Thee Headcoatees | |
---|---|
Origin | Kent, England |
Genres | Garage rock revival, garage punk |
Years active | 1991–1999 |
Labels | Vinyl Japan, Damaged Goods, Get Hip, Sympathy for the Record Industry |
Past members | Holly Golightly Kyra LaRubia Ludella Black Debbie Green |
Website | Thee Headcoatees' Myspace page |
Thee Headcoatees were an all-female garage band formed in Chatham, Kent, England in 1991. [1] They were part of the Medway scene. The members were Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black and "Bongo" Debbie Green.
Thee Headcoatees were formed by Billy Childish as a backing group for his band Thee Headcoats. Ludella Black's previous band The Delmonas had performed the same function for Childish's earlier bands, starting with The Milkshakes. [2] Their songs were principally written by Billy Childish and were songs that did not suit his own acts. After Holly Golightly did a cameo appearance with Thee Headcoats, Childish added her to The Delmonas lineup; soon thereafter the band was renamed Thee Headcoatees.
As a backing band Thee Headcoatees initially would just do a few songs to warm up for Thee Headcoats. Their song "Headcoat Girl" on The Sisters of Suave even states "I wanna be a headcoat girl". In 1991 the band cut their first album Girlsville for Hangman Records. It consisted of songs written by Billy Childish and covers of songs by The Kinks (Last Plane Home), The Beatles (Run For Your Life), The Tamrons (Wild Man) and more. In 1998 Debbie Green left the band, which was reduced to a three piece for their final album, Here Comes Cessation. Thee Headcoatees continued to tour with Thee Headcoats until the group folded in 1999. [3]
Holly Golightly has gone on to pursue a solo career, recording more than ten LPs, and has worked with the bands The Greenhornes and The White Stripes and in her latter career has formed the band Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs. [4] Kyra and Debbie went on to sing for The A Lines (featuring Delia from Mambo Taxi and Julie Hamper of Billy Childish's Musicians of the British Empire); [5] Debbie and Delia currently play in Ye Nuns. [6] Kyra and Ludella later appeared in The Shall I Say Quois [7] alongside Julie Hamper, while Debbie also went on to play with Dutronc, [8] Baby Birkin [9] and The Speed of Sound; she also drummed and sang with Would-Be-Goods, and recorded in The Buffets, alongside Hamper. [10]
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote's 1958 novella of the same name, and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer. It was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on October 5, 1961, to critical and commercial success.
Billy Childish is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has led and played in bands including the Pop Rivets, Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, and the Musicians of the British Empire, primarily working in the genres of garage rock, punk and surf and releasing more than 100 albums.
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Thee Headcoats is a band formed in Chatham, Kent, England in 1989, that was well known for its garage rock sound, explicitly sticking to this style on almost all of their albums. The band's signature sound as well as their prolific writing has been attributed to Billy Childish's love of simple, direct recording. The band has been on multiple labels including Billy's own Hangman Records, Damaged Goods and Sub Pop.
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The Medway scene consists of the bands and related cultural activities of the Medway Towns, north Kent, England. Main towns involved are Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham. The Medway scene is typically dated from the punk era of the late 1970s, when the presence of the Medway College of Design influenced a "vibrant art, poetry and music scene."
Downliners Sect are an English R&B and blues-based rock band, formed in the 1960s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on their first album The Sect. Critic Richie Unterberger wrote: "The Sect didn't as much interpret the sound of Chess Records as attack it, with a finesse that made the Pretty Things seem positively suave in comparison."
Damaged Goods is a British independent record label.
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The Fire Dept (1987–2004) were a British punk rock group. The main core of the band over the years comprised Neil Palmer on guitar and vocals, Neale Richardson on bass and Robin Taylor on drums. Johnny Johnson of Thee Headcoats played bass on stage from 1995 to 1997, and on the Fire Dept's Elpee for Another Time (1996).
"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is a song written by Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan and Norman Petty, originally recorded by Buddy Holly in 1957 and released as a single in 1958. It was covered 20 years later by American new wave band Blondie and released as the lead single in the U.S. from their multi-platinum 1978 album Parallel Lines.
Mambo Taxi were an English, London-based British indie band, linked with riot grrrl, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.
Dirt Don't Hurt is the second official album by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, former members of the band Thee Headcoatees. It is a collaboration with her long-time bandmate "Lawyer" Dave Drake.
Billy Childish Is Dead is a 2005 rock n’ roll-themed documentary on the life of Billy Childish. It is directed by Graham Bendel. It features live footage of his bands Thee Headcoats, Thee Milkshakes, and others.
Thee Faction are a British garage rock/garage punk band from Surrey, England, noted for their explicit socialist agenda. They refer to their music, which incorporates elements of garage rock, pop and rhythm and blues as "Socialist RnB". Their album Up The Workers! was rated one of the Daily Mirror's top twenty albums of 2011.
SmartGuy is an American record label. It has released bands from the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. Releases include The Tyrades, Total Control, Billy Childish, Thee Headcoats, Dan Melchior, and Bill Direen. The label has been described as "seriously diverse" and "delving into divergent sounds and coming up with some real treats".
"Farmer John" is a song written by Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry, and first recorded by the two as the American R&B duo Don and Dewey, in 1959. Although the original version of the composition did not receive much attention, it was reinvigorated by the garage rock band the Premiers, whose raving remake of the song was released in 1964. The song's raw and partying atmosphere was immensely popular, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. Following the group's national success, several additional interpretations of "Farmer John" were released, making the tune a classic of garage rock.