Shampoo were a 1990s English

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

duo consisting of Jacqueline "Jacqui" Blake (born 23 November 1974 in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

) and Caroline "Carrie" Askew (born 4 May 1976 in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

). Their 1994 song " Trouble", from their debut album, '' We Are Shampoo'', reached 11 in the UK Singles Chart and was featured in 1995's '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie''.

History

Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew were best friends at Plumstead Manor School, a secondary school for girls in

, London. In the early nineties they started writing ''Last Exit'', a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

for the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

, and later appeared in the video for " Little Baby Nothing". They also wrote a fanzine for

Fabulous Fabulous may refer to: *Fabulous (band), a 1990s British rock band * ''Fabulous'' (album), by Sheena Easton, 2000 *''Fabulous'', an album by the Tamperer featuring Maya, 1999 * "Fabulous" (Charlie Gracie song), 1957 * "Fabulous" (Jaheim song), 200 ...

. During this time they formed Shampoo, taking the name from their schoolyard nickname of 'the shampoo girls', for claiming to be 'washing their hair' when turning down date requests. Their first single, "Blisters and Bruises" (co-written by Lawrence of the bands Felt and Denim) with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s "Paydirt" and "I Love Little Pussy", was released by Icerink Records (a short-lived label created by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs) on 7-inch pink

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

in 1993. This and their following single, "Bouffant Headbutt", received favourable reviews in the music press, such as the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' and ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', but sold few copies. Whilst their first two singles were typical of the

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

bands coming to notice, the following year saw the release of "Trouble" and the album '' We Are Shampoo'', which displayed a more radio-friendly sound, but still with much of their previous abrasiveness: "Dirty Old Love Song" panned

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

(whose "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career ...

" had been the previous year's biggest-selling single in the UK). "Shiny Black Taxi Cab" was about a night on the town gone wrong (ending with a spoken section by the 'taxi driver' complaining to a new passenger about two drunken girls who had thrown up all over his cab the previous week). ''We Are Shampoo'' sold over a million copies, with the majority of sales in Japan and the rest of Asia. "Trouble" reached No.11 on the UK charts, landing the group on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' and the cover of ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' magazine. For the remainder of 1994, Shampoo did well, finding fans in both the mainstream and

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

music scenes, boosted in part by their links to the

fanscene. Shampoo became moderately successful in Japan. "Trouble" was included in the 1995 film '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'' and also appeared on the film's soundtrack. It also appeared in the 1996 film '' Foxfire'' and the 1997 film ''

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

''. The

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

single "Delicious" reached No.21 in the UK in February 1995. It is also played in the 1997 film '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning''. The song "Don't Call Me Babe" was included in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 1996 film ''

Barb Wire file:Barbed Wire Roll.jpg, Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern United States, Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp ...

''. In July 1996, a week before the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

debuted on the UK Singles Chart with " Wannabe", the duo charted with a song called "Girl Power" (a slogan which was popularised by the Spice Girls). However, this song peaked at No.25, and was only on the chart for four weeks, meaning that by the time Shampoo released their second album, also called ''Girl Power'', their sales were in decline. In September 1996, they released a cover of

the Waitresses The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles " I Know What Boys Like" and " Christmas Wrapping." The band released two albums, '' Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' and '' Bruiseology'', and one EP, '' ...

' "

I Know What Boys Like "I Know What Boys Like" is a song by the Waitresses, written by guitarist Chris Butler (musician), Chris Butler in 1978, while he was still a member of the rock band Tin Huey. It was recorded by Butler and released as a single in 1980, but beyon ...

", which became their last chart entry, peaking at No.42. After the ''Girl Power'' album failed to reach the UK Albums Chart, the duo separated from Food Records, and the third Shampoo album, ''Absolute Shampoo'', was released solely on the Internet in 2000. Shampoo often cited their main influences as being the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

and the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

, whilst also claiming to be huge fans of

East 17 East 17 are an English pop boy band started by Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell in 1991. They are best known for their 1994 hit single " Stay Another Day", which was the UK Christmas number one that year. The g ...

and

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

. Shampoo covered Numan's song "

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

" on the B-side of their "Girl Power" single, while a cover of East 17's " House of Love" was included on their debut album. In May 2007, the album ''We Are Shampoo'' was re-issued in the UK with their B-sides as bonus tracks. In September 2019, '' Q'' magazine published an interview with Shampoo. Regarding the end of the group, Carrie said, "We never said, 'let's split up', we just took some time off. And then that ended up being a bit more time and a bit more and it just fizzed out really. We wanted to settle down and have kids. It just came to a natural end."

Discography

The discography of Shampoo consists of four studio albums, two compilation albums and ten singles.

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

*All Japanese figures are from the Oricon Singles Chart.

Video

* ''We Are Shampoo'' (1995) – Japanese

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

collection containing videos for "Trouble", "Viva La Megababes", "Delicious" & "Bouffant Headbutt". * There are two different videos for "Trouble". The original features the girls trying to get home from central London after a night out. The re-make features new footage of the girls singing to the camera, intercut with film footage from '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie''.

Books

* ''Delicious'' (1995, Japanese book)

Use of audio in other media

*"Trouble" appears on the soundtracks to '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'' (1995), '' Foxfire'' (1996) and '' Jawbreaker'' (1999). The song is sung by characters in the film ''

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

'' (1997). It is featured in the closing credits of the seventh episode of '' Zapped'', and is also featured in the film ''

'' (1997). *"Don't Call Me Babe" appears in the film ''

'' (1996) and on its soundtrack, and also appears in ''Jawbreaker'' (1999). *"Delicious" appears on the '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning'' (1997) soundtrack. *Shampoo provided voices for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

puzzle game (2000). *"Girl Power" and "News Flash" are featured in the film '' Sugar & Spice'' (2001).

Covers by other acts

"Trouble" was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, and can be found as a B-side on their "The Young Offenders Mum" single.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 662 It was also sung by the cast of the 2007 film '' St Trinian's'' and featured on the film's soundtrack. In 2009, Japanese rock band Vamps included a cover of the song as a B-side to their single "

I Gotta Kick Start Now "I Gotta Kick Start Now" is the second single by Vamps, released on March 13, 2009. It includes a cover of the 1994 song " Trouble" by British duo Shampoo. The limited edition came with a DVD that includes the music video for the title track and ...

". That same year,

Zebrahead Zebrahead is an American rock band from La Habra, California, formed in 1996. The group's current line-up comprises rapper Ali Tabatabaee, bassist Ben Osmundson, drummer Ed Udhus, lead guitarist Dan Palmer and lead vocalist and rhythm guita ...

also included a version on their cover album, '' Panty Raid''. In 2021,

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

recorded a cover of the song "Delicious" for use in a

Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...

commercial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shampoo All-female punk bands Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 1993 establishments in England 2000 disestablishments in England 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers EMI Records artists English pop girl groups English pop music duos English pop punk groups Female musical duos Musical groups from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Pop rock music groups from London Parlophone artists British rock girl groups British rock music duos