"Kiss Them for Me" | ||||
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Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees | ||||
from the album Superstition | ||||
B-side | "Staring Back", "Return" | |||
Released | 13 May 1991 | |||
Format | 7" and 12" vinyl, CD, cassette | |||
Recorded | 1991 | |||
Genre | Pop rock, alternative rock | |||
Label | ||||
Writer(s) | Susan Ballion, Peter Edward Clarke, Martin McCarrick and Steven Severin | |||
Producer(s) | Stephen Hague | |||
Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology | ||||
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"Kiss Them for Me" is a song written and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and produced by Stephen Hague. It was released in 1991 as the first single from the band's 10th studio album, Superstition.
Upon its release, the single received enthusiastic reviews. "Kiss Them for Me" became their most successful single in the US.
The song presented a change in musical direction for Siouxsie and the Banshees, adopting a much more straightforward pop-oriented feel than previous efforts, due in part to Hague's production work. Siouxsie Sioux's cryptic lyrics were an ode to actress and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield – using the actress' catchword "divoon", referring to her heart-shaped swimming pool and her love of champagne and parties, and to the grisly automobile accident which claimed her life in 1967. Kiss Them for Me was also the name of a 20th Century Fox motion picture made in 1957 starring Mansfield and Cary Grant.
A mid-tempo track with an uplifting melody, it was influenced by Asian music and featured South Asian instrumentation, which had become popular in the UK club scene due to the growth of bhangra. Tabla player Talvin Singh (future percussionist for Björk on her 1993 Debut album) took part in the sessions and also sang during the bridge. The beat was taken from a Roland TR-909 drum machine stock beat that had previously been used on Schooly D's 1985 single "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?".
Melody Maker wrote a rave review, calling it "sublime", but noting that some listeners would be "horrified by its baggy backbeat and sheer unashamed danceability. It doesn't just groove, [...] It floats almost imperceptibly to its ecstatic climax, each sweet verse and saccharin chorus a tantalising hint of what's to come. And when it comes, by Christ your knees give way".