Postscript to the last post: Alex Petridis on his youthful adoration of Talulah Gosh


It made me remember where the name came from -- "Taloolah Gosh" was a pet name adopted by Clare Grogan, according to the NME cover story on Altered Images in January 1982.

 

 
Then in the 2000s, Grogan took back the name - she started writing a series of books for kids called The Adventures of Tallulah Gosh.  This second one, Tallulah On Tour,  was supposed to come out a year ago but seems pending: 
 
"Tallulah Gosh is Teresa Gordon - an ordinary girl living in an ordinary street. But when Teresa decides to start a band and enter the school talent contest, everyone thinks she's lost the plot. By the time the contest happens, however, Teresa has somehow managed to get together a pretty good band and Tallulah and the TeenStars take the school by storm. Purely by chance, Tallulah and the TeenStars' demo song is later heard by the influential manager of the hit band Betty and the Bee Stings who offers them a support slot on their next tour. But can Teresa persuade her mum and dad that it's a good idea? And will she be able to keep the band together long enough to learn new songs? For Teresa, the future is exciting and full of incredible challenges."

^^sigh^^

Blimey, this makes the second person I knew (albeit only a little, in this case) before they were artists, who went on to be up for a Turner Prize. And in Elizabeth Price's case, won it.

(the other is Otolith Group)


Elizabeth, I have, uniquely, both interviewed (did a piece on Talulah Gosh for MM back in the day) and photographed. (The day I was there for the interview, the band -- who I knew from Oxford, Monitor cornerstone Chris Scott was the bassist --urgently needed a pic for the back cover of a single. Despite having zero ability in that department, I was recruited for the job.)

I remember Elizabeth (aka Pebbles) and Amelia Fletcher (aka Marigold) talking about Sixties grrl groops as proto-feminist, so it's interesting that Shangri-Las et al features in her video art.