Juniper Beri Beri
Issue 1
October/November 1982
Here we all living in Glasgow.
Surely the hub of civilisation. Nice big city. With a lot of nice dance halls. Not too much decadence either. Nobal [sic] savages rub shoulders with the product of Glasgow’s great refinery and are in turn refined.
Why only last week I saw Grace Jones outside Maestros eating oysters. She said, ‘Nice dance halls darlink’ as her head rolled across her shoulders like a pea on a box.
Sometimes I’m inclined to think that there never really was a genuine pop person. What a sham. What a misconception like when your teenage crushes turned out to be pigs every last one of them and how embarrassing all those heroes became embarrassing to the point that the very idea of ever being a fan like being in love was just too awful. Then out of the blue came.
Strawberry Switchblade.
Now a hedonist on a diet of Pop music is very likely to starve to death.
So you should be glad that you can feast on the delights of Strawberry Switchblade and besides I could not describe them as PoP anyway. Not contemporary, not of the moment more like an unfurling constant, more the traditional fashion as opposed to the fashionable tradition and just like Miss Jean Brodie they are not to be circumscribed by nomenclature, at least it beats me.
There is two of them. Both girls. Not bad looking.
They compose melodic powerful songs unsynthetic and charming. They have talent and style and hopefully soon a lot of money to give away.
Just watch them cheek you.
Live review
Strawberry Switchblade: Maestroes 14 Nov
The disco was the usual Maestroes crap – new funk electropop etc so I was glad when they took to the stage in their fab outfits. Jill looked a bit nervous at first but as it went on she looked a great deal more happy. Kept mucking up her solo parts and we all laughed when Rose went to play her 12 string and it wasn’t miked. All the time the best dressed person in the place – Peter (punk Noel Coward) filmed them for ‘Painting By Nos’ very WARHOLesque. ‘Linda’ was MAGNIFICENT: it sent shivers down my spine. THEY GOT AN ENCORE. A fun night out and Libby cut up a ned heckler something brilliant.