Goodbye to Kenny Morris, former drummer of Siouxsie And The Banshees
He died at the age of 68 Kenny Morrisfounding drummer of Siouxsie And The Banshees. Morris played with the Banshees only from 1977 to 1979, but his participation on the first two albums, “The Scream” of 1978 and “Join Hands” from 1979, helped them develop their distinctive post-punk sound. Morris’s hammy style became an essential component of the early post-punk aesthetic. Stephen Morris of Joy Division and New Order, in particular, cited Kenny Morris as a key influence.
In his book ‘Goth’, Lol Tolhurst of the Care he credits Morris with shaping the Banshees’ aesthetic: “The Banshees as a band had a sort of monochromatic power that came mainly from Kenny Morris’ drums and John McKay’s guitar, supported by Steven Severin’s pulsating bass. It helped that the drums were big and black, like most of the instruments. No hippie sunburst instruments for the Banshees!”
Kenny Morris he was born in the London area in 1957 to Irish parents. In 1976, while studying art and cinema, he briefly joined the band of Sid Viciousi Flowers Of Romance. That year he participated in the 100 Club Punk Festival in Malcolm McLarenwhere the singer Siouxsie Sioux and the bass player Steven Severin they played a semi-improvised set with Marco Pirroni on guitar and Sid Vicious on drums, playing the ‘Lord’s prayer’ (Our Father) for 20 minutes.
Morris was very impressed with the performance. When Siouxsie and Severin decided to continue with the band, Kenny became the drummer in January 1977. Midway through the year they chose guitarist John McKay to complete the training. The band was linked to the Careso much so that the frontman Robert Smith he replaced McKay on guitar when Morris and McKay left the band in 1979 following a loud argument during a performance in a store.
Morris was replaced by Budgie of the Slits. After leaving the Banshees, Morris took on different projects. In 1993 he moved to Ireland, where he taught, painted and ran an art gallery. Not long ago he started playing drums again for the Dublin post-punk band Shrine Of The Vampyre. During the pandemic he finished writing his memoirs, which are scheduled for release this year.
