"The Staircase (Mystery)" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released as a stand-alone single on 23 March 1979 by

Polydor Records 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. ...

. The track was 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 ...

, John McKay, Steven Severin and Kenny Morris, and was produced by Nils Stevenson. The single's B-side is a cover of the 1973 T. Rex song "

20th Century Boy "20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan, released as a stand-alone single on 2 March 1973. It entered in the UK Singles Chart at number 3, on 10 March 1973 and peaked three weeks in a row at that position. It stayed ...

Release

"The Staircase (Mystery)" was released as the band's second single on 23 March 1979 by

. It became the group's second top 40 entry, peaking at number 24 on 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 ...

. The track later surfaced on the singles compilation album ''

Once Upon a Time/The Singles ''Once Upon a Time/The Singles'' is Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1981 compilation album featuring the band's UK single releases to date. The album featured several songs that had been released as singles yet had not appeared on any of the Bansh ...

''. When the band's debut album, ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'', was remastered and reissued in 2005 with bonus material, "The Staircase (Mystery)" was included in the package.

Reception

'' Melody Maker'' hailed the single and wrote: "The Banshees have been able to come up with a couple of slices of excellent music for their singles. 'The Staircase' hasn't anywhere near the commercial potential or immediacy of ' Hong Kong Garden', but nevertheless it's a great song. A sinister almost mesmerising tune, dominated by Siouxsie's unorthodox vocals – it grows and matures with each play." '' Smash Hits'' said, "the 'mystery' of the song is solved if you speculate that the band were zonked out of their brains when they wrote it. This is not necessarily a criticism; just an observation. In fact both sides of the record are powerfully attractive."

Track listing

All tracks produced by Nils Stevenson.

Personnel

Siouxsie and the Banshees *

– vocals * Steven Severin – bass guitar * John McKay – guitar * Kenny Morris – drums Technical * Nils Stevenson – production

Charts

References

External links

Music video
on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staircase Mystery, The 1979 singles 1979 songs Polydor Records singles Siouxsie and the Banshees songs Songs written by John McKay (musician) Songs written by Kenny Morris (musician) Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux Songs written by Steven Severin