Doll by Doll were a British rock band based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The band was formed by

Jackie Leven Jackie Leven (18 June 1950 – 14 November 2011) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll. He later recorded as a solo ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. They came to prominence during the new wave period but were largely ignored by the music press of the time - their emotional, psychedelic-tinged music was judged out of step with other bands of the time.

Career

The original line-up was Jackie Leven – vocals and guitar, Jo Shaw – vocals and guitar, Robin Spreafico – vocals and bass, and David Macintosh – vocals and percussion. This lineup only recorded one studio album ''Remember'' before Spreafico was replaced by Tony Waite (1958–2003). In this configuration they released the albums ''Gypsy Blood'' (produced by John Sinclair) and the eponymous third album, ''Doll By Doll'', before the band split up. At the time of final LP ''Grand Passion'', only Leven was left of the original line-up, joined by Helen Turner (vocals and keyboards) and Tom Norden (vocals, guitar and bass) with a number of guest musicians, including

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. Mark Fletcher (bass) and Chris Clarke (drums) played with the group live. Doll By Doll finally fell apart in 1983, though Leven, Shaw and Macintosh plus ex-Sex Pistol

Glen Matlock Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only alb ...

, released a single "Big Tears" under the name Concrete Bulletproof Invisible in 1988. Leven became a prolific solo artist, releasing a series of albums featuring more folk oriented material. In 2005 a live recording of the original band was released. ''Revenge of Memory'', which features all but one of the songs on the ''Remember'' album, was recorded at the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Limits Club in 1977. The four Doll by Doll studio albums were all released for the first time on CD in March 2007 on WEA/Rhino.

Discography

*''Remember'' (Automatic, 1979) *''Gypsy Blood'' (Automatic, 1979) *''Doll By Doll'' (Magnet, 1980) *''Grand Passion'' (Magnet, 1982) *''Revenge of Memory'' (Live at The Sheffield Limits Club 1977) (Haunted Valley, 2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doll By Doll British new wave musical groups British rock music groups