The track was produced by the band's manager Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou, a recording engineer on T. Rex's final album, Dandy in the Underworld (1977)
Critical reception
NME's Roy Carr hailed the single and wrote: "If Ingmar Bergman produced records, they might sound like this. The listener is immediately engulfed in a maelstrom of whirling sound punctuated by the ominous tolling of church bells, phased guitars, thundering percussion, a surreal alto sax and the wail of Siouxsie's voice. It demands to be played repeatedly at the threshold-of-pain volume to elicit its full nightmarish quality".[1]
Music video
The music video for "Playground Twist" shows the band performing on an indoor climbing frame with several children running from one end to another, climbing on the surrounding equipment, and even a few of them mimicking the saxophone solo with plastic toy instruments. At the end of the video, the children run toward Siouxsie and playfully pull her to the floor as she lip syncs the final word "drown", and the final shot shows them laughing and carrying on with her.[2]
Release and legacy
Released on 24 June 1979, the single became Siouxsie and the Banshees' third top 40 hit, entering into the UK Singles Chart at No.47 on 1 July 1979,[3] and peaking at No. 28 on 15 July in the UK Singles Chart.[4] The band performed the song live on Top of the Pops.[5]
A live-version of the B-side, "Pulled to Bits", was included on the 1983 Nocturne live album and DVD. "Pulled to Bits" was covered by the Mars Volta in 2007 for their single "Wax Simulacra".
References
^Carr, Roy (30 June 1979), "Playground twist Singles review", NME
