Talulah Gosh - Was it Just a Dream?

  by Paul Waller

published: 16 / 11 / 2013

---

I so wish I knew about Oxford’s Talulah Gosh when I was twelve when they were still an active band. Maybe my life would have been more exciting, and my music taste less generically hip if I was spinning their 7” singles instead of the latest Madonna, Prince and Duran Duran ones. When I listen to this discography compilation I get such a rush every time a new track comes on and there is twenty-nine of them in all, so that’s a lot of rushing, I can tell you. Each one is a pop gem, some fast and punky and some a bit slower and a little more melancholic but not much, yet all of them have that 80's indie jangle and it never, ever grates. You just want to hear more. The only other band that could do the twee Sarah Records sound in my book and sound consistently incredible was the Softies. ‘My Best Friend’ & ‘My Boy Says’ with its added hand claps both contain a speedy guitar style which is similar in vein to the great Johnny Marr’s, but it’s far more unhinged, far more unfocused and far more instant. And even after the bands initial burst onto the UK indie scene when their songs began to sound a little more polished there was still the thrashing drums of Mathew Fletcher to contend with on the likes of ‘Bringing Up Baby’, and the piercing female screams that foreshadowed the riot grrrl movement on ‘Tescard Baby’. These songs are nothing if not raw and utterly real. It makes no sense that this record sounds totally relevant and vital whilst listening to it today; 27 years after some of these songs were originally released. I leave this compilation elated, and genuinely look forward to the next time I play it. I rarely feel that way about any band. It’s such a shame it took me so long to hear Tallulah Gosh.

Track Listing:-

1 Beatnik Boy
2 My Best Friend
3 Steaming Train
4 Just a Dream
5 Talulah Gosh
6 Don't Go Away
7 Escalator Over the Hill
8 My Boy Says
9 Way of the World
10 Testcard Girl
11 Bringing Up Baby
12 I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Thank
13 The Girl With the Strawberry Hair
14 Talulah Gosh (Radio Session Vers
15 Do You Remember
16 Looking for a Rainbow
17 Sunny Inside
18 My World's Ending
19 Be Your Baby
20 Break Your Face
21 In Love for the Very First Time
22 Spearmint Head
23 I Told You So
24 Pastels Badge
25 Rubber Ball
26 Steaming Train (Demo)
27 I Told You So (Demo)
28 Mmm Mmm He's so Dreamy (Dem
29 Sunny Inside (Demo)

Band Links:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talulah_Gosh
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heavenly-British-band/1474009346185639
http://damagedgoods.co.uk/bands/talulah-gosh

Label Links:-

http://www.damagedgoods.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DamagedGoodsRecords/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Damgoodrecords
https://twitter.com/DAMAGEDGOODSREC
https://plus.google.com/108116426226489991283

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg