Released 4 December 1981 Length 32:37 Release date 4 December 1981 Genre Post-punk | Recorded 1978-1981 Artist Siouxsie and the Banshees Label Geffen Records | |
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Producer Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nigel Gray, Steve Lillywhite, Nils Stevenson, Mike Stavrou Once Upon a Time The Singles
(1981) Twice Upon a Time The Singles
(1992) Similar Siouxsie and the Banshees albums, Post-punk albums | ||
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 Banshees' four albums. Once Upon a Time: The Singles spent twenty six weeks in the UK albums chart. A tie-in VHS video was released in the UK the same year on PolyGram's Spectrum label (catalogue number 7915062). Running for 30 minutes, it featured the videos to the eight singles, but replaced "Mirage" and "Love in a Void" with "Red Light" from the "Kaleidoscope" album.
Contents
Reception
Allmusic's Steve Huey called the compilation "a cohesive and essential overview of the band's edgy, influential peak." He added that despite the group's "challenging" music, "it's also accessible enough for eight of these singles to have charted in the British Top 50." Mark Tremblay of the Calgary Herald wrote that "only 'Playground Twist' really excels from the first side", which features the band's singles prior to 1980. Tremblay said "Side two is more polished, less abrasive and generally has better rhythmic drive." In 2002, Q Magazine named Once Upon A Time: The Singles the 7th Greatest Album of All-Time by a Female Artist. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album 44th on its "Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
Track listing
- "Hong Kong Garden" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris)
- "Mirage" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris)
- "The Staircase (Mystery)" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris)
- "Playground Twist" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris)
- "Love in a Void" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Kenny Morris & Peter Fenton)
- "Happy House" (Siouxsie Sioux & Steven Severin)
- "Christine" (Siouxsie Sioux & Steven Severin)
- "Israel" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Budgie & John McGeoch)
- "Spellbound" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Budgie & John McGeoch)
- "Arabian Knights" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Budgie & John McGeoch)
Songs
1Hong Kong Garden2:58
2Mirage2:50
3The Staircase (Mystery)3:08