Love in a Void

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"Love In a Void"
Loveinavoid.jpg
UK single double A-side label
Song by Siouxsie and the Banshees
ReleasedSeptember 1979
RecordedJune 1979
Studio Air Studios, London
Venue Punk rock [1]
Length3:03
Label Polydor Records
Songwriters Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Kenny Morris, Peter Fenton
Producers Mike Stavrou and Nils Stevenson

"Love In a Void" is a song by the English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, written by singer Siouxsie Sioux, bassist Steven Severin, drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist Peter Fenton. Originally included as the B-side of the 1979 single "Mittageisen" in West Germany, it was later released as a double A-side single in September of the same year. It was also included on the band's 1981 ten track UK Gold certified compilation album Once Upon a Time/The Singles , [2] and on the CD reissue of the album Join Hands .

Contents

The song was covered by metal band Darkthrone on the EP Too Old Too Cold in 2006. [3] "Love in a Void" was also heavily sampled by rapper Akala in a version retitled "Love in my Eyes" on the album Freedom Lasso in 2007. [4] The Banshees' studio version of "Love in a Void" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2016 film 20th Century Women . [5]

Siouxsie and the Banshees' biographer Brian Johns wrote that "Love in a Void" was "their old stage favourite" back in the late 1970s. [6]

Composition and recording

Early demos indicate that the band composed the song during the first half of 1977 with guitarist Peter Fenton in the line-up. [7]

When the band recorded their first John Peel session for BBC Radio 1 in late November 1977, at Maida Vale Studios with Fenton's replacement John McKay, the first song aired was "Love in a Void". [8] Biographer Brian Johns noted that "Kenny Morris' drums were given the Glitter Band treatment on 'Love In a Void'". The Peel session recording would be later released as an an EP in 1987 and then in 2006 on the compilation Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions .

In June 1979, the band finally recorded the song in George Martin's plush AIR Studios, situated on Oxford Street in London, for Polydor. [9] It was released as a double A-side 7-inch single in the UK in September. [9] It was produced by band's manager Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou; the latter had engineered for one of the group's major influences, T. Rex, on the album Dandy in the Underworld .

The Banshees had already recorded for Polydor another song dating from the Fenton era, "Carcass", on their debut album The Scream (1978).

Legacy

The band were filmed playing "Love in a Void" live in concert by director Derek Jarman; this featured in the 1978 film Jubilee . [10] The song was credited in the end credits of the film, which was later released on VHS and DVD. [11]

When the band decided to release a compilation album in late 1981, they included a version of "Love in a Void" in a slightly different mix. [12] "Love in a Void" also featured in the boxset At the BBC .

The song was still popular among their audience many years after its initial release. When Rolling Stone reviewed a tour reunion concert in New York in 2002, journalist Robin Athman noted that one discontented attendee said, upon leaving the venue, "I can't believe they didn't play 'Love in a Void'." [13] Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai selected it among his essential punk favourites during a radioshow for ABC. [14]

Personnel

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Mörat (26 April 2021). "The story of British punk in 23 songs". Kerrang! .
  2. ↑ "British Phonographic Industry search results [scroll down the page and below "Search by parameters", enter "siouxsie and the banshees" in Keywords and click on search]". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (31 January 2006). "Darkthrone: Too Old, Too Cold EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Goddard, Simon (September 2018). "The Restless Native". Q . p. 42.
  5. ↑ 20th Century Women (Music From The Motion Picture) CD format. Rhino Records (2) – R2 558652. 2017.
  6. ↑ Johns 1989, pp. 38.
  7. ↑ Johns 1989, pp. 20.
  8. ↑ Johns 1989, pp. 25.
  9. 1 2 Johns 1989, pp. 40–41.
  10. ↑ Paytress 2003, pp. 56.
  11. ↑ Jarman, Derek (2018). Jubilee – 40th Anniversary Edition (DVD + Blu-ray). BFI. ASIN   B079NBWJM8.
  12. ↑ Johns 1989, pp. 60.
  13. ↑ "Siouxsie Takes NYC Back in Time". Rollingstone.com. 22 April 2002. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Mogwai share their essential punk favourites". Abc.net.au. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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