"Now she is a pop star" - Talulah Gosh

Whenever the rock writers of America have a consensus that a particular band has been deemed "influential," said artists usually have a remarkable breadth of work (see: the Clash, the Kinks, Dead Kennedys, Cannonball Adderley, etc.). It's rare you'll find a group so remarkably influential based on a small output. Such a band is Talulah Gosh.

Of course, they weren't the first twee band. Television Personalities probably has a lay to that claim, but twee is really just the poppier side of 60's garage rock minus the blues rhythms (check out the Viscount IV's "She Doesn't Know.") What is it? It's less sloppy than it seems, but damn if it doesn't sound like a sput of the moment outpourings. No arrangements, off-the-cuff harmonies, and drumbeats that make Bobby Gillespie sound like Gene Krupa.

I think it helps the Talulah Gosh myth that the two lead singers met because they were both wearing similar Pastels pins. It's a story so perfect that it's still recited to this day, despite the fact that it's likely untrue. It's an epochal tale on par of the story of the first Christmas for mid-20 something Anglophiles who pick up each other in low-rent "pubs" by saying that they own an original copy of the C 86 cassette.

They only released a few singles before changing lineups and eventually splitting. No albums, really. In '96, the Backwash compilation was released, collecting all their singles, radio appearances, and live recordings of songs that never made it into the studio. Basically, if you like Tiger Trap, the Softies, All Girl Summer Fun Band, Go Sailor, the Pipettes, or the Vaselines, this is pretty much your bible.

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/7468982/Talulah_Gosh_Talulah_Gosh.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/3094362/Talulah_Gosh_My_Boy_Says.mp3.html

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/830029/Talulah_Gosh_Don_t_Go_Away.mp3.html