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Juju

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Juju

Release Date:
6th June 1981
Vocals & Guitar:
Bass Guitar:
Guitar:
Drums and Percussion:
Lyrics:
Genre:
Album Tracks:
9
Producer:
Nigel Gray
Singles
Spellbound 22 May 1981
Arabian Knights 24 July 1981

Album Sequence:

Preceded by:
Kaleidoscope
Followed by:
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
See all albums...

Juju is the fourth studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees and was released in June 1981 through Polydor Records. The album spent seventeen weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number seven.[1]

After a slightly electronic bent made on a few tracks of their previous album, the Banshees returned to a guitar-based sound for Juju, due to the now-official guitarist, John McGeoch. The album also featured prominently the intricate percussion work of band member Budgie. Juju was remastered as a single-disc digipack in May 2006.

Reception[]

In 1995, Melody Maker placed Juju as "one of the most influential British albums of all time".[2]

In 2006, Mojo honoured John McGeoch by rating him in their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time for his work on "Spellbound".[3]

In 2007, The Guardian put Juju in its list of 1000 albums to hear before you die. Journalist Alexis Petridis wrote. "Perennial masters of brooding suspense, the Banshees honed their trademark aloof art-rock to its hardest and darkest pitch on Juju. With their musical alchemy at its peak and Siouxsie at her most imperious, pop marvels such as Spellbound and Arabian Knights were poised, peerless exercises in magic realism that you could dance to."[4]

Legacy[]

Johnny Marr of The Smiths said on the BBC radio 2 in February 2008 that he rated guitarist John McGeoch highly for his work on the first song of this album, "Spellbound". Marr qualified it as "clever" with "really good picky thing going on which is very un-rock'n'roll".[5] In Uncut, Marr also rated McGeoch at number ten in his all time favourite guitarists for Juju and Real Life by Magazine.[6][7]

Another member of the Smiths, singer Morrissey selected the first single of Juju, "Spellbound" during an interview for the US Kroq radio in 1997 and said

“ another great single, a hit in England, certainly not here, I don’t think. But they were one of the great groups of the late 70s, early 80s and very underrated, I think. Siouxsie and the Banshees were excellent".[8] ”

Morrissey also later stated to GQ in 2005 that Juju is to him the second best Siouxsie and the Banshees album.[9]

Track listing[]

All tracks by Sioux, McGeoch, Severin, and Budgie.

All songs written and composed by Siouxsie, Severin, Budgie and McGeoch. 

Original release
No. Title Length
1. "Spellbound"   3:17
2. "Into the Light"   4:13
3. "Arabian Knights"   3:07
4. "Halloween"   3:42
5. "Monitor"   5:35
6. "Night Shift"   6:06
7. "Sin in My Heart"   3:38
8. "Head Cut"   4:23
9. "Voodoo Dolly"   7:04
2006 remastered reissue bonus tracks
No. Title Length
12. "Spellbound (12" Extended Mix)"   4:41
13. "Arabian Knights (12" Vocoder Mix)"   3:09
14. "Fireworks (Nigel Gray unreleased version)"   4:13

Personnel[]

Additional personnel
  • Nigel Gray - producer

References[]

  1. ↑ "Juju in the UK albums chart". chartstats.com/. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. http://archive.is/ou8Z. Retrieved 19 March 2012. 
  2. ↑ Unsworth, Cathi. "Baby, Come back". Melody Maker (14 January 1995). 
  3. ↑ "Mojo - 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time" June 1996 Issue 89. John McGeogh - Spellbound (Siouxsie & the Banshees, Juju) - 1981 - Yamaha
  4. ↑ Petridis, Alexis. "The Guardian, 1000 albums to hear before you die". Guardian.co.uk.21 November 2007.
  5. ↑ Mitchell, Pete. "Spellbound : The Story Of John McGeoch" BBC Radio 2’s Pete Mitchell talks to Howard Devoto, Siouxsie Sioux and Johnny Marr among others, as he shines a light on the life of this unsung guitar hero. February 2008. About McGeoch's contribution of the single "Spellbound", Marr states : "It's so clever. He's got this really good picky thing going on which is very un-rock'n'roll and this actual tune he's playing is really quite mysterious."
  6. ↑ "Johnny Marr Top Ten Guitarists". Uncut. November 2004 issue with U2 on the cover.
  7. ↑ "Johnny Marr Top Ten Guitarists". Morrissey-solo.com. November 2004.
  8. ↑ Blade, Richard. "KROQ interview" Morrissey-solo. air date: 6 July 1997.
  9. ↑ Deevoy, Adrian. "Men Of The Year" GQ. October 2005.
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