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Rating:
Innocence in its rawness. The honey from lips to mouth. The savory scent of summer. A spontaneous sensitivity and sweetly restrained exuberance. A luminous female songwriting. Few songs that are nevertheless the epitome of English twee pop.
Talulah Gosh is the story of an economics student at Oxford, Amelia Fletcher, and the artistic ambitions of Elizabeth Price. Marigold and Pebbles. Both walked around with Pastels badges (from which “Pastels Badge”). Then there's a fifteen-year-old brother. There is the clerk of a sacred place, a record store. Other regulars. A few photocopied fanzines. Repeated listens to Television, Television Personalities, Raincoats, admiration for Claire Grogan (Altered Images), but also romantic nostalgia for Shangri-Las and Ronettes. Meanwhile, NME releases C-86, the cassette that sums up a kind of movement (known as "anorak pop" or "shambling") influenced by the elegant guitar of the Smiths, the blunt straightforwardness of the Ramones, the serene vocal harmonies of 60s girl groups.
“Gosh” is the interjection "golly". “Talulah” is a female given name. When referring to Native American traditions, it means "jumping waters" or "city". If linked to Gaelic, it can mean "princess of abundance" or "fertile woman".
They recorded five singles and a flexidisc for 53rd & 3rd between '86-'87. Halfway through, Eithne Farry replaced Price. The epilogue was the Peel Sessions. They disbanded in February 1988 to start new projects, primarily Heavenly. Their only album, containing their radio sessions, was released posthumously by the illustrious Sarah Records. The collection “Was It Just A Dream” (Damaged Gods, 2013) includes as "Backswash" all twenty-five tracks recorded by the Goshes, plus the very first four demos.
We find scrappy, playful pieces showing off their guitar pop (“Beatnik Boy” and “Steaming Train”), punk rock nursery rhymes (“Be My Boy” and “My Best Friend”), shouts and noisy accents (“Testcard Girl”), graceful bridges sliding into catchy and adrenaline-pumping choruses ("Talulah Gosh", “Spearmint Mind”), syncopated rhythms ("Bringing Up Baby"), humorous tones and byrdsian jangle riffs ("I Can’t Get No Satisfaction (Thank God)"), precious vocal counterpoints around angelic melodies (“Was It Just A Dream”, “My Boy Says”) and still grainy bass, narrative drums, and layered guitars ("My World's Ending", “Bring Up Baby”, “Escalator Over The Hills"). Teenage themes are summed up in identity crises, unrequited loves, odes to infatuation. The demos have a character as raw as it is polite. They are a documentary pleasure with a homely flavor.
The Talulah's little songs, generally around two minutes, are not as simple as they seem. Each piece boasts an approximate yet meticulous beauty. Where one approaches a certain dreamlike softness. And where the soft side of punk idealism and the primal enthusiasm of indie rock are shown. A silly and endearing passionate sweetness.
Indie pop and riot grrrl bands will advance. Shop Assistants, Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura, Vivian Girls will pay a certain homage to Amelia Fletcher. The Talulah Goshes had cradled a small revolution with dreamy eyes.
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P.S. Amelia Fletcher is now a lecturer at the University of East Anglia, while co-singer Elizabeth Price won the Turner Prize in 2012 with her evocative video installation "The Woolworths Choir Of 1979".
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 Do You Remember (01:24)
do you remember me?
because i remember you
you were the one who pushed me away
with yr black suede shoe
do you remember the time
you left me at the station?
i thought i would see you again
but it was just an innocent dream
and now i've found a new friend
that i have to pretend
sometimes is you and me
when we're together together
do you remember the day
you tried to teach me about her?
to tell me what it all meant
you were so patient when i laughed
do you still the girl
who took you away from me?
i hope you're in love now
i know i am
and now i've found a new friend
that i have to pretend
sometimes is you and me
when we're together together
and now i've found a new friend
that i have to pretend
sometimes is you and me
when we're together together
11 Talulah Gosh (03:24)
Every day she wakes up
Her life will be a movie
All the things she does
Written in her diary
But when the day is done
She cannot tell the truth
Pretend her life’s exciting
Pretend she’ll never lose
Talulah Gosh was a film star for a day
Talulah Gosh was a top celebrity
You can lie to everyone
But please, please don’t lie to me
Now she is a pop star
With her own TV show
Tells them all her stories
And hopes they’ll never know
Don’t be anybody else
Forget about the rest
You’ll always be Talulah
You’ll always be yourself
Talulah Gosh was a film star for a day
Talulah Gosh was a top celebrity
You can lie to everyone
But please, please don’t lie to me
Talulah Gosh was a film star for a day
Talulah Gosh was a top celebrity
You can lie to everyone
But please, please don’t lie to me
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