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Shop Assistants
195,882 plays (23,034 listeners)
Edinburgh, United Kingdom (1984 – 1987, 1989 – present)
The Shop Assistants were an indie pop band from Edinburgh, Scotland, formed in 1984, initially as Buba & The Shop Assistants. The original line-up was Aggi on vocals, David Keegan (guitar), Sarah Kneale (bass), Laura MacPhail (drums) and Ann Donald (drums), this line-up releasing one single, the highly-collectable ‘Something To Do’ which was produced by Stephen Pastel who also contributed backing vocals. Aggi left to be replaced by Alex Taylor, which saw the name shortened to simply ‘The Shop Assistants’ and the next release was ‘All Day Long’ in 1985, which Morrissey described as his favourite single of that year. This was followed in early 1986 with ‘Safety Net’, the first release on Keegan’s 53rd & 3rd Records, which topped the indie chart, and the band recorded national radio sessions for John Peel and Janice Long of BBC Radio One.
They were featured on the NME’s 1986 compilation C86 with one of their slower songs, “It’s Up To You”. Also in that year, they signed to the Chrysalis Records off-shoot Blue Guitar for a further single, ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Friends With You’ and their first and only LP album, The Shop Assistants. This spent one week at number 100 in the UK album charts, which gives the band the distinction of being the (joint) least successful act ever to hit the national charts. The album was re-released on CD in 2001, although it is now hard to find.
The band split early in 1987, when Alex joined The Motorcycle Boy. After a two-year hiatus, the band reformed (without Alex) in 1989 with Sarah Kneale now on vocals and Laura MacPhail on bass and the addition of Margarita Vasquez-Ponte on drums, releasing a brace of singles in 1990 before splitting again, Keegan joining The Pastels.
They were featured on the NME’s 1986 compilation C86 with one of their slower songs, “It’s Up To You”. Also in that year, they signed to the Chrysalis Records off-shoot Blue Guitar for a further single, ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Friends With You’ and their first and only LP album, The Shop Assistants. This spent one week at number 100 in the UK album charts, which gives the band the distinction of being the (joint) least successful act ever to hit the national charts. The album was re-released on CD in 2001, although it is now hard to find.
The band split early in 1987, when Alex joined The Motorcycle Boy. After a two-year hiatus, the band reformed (without Alex) in 1989 with Sarah Kneale now on vocals and Laura MacPhail on bass and the addition of Margarita Vasquez-Ponte on drums, releasing a brace of singles in 1990 before splitting again, Keegan joining The Pastels.
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Shop Assistants
Shop Assistants
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Will Anything Happen
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Here It Comes
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Big E Power
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Shoutbox
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MrLJM wrote:
I've trying to find these guys for ages. I remember listening to them a year ago but then I forgot their name. This is excellent stuff!
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FullofBooks wrote:
I was hoping they had the full track "I don't want to be friends with you" Ah well.
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Freelove_ wrote:
Join my group: Post-Punk.
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royalpoet wrote:
I'm surprised at how little the Shop Assistants are compared to Jesus & Mary Chain. They have a very similar "hooky pop mixed with noise" approach, to me.
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cnnorris wrote:
the cover of train from kansas city is just so wonderful.
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rasputincorto wrote:
jepp.
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sonnyminimal wrote:
The Shop Assisatnts...My eyes are filling up listening. I shouldn't be so nostalgic.
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Degarmo wrote:
i agree with what saka said
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JesusPop wrote:
Once you get through (or skip) the boring review, you can get all of their 7"s here: http://icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2009/02/shop-assistants-7-collection.html
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sakamotocross wrote:
(that was not a rant)
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sakamotocross wrote:
That reissue was a huge missed opportunity, wasn't it? Cherry Red should've at least had the decency to include "Safety Net" (which is a few trillion times better than anything on Will Anything Happen) as a bonus track, and if they were really generous they would've released a 2-disc set of the Shoppies' complete recordings. The anthology on emusic is nice, but I'd like to see a definitive collection on CD before Alex Taylor dies of extreme old age.
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thetrousers wrote:
Shop Assistants' cover of 'Train From Kansas City' inspires Amelia Fletcher's new album: http://www.wearsthetrousers.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/ladyfest-manchester-interview-with-amelia-fletcher/
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timahall wrote:
Reissue in shops now! Yeo!
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vegetubleman wrote:
Sorry, that should've been Edinburgh, obviously.
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vegetubleman wrote:
My all-time favourite band. If they ever re-formed, they'd really put Inverary on the map.
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Degarmo wrote:
they still have vinyls out on avalance records that are easy to pick up for example the here it comes EP. Yes however i agree its a disgrace that their music remains out of print in large
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celestialroad wrote:
with friends like you, i couldn't sleep at night.
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timahall wrote:
Shoppies! <3
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FarawaySoClose wrote:
Three months of searching to find a copy on cd =(
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timahall wrote:
Well, out of print on CD anyway.
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Recent Activity
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pantsandfringe and El_Oh_EL_Whut added Shop Assistants to their libraries. 4 hours ago
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arkham_brown tagged Shop Assistants with indie pop and c86. Tuesday afternoon
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arkham_brown and elamanna added Shop Assistants to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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Chug-A-Lug wrote about Shop Assistants in 80 by 80. Monday evening
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Chug-A-Lug wrote about Shop Assistants – I Don't Wanna Be Friends With You in 80 by 80. Monday evening
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jackiesuzanne, bearnut and TobiasFunkeMD added Shop Assistants to their libraries. Monday morning
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miglio2, romantotale1, misterfireflies and 9 other people added Shop Assistants to their libraries. 11 days ago
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miglio2 tagged Shop Assistants with ‘check it out’. 11 days ago
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euclidorphee tagged Shop Assistants with female vocalists, indie, post-punk and one other tag. 24 days ago
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repairtodream added Shop Assistants to repairtodream’s library. 24 days ago
Related Journals
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80 by 80
by Chug-A-Lug |
28 Dec 2009 | Add comment
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My Top 100 Albums. 9: Shop Assistants - Shop Assistants
by rocklobster |
11 Nov 2009 | Add comment
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Shop Assistants
by Thelonious9 |
4 Oct 2009 | Add comment
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