Shop Assistants were a Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, formed in 1984, initially as 'Buba & The Shop Assistants'.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 502 After achieving success with independent releases they signed to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

sublabel Blue Guitar, releasing their only album in 1986. After splitting in 1987, with singer Alex Taylor moving on to

The Motorcycle Boy The Motorcycle Boy were a Scottish indie pop band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1987 by former members of Meat Whiplash and Shop Assistants. History The band consisted of Alex Taylor (vocals, formerly of Shop Assistants), Paul McDermott (drum ...

, they reformed for two further singles in 1990.

History

The group began as Buba & the Shop Assistants, consisting of lead vocalist Aggi (Annabel Wright, later of

The Pastels The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scen ...

), guitarist David Keegan, bassist John Peutherer, and drummer Moray Crawford. This line-up released one single, the now highly collectible "Something to Do" on Villa21 Records, which was produced by Stephen Pastel. Pastel also contributed backing vocals. Peutherer and Crawford were credited on the sleeve as "Murray-John." Aggi left to be replaced by Karen Parker, who was later joined by second vocalist Alex Taylor. After some live performances, Parker, Peutherer, and Crawford departed and were replaced by Sarah Kneale (bass), Laura MacPhail (drums) and Ann Donald (drums). The band's name was shortened to Shop Assistants, and the first release under their new name was the ''Shopping Parade'' EP in 1985 on

The Subway Organization The Subway Organization was a British independent record label founded in 1985 in Bristol by Martin Whitehead. Indie pop and ''C86'' The label was associated with the indie pop movement and the seminal ''NME'' cassette tape ''C86'', that incl ...

. The lead track, "All Day Long" was described by

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

as his favourite single of that year. Donald left in late 1985, and was briefly replaced on drums by Joan Bride. ''Shopping Parade'' was followed in early 1986 with "

Safety Net A safety net is a type of net (device), net designed to protect people from injury after falling (accident), falling from heights by limiting the distance they fall, and dissipating the impact energy. The term also refers to devices for arres ...

", the first release on Keegan's 53rd & 3rd Records, which peaked at number two in the

UK Independent Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

,Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 204 and the band recorded a national radio session with

Janice Long Janice Berry (née Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. The first female presenter to have a ...

and a second

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 ...

session, both of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Radio One.Garner, Ken (1993) ''In Session Tonight'', BBC Books, , p. 292 The exposure they gained from the sessions enabled the group to have two songs to be voted into John Peel's

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 ...

in both 1985 and 1986.The Shop Assistants
, ''Keeping It Peel'',

, retrieved 2011-07-23 In 1986, Shop Assistants were featured on ''

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 ...

''s compilation ''

C86 ''C86'' is a Audio cassette, cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, ''C86'' quickly evolved into shorthand for a g ...

'' with one of their slower songs, "It's Up to You", taken from ''Shopping Parade'' EP. Also in that year, they signed to

's sub-label Blue Guitar for another single, "I Don't Wanna Be Friends With You", as well as their only album, ''

Shop Assistants Shop Assistants were a Scottish indie pop band from Edinburgh, Scotland, formed in 1984, initially as 'Buba & The Shop Assistants'.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 502 After achieving success with indepe ...

''. That single reached number 77 in the UK Singles Chart, while the LP spent one week at number 100 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The album was re-released on CD in 2001. In 2024 it was re-released on vinyl and on a double CD set which includes unreleased and live tracks, and a John Peel session.
/ref> Shop Assistants split early in 1987, when Taylor left the group to join

. After a two-year hiatus, the group reformed without Taylor, and with Kneale on vocals, MacPhail on bass, and the addition of Margarita Vasquez-Ponte of Jesse Garon And The Desperadoes on drums. With the new line-up, they recorded new material in late October 1989 at Chamber Studios in Edinburgh; releasing the singles "Here It Comes" in 1989 and "Big 'E' Power" in 1990 on Avalanche Records. They also recorded a cover of The Rolling Stones' 1978 song " Respectable" for the tribute album ''Stoned Again - A Tribute to The Rolling Stones'' on Imaginary Records. They split up again shortly afterwards, with Keegan joining

. It was revealed in 2020 that Alex Taylor had died in 2005. The band features in the book ''

Postcards from Scotland ''Postcards from Scotland'' is a 2024 book by Scottish film director Grant McPhee that covers Scotland's 1980's and 1990's independent music scene. It focuses on the stories of The Pastels, Shop Assistants, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Screa ...

'' detailing the 1980s and 1990s independent music scene in Scotland.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (November 1986, Blue Guitar Records) UK No. 100

Singles

*"Something to Do" (November 1984, Villa) - as ''Buba & The Shop Assistants'' *''Shopping Parade'' EP: "All Day Long"; "Switzerland"; "All That Ever Mattered"; "It's Up to You" (August 1985, Subway) *"

" (February 1986, 53rd & 3rd) UK No. 155 *"I Don't Wanna Be Friends With You" (September 1986, Blue Guitar) UK No. 77 *"Here It Comes" (January 1990, Avalanche Recordst) *"Big 'E' Power" (May 1990, Avalanche Records) UK No. 151

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shop Assistants Scottish indie rock groups Musical groups from Edinburgh Scottish indie pop groups