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Song of the day – 659: Talulah Gosh

Song of the day – 659: Talulah Gosh
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I am a happy Legend! this morning. The postman came early, with a GIGANTIC parcel from England. A Talulah Gosh double-LP retrospective and CD, with sleeve-notes written by me. (A mighty 7,000 word article, incorporating a new interview with Pebbles, Marigold and Eithne.) I have any number of Songs of the Day waiting, but I cannot resist.

I loved them because they were frantic.

I loved them because you never knew what was going to happen next.

I loved them because they were colourful and fun and awkward.

I loved them because they loved the same bands as me – Razorcuts, The Pastels, (early) Soup Dragons, Buzzcocks, Ramones,  Girls At Our Best!, Marine Girls, Altered Images, Shop Assistants, (early) Primal Scream,  The Shangri-La’s, The Ronettes, Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike, Dolly Mixture. I never knew this at the time … except for the first three or four, obviously … it was just an unspoken understanding.

I loved them because they were always ready to burst into a quick chorus of “ba ba ba ba” at the drop of a hair-slide.

I loved them because they giggled a lot on stage.

I loved them because they always sped up after the first verse.

I loved them because it was the first time I’d seen a tambourine used to such mesmeric effect.

I loved them because they sang in exclamation marks.

I loved them because they were punk rock in the way it should’ve been.

I loved them because they understood that boy-boy rock and practising too much and acting all serious and sullen on stage was absolute rot.

I loved them because they talked to me.

I loved them because they were more nervous than me.

I loved them because they seemed honey-sweet, but weren’t.

I loved them because secretly they were smart and cool but never once took advantage of the fact.

I loved them because they signed to a label named after a Ramones song.

I loved them because they were crushworthy and cute and dorky and laced through with a love for 60s femme pop as much as you could possibly desire. And that was just the three boys.

I loved them because the song ‘Talulah Gosh’ by itself is more full of excitement and harmonies and beautiful brutal bruised chord sequences and sweet lyrics and punk rock drumming and jangling guitars than most groups achieve in an entire career.

I loved them because they plastered their demo cassettes with Plasticine.

I loved them because weirdly, glorious, they went all righteous feminist on my spotty male ass just when I was least expecting it.

I loved them because above all else ‘Talulah Gosh’ so clearly wasn’t a ‘career’.

I loved them because … spontaneity! Spontaneity! Spontaneity!

CD sleeve-notes to Was It Just A Dream?, 2013

Related posts: Song of the day – 260: Talulah Gosh (the original interview)

Live photography: Colour Blind Bob

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