Hi pop kids!
A date for your diary - Friday 11th December
That's when we'll be releasing our Heavenly singles compilation!
A Bout De Heavenly: The Singles rounds up all the band's A and B-sides onto one handy vinyl disc (or shiny CD if you prefer).
Also getting a re-release on the same day is Talulah Gosh's Was It Just A Dream?
Full details on both discs below. As always click on the cover art to pre-order.
Heavenly - A Bout De Heavenly: The Singles - CD/Ltd Col LP (Released December 11th)
**PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO DIGITAL RELEASE/BONUS DIGITAL FOR THIS TITLE -
THE TRACKS ARE ALL ON SPOTIFY SO FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN PLAYLIST**
All of Heavenly's classic singles on one lovely brand new compilation album!
500 COPIES ON BLUE VINYL (MAIL-ORDER ONLY) - CLICK ON THE PIC ABOVE
500 COPIES ON PINK VINYL (VIA SHOPS ONLY)
CD - BUY HERE
A potted history of Heavenly...
Heavenly debuted with the 7" single 'I
Fell in Love Last Night', followed by another 7", 'Our Love Is
Heavenly', both released in 1990 on Sarah Records. Heavenly vs. Satan, the
group's debut album, came out in 1991. At this stage in their career,
Heavenly's songs were still mainly concerned with an innocent view of love,
whether or not requited, and the instrumentation remained very much the same
jangly guitar style used by Talulah Gosh.
Before releasing the critically acclaimed Le Jardin de Heavenly, Cathy Rogers
(keyboard, back-up vocals) joined the band. Her harmony vocals and keyboards
became an integral part of the group's sound.
Before their next long-player, Heavenly released two non-album 7" singles,
'P.U.N.K. Girl' and 'Atta Girl'. These signalled a growing
complexity in Amelia's songwriting, particularly 'Atta Girl', in
which Amelia and Cathy sung in rapid-fire trade-off vocals. A broadening (and
darkening) of lyrical subject matter was shown in the B-side, 'Hearts and
Crosses', which told the story of a date rape, with an upbeat keyboard riff
providing an ironic counterpoint.
The band's third LP was The Decline and Fall of Heavenly (1994). Here the
group were at their most commercial and at their most attuned with the growing
Britpop movement. The arrangements expanded even more to include strings and a
large amount of percussion, and the dual-vocal trick was used on several tracks.
Lyrically, the old romantic view of love was largely banished, but the tunes
remained as upbeat and joyful as ever. In 1995, the band contributed the song
'Snail Trail' to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by
the Red Hot Organization.
The group's last album was Operation Heavenly (1996). Arriving in the middle
of the Britpop boom, the album contained such fine singles as 'Space
Manatee' and 'Trophy Girlfriend'. Despite the closing of Sarah
Records and release on Wiiija, the album was still recognisably the Heavenly
sound. Shortly before the release of Operation Heavenly, Mathew Fletcher, the
band's drummer and Amelia's brother, committed suicide. The remaining
members announced that the band name Heavenly was to be retired.
Also available with a good selection of that band above amongst their ranks...
Talulah Gosh - Was It Just A Dream CD/2LP
The classic Talulah Gosh compilation album!
As heard recently on Tim Burgess' Twitter listening party
This compilation brings together all of their recorded output, plus the two BBC sessions and the four tracks which appeared on the demos EP in 2011.
The CD includes a 24 page booklet featuring sleeve notes and an interview with the band by Everett True.
Talulah Gosh were a guitar-pop group from Oxford and one of the leading bands of the twee pop movement/C86, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan. They supposedly formed when Amelia Fletcher and Elizabeth Price, both wearing Pastels badges, met at a club in Oxford. Formed in 1986, their original line-up comprised Amelia Fletcher (vocals, guitar), her younger brother Mathew Fletcher (drums), Peter Momtchiloff (lead guitar), Rob Pursey (bass) and Elizabeth Price (vocals). Rob left early on, to be replaced by Chris Scott. Elizabeth left in 1987 to be replaced by Eithne Farry. They called it a day in late 1988 with Amelia, Matthew and Peter reappearing soon after as ‘Heavenly’
Other indie-pop records on Damaged Goods you might like!
Keeping it Indie since 1988!
Ian & Duncan