No 1 magazine

5 January 1985

Sugar and Spice

…and all things nice. That’s what Strawberry Switchblade are made of. Stuart Husband asked them about all their favourite things.

Picture by Peter McArthur.

1. CRISPS
Jill: ‘My favourite flavour. They’re really crunchy and they don’t go soft’.

2. POLKA DOT UMBRELLA
Jill: ‘I think it’s really beautiful, but it’s not very practical. The frill goes all limp and drips when it gets wet. I got it in St Albans in a market when we were on tour with Orange Juice’.

3. POLKA DOT SHOES
Jill: ‘I painted them myself. Rose has got a white pair with black dots. I did these with felt pens’.

4. CARNATIONS
Jill: ‘We can’t wear real flowers in our hair cos they just wilt in the fumes from our hairspray, so we thought it’d be nice to just have some real ones in the picture’.

5. RIBBONS
Rose: ‘It started off with a couple and then they got longer and wider and started multiplying’.
Jill: ‘Sometimes they get in your soup when you’re eating’.

6. PAINTING
Jill: ‘This was done by an old friend of mine from art school called Esme. She used to paint fish all the time. That’s a skate on a plate. She made it into a stained glass window, and that’s a print of the window’.

7. CANDLESTICKS
Jill: ‘They’re the only antique things I own! I don’t put them on the mantle piece in case the cat knocks them off’.

8. MELODICA
Jill: ‘I tried to paint mine the other week. I sandpapered it down and then the paint wouldn’t go on. It looks a bit scabby’.

9. WOODEN PLINTH
Jill: ‘My mum gave me that cos she used to be a florist and she had it for the shop’.

10. RUBY UMBRELLA
Rose: ‘I love this cos it’s got a really expensive ruby in it and it cost an absolute fortune’.

11. PLANT
Jill: ‘I love plants but I can’t have any cos the cats would chew them to pieces’.
Rose: ‘My cat’s well-behaved. In fact, she’s afraid the plants’ll eat her!’

12. GUITARS
Rose: ‘This s my favourite cos it looks so good. I bought it off James Kirk, who used to play guitar in Orange Juice. I was pestering him for it for ages’.
Jill: ‘I’ve got three guitars but I chose this one cos it’s the most expensive! It’s also the nicest to play.

13. CLOTHES
Jill: ‘We make all our own clothes. These are sea anemones on my dress’.
Rose: ‘We’ve lost count of the number of dresses we’ve got. We’ve been making stuff for years’.

14. JEWELLERY
Rose: ‘The necklace that I’m wearing is my favourite cos it looks like an ants’ nest’.

15. MATERIAL
Rose: ‘I’ve had this piece for ages and I can’t decide what to do with it cos it’s so beautiful’.

16. BOX OF CHOCOLATES
Rose: ‘They’re to keep me warm over the winter. I eat them in spring, summer and autumn too. But I always buy on some extra for the winter’.

17. RECORDS
Jill: ‘We’ve both got quite respectable record collections and we enjoy listening to them lots’.

18. TEDDIES
Jill: ‘I’ve had my teddy since I was two’.
Rose: ‘Mine got really dirty so my granny put it in the washing machine. A dog’s [sic] ate its ear as well’.