Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

duo formed in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1981 by

Jill Bryson Jill Bryson (born February 11, 1961) is a Scottish musician and artist, best known as a member of the new wave band Strawberry Switchblade, which achieved success with the 1985 single " Since Yesterday". She has also pursued a career in mixed med ...

and

Rose McDowall Rose McDowall (née Porter; born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician who formed Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981. History McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an ar ...

, best known for their song "

Since Yesterday "Since Yesterday" is a song performed by Scottish synth-pop duo Strawberry Switchblade, the lead single from their self-titled album. It became their only major hit, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart. Background and composition " ...

" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots.

History

Before being signed

The

punk movement The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of Punk rock, music, Punk ideologies, ideologies, Punk fashion, fashion, and other forms of expression, Punk visual art, visual art, dance, Punk literature, literature, and film. La ...

expanded rapidly in the United Kingdom in 1976. At the time, Rose McDowall and

were part of the

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

art scene who adored the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

and who followed Scottish punk band Nu-Sonics (later

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

) during their career, with McDowall playing and recording with Paisley punk band The Poems. The group took their name from a proposed Orange Juice zine. The band's very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow's Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Their friends, Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade played at a

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 ...

gig in Scotland, and he invited them to record a session for his

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show in October 1982. They also recorded a session for

David Jensen David Allan Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 to 19 ...

's Radio 1 show three days later. On both sessions the band were augmented by James Kirk from Orange Juice on bass and Shahid Sarwar from The Recognitions on drums.

Early days making records

The sessions were heard by

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

musician who went on to form

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

) and

David Balfe David Balfe (born 1958) is an English musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of thei ...

, manager and keyboard player with the recently defunct

The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. ...

. They signed the band to their publishing label, Zoo Music (in partnership with Warner Bros Music). David Balfe then went on to become the group's manager. The band's first single, " Trees and Flowers", was released in July 1983 through 92 Happy Customers, an independent record label run by

Will Sergeant William Alfred Sergeant (born 12 April 1958) is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. He is the group's only constant member. Career As a solo artist, Sergeant focused on minimalism and atmospherics, and u ...

from

Echo & The Bunnymen Echo & the Bunnymen are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch (singer), Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freita ...

, and sold over 10,000 copies. It was critically acclaimed; ''

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 ...

'' reviewer Peter Martin praised the "deliciously sad and reflective vocals over some luxuriantly delicate music" and deemed it an "immediate classic". It was featured at number 47 in John Peel's 1983 Festive 50. "Trees and Flowers" was written by

about her anxiety disorder,

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

. It featured

Roddy Frame Roddy Frame (born 29 January 1964) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. He was the founder of the 1980s new wave band Aztec Camera and has undertaken a solo career since the group's dissolution. In November 2013, journalist Brian Do ...

Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member. Established in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: '' High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Kn ...

on guitar and was produced by Bill Drummond. Drummond, who'd begun to work as A&R for WEA, signed the band to

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

subsidiary Korova in 1983. They got a full backing band with whom they toured and began recording an album with producer

Robin Millar Sir Robin John Christian Millar (born 18 December 1951) is an English record producer, musician and businessman, known variously as 'The Original Smooth Operator', 'The man behind Sade', and 'Golden Ears' by Boy George. He was born in London ...

. However, at the record company's behest, they reverted to the duo of Bryson and McDowall and for production duties they hired David Motion, who would soon go on to produce hits for Red Box.

"Since Yesterday"

In late 1984 their second single, "

", was released. Having been given a large marketing push over the festive period, it became a UK top ten hit in early 1985, peaking at number 5, and also met with success in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Sunday Morning" (originally by

Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tuc ...

) was released as an extra track on the 12" of "Since Yesterday". It was not included on any of the Strawberry Switchblade albums. The track's opening fanfare comes from the fourth and final movement of

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

's Symphony No. 5.

Later records

In March 1985 they released their next single, "Let Her Go". Following the release of their eponymous album in April, in May 1985 they released a further single, the ballad "Who Knows What Love Is", one of two tracks on the album produced by

Phil Thornalley Phillip Carden Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter, musician, and producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He produced the album ''Pornography'' by The Cure and was later their bass player. He began releas ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

. Their fifth single, an electro-pop cover of

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

's " Jolene", was issued in September 1985 in the UK and Japan. In 1985, they also provided vocals for an "alien funeral preocession" in ''Rigel 9'', a "space opera" project by

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

(music) and

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

(lyrics). Although their commercial success had waned in the UK they remained popular in Japan and two later singles, "Ecstasy (Apple of My Eye)" and "I Can Feel", were only issued in that country. The second of these only featured McDowall as by this time the partnership had irreparably fractured. By early 1986, the group had disbanded. In December 2005, Warner Bros. Platinum Records released a career retrospective of the band, made up of sixteen different tracks from various recordings on one compact disc. It included one previously unreleased track, a demo version of "I Can Feel". The band's earliest studio recordings, three songs recorded in 1982 when they were still a quartet was released as a limited edition 7" EP in January 2017. The version of "Trees and Flowers" on the EP proved very popular on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and it has become the band's most popular track on music on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Solo work

McDowall continued in music, playing with many

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

bands and performing in and around Glasgow, alongside old and new friends associated with her current representation, Night School Records, including Michael Kasparis, cellist Jo Quail, and McDowall’s son Bobi Lee. In 2018-2019, Rose McDowall and Shawn Pinchbeck provided the soundtrack for the film '' Far From the Apple Tree''. In July 2013, after a break of almost 30 years from music,

returned to songwriting in a new band called The Shapists (named after the fictitious art movement in the film '' The Rebel''), that includes her daughter Jessie Frost.

Band members

Former members *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1981–1986) *

– backing vocals, lead guitar (1981–1986) *Janice Goodlett – bass (1981–1982) *Carole McGowan – drums (1981–1982)

Discography

The discography of Strawberry Switchblade consists of one studio album, two compilation albums, one extended play, seven singles, thirteen b-sides and four music videos.

Studio album

Compilation albums

Extended plays

* ''1982 4-Piece Demo'' (2017), Night School

Singles

B-sides

* "Go Away" (1983) (B-side of "Trees and Flowers") * "Trees and Flowers (Just Music)" (1983) (B-side of "Trees and Flowers") * "By the Sea" (1984) (B-side of "Since Yesterday") * " Sunday Morning" (1984) (B-side of "Since Yesterday") * "Beautiful End" (1985) (B-side of "Let Her Go") * "Michael Who Walks by Night" (1985) (B-side of "Let Her Go") * "Poor Hearts" (1985) (B-side of "Who Knows What Love Is?") * "Let Her Go (Kitchensynch Mix-Up)" (1985) (B-side of "Who Knows What Love Is?") * "Being Cold" (1985) (B-side of "Jolene" and "Ecstasy (Apple of My Eye)") * "Black Taxi" (1985) (B-side of "Jolene") * " Jolene (Extended Mix)" (1985) (B-side of "Jolene") * "Since Yesterday (Extended Mix)" (1986) (B-side of "I Can Feel")

Music videos

Compilation appearance

* "Dark 7" on '' Scared to Get Happy: A Story of Indie-Pop 1980–1989'' (2013), Cherry Red

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strawberry Switchblade Scottish girl groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Musical groups from Glasgow Scottish musical duos Scottish new wave musical groups Scottish pop music groups British new wave girl groups Female musical duos New wave duos 1981 establishments in Scotland 1986 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Warner Music Group artists All-female electronic bands Scottish all-female bands All-female pop bands