25th: end of the British tour party held, very late at night, at Elysee Greek Restaurant, off Tottenham Court Road (London): Siouxsie smashes loads of plates (as in tradition).

Minor note: AAA passes got downgraded days before after some idiot tried something backstage.

 

1985, July 12th, Torino after gig: I am “appointed” new tour manager for a couple of days.  

 

1985, July 15th, Correggio after gig (the day before): Siouxsie “feeds me” with some of her tortellini, sharing her fork with me.

 

1986, July 19th, Clevedon (WOMAD):

-          Whole afternoon spent backstage with, among others, Steve’s girlfriend Cricket who sports an Edie Sedgwick painted on the back of her jacket, Billie McKenzie, Adele a girl roadie dressed like Jos (for those who know him).

-          After gig at the band’s hotel watching the boxing match between Frank Bruno and Tim Witherspoon.

 

1987, July 25th, London: I spend most of the afternoon talking with Siouxsie’s sister Annabelle (who I probably met in 1984).

Zero recollections about what we spoke about, other than PETA.

 

1988, September 29th, Munchen: I am the only person on the guest list of the gig and I “end” at the band hotel with a long post gig with Siouxsie, Steve and Budgie.

 

1990, September 7th, Padova: the gig is cancelled because of a rain storm:

-          We spend the entire night in the hotel hall, me and my friend Lucia, talking about everything and anything with the Banshees and some of the crew.

-          In the morning, we leave the hotel with bills unpaid: as those in care with that obligation simply were not there.

 

1991, October 10th, Milano: during the gig, I have the honour to have “Painted Bird” dedicated to me.

 

1999, September 30th, Milano: Siouxsie (with Budgie) is the guest of a fashion show by Alessandro De Benedetti at the club Plastic. Follows a late and noisy dinner with some happy few (thank you Alessandro).

 

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Sic transit gloria mundi, di nuovo.

 

 

                                                                                                                      Steg

 

 

 

© 2026 Steg E HTTP://STEG-SPEAKERSCORNER.BLOGSPOT.COM/, Milano, Italia.

Tutti i diritti riservati/All rights reserved. Nessuna parte – compreso il suo titolo – di questa opera e/o la medesima nella sua interezza può essere riprodotta e/od archiviata (anche su sistemi elettronici) per scopi privati e/o riprodotta e/od archiviata per il pubblico senza il preventivo ottenimento, in ciascun caso, dell’espresso consenso scritto dell’autore/degli autori.

 


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