40 years ago today Strawberry Switchblade played the Shaw Theatre in London. Here's Being Cold from that gig.Since Yesterday came out a month earlier & was in the lower end of the charts. The album was ready, & they played this gig as a duo with studio-made backing tapes.
#StrawberrySwitchblade #rosemcdowall #jillbryson #scottishband #newwave #80snewwave #darkwave #synthpop #shawtheatre #liverecording #davidbedford #deliasmith #shawtheatre #melodica
Jill plays the plaintive melodica that she used on the album version. String arranger David Bedford had objected as the melodica is ever so slightly out of tune - exactly why the band and producer David Motion loved it over the lush orchestral backing!
Before they start Being Cold, you hear Jill mention Delia Smith because the next song is so sad. The celebrity chef had been on a kids' TV show a few weeks earlier & criticised Since Yesterday for not being a jolly song
The gig was part of two nights of female bands at the Shaw Theatre to promote a book 'Signed, Sealed and Delivered - True Life Stories of Women in Pop' by Sue Stewart and Sheryl Garrett.
It was reviewed in Melody Maker, Sounds and the NME. Melody Maker said: 'It’s curious that the organisers of "A Weekend of Women Entertainers" should choose Strawberry Switchblade, a band that have been marketed to suit the male palate.' Sounds was similarly superficial, unimaginative and misogynistic.
https://strawberryswitchblade.net/melody-maker-live-review-8-december-1984/
The NME got it, though: 'For all the sweetness, this band are more disquieting than anything much more explicitly obscene.'
https://strawberryswitchblade.net/new-musical-express-live-review-8-december-1984/
You can hear/download the whole gig in the Listen section of our fansite, and we've got all three reviews on there too. Link in bio
https://strawberryswitchblade.net/live-recordings/#shaw-theatre
Strawberry Switchblade fansite
