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Kenny Morris (drummer)

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Kenny Morris
Morris in 1978
Morris in 1978
Background information
Born
Kenneth Ian Morris

(1957-02-01)1 February 1957
Died15 January 2026(2026-01-15) (aged 68)
Cork, Ireland
GenresPost-punk (music)
Experimental (film)
Occupations
Instruments
  • Drums
  • percussion
Formerly ofSiouxsie and the Banshees
WebsiteOfficial website

Kenneth Ian Morris (1 February 1957 – 15 January 2026) was an English musician and painter. He was the first studio drummer of the band Siouxsie and the Banshees. Noted for playing mostly tom-toms and hardly using hi-hat, he is regarded as an influential drummer coming from the post-punk avant-garde.

He joined the band in February 1977. His first studio recording was in November 1977 when the group taped their first John Peel session for BBC radio. A self-taught musician, he played on the Banshees' debut album, The Scream (1978), and Join Hands (1979). He left the band at the beginning of the Join Hands tour, in September 1979.

He has been cited as an influence by drummers such as Stephen Morris of Joy Division and Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus. His machine-like drumming on "Metal Postcard" (1978) was sampled by Massive Attack in 1997.

Life and career

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Early years

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Kenny Morris was born of Irish parents,[1] on 1 February 1957.[2] He grew up in Waltham Abbey, Essex: he was a child of the suburbs.[3] He attended St Ignatius' College in Enfield, where he became a friend of future collaborator and film director John Maybury. Morris then attended Barnet College in London.[4] He also studied fine art and film-making at North East London Polytechnic.

He attended the first live appearance of Siouxsie and the Banshees at the 100 Club in September 1976 and was impressed by their performance.[5] At the time, he was enrolled at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts,[6] He briefly joined the band the Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious, but after a few rehearsals, they split up before playing any concerts or making any recordings.[7]

Siouxsie and the Banshees (1977–1979)

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A self-taught musician,[8] he joined Siouxsie and the Banshees,[9] in February 1977.[10] Morris's first studio recording was in November 1977 with the band's first John Peel session for BBC radio, which is retrospectively considered as one of the starting-points for English post-punk.[11] Music journalist Kris Needs said: "Like as a rhythm machine for feet and guts Kenny Morris' drumming is unorthodox, primitive (in a tribal sense) and far removed from the clicking hi-hats of the fly-strength paradiddle merchants".[12]

During the recording of the band's debut single, "Hong Kong Garden", producer Steve Lillywhite suggested he record the drums separately. Morris did the bass drum and snare drum first, adding the cymbals and tom-toms later.[13] Lillywhite also added echo on the drums, adding significant space to the entire recording.[14] Morris did a lot of percussion overdubs on the band's debut album, The Scream (1978), and Join Hands (1979).[15] Record Mirror's Chris Westwood described him as an "enthusiastic experimentalist".[16]

On 9 September 1979, he abruptly left the band with guitarist John McKay at the beginning of the Join Hands tour, a few hours before a concert scheduled in Aberdeen.[17] "We disagreed over so many things and each time we were outnumbered by three to two". At the end there was almost no more communication with Siouxsie Sioux, bassist Steven Severin and their manager Nils Stevenson.[18]

Solo recording, visual arts, writing (1980–2026)

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After leaving the Banshees, Morris worked as a drummer with Helen Terry and other musicians for live stage sets. He also composed and produced "La Main Morte", which was released as a 12-inch solo single on Genesis P-Orridge's Temple Records in 1987. "La Main Morte" was a film soundtrack collaboration with Maybury,[19] and featured spoken word vocals by Dorothée Lalanne and keyboards by Jean-Pierre Baudry.[20] Morris also directed five short films.[19]

In 1993, Morris moved from London to Ireland and, with a BA Honours degree in Fine Art, held several teaching posts.[19] He ran an art gallery in Kildare Town in the late 1990s.[19] He later resided in Cork, Ireland, where he practised and taught art.[19] He sold his paintings online and via exhibitions in galleries.[19]

In 2021, he revealed in an interview that he had written his memoir.[21] He intended to release the book in 2026.[22] In March 2024, there was an exhibition of his artworks in Dublin, titled "A Banshee Left Wailing".[22] He had also decided to title his book with these same words.[21]

Style

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Morris played mostly tom-toms,[23] and hardly used cymbals and hi-hats.[24] His drumming was described as "machine-like",[25] sounding like a "rhythm machine",[12] with "deep" echo.[14] His drumming was also tribal.[14]

Legacy

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NME wrote that Lillywhite's work with Morris "revolutionis[ed] the post-punk band's sound with an innovative approach to laying down the drums".[26]

Morris has been cited as an influence by several drummers of the post-punk era.[8] Stephen Morris of Joy Division praised him, saying: "Kenny Morris played mostly toms" on the Peel sessions with a "foreboding sound, sketching out the future from the dark of the past".[23] Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus cited him as a primary influence, praising the way "he would use the tom tom drums rather than hi hats and cymbals".[27]

Morris's drumming on "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" was extensively sampled by Massive Attack on "Superpredators" in 1997.[8]

Post-punk music historian Jon Savage dubbed him "drummer extraordinaire".[28]

Death

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Morris died on 15 January 2026 in Cork after a short illness.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Halford, Grace (2 July 2001). "Artist's work 'greatly influenced' by Kildare". kildare.ie. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 15 September 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 17 February 2013 suggested (help)
  2. ^ Robb, John (5 November 2014). "former Banshees drummer, Kenny Morris, returns with intriguing looking lifetime art show". Louderthanwar.com. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  3. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 55.
  4. ^ Frame, Pete. Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain. Omnibus, 1999. ISBN 978-0-7119-6973-5
  5. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 54.
  6. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 58.
  7. ^ Dunne, Tom (14 September 2016). "Audio Interview: Kenny Morris of Siouxsie and the". Newstalk.com. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Murray, Robin (15 January 2026). "Siouxsie And the Banshees Drummer Kenny Morris Has Died". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  9. ^ Johns 1989, p. 19.
  10. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 56].
  11. ^ Stubbs, David (July 2009). "Siouxsie and the Banshees At the BBC [review]". Uncut. perhaps the very first group to make the transition ... to the more developed theatre of post-punk. You can hear it in the 1977 Peel sessions here, on 'Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)' – the space in the sound.
    Heylin, Clinton (2008). Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge. Penguin Books. p. 460. ISBN 978-0-14-102431-8.
  12. ^ a b Needs, Kris (December 1978). "Overboard For... Funtime?". ZigZag.
  13. ^ Tassell, Nige (12 January 2012). "Tori Amos, Kristin Hersh, Anton Corbin and more recall their big career firsts". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  14. ^ a b c Needs, Kris (November 1978). "Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Scream". ZigZag. Rock's Backpages (subscription required). Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  15. ^ "196: Budgie - interview". Thetrapset.net. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2024. "[from 00:32:55] Looking back the first album The Scream there are a lot of percussion overdubs, they are really part of the songs."
  16. ^ Westwood, Chris (9 December 1978). "Banshees Brusquerie". Record Mirror.
  17. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 81.
  18. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 80.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Flowe, Ebon (28 February 2024). "Kenny Morris (Siouxsie & The Banshees, 1977–1979) A Banshee Left Wailing solo exhibition at galleryX Dublin". Medium.com. Retrieved 18 January 2026. archived on 20 January 2026.
  20. ^ Morris, Kenny (23 February 2019). "Kenny Morris -Official Biography". Kennymorris. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  21. ^ a b "Kenny Morris Talks: Early Days, 'The Scream', 'Join Hands' & Leaving The Banshees". Retropopic. January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  22. ^ a b Robb, John (13 February 2024). "Kenny Morris (former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer) announces prestigious art show in Dublin called A Banshee Left Wailing". Louderthanwar.com. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  23. ^ a b Morris, Stephen (2019). Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist: The Joy Division Years Volume I. Constable. ISBN 978-1472126207. It would be Siouxsie and the Banshees to whom I most felt some kind of affinity. ... the way first drummer Kenny Morris played mostly toms. In interviews Siouxsie would claim the sound of cymbals was forbidden... The Banshees had that... foreboding sound, sketching out the future from the dark of the past... hearing the sessions they'd done on John Peel's show and reading gigs write-ups, I had to admit they sounded interesting.
    "Joy Division". Record Collector. 2020. Morris – a young Hawkwind/krautrock fan whose revolving drum patterns were inspired by Can's Jaki Liebezeit and the Banshees' Kenny Morris.
  24. ^ Dadomo, Giovanni (18 November 1978). "Off Manson and Manipulation [Siouxsie and the Banshees, London Hammersmith Odeon - live review]". Sounds. Morris [...] doesn't worry his cymbals and hi-hat: in fact he hardly ever uses the tinkly stuff
  25. ^ Goldman, Vivien (3 December 1977). "New Music – Siouxsie Sioux Who R U?". Sounds.
  26. ^ "The 50 Best Producers Ever: #40 – Steve Lillywhite". NME. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  27. ^ Lyon, Judy (20 October 2018). "Bauhaus' Kevin Haskins on His Involvement with Foxes Tv". Torchedmagazine. Retrieved 1 November 2018. At the time there were two drummers who had an influence on me namely, Steven Morris from Joy Division and Kenny Morris from Siouxsie and the Banshees. With Kenny [Morris], I loved how he would use the tom tom drums rather than hi hats and cymbals.
  28. ^ Savage, Jon (15 January 2026). "Kenny Morris". Jon Savage. Archived from the original on 20 January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 21 January 2026 suggested (help)
  29. ^ "Kenny Morris Death Notice". RIP.ie. O'Connor Brothers Funeral Homes. 19 January 2026. Archived from the original on 21 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.

Sources

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  • Johns, Brian (1989). Entranced: The Siouxsie and the Banshees Story. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-1773-6.
  • Paytress, Mark (2003). Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-375-7.
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