''Strawberry Switchblade'' is the only studio album released by the Scottish new wave duo

Strawberry Switchblade Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish pop duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots. History Before being sign ...

Release

The album did not live up to the high chart expectations created by the #5 (UK) single "

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 " ...

". It entered and peaked at #25 on the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for 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 Offici ...

in April 1985, but dropped out of the top 40 after two weeks and spent just two further weeks at the lower reaches of the chart. The album was promoted by two additional singles: the first, "

Let Her Go "Let Her Go" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Passenger. It was recorded at Sydney's Linear Recording and co-produced by Passenger (as Mike Rosenberg) and Chris Vallejo. The recording features Australian musicians Stu Larsen, Geo ...

", peaked at #59 on the UK Singles Chart in April during a five week chart run and the final single, "Who Knows What Love Is?", reached #84 in May. "Since Yesterday" also charted in Ireland and the Netherlands where it reached #6 and #24 respectively. "Let Her Go" was considered a "sure hit" by the pan-European magazine '' Eurotipsheet'' and gained enough airplay to reach number 45 on the European Airplay Top 50 chart. Despite this, it did not became a major hit and did not chart on sales charts outside the United Kingdom. The original ''Strawberry Switchblade'' LP has not been re-released in the UK (or in Europe) since 1985, though all of its tracks (apart from the short instrumental reprise of "Who Knows What Love Is?") appeared on the group's ''Platinum Collection'' compilation. In Japan, where the group were extremely popular, it was issued on CD for the first time in 1989, and released again there on CD in 1997 in a 20-track expanded version, including B-sides, remixes and non-album singles.

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews. ''

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

Chris Heath Chris Heath is a British writer and journalist. He was born in Evesham in the West Midlands and attended Rugby School. He studied social and political science at Cambridge University. Heath was a regular contributor to the popular English music m ...

found that "Every song here has an irresistibly catchy tune", especially pointing out "the sad 'Who Knows What Love Is?'" as "quite lovely". No. 1 magazine was similarly positive, saying "there’s talent beneath the Alice’s Tea Party costumes. Singer

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 ...

and guitarist Jill Bryson have put faith in their ability to write engaging, sometimes haunting pop songs." In contrast, Betty Page wrote in

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

"this is desperately lightweight and quite relentlessly tedious"

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 ...

's Ted Mico was also dismissive: "Though their combined efforts are as frail and pasty as puff pastry, the Strawberries accentuate their vulnerability by juxtaposing flouncy, celestial harmonies swaythed in strumming semi-acoustics with the merciless sten-gun drum attack". Danny Kelly of

New Musical Express ''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 inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

was similarly disparaging, describing the band as "the Cocteaus’ trance dance stance in a less imposing frame. A confection of candyfloss and icing sugar. But great pop music? Even good pop music? I’m afraid not."

Track listing

All songs written by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, except where noted.

Original release

Expanded edition bonus tracks

B-sides

Personnel

;Strawberry Switchblade * Jill Bryson – vocals, harmonies, lead guitar *

– lead vocals, harmonies, guitars with: * Gary Hutchins – sequences, keyboards * Alan Park – keyboards * Bruce Nockles – trumpet * Dave Morris – percussion * David Motion – keyboards, drum machine *

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 ...

– keyboards * Boris Williams – "tippy tappy" drums *

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 ...

– string and woodwind arrangements * Andrew Poppy – horn arrangements on "10 James Orr Street" ;Technical * David Motion – production, arrangements, engineering * Phil Thornalley – production, engineering on "Let Her Go" and "Who Knows What Love Is?" * Trig – engineering * Peter McArthur – photography * Chris Branfield – design "Thanks to

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 ...

and

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 ...

Charts

Release history

''The 12" Album''

''The 12" Album'' was a remix album released in Japan in November 1985. The album contains 5 extended mixes, one standalone single and one

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 ...

. Despite the name of the album, only two of the remixes had previously appeared on 12" singles, these being the mixes of "Let Her Go" (from the 12" release of "Who Knows What Love Is?") and "Jolene" (from that single's 12" release). The other three mixes were specially done for this remix album and were not released in the United Kingdom. The extended mix of "Since Yesterday" later appeared as the B-side of the Strawberry Switchblade's final single "I Can Feel" in 1986.

Release History

References

{{Authority control Strawberry Switchblade albums 1985 debut albums Warner Music Group albums