ON A quiet Monday morning, before its doors open to the public, the empty entrance foyer at Glasgow Film Theatre is suddenly awash with people, pop stars and stuff.
Sophisticated Boom Boom, the all-woman post-punk outfit who blazed a trail through the Scottish 80s music scene, landing three John Peel sessions, supporting the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen (and later, with a slightly different line-up, morphing into His Latest Flame) is reuniting for a one-off gig.
Libby McArthur, Trish Reid, Jacquie Bradley, Laura Mazzolini and Irene Brown are performing at Mono to celebrate the release of music documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, which is screening at GFT this month.
Written and narrated by singer-songwriter Carla J Easton and co-directed by music promo director Blair Young, the much-lauded documentary unearths the stories of Scottish girl bands from the 1960s onwards, and examines the enduring barriers faced by women making music.
Tickets for the post-screening gig sold out in minutes, news which has the members of Sophisticated Boom Boom experiencing varying degrees of delight and terror.
“I cannae wait,” says Jacquie, with a grin. Laura groans. “I feel sick,” she gulps.
The women, minus Irene, who is on holiday, are meeting at the GFT to discuss the documentary and the gig, and someone has had the bright idea of trying to recreate their 1980s black-and-white publicity shot.
Jacquie and Trish arrive first, warm hugs and catch-up chat follow. Libby breezes in, with her little granddaughter Cassie, in a flap. “I need to find wifi for Bluey,” she apologises, swooshing past in the hunt for a strong signal so Cassie can watch cartoons while granny chats. Laura is a little later (“typical,” sighs Trish, “Laura would be late for her own funeral.”)
The photograph recreation causes much mirth, as we all lug tables, chairs and a sorry-looking plant into position in a white-walled rear corridor of the cinema.
“Look at my hair,” hoots Jacquie, examining the original picture. “Look at my face,” says Trish. “I’m very serious. And you can tell Irene is shy, hiding away at the bottom corner. She never wanted the limelight.”
Sophisticated Boom Boom, named after a song by 60s American girl group The Shangri-Las, emerged from the vibrant Glasgow music scene of the late 70s and 80s. They rehearsed at the city’s famous Hellfire Club, where bands such as Simple Minds, Aztec Camera, The Bluebells, Shakin’ Pyramids and The Dreamboys (which featured Peter Capaldi) also recorded demos.
Jacquie adds: “The Dreamboys would often give us the B-band slot at their gigs - we really suited each other, because music in those days was very theatrical, and we all loved that. We weren’t trying to be cool, we just wanted to entertain people.”
The documentary explores music industry attitudes to female performers.
“If there was another female band, they’d try and pit you against each other,” recalls Laura.
“I remember at one photo session in London they tried to take pictures of us against a big photo of The Supremes, and we were thinking, what is this?” says Trish. “I mean, I love Motown, but what did it have to do with us? I don’t think they really got it.”
“And the point of the documentary for me, is that it restores to the historical record a sense that some sort of genealogy of girl bands in Scotland actually did exist.”
The Peel sessions were a highlight, recalls Jacquie. (All 12 tracks from the three sessions are being released for the first time on vinyl by Last Night From Glasgow this autumn.)
Trish adds, wryly: “I think it was quite annoying for some of the guys’ bands actually, because it felt like we’d gone to London and 10 minutes later, we had a Peel session.”
Sophisticated Boom Boom may have scattered across the UK – Jacquie became a depute headteacher and then retired to the isle of Bute; Trish is head of the school of arts and communication design at Reading University in London; and Irene, who works in the care and social work sector, actor and humanist celebrant Libby and company director Laura are all still in Glasgow – but they have all kept in close touch.
“We never really came apart,” points out Laura. “It was like having sisters. When I left the band I had such a hard time not being around them any more. I think we were very lucky to have had that.”
Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands will be screening at GFT from 18 - 24 October. The screening on October 19 at 8pm will be followed by a Q&A with co-directors Blair Young and Carla J Easton.
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