Welcome back to the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the “Yank”) and Tony Fletcher (the “Limey”) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

This time out, we (somewhat belatedly) observe the 40th anniversary of a legendary British post-punk band finally breaking through to the US album charts after a phenomenal run of hits in their homeland.

The band? Siouxsie & the Banshees, those iconic goth-rock progenitors with a punk past. The album? Tinderbox, the Banshees’ deliciously dark seventh studio long-player, which was released on both sides of the Atlantic on April 21, 1986. The album peaked at #13, giving the band their seventh British Top 20 album in a row. And in the US, where the band’s cult following had previously only translated to minimal sales, Tinderbox reached #88 on Billboard’s Hot 100, its comparative success opening the door for a two-month headlining tour of North American theaters, auditoriums and outdoor sheds.

The album’s initial salvo had actually been fired nearly half a year earlier, with the October 1985 release of “Cities in Dust,” a dance-rock anthem inspired by the destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii. Why was “Cities” released so far in advance of its parent album? And why was Tinderbox the Banshees LP that finally made a sizable dent in America’s frontal lobe? We get into all of that on this episode, as well as the weirdness that ensued when mainstream US press tried to wrap its head around who the Banshees were and what they were up to.

We also delve into the stories and subjects behind Tinderbox’s eight tracks, the important musical contributions that Banshees Severin, Budgie and “new boy” John Carruthers (who had replaced Robert Smith on guitar following 1984’s Hyæna) made to the album, and Siouxsie’s importance as a frontwoman, singer and lyricist. And as an added bonus, Dan hips Tony to Theda Bara, the American silent film star whose exotic, occult-tinged “vamp” image presaged (and quite possibly influenced) Siouxsie’s “goth princess” persona.

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The theme music on this episode is "Blue Diamond Fire" by Dan's project, The Corinthian Columns.