Debbie Smith (musician)

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Debbie Smith
OriginUnited Kingdom
Occupation(s)Musician; DJ
Instrument(s)Guitar; bass guitar

Debbie Smith is a British guitar and bass player who has been in several bands from the 1990s to the present, including Curve, [1] Echobelly, [2] Nightnurse, [3] Snowpony, [4] Bows, [5] Ye Nuns, [6] SPC ECO [7] and current bands Blindness and The London Dirthole Company. [8] [9]

Smith was interviewed for the 1995 book Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock by Amy Raphael (published in the US as Grrrls: Viva Rock Divas). [10] [11] She was also interviewed and quoted for the book Frock Rock: Women Performing Popular Music, a sociological study of women musicians in British popular music; at the time of the interview she was in Echobelly, and the book notes that Skin and Yolanda Charles both said that Smith was the only current black British female guitarist either one of them could think of. [12] Frock Rock says that "women like Skin, Natacha Atlas, Yolanda Charles, [reggae bassist] Mary Genis, and Debbie Smith are now acting as crucial role models for future generations of black women." [12]

In 1997, Debbie Smith was the subject of the third episode of a TV series with the blanket title "A Woman Called Smith" (first broadcast on BBC2, 9 April 1997). [13]

Smith is a lesbian [2] [14] and was interviewed in a 2021 documentary film by Harri Shanahan and Sian A Williams [15] [16] [17] about her time in the feminist lesbian post-punk band Mouth Almighty (the documentary had its Channel 4 television premiere on 28 June 2022 as part of its Pride Season). She continues to perform as guitarist and DJ, and works at London music shop Intoxica! Records. [9] [18] [19]

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References

  1. ↑ Colone, Arlene (April 1998). "Ahead of the Curve". NY Rocker. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 Fasolino, Greg. "Echobelly". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  3. ↑ Bresnark, Robin (6 February 1999). "Psycho Babble Charlotte Hatherley". Melody Maker.
  4. ↑ Judd, Daniel (5 September 2001). "Snowpony". GaydarNation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  5. ↑ Bows: Cassidy at Discogs
  6. ↑ O'Keeffe, Niall (17 June 2008). "When it comes to singing The Monks' praises The Nuns can't shake the habit". The Stool Pigeon (17). Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  7. ↑ "SPC ECO Myspace page" . Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Blindness | Alternative / Electro Filth / Noisetronica | Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos". ReverbNation. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  9. 1 2 Jones, Alice (2 July 2011). "Beyond Britpop: Whatever happened to the class of '95?". The Independent.
  10. ↑ Raphael, Amy (1996). Grrrls : Viva Rock Divas . New York: St. Martin's. ISBN   978-0-312-14109-7.
  11. ↑ Meyer, Jim (15 November 1995). "Hail, Hail Britannia". City Pages. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
  12. 1 2 Bayton, Mavis (1998). Frock Rock: Women Performing Popular Music . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-816615-3.
  13. ↑ "A Woman Called Smith: Debbie". BFI Film & TV Database. The British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  14. ↑ CC (10 October 2006). "Top Ten: Black Gay Movers and Shakers". GaydarNation. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  15. ↑ Radio Times 25 June - 1 July 2022 page 87, Channel 4 listings
  16. ↑ Debbie Smith interview as featured in a 2021 film by Harri Shanahan and Sian A Williams, with a Channel 4 television premiere on 28 June 2022 at 1:05am: a rousing and detailed documentary uncovering the unheard story of post-punk lesbian feminism in the 1980s, told through archive footage, interviews and animation.
  17. ↑ "Rebel Dykes - All 4".
  18. ↑ Gausi, Tamara (18 March 2008). "Independent London record shops". Time Out London. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008.
  19. ↑ Winneker, Craig (12 September 2008). "Vinyl Revolution: In a Digital Age, The LP Record Makes a Comeback". The Wall Street Journal.



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