"Arabian Knights" | ||||
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Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees | ||||
from the album Juju | ||||
B-side | "Supernatural Thing", "Congo Conga" | |||
Released | 24 July 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:08 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Susan Ballion, Peter Edward Clarke, John McGeoch and Steven Severin | |||
Producer(s) |
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Siouxsie and the Bansheessingles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Arabian Knights" on YouTube | ||||
Siouxsie singles chronology | ||||
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"Arabian Knights" is a song by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees. The track was written by Siouxsie and the Banshees and co-produced with Nigel Gray. It was released in 1981 as the second and final single released from their fourth studio album, Juju .
The song criticises the oppression of women in the Middle East. [2] Siouxsie later commented on the lyrics:"With 'Arabian Knights' it was quite a thrill to get the word 'orifices' on the radio." [3] The B-side,"Supernatural Thing",was originally recorded by Ben E. King,appearing on his 1975 album Supernatural . The extra B-side,"Congo Conga",was misspelled as "Conga Conga" on the U.S. edition of the 12". "Arabian Knights" was released on 24 July 1981 by record label Polydor. The single peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart in 1981. [4]
The Guardian retrospectively qualified "Arabian Knights" as a "pop marvel" [5] while AllMusic described it as "dreamy". [6]
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins selected it in his playlist in December 2014 when he talked about some of his favourite music on BBC radio. [7]
Paul Roland covered "Arabian Knights" on his 1992 album Strychnine,while Icky Blossoms released it as a single in 2013. [8] Las Aves also covered it during a live session for French Television in 2014. [9]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Arabian Knights" | 3:08 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | ""Supernatural Thing"" | 4:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Arabian Knights" | 3:09 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Supernatural Thing" | 4:26 |
2. | "Congo Conga" | 4:14 |
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles Chart [10] | 32 |
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
Nocturne is a live double album and video by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 25 November 1983 by Polydor Records. Co-produced by Mike Hedges, Nocturne features performances recorded at two shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on 30 September and 1 October 1983, featuring Robert Smith on guitar.
The Creatures were an English band formed in 1981 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Creatures released their first EP Wild Things in 1981. They recorded four studio albums: Feast in 1983, Boomerang in 1989, Anima Animus in 1999 and Hái! in 2003.
Susan Janet Ballion, known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who were active from 1976 to 1996. They released 11 studio albums, and had several UK Top 20 singles including "Hong Kong Garden", "Happy House" and "Peek-a-Boo", plus a US Top 25 single in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kiss Them for Me".
Superstition is the tenth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 10 June 1991 by Polydor Records. The lead single, "Kiss Them for Me", gave the band its first top 40 Billboard Hot 100 entry in the United States, peaking at No. 23, with the album peaking at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band widened its musical influences with the arrival of musician Talvin Singh, who played tablas on the songs "Kiss Them for Me" and "Silver Waterfalls".
John Alexander McGeoch was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977–1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980–1982).
Peter Edward Clarke, known professionally as Budgie, is an English drummer best known for his work in Siouxsie and the Banshees. He is also the co-founder of the Creatures.
Once Upon a Time/The Singles is Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1981 compilation album featuring the band's UK single releases to date. The album featured several songs that had been released as singles yet had not appeared on any of the Banshees' four albums. Once Upon a Time/The Singles spent twenty six weeks in the UK albums chart. The sleeve was designed by Stylorouge.
Juju is the fourth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was recorded at Surrey Sound studio with Nigel Gray as co-producer, and was released on 19 June 1981 by Polydor Records. Two singles were released from Juju: "Spellbound" and "Arabian Knights".
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is the fifth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 5 November 1982 by Polydor Records. The record marked a change of musical direction, as the group used strings for the first time and experimented in the studio. Guitarist John McGeoch played more instruments, including recorder and piano. For Julian Marszalek of The Quietus, the release proved the Banshees to be "one of the great British psychedelic bands."
Tinderbox is the seventh studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 21 April 1986 by Wonderland and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and by Geffen Records in the United States. It was the band's first full-length effort recorded with then-new guitarist John Valentine Carruthers; Carruthers had previously only added a few parts on the 1984 EP The Thorn. The first recording sessions for the album took place at Hansa by the Wall in Berlin in May 1985.
The discography of Siouxsie and the Banshees, an English rock band, consists of eleven studio albums, three live albums, four compilation albums, one extended play (EP), and thirty singles. This list does not include material recorded by band members with the Creatures or the Glove, or solo work by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin.
"Israel" is a song by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released as a stand-alone single in 1980 by Polydor Records.
"Spellbound" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. The group wrote it and co-produced it with Nigel Gray. It was released in 1981 by record label Polydor as the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Juju.
"Fireworks" is a song by British post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released as a stand-alone single in 1982 by record label Polydor in between the albums Juju (1981) and A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982).
"Slowdive" is a song by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1982 by record label Polydor as the first single from the band's fifth studio album, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse.
Wild Things is the first release by British duo the Creatures. It was issued on 25 September 1981 by Polydor Records as two 7" single records in a "double-album" style card cover, and is usually referred to as an EP. It peaked on the UK Singles Chart at No. 24, and the pair performed "Mad Eyed Screamer" on Top of the Pops. The EP was entirely remastered in 1997 and reissued as part of the A Bestiary Of CD compilation – which was also released on Spotify.
Finale: The Last Mantaray & More Show is a live DVD by Siouxsie, released in 2009. It is the last show of the Mantaray and More Tour, which took place on 29 September 2008 at London's KOKO in Camden. Siouxsie said: "We were thinking of filming in South America but that got pulled right at the last minute". That's when she decided they had got to have a document of the show, the band and how she was feeling onstage, "because all the concerts had been going so well". "So I decided to put in a one off show at Koko and film it".
"Supernatural Thing" is a song recorded by American soul and R&B singer Ben E. King. The single, released in 1975 by Atlantic Records, was a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart for one week. It also reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Supernatural Thing" was written by Haras Fyre and Gwen Guthrie and was produced by Tony Silvester and Bert DeCoteaux. The song was included on King's 1975 album Supernatural.
All Souls is a compilation album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on vinyl on 21 October 2022. It is a collection of singles, album tracks, and B-sides. It was conceived by Siouxsie Sioux as a seasonal compilation "to celebrate the autumn equinox and its festivities".
Pop marvels such as Spellbound and Arabian Knights were poised, peerless exercises in magic realism that you could dance to.