Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish pop duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots.

History

Before being signed

The punk movement expanded rapidly in the United Kingdom in 1976. At the time, Rose McDowall and Jill Bryson were part of the bohemian art scene who adored the New York Dolls and who followed Scottish punk band Nu-Sonics (later Orange Juice) during their career, with McDowall playing and recording with Paisley punk band The Poems. The group took their name from a proposed Orange Juice zine. The band's very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow's Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janis Goodlet and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade played at a John Peel gig in Scotland, and he invited them to record a session for his BBC Radio 1 show in October 1982. They also recorded a session for David Jensen's Radio 1 show three days later. On both sessions the band were augmented by James Kirk from Orange Juice on bass and Shahid Sarwar from The Recognitions on drums.

Early days making records

The sessions were heard by Bill Drummond (a Scottish musician who went on to form The KLF) and David Balfe, manager and keyboard player with the recently defunct The Teardrop Explodes. They signed the band to their publishing label, Zoo Music (in partnership with Warner Bros Music). David Balfe then went on to become the group's manager. The band's first single, "Trees and Flowers", was released in July 1983 through 92 Happy Customers, an independent record label run by Will Sergeant from Echo & The Bunnymen, and sold over 10,000 copies. Critically acclaimed, Smash Hits reviewer Peter Martin praised the "deliciously sad and reflective vocals over some luxuriantly delicate music" and deemed it an "immediate classic". It was featured at number 47 in John Peel's 1983 Festive 50. "Trees and Flowers" was written by Jill Bryson about her anxiety disorder, agoraphobia. It featured Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera on guitar and was produced by Bill Drummond. Drummond, who'd begun to work as A&R for WEA, signed the band to Warner Music Group subsidiary Korova in 1983. They got a full backing band with whom they toured and began recording an album with producer Robin Millar. However, at the record company's behest, they reverted to the duo of Bryson and McDowall and for production duties they hired David Motion, who would soon go on to produce hits for Red Box.

"Since Yesterday"

In late 1984 their second single, "Since Yesterday", was released. Having been given a large marketing push over the festive period, it became a UK top ten hit in early 1985, peaking at number 5, and also met with success in Europe and Japan. Their cover version of "Sunday Morning" (originally by Velvet Underground) was released as an extra track on the 12" of "Since Yesterday". It was not included on any of the Strawberry Switchblade albums. The track's opening fanfare came from the third movement of Sibelius's Symphony No. 5.

Later records

In March 1985 they released their next single, "Let Her Go". Following the release of their eponymous album in April, in May 1985 they released a further single, the ballad "Who Knows What Love Is", one of two tracks on the album produced by Phil Thornalley of The Cure. Their fifth single, an electro-pop cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene", was issued in September 1985 in the UK and Japan. In 1985, they also provided vocals for an "alien funeral preocession" in Rigel 9, a "space opera" project by David Bedford (music) and Ursula K. Le Guin (lyrics). Although their commercial success had waned in the UK they remained popular in Japan and two later singles, "Ecstasy (Apple of My Eye)" and "I Can Feel", were only issued in that country. The second of these only featured McDowall as by this time the partnership had irreparably fractured. By early 1986, the group had disbanded. In December 2005, Warner Bros. Platinum Records released a career retrospective of the band, made up of sixteen different tracks from various recordings on one compact disc. It included one prevously unreleased track, a demo version of "I Can Feel". The band's earliest studio recordings, three songs recorded in 1982 when they were still a quartet was released as a limited edition 7" EP in January 2017. The version of "Trees and Flowers" on the EP proved very popular on TikTok and it has become the band's most popular track on music on Spotify.

Solo work

McDowall continued in music, playing with many neofolk bands and performing in and around Glasgow, alongside old and new friends associated with her current representation, Night School Records, including Michael Kasparis, cellist Jo Quail, and McDowall’s son Bobi Lee. In 2018-2019, Rose McDowall and Shawn Pinchbeck provided the soundtrack for the film “Far From the Apple Tree”. In July 2013, after a break of almost 30 years from music, Jill Bryson returned to songwriting in a new band called The Shapists (named after the fictitious art movement in the film The Rebel), that includes her daughter Jessie Frost.

Band members

Former members

Discography

The discography of Strawberry Switchblade consists of one studio album, two compilation albums, one extended play, seven singles, thirteen b-sides and four music videos.

Studio album

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

B-sides

Music videos

Compilation appearance