SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - "SLEEPWALKING (ON THE HIGH WIRE)" ( B-side, 1987)
- 7 years ago
The song 'Sleepwalking (On The High Wire)' is the additional B-side track of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES 12" vinyl of their single 'This Wheel's On Fire' that was released on Monday, 05 January 1987 in the UK and stayed in the Top75 Singles chart for a total of six weeks, peaking at #14 on Saturday, 24 January 1987.
BILLY HOULSTON: "Having decided that 'Wheel's On Fire' was suitable for single release, B-sides were required, the origins of which go back to January 10th 1986 and Milo studios (in east London) when the group were working on 'Lullaby' (B-side of single 'Candyman'). At that point the tracks didn’t really had titles. In their most formative stages 'Sleepwalking (On The High Wire)' was a track of sampled drum sounds and 'Shooting Sun' a guitar motif that John (Valentine Carruthers) had apparently been playing for years. Basically the session was spent playing around and recording a variety of ideas, all of which were put to one side until September 15th at Firehouse studios. On 16th and 17th 'Shooting Sun' got finished and on 20th Steven produced lyrics he’d written to accompany 'Sleepwalking' recorded at Milo, which was in actual fact only minus a vocal. It was recorded and mixed the same day. With finished mixes of an A-side and two B-sides 'in the can' when the time came to put the whole package together for release, a decision was made to remix the two B-sides. So, on October 25th a 12" (Incendiary) mix of 'Wheel's On Fire' was produced and new drum tracks were mixed onto the end of 'Sleepwalking' through the night and into the early hours of the 26th until satisfactory mixes of both 'Shooting Sun' and 'Sleepwalking' were finished."
The track was produced by the band and has never been performed live apparently.
BILLY HOULSTON: "Having decided that 'Wheel's On Fire' was suitable for single release, B-sides were required, the origins of which go back to January 10th 1986 and Milo studios (in east London) when the group were working on 'Lullaby' (B-side of single 'Candyman'). At that point the tracks didn’t really had titles. In their most formative stages 'Sleepwalking (On The High Wire)' was a track of sampled drum sounds and 'Shooting Sun' a guitar motif that John (Valentine Carruthers) had apparently been playing for years. Basically the session was spent playing around and recording a variety of ideas, all of which were put to one side until September 15th at Firehouse studios. On 16th and 17th 'Shooting Sun' got finished and on 20th Steven produced lyrics he’d written to accompany 'Sleepwalking' recorded at Milo, which was in actual fact only minus a vocal. It was recorded and mixed the same day. With finished mixes of an A-side and two B-sides 'in the can' when the time came to put the whole package together for release, a decision was made to remix the two B-sides. So, on October 25th a 12" (Incendiary) mix of 'Wheel's On Fire' was produced and new drum tracks were mixed onto the end of 'Sleepwalking' through the night and into the early hours of the 26th until satisfactory mixes of both 'Shooting Sun' and 'Sleepwalking' were finished."
The track was produced by the band and has never been performed live apparently.