Retro Man Blog & Retrosonic Podcast's Music Books & Movies of 2021

Next up we look back on our favourite music related books and movies of 2021 and in number one spot sits Saskia Holling's excellent "Girlsville: The Story of The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees" - which was not only Saskia's first book but also the very first publication from Lee Grimshaw's Spinout Productions - which of course includes his excellent record label Spinout Nuggets. Despite the title, "Girlsville" is much more than just the story of two of the Medway Garage Rock scene's first and most influential bands. Right from the superb cover art, the rare photos of both bands through Saskia's superbly crafted, sometimes challenging insights into the trials and tribulations of women in Rock 'n' Roll over the years, you know this book is something very special indeed. You can order the book from all the usual places but as always I'd recommend getting it directly from Spinout Publications here. You can also hear our Retrosonic Podcast special where I talk to Saskia about the book and along the way she picks some of her favourite songs from both bands as well as the various influences on her own music with Sally Skull and Lord Rochester.  You can listen to the episode at Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts or directly from our SoundCloud site below: 

Retrosonic Podcast · The Delmonas & Thee Headcoatees "Girlsville: Queens of The Medway Delta" with Saskia Holling

Our favourite music movie just had to go to Edgar Wright's stunning documentary "The Sparks Brothers" which perfectly captured Sparks' groundbreaking musical career. It's gleefully crammed full of the Mael brother's trademark humour and features many cool musicians and celebrities talking about the impact of Sparks on their lives. After all, the movie's strap-line is "your favourite band's favourite band". Of course the movie includes contributions from various Sparks band members over the years, including original Halfnelson/Sparks drummer Harley Feinstein and we also have two thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast specials available where Harley talks in depth about the very early years of Sparks including their breakthrough years spent in London. Both episodes are essential listening for any Sparks fan.

Retrosonic Podcast · Sparks: The Bearsville/Halfnelson Years Part 2 with Harley Feinstein

Here's the full list (all books unless noted.)..

1. "Girlsville: The Story of The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees" by Saskia Holling

2. "The Sparks Brothers" (movie) by Edgar Wright 

3. "I Wanna Be Yours" by John Cooper Clarke

4. "Relax Baby Be Cool: The Artistry and Audacity of Serge Gainsbourg" by Jeremy Allen

5. "Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche" (movie) by Celeste Bell

 6. "The Fall: Excavate!" by Tessa Norton and Bob Stanley

 7. "Morgan Howell at 45rpm: SuperSize Art" by Morgan Howell

 8. "The Go-Go's: Made in Hollywood" by Gina Schock

9. "The Who: A Band With Built In Hate" by Peter Stanfield

10. "The Sisters of Mercy: Waiting For Another War" by Trevor Ristow

11. "The Damned: On Track, Every Album Every Song" by Morgan Brown

 12. "The Listening Party" by Tim Burgess

13. "The Adventures of Kid Krupa" (movie) by Sean Parkin

14. "Diminished Responsibility: My Life As a U.K. Sub Vol. 2" by Alvin Gibbs

15. "Pete Shelley: Ever Fallen In Love, The Lost Buzzcocks Tapes" by Louie Shelley

16. "The Stranglers: 1977" by Laura Shenton

Retrosonic Podcast with Saskia Holling on "Girlsville: The Story of The Delmonas & Thee Headcoatees, The Queens of The Medway Delta"

For episode 17 of our Lockdown Lowdown series we welcome Saskia Holling to discuss her new book "Girlsville: The Story of The Delmonas & Thee Headcoatees" which is out now on Spinout Publications. Saskia talks about the process of writing the book itself along with the history and legacy of both groups and each of the band members. We also find out more about Saskia, her own music with Sally Skull, Lord Rochester and Big Russ Wilkins & Lightnin' Hollings and her fanzine "Heavy Flow" along with encounters with Kim Fowley and the impact of seeing Poison Ivy of The Cramps. We then discuss the prejudices and barriers faced by women in music and the positive effect of the Riot Grrrl movement. The episode is sound-tracked by Saskia's personal selection of her favourite Delmonas and Headcoatees songs, a pick of her own music and some of her influences and most memorable musical moments. Here's a description of the book from Spinout Publications. "Following the arrival of Post-Punk in the UK, an explosion of musical wonders flourished in the South East of England. Two such wonders, The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees added to the burgeoning flow of music from the Medway Delta; a current started by The Pop Rivets, The Milkshakes and The Prisoners. Fronted by women from the Medway area and beyond, The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees are regularly labelled as ‘Billy Childish projects’, yet the women involved added their own stamp to the musical beat. Hear ye for The Queens of The Medway Delta! Here, we find out more about these women – Hilary, Louise, Sarah, Debbie, Kyra and Holly and just how their paths intertwined to create memorable records (without musical industry intervention) and just what has happened to them all since…Collated and related by Saskia Holling, herself a music maker (The Nettelles, Lord Rochester, Sally Skull, Big Russ Wilkins & Lightnin’ Holling) and fanzine writer, who is seeking to help keep women in musical history. Published under the Spinout Publications imprint, with front cover painting by Sarah Crouch (Miss Ludella Black), and packed with photos and contributions from key figures within the Medway Delta, and related, and beyond!"

 

Retrosonic Podcast · The Delmonas & Thee Headcoatees "Girlsville: Queens of The Medway Delta" with Saskia Holling

Tracklisting (click on the highlighted links for more info)

Oscar Brown Jr - "Mr. Kicks"

B Bumble & The Stingers - "Nut Rocker"

The Cramps - "Human Fly"

Babes In Toyland - "Handsome & Gretel"

The A-Bones - "Take Up The Slack Daddy-O

Sally Skull - "You Better Go"

Thee Headcoatees - "Wild Man"

The Delmonas - "Wo' Now"

The Go-Go's - "We Got The Beat"

The Raincoats - "Fairytale In The Supermarket"

The Delmonas - "Black Ludella"

The Delmonas - "Farmer John"

Thee Headcoatees - "The First Plane Home"

Thee Headcoatees - "Teenage Kicks"

The A-Lines - "Nothing Personal"

Miss Ludella Black - "You Don't Know Right From Wrong"

Ye Nuns - "Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy"

Holly Golightly & The Broke-Offs - "Burn Your Fun"

The Nettelles - "I Don't Want To Talk To You"

Lord Rochester - "Don't Understand"

Sally Skull with Big Russ & Lightnin' Holling - "Sentimental Tuesday"

Skinned Teen - "Dancing Alice"  

Links & Credits

"Girlsville" can be bought directly from Spinout Publications at their on-line store here. The book is dedicated to the memory of Claire Scrivener of Sally Skull and The Nettelles and any kind donations would be greatly appreciated to either Maggie's Edinburgh or Girls Rock School Edinburgh. For Ms Sheringham-Boom's review of "Girlsville" please check out the feature here. Saskia has set up a new "Girlsville" Facebook page to share information on the book along with archive material of The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees, you can check the page out here. Loads of lovely Delmonas, Headcoatees and Billy Childish records can be ordered from Damaged Goods Records and you can check out our Retrosonic Podcast with label boss Ian here. Our Podcast with Billy Childish can be found at our Soundcloud site here. With thanks to Saskia & Ms Sheringham-Boom. Retrosonic theme tune by Adam Donovan. You can subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for free at Soundcloud, Spotify or Apple Podcasts/iTunes.

Girlsville: The Story of The Delmonas & The Headcoatees - The Queens of the Medway Delta by Saskia Holling (Spinout Publications) Review by Ms Sheringham-Boom

 

I have been waiting for this book "Girlsville" for what seems like forever so I was over the moon to find a copy dropping through the letterbox a few weeks ago. Before I go any further, I should declare that I was asked to contribute to the book by the author Saskia Holling. I was thrilled to be asked and it was an absolute honour to be part of a book that so badly needed to be written. Saskia had mentioned that she was in the process of writing a book about women involved in the Medway music scene, one of the main reasons being that unfortunately these women had mostly been ignored or only briefly covered by previous authors. For example, "The Kids Are All Square - Medway Punk and Beyond 1977-85" (pre-Headcoatees times) by Bob Collins & Ian Snowball does mention The Delmonas somewhat in passing yet none of the female voices of the band are heard, Maybe they weren’t asked to contribute, who knows? I haven’t read "Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway" by Stephen H Morris, so can’t comment on that, but have sadly heard similar things said. Time to put that right? You bet. Saskia herself has been involved in music since the 1990’s and the book gives the reader a glimpse into her own musical life having made her escape from a small Scottish island to form her Riot Grrl band Sally Skull. She then went onto Lord Rochester and Big Russ & Lightnin' Hollins (with her partner Russ Wilkins of The Milkshakes and The Wildebeests) and latterly The Nettelles. Indeed, not a musical heritage to be sniffed at. 

Sarah (Ludella Black) on stage with Billy Childish & CTMF in 2016

Here she relates the stories of the women of two of the most important bands in post-1960's U.K. Garage & Beat history, The Delmonas and Thee Headcoatees. Meet Hilary, Louise, Sarah, Debbie, Holly and Kyra. The story of these wonderful women (told in two parts) is warm, amusing, dark, joyous, and lots in-between. Saskia has clearly gained the trust of these women and there is a stark similarity in their musical experiences. The frustration, the not being heard and to a certain extent of being controlled. Regrets and resentments can be expected, such is band life. I shed tears when I read these stories because there was a side of their musical lives that I had not anticipated. They were and always will be so much more than the sum of a Billy Childish project. Saskia has evidently carried out her research very thoroughly and has firmly put their stories into context by including musical reviews from those times, not only reviews of their bands, but of a wider variety of female musicians. It clearly shows the pervading misogyny of the male music 'journos' of that era and whatever one’s musical tastes, it makes for very uncomfortable reading. I’m happy that these women found their own ways of being creative. They have all since (and with Debbie The X-Men before) blessed us with numerous musical treasures such as The A-Lines, Ye Nuns, and The Buffets (to name a few) as well as Holly, Sarah and Kyra’s solo careers, in fact a new recording from Kyra is in the offing which is certainly something to get excited about. From start to finish "Girlsville" is an unputdownable read and I must mention the striking cover art provided by Sarah Crouch. Props also to Saskia for including a comprehensive discography, links and references and the book features many previously unseen photos of the band on and off stage, record covers and more.

Kyra on stage with Billy Childish & CTMF in 2016

With many thanks to Ms Sheringham-Boom. Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh's premier purveyors of Garage Rock, Thee Girl Fridays. The book is the first from our friends over at Spinout Publications and you can buy a copy directly from them at their on-line store here. For your listening pleasure don't forget our Medway music related Retrosonic Podcast interview specials with Billy Childish, Ian Greensmith (Vic Templar), Graham Day, Wolf Howard, Allan Crockford & Viv Bonsels of The Galileo 7 and Ian Ballard from Damaged Goods Records. All episodes can be downloaded at our Soundcloud site or streamed/listened to at Spotify or Apple Podcasts all for free.