Peek-a-Boo (Siouxsie and the Banshees song)

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Peek-a-Boo is a 1988 single by the English band Siouxsie and the Banshees from the album Peepshow. Released July 18, 1988, it runs 3 minutes and 10 seconds and blends dance-rock with alternative rock. The track’s B-sides are “False Face” and “Catwalk.”

Written by Siouxsie Sioux (Susan Ballion), Budgie (Peter Clarke), Steven Severin, and Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer (credit given to avoid legal issues with Jeepers Creepers), and produced by the band with Mike Hedges, the song is famous for its unusual sound. It was built from a loop of reversed brass and drums, using taped ideas the band had previously worked on for a John Cale cover. They added new melodies, accordion, a one-note bass, and edgy guitar, with Budgie adding another beat. Siouxsie recorded each lyric line with a different microphone, a process that took about a year.

Chart performance was strong. In the UK, Peek-a-Boo reached No. 16. In the United States, it became Siouxsie and the Banshees’ first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 53, and it gained heavy MTV airplay. When Billboard introduced the Modern Rock Tracks chart in September 1988, Peek-a-Boo was its first No. 1 song. The song also reached No. 29 in Canada.

Critics loved it. Melody Maker called it a brightly unexpected mix, and NME and Sounds gave it high praise, with Sounds naming it Single of the Week. Over the years, PopMatters ranked it No. 18 on their list of the 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the 80s. Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke praised it as something unlike anything else. The track influenced other artists and was sampled by Sir Mix-a-Lot in 1989 (later removed in later pressings). Bertie Blackman covered the song in 2010, and it appeared as Rock Band downloadable content. A version was used in the 2001 film Jeepers Creepers, and the video was even discussed on Beavis and Butt-Head.

There was a minor controversy over the chorus lines resembling Jeepers Creepers, so the band added co-songwriting credits to Warren and Mercer to avoid legal trouble.