"Happy House" is a song written by

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

and

Steven Severin Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey; 25 September 1955) is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He took th ...

and recorded by their band

Siouxsie and the Banshees 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. ''Q'' magazine in ...

. It was released as a single in March 1980 by record label

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, then later included on the band's third album, ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

''. "Happy House" was the group's first record made with guitarist

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) 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). He has been described as one o ...

and drummer Budgie.

Background and recording

"Happy House" and the ''Kaleidoscope'' album marked a change in musical direction for Siouxsie and the Banshees due to the arrival of two new musicians: drummer Budgie, previously of

the Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

, and guitarist

, previously of

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. Budgie, who was interested in African

polyrhythms Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rhyth ...

, used a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

vibe on the song, while McGeoch played both atmospheric and edgy guitars. Siouxsie stated that the band almost invented a new sound with this single: It was "Banshees – phase two". When asked if "Happy House" was a cynical song, Siouxsie replied: "It is sarcastic. In a way, like television, all the media, it is like adverts, the perfect family whereas it is more common that husbands beat their wives. There are mental families really but the projection is everyone smiling, blond hair, sunshine, eating butter without being fat and everyone perfect".

Release

"Happy House" was released on 7 March 1980 by record label

as the first single from the band's third studio album, ''

''. The single became the band's second top 20 hit, peaking at number 17 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Music video

The video is set in a studio "cartoon house" made to look "fun and happy", reflecting the sarcastic lyrics. Siouxsie explores the house, dressed in a

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...

outfit while the band supports her, playing their instruments in the living room. Despite the very distinctive guitar riff (played by McGeoch) that is arguably the centrepiece of the song, McGeoch does not feature in the video. Instead Siouxsie occasionally mimics playing the riff with a

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

, with Severin on bass and Budgie on drums playing along in the background.

Legacy

The song was later used or sampled by several acts. The Italian dance act

Cappella Cappella may refer to: * Cappella (band), Italian electronic music group * a cappella, unaccompanied singing People with the surname * Felix Cappella (1930-2011), Canadian race walker * Scipione Cappella (fl. 18th century), Italian painter See ...

had a hit single in 1993 with the

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

song "

U Got 2 Know ''U Got 2 Know'' is the second and most successful studio album by Italian Eurodance act Cappella. It was initially released via the Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had signifi ...

", which used the distinctive riff from "Happy House". In 2000,

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

band

Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakb ...

sampled the opening riff on their single "Bitches", from the album ''

Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy ''Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy'' is the second studio album by New York City band Mindless Self Indulgence released in 2000. The album is the follow-up to the album ''Tight''. This is the last studio album to feature Vanessa YT on ...

''. In 2011,

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

sampled several elements of the original version in his song "House of Balloons" from the

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

album of the same name. When he played at the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2021, the Weeknd included "House of Balloons" in his setlist, doing "eerie military marches to a Siouxsie and the Banshees sample". It featured in the 2021 film ''

Last Night in Soho ''Last Night in Soho'' is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence Stam ...

'' in a Halloween party scene, and appears on the film's soundtrack.

References

{{authority control 1980 singles Siouxsie and the Banshees songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Nigel Gray 1980 songs Songs written by Steven Severin Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux