THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (13): Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities In Dust

Cities In Dust, a song inspired by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii in AD79, was the 17th single released by Siouxsie & The Banshees. It came out in October 1985 and would also be included on the album Tinderbox, released in April 1986.

Looking back on things, 1985 was a transitional year in my life, leaving university and moving to Edinburgh for my first job.  It wasn’t a well-paid job, being at the entry level for graduates and by the time the rent and bills were paid, there wasn’t much left to spend on music.  Nor was there much room in a shared flat to keep anything!

I’d only have heard Cities In Dust on the radio or whenever S&TB appeared on the telly….I recall watching it played live on BBC2’s Whistle Test, with Siouxsie confined to a chair after she had injured herself when falling over during a gig a few weeks previously.

I first ended up with a copy of the song at the end of 1992 when Santa Claus brought me the Twice Upon A Time CD which compiled the singles from over a ten-year period between ’82 and ’92.

I did, however, pick up the 12″ version many years later, again via a second-hand purchase in a shop when vinyl was still available for decent prices.  I’m not sure if it was in a three for £5 deal, but if not, it would have been no more than £3.  This version proved to be two-and-a-half minutes longer than I was used to, and I came to the view (which I still hold) that it’s one of those occasions where the extended takeon the song ruins things somewhat.  It was something that seemed to happen a fair bit in the 80s:-

mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities In Dust (Extended Eruption Mix)

The reason I mention the price above is that I wouldn’t be paying so little for it nowadays.  It turned out that there were two pressings of the single, with the undernoted illustration on the label being altered on the later version to be a little bit less risqué:-

It appears there are less of the first pressing kicking around, and the going rate on Discogs is around the £20 mark.

Two otherwise unavailable tracks made up the b-side.  Neither are particularly remarkable:-

mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – An Execution
mp3 : Siouxsie & The Banshees – Quarterdrawing Of The Dog

The first is experimental in nature and makes for a tough listen in places.  The latter is an instrumental which, if it were to appear on a mixtape with no name/credits/info, might have you making a few wrong guesses before you shout out ‘Banshees!!!!’

JC