Strawberry Switchblade

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Biography

Glasgow, United Kingdom (1981 – 1985)

Strawberry Switchblade was a band from Glasgow, Scotland in 1981. A Scottish female duo, Rose McDowall (who would later become associated with the industrial scene and contribute to projects such as Coil, Current 93, Death in June, Nature and Organisation, Nurse With Wound, Psychic TV, Boyd Rice, etc) and Jill Bryson bonded during the Glasgow punk scene of the late 70s, first as friends, then as bandmates.

With their distinctive style (garish colours, polka-dots and a slight geisha influence) already intact they formed Strawberry Switchblade (named after a never-released Orange Juice song and quickly aborted fanzine) in the early 80s. After signing to Warners they moved to London, and released the single Trees And Flowers in June 1983. Deceptively pretty, while actually written about Jill’s agoraphobia, it topped the indie charts and generated some hype.

They then hit the big time with the infectious hit “Since Yesterday” which reached #5 in the UK in November 1984, featuring Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera on guitar, Mark Bedford of Madness on bass and Boris Williams, later of The Cure on drums. Following this, their self-titled album was released in mid 1985, though by then the pop world had moved on and the later singles Let Her Go and Who Knows What Love Is failed to make much headway.
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  • fujipet

    Just re-discovered them. Great music.

    30 Apr 9:45pm Reply

  • Sonicjr01

    @ IAmDillin : Also, a lot of the songs that are considered "poppy" were remade to sound that way during the producing process. A good majority of the songs were done on guitar but later converted to synth as sort of a pop boost. You can check out a few originals from the site.

    26 Apr 5:39pm Reply

  • zastranienie

    <3

    21 Apr 11:26pm Reply

  • XsokratesX

    Also, Stawberry Switchblade can be pretty dark sometimes.

    16 Feb 5:29pm Reply

  • Blockades

    Not bizarre at all if you do the slightest of research.

    26 Dec 2012 Reply

  • IAmDillin

    bizarre that Rose would go from such poppy music to doing industrial and noise stuff

    2 Dec 2012 Reply

  • StereoGirl95

    These 80's girls are amazing!

    21 Oct 2012 Reply

  • spizacepiracy

    <3 u 4evr

    2 Oct 2012 Reply

  • TripleSol

    Not really necessary to name every collaboration Rose has done. Even though most of them are absolutely amazing this is the bio for Strawberry Swtichblade. There!

    20 Sep 2012 Reply

  • thefirstcolours

    I'm not a believer, but, my god, GOD BLESS SCOTLAND FOR STRAWBERRY SWITCHBLADE, JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, THE PASTELS AND THE VASELINES <3

    21 Jul 2012 Reply

  • Sonicjr01

    @Vaccy ... Sorry ... you will have to start at 1981, since sadly, no other has accomplished even a slightly similar sound.

    6 May 2012 Reply

  • waigy

    Hi Jill Bryson has a brand new website This is big news to any SS fans like myself. She has worked as an artist since 1986. Theres an artwork page where you can buy originals/prints of her artwork. There's a couple of Strawberry switchblade galleries and a blog that Jill updates herself. www.jillbryson.com Craig

    2 May 2012 Reply

  • Vaccy

    So where should I start if I wanted to hear something similar to Strawberry Switchblade?

    16 Apr 2012 Reply

  • KrassEstranged

    They really are rather wonderful.. Not the sort of thing I'd normally listen to.

    27 Mar 2012 Reply

  • acoverover

    WHERE HAS THIS BAND BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE. I HATE MYSELF FOR NOT LEARNING ABOUT THIS SOONER.

    19 Mar 2012 Reply

  • cat-dentures

    I always get this band mixed up with Switchblade Symphony and keep thinking, "holy shit this is their happiest song!"

    20 Feb 2012 Reply

  • misterpockets

    whoa... i forgot about them! i still have original vinyl of them from the 80's!

    27 Jan 2012 Reply

  • the_raytownian

    Strawberry Switchblade is the group that introduced me to a world of great music (see bands listed in their description).

    20 Jan 2012 Reply

  • astarish1

    ace!

    16 Jan 2012 Reply

  • VaginaGalore

    I'd love them to come back :[ <3

    30 Oct 2011 Reply
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