Helen Love are an indie band from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

whose music is a combination of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

. The band was formed in 1992 by Helen Love (vocals, guitar) with Sheena (guitar, keyboards), Roxy (bass, drum machine), and Mark (keyboards).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 785 Current members are Helen, Sheena and

Ricardo Autobahn John Matthews (born 8 March 1978), better known by his stage name Ricardo Autobahn, is an English producer, songwriter and musician. He is also known in collaborations with Daz Sampson as in Rikki & Daz and the projects like Barndance Boys, Cu ...

. Helen Love released only singles and EPs until 2000, when their debut studio album ''Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music'' was released. They have since released three more studio albums, ''It's My Club and I'll Play What I Want To'' (2007, Elefant) and ''Day-Glo Dreams'' (2013, Elefant), and ''Smash Hits'' (2016,

Alcopop! Records Alcopop! Records is a British independent record label, run by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch formed in East Oxford, 2006. The label works with DITZ, DZ Deathrays, Johnny Foreigner, Fight Like Apes, Anamanaguchi, Peaness, TIGERCUB, Gaffa T ...

). Damaged Goods released three compilations of tracks from the band's early singles and EPs, entitled ''Radio Hits'' (1994), ''Radio Hits 2'' (1997) and ''Radio Hits 3'' (2002). The band have released recordings on many labels, including Damaged Goods, Che Trading,

Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by John Mermis, known as Long Gone John. Notable artists who started on Sympathy and went ...

, Wurlizter Jukebox, Invicta Hi-Fi and

Elefant Records Elefant Records is an independent record label based in Madrid, Spain. History Elefant Records was founded in 1989 by Luis Calvo as an offshoot of a fanzine he produced called "La Línea del Arco". In 2014, the label's 25th anniversary was celebr ...

. They are currently signed to Alcopop! records.

History

The band was formed in 1992 by Helen Love (vocals, guitar) with Sheena (guitar, keyboards), Roxy (bass, drum machine), and Mark (keyboards). Current members are Helen, Sheena and

. The main thematic elements in their oeuvre are

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone. His ...

, summer days and bubblegum music. Love claims only to listen to the music of the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

. Helen Love released the album, ''It's My Club and I'll Play What I Want To'', in the first week of November 2007 on

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and February 2008 in the UK. Their lead singer also provided vocal tracks from "We Love You" for covers of their song, "Better Set Your Phasers to Stun", by American

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

band

Hyperbubble Hyperbubble is an international visual art, visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this United States, American group is variously described as "ear ...

on their 2009 eponymous EP. The latter song later appeared on that band's '' Live in London'' album. In 2013 they released the album ''Day-Glo Dreams''. They supported this with their first gig since 2001 at the

Indietracks Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway – Butterley, Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, England. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction railway station, Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variet ...

festival, and then in November played at

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

for Damaged Goods 25th anniversary.

Influence and notable fans

While none of their singles have reached the UK Top 40, Helen Love have developed a devoted cult following in indie circles, particularly at indie discos, with songs including "Long Live The UK Music Scene", "Shifty Disco Girl", "Does Your Heart Go Boom?", "We Love You", "Girl About Town", "Punk Boy" and "

Debbie Debbie (or Debby or Deb) is a feminine given name, commonly but not always short for Deborah (or Debra and related variants). Debbie is a name of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew name Deborah, which means “ bee”. Notable people *Debb ...

Loves

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

". They recorded a session for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

in October 1997, and had three songs in his

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

. Their songs have also been covered by Ash,

The Queers The Queers are an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 by Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joseph “Joe” P. King (a.k.a. Joe Queer) along with Scott Gildersleeve (a.k.a. Tulu), and John “Jack” Hayes (a.k.a. Wimpy Rutherford). With the ...

, Katz and

Tullycraft Tullycraft is an American indie pop band from Seattle, Washington, that formed in 1995. They were an early part of the American twee pop movement. They are known for their DIY ethic, only releasing albums on independently owned and operated rec ...

. The band contributed a specially written song for the DVD release of '' Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure''. Gorman, a fan of the band, had previously played Helen Love songs to his audiences before he went on stage. Another big fan is

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''Given name#Name at birth, né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is a retired English stand-up comedy, stand-up and Improv comedy teacher, improv comedian, actor, performance poetry, performance poet, cartoonist and podc ...

, for whom the band composed the theme song for his Breakfast Show on

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

Joey Ramoney

Helen Love's second single was titled "(Sheena's In Love With) Joey Ramoney", a tribute to the band's favourite singer. A play on the Ramones' song " Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", the single was brought to Joey's attention by the UK branch of the Ramones fan club. Joey subsequently invited the band to New York to play a gig. Joey introduced the band's ''Evening Session'' on Radio 1, and duetted with Helen on the album version of "Punk Boy". Helen provided backing vocals on the

album ''

Don't Worry About Me ''Don't Worry About Me'' is the first album released by Joey Ramone as a solo artist. It was released posthumously on February 19, 2002, by Sanctuary Records, less than a year after his death. The album was produced by Daniel Rey, who also did ...

'', singing on the track " Mr. Punchy".

Discography

Albums

Singles

EPs

Compilations

References

External links

*
Helen Love biography from BBC Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helen Love Welsh rock music groups Sympathy for the Record Industry artists Musical groups established in 1992 Welsh pop punk groups British indie pop groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Welsh indie rock groups Welsh electronic music groups Welsh pop music groups British dance music groups Happy hardcore musicians British dance-rock musical groups 1992 establishments in Wales Alcopop! Records artists Female-fronted musical groups