Sunday 29 September 2013

Inspiration: Nineties Girlpop 2

I enjoyed reading the comments on part 1 of this post.  It's funny how the mention of one band or artist triggers memories of a whole load of others.  There were so many artists that kept coming to mind when the idea for this post was in its embryonic stages that I couldn't have included them all.  Instead I opted for the ones that struck a chord with me, just not necessarily for the calibre of the music.   As one commenter observed "Some music just doesn't stay with you, it's too firmly rooted in its time"  I wholeheartedly agree.  But it's OK to get nostalgic once every now and then

Shakespears Sister




I loved them!  Named after the Smiths song of the same name, a fact which was lost on my 11 year old self, as was the Baby Jane aesthetic, but I was unmistakably drawn to the theatrics.  I have 'Smash Hits' and 'The Chart Show' to thank for bringing them to my attention.  Siobhan Fahey remains my favourite member of Bananarama.  Let's not forget that Shakespears Sister produced some very radio worthy tunes.  Even though I didn't really like 'Stay'.  I preferred this one




Voice of the Beehive




My sister liked Voice of the Beehive.  I wasn't too aware of them at the time but had I been, I would have probably been a fan.  I remember this song being on Top of the Pops




Dubstar




The 60's dreampop thing was huge in the 90's.  Sarah Blackwood of Dubstar was another proponent of this.  All industrial eyelashes and helium vocals.  Dubstar's second album 'Goodbye' was the soundtrack to one of my first episodes of what I thought at the time was heartbreak.  I think the songs stand up even now.  And apparently the band have reformed and a new album is on the cards...

    


Fluffy




I was a bit older by this point.  It was 1996 and I had started to realise that I was really into girls in bands.  This band was getting some airplay on the Mark Radcliffe show on Radio 1 and their sound, and their look was right up my street.  In retrospect, a group of rather posh 19 and 20 year olds singing hardbitten songs of emotional abuse and domestic violence doesn't quite ring true.  Nevertheless, they were the perfect antidote to the stage school pop garbage filling the charts at the time and I was quite the fan.  I still occasionally look up their stuff on You Tube



7 comments:

  1. I've just been catching up on your blog and YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! Such exciting news!!! Totally you can be a mama blog a bit too!!! So exciting! Hope you're feeling loads better. Yeh that is a type of hell that first trimester..
    Nineties pop? I really really hated it! I was a Beatles girl, and I loved my Dad's old folk records. I sang Jazz in a big band, and I listened to Ella Fitzgerald and that lot, and I never listened to the radio. Such a spoon. LOL
    xxx

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  2. Do you know, I haven't heard ANY of these. I didn't listen to much POP!!! Hello by the way!!! Nice to see you!!! X

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  3. I loved Shakespeares Sister too!
    Some of these bands never made it to our shores, but I do have a Voice of the Beehive album somewhere. X

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  4. Memories! Yes, a bit of nostalgia is just fine.
    I've never heard of Fluffy though (terrible name!) but the red head looks just like Lakota! xxxx

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  5. PS the divine Siobhan is ever right thinking person's favourite 'Nana *nods*

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  6. OOh thanks for the reminders of how much I loved Banarama and Shakespears Sister! Fluffy I was less keen on - beautiful girls but not such great music.

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Ah, thank you for commenting. You've made my day :)

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