Talulah Gosh were an English

guitar-pop Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and one of the leading bands of the

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

movement, taking their name from the headline of an

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

interview with

Clare Grogan Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as ...

. They supposedly formed in 1986 when Amelia Fletcher and Elizabeth Price, both wearing

Pastels A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

badges, met at a club in Oxford. Their original line-up comprised Amelia Fletcher (vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), her younger brother Mathew Fletcher (drums),

Peter Momtchiloff Peter Momtchiloff (born 10 March 1962) is a British guitarist and bassist. He was educated at Winchester College and Worcester College, Oxford. His musical career began in 1978 playing bass guitar in Winchester band The Big Figure. At Oxford h ...

(lead guitar), Rob Pursey (bass) and Elizabeth Price (vocals). Pursey left early on, to be replaced by Chris Scott.

History

The group made their live debut on 7 March 1986, and later the same year released a flexidisc on Sha La La flexilabel and two singles simultaneously on the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

-based label 53rd & 3rd, "Beatnik Boy" and "Steaming Train". These singles, especially the former, were unashamedly cutesy, something also reflected in the names the group had adopted for themselves: leader Amelia was "Marigold", while Elizabeth became "Pebbles". Mathew Fletcher was rather less flatteringly nicknamed "Fat Mat". Their appearance led to them being labelled as an "

anorak A parka or anorak is a type of coat with a hood, often lined with fur or faux fur. This kind of garment is a staple of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from caribou or seal skin, for hunting and kayaking in the frigid Arctic. Some Inuit ano ...

indie" band. For their third single, the group returned to a song they had first recorded in session for

Janice Long Janice Berry ( 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. In a career that spanned five decades, s ...

's show on

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

in August 1986, "Talulah Gosh". Elizabeth Price left toward the end of the year to form

The Carousel ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

with

Razorcuts Razorcuts were an indie pop band formed in 1984 in London. The group centred on Gregory Webster and Tim Vass (who were previously in The Cinematics), with various musicians including Peter Momtchiloff of Heavenly and Talulah Gosh, Angus Stevenso ...

frontman

Gregory Webster Gregory Webster is a British musician. In 1985 he founded the Razorcuts with Tim Vass. He then played in The Carousel with Elizabeth Price (ex-Talulah Gosh) from 1989 to 1994. Soon after he was the protagonist in Saturn V. In 1997 he founded Spor ...

, and so the single, released on 30 May 1987, was the first to feature replacement

Eithne Farry Eithne Farry is the former literary editor of ELLE. She is the author of "Yeah, I Made it Myself". She was a backing singer with Talulah Gosh and has reviewed a book for ''Marie Claire''. Works * ''Yeah, I Made it Myself: DIY Fashion for the Not ...

(vocals, tambourine). The single was less shambolic than their earlier offerings, and a video was made for it which was played on ''

The Chart Show ''The Chart Show'' (also known as ''The ITV Chart Show'' between 1989 and 1998) was a popular weekly syndicated music video programme which ran in the United Kingdom from April 1986 until August 1998, with revivals in 2003 and 2008–2009. ''Th ...

'' (then shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

), giving the band some mainstream exposure. The single was produced (some critics suggested it was over-produced) by John Rivers, as was the follow-up "Bringing Up Baby", a sophisticated pop song that reduced the band's "shambling" element to the point where mainstream success seemed a possibility. Indeed,

The Primitives The Primitives are an English indie pop band from Coventry, best known for their 1988 international hit single "Crash". Formed in 1984, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009, the band's two constant members throughout their recording career ...

would later take precisely this route to success – but Talulah Gosh never made the national chart. The ironically-titled debut (compilation) album '' Rock Legends: Volume 69'' was released in October 1987, collecting tracks from the earlier singles and radio sessions. January 1988 saw not only the release of "Bringing Up Baby" but also the broadcast of a second

session, this time for DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. What was to be Talulah Gosh's last single, a punk thrash titled "Testcard Girl" (very loosely based on an old

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

advertising jingle), was released in May. The group split later that year. A posthumous collection of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio sessions was issued by

Sarah Records Sarah Records was a British independent record label active in Bristol between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop, which it released mostly on 7" singles. On reaching the catalogue number SARAH 100, the label celebrated it ...

in 1991, and a more comprehensive retrospective was released on

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

in 1996. A limited edition EP of demos, recorded in 1986, was issued for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

in 2011, at which point a new retrospective album was also announced, at that time to be called ''Grrrr''. On 22 July 2013, Amelia Fletcher announced on her Facebook page that the album, now called ''Was It Just a Dream?'', would be released in October 2013. It was launched along with a DJ set by Amelia Fletcher, Eithne Farry and Elizabeth Price at the London club Scared To Dance. After the split, Peter joined

, while Amelia issued a one-off solo single, "Can You Keep a Secret?". Amelia and Mathew Fletcher and Peter Momtchiloff regrouped as Heavenly in late 1989, with Talulah Gosh co-founder Rob Pursey also returning to the fold. Following the break-up of Razorcuts, Scott formed Saturn V with

and Razorcuts drummer Struan Robertson.

Discography

Singles

*"I Told You So" (flexi disc, 1986) (given away with fanzines ''

Are You Scared To Get Happy? ''Are You Scared To Get Happy?'' was an influential music fanzine published from Bristol, United Kingdom between 1985 and 1987 by Matt Haynes and Mark Carnell. Haynes later went on to found Sarah Records with Clare Wadd. It concentrated on what ...

'' No. 3 and ''Trout Fishing in Leytonstone'' No. 3) *"Beatnik Boy" (single, 1986) *"Steaming Train" (single, 1986) *"Talulah Gosh" (single, 1987) *"Bringing Up Baby" (single, 1987) *"Testcard Girl" (single, 1988) *"Demos EP" (single, 2011 – recorded 1986)

Compilations

*'' Rock Legends: Volume 69'' (singles compilation, 1987/ 8 – reissued in 1991 as Talulah Mania) *''

They've Scoffed the Lot ''They've Scoffed the Lot'' is a compilation of radio session recordings by the indie pop band Talulah Gosh. Release ''Scoffed'' was issued in 1991 by the independent label Sarah Records, which at the time had recently signed Heavenly, a band ...

'' (radio sessions, 1991) *'' Backwash'' (complete recordings plus live tracks, 1996) *'' Was It Just a Dream?'' (expanded version of ''Backwash'' adding demo tracks, 2013)

References

External links