Smash Hits (October 27- November 9, 1983)

SIOUXSIE - My Favourite Things

HOLIDAY

Hawaii with The Creatures. felt I was somewhere completely different and things happened all the time. It was ideal. As a child we always used to go to Broadstairs. I remember seeing Cliff in the Pavilion there once. They also had those horrendous talent contests where kids would sing a song. I was once pushed up on stage and Adam Faith, I think, tried to coax me to sing "Ba Ba Black Sheep". I was so shy I just stood there and didn't utter a word. Terrible.

TV PROGRAMME

Soap. It's very funny and it's also so extreme. They go twice as far as in any other soap opera and that's so much better than trying to make it look real. My favourite character is Bert. He's so good and completely unpredictable. He's always the one who sees Martians or thinks he's invisible. He's outrageous.

PAINTING

The Last Judgement by Bosch. He has this grossly rich but horrible-looking person Bosch was sending up those people who could afford to eat then when there were millions of starving orphans. He uses painting like a hard instrument< deriding someone who needs to be derided.

SINGER

Again there's a lot but I'd say Jim Morrison. His voice has been aped and affected by so many people but he still sounds so relaxed and natural. I like the empty songs best where it's just his voice and a single instrument Drive". His voice was definitely the lead instrument in The Doors.

SPORT

As far as watching goes, snooker. Sometimes I think it's really stupid watching balls go round but it's also so hypnotising. I like Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins who is spasmodically brilliant.

RECORD

This is so hard. I've got so many favourites. I have a compilation tape that contains many of them. It includes "Romeo And Juliet" by Tchaikovsky < it was the theme music for the film Caligula. A piece from "The Rite Of Spring" by Stravinsky. It's another heavy orchestral piece. "Homo Sapien" by Pete Shelley, "Hello I Love You" by The Doors, various tracks off Lou Reed's "Berlin" LP, some DAF numbers. I can't pinpoint one. They all fit different moods though the one that always makes me go 'wooooh' is "Mighty Real" by Sylvester. It's a real celebration.

FOOD

Japanese if I feel like a treat. If I see a huge plate of something I immediately lose my appetite but with Japanese there's lots of little courses. Funnily enough, I had my first Japanese meal in Los Angeles. I don't like the raw fish so much < it has that bubble-gummy texture. But at home it's Heinz Baked Beans.

CLOTHING

There's a kimono I was given in Tokyo. It was sent backstage with an anonymous card saying "thanks for playing in Tokyo and love the Banshees' music ". It's hand-made and is the type that's used in traditional Japanese theatre or on special occasions.

JEWELRY

I've got loads of favourite pieces. I've a pendant that ends in a scarab beetle with a ring to match, It comes from Manila and Steve (Banshee) gave it to me. There's also a piece that a kid gave me in Japan. It's like a ridged gold tube that goes round the neck and meets as a snake in the middle. I've got some great tacky diamante which I've bought from theatrical junk shops. My favourite comes from an Indian shop. It's like a spiderweb diamante hand. I wear it in the video for "Miss The Girl".

FILM

Bad Timing with Art Garfunkel. It was set in Vienna amongst all those old, tall buildings that you find there. I wouldn't class it as a horror film but as a thriller Garfunkel was brilliant. I was really surprised. I didn't think of him as a musician in the film which you often do with rock stars who go into acting. There wasn't one bit where I went, 'eek!'

PET

A cat but I haven't got one at the moment. My favourite ever was called Poochie. I've also got a peccary called Gregory and an armadillo called Amy in London Zoo. They have a scheme where you adopt an animal for a year. It was the time of The Creatures so Budgie and I thought, what a good idea. We had a look around and thought of a Tasmanian Devil, We chose the peccary because nobody else had enquired about it. It's a wiry-haired hog that's supposed to be really smelly and really bad-tempered. But it isn't. It's just nervous.

BOOK

It's called Man Ray and I bought it in Japan. He's the best photographer ever. He uses amazing textures < like flesh with wood. There's a picture where a Venetian blind makes a weird effect on a skintone. He'll make the body look like a chameleon. It's like looking at things under a microscope. He's influenced me a lot in presentation.

By Ian Birch

Contributed by Bonnie Bryant.