TNL Music Club Week #5 - Dolly Mixture

[Mman]

Dolly Mixture were a British post-punk/new wave band formed in 1978 by bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist Rachel Bor, and drummer Hester Smith. The group was formed in Cambridge by the three school friends who shared a fondness for The Shangri-Las and The Undertones. Dolly Mixture supported The Undertones on one of their first UK tours. The band also played venues with The Fall and The Transmitters in 1979. They were once supported by U2.

Relocating to London to gig extensively, national BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel gave them exposure on his radio show and in his weekly column in the UK pop paper, Sounds. Signed to Chrysalis Records, the group released a cover of the Shirelles hit, "Baby It’s You" (1980), produced by Eric Faulkner of the Bay City Rollers. However, the cover version was disowned by the group, which protested the label’s attempt to sell them as a teen girl group. Their next single, "Been Teen" (1981), was the first single released on Paul Weller’s Respond label. It was followed by "Everything And More" (1982), also released on Respond. Both singles were produced by Captain Sensible and Paul Gray of The Damned. They became friends with Sensible and recorded backing vocals on his singles and albums. After Sensible had a hit with "Happy Talk" in 1982 and following various appearances on the television show Top of the Pops, Dolly Mixture performed extensively.

In 1983, the band released a double album called the "Demonstration Tapes" on their own Dead Good Dolly Platters label. The album sported a plain white cover (a nod to The Beatles' White Album), and each copy was numbered and authentically autographed by the group members. Only one thousand copies were pressed. The album featured 27 demo tracks which covered a large part of the band's repertoire. However, the album did not contain any of the Dolly's previous singles.

The trio dissolved as a working band in 1984. In July 2010 Dolly Mixture release a three CD box set including the 'Demonstration Tapes' album, all of the band's singles plus a complete disc of additional demos and live recordings, many of which are available for the first time. The box set will be limited edition only and features 56 re-mastered recordings and a 32 page booklet.

For additional information visit the band's official website at http://www.dollymixture.net

[Opaque]

Sixty fucking songs? Really?

[Mman]

No, 56.

edit: This anthology is pretty much the only practical release for this group. I can get an older version of their album "Demonstration Tapes" but the quality is pretty bad. Disc 1 on here is that release in its entirety, so if you just want to ignore the other two CDs you can.

[Cowutopia]

Yay two good bands in a row.

[Opaque]

I guess the main CD isn't too long.

Still, this is bring a CD to TNL club, not drop an entire catalog on TNL club.

[Opaque]

The girlfriend and I played this while driving yesterday and it's perfect driving music.

Something good, but simple enough you can talk over it, if that makes sense.

[Mman]

Sure. This music isn't exactly rocket science. The best of this group is simple, catchy and utterly familiar (not that it sounds like anything else in particular, but like you've heard this specific song before, even if you haven't).