The Pipettes

Posted by: Andy on Tuesday, 24th October, 2006

It’s the simple ideas that are the best and the idea behind The Pipettes couldn’t be more simple - put together a band that sounds like the Phil Spector-produced girl groups of the 50s and early 60s, like The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las. Or to put it even more simply, to “turn back the clock to a time before The Beatles ruined everything”.

L-R: Gwenno, Becki, RoseThis plan was hatched by “Monster” Bobby Barry and Julia Clark-Lowes over a pint in a Brighton pub back in 2003. Armed with a copy of The Manual by Bill Drummond, a step-by-step guide to producing a number one single, they quickly put together two groups - The Pipettes, with Julia (calling herself Julia Caesar, The Duchess of Darkness, or just The Duchess) joined by Rose Pipette* (AKA Rosay) and Rebecca Stephens (AKA RiotBecki), and backing band The Cassette**, whose line up has had something of an open door policy but has, at times, included members of The Tenderfoot, The Electric Soft Parade and Brakes with Bobby as a constant.

By March 2004 they had begun playing shows around Brighton and London, picking up high praise from fans and critics. Many of the songs they performed at this stage would later become singles, including I Like A Boy In Uniform (School Uniform), Julia’s tale of falling in love with a boy at school because she likes a boy in school uniform, only to find that he does too. Other songs in that early set list include: Really That Bad, I Love You, It Hurts To See You Dance So Well, Simon Says, Tie Me To The Kitchen Sink, ABC, and Holy.

From the beginning, the focus has always been on the three girls, with their three part harmonies, polka dot dresses and synchronised dance moves. The boys in The Cassette rarely appear in photographs or interviews and remain in the background on stage too, though they are involved in the songwriting.

And it’s the songwriting that is the backbone of the band, as well as the thing that contradicts those who would suggest that this is purely a novelty act. Their compact pop songs could be likened lyrically to the social commentary of The Streets of The Arctic Monkeys at times and despite their retro leanings, their tendency to stay away from the more demure styles of their 50s and 60s counterparts sets them thoroughly in the modern age - most notably on One Night Stand, which sees the tables turned and men left feeling used on the morning after the night before (“If you think that this is cruel, you should see what my friends do”).

Their unusual set up and a string of limited edition 7” singles on a range of cool and obscure indie labels (including the ultra hip Transgressive Records) quickly brought the band to the attention of those in the know and they were touted as the next big thing by many, even attracting their own militant fan club, calling themselves “Pipette Rescue”, who turned up at gigs and bullied audience members into dancing.

L-R: Becki, Gwenno, RoseIn early 2005, prior to signing their current record deal, Julia decided to leave the band to form The Indelicates and to concentrate more on her career as a photographer. Luckily, a replacement was quickly found in Welsh singer and TV presenter Gwenno Saunders after she came to see The Pipettes supporting The Go! Team at the Cardiff Barfly venue while both bands were touring England and Wales together.

“I reacted immediately to what they were doing,” Gwenno told musicOMH.com. “It was just really nice to see girls like me being on stage and just doing what they want to do, and enjoying themselves as well, not being too self conscious about it - it was really refreshing”.

Gwenno was no stranger to the stage, having toured the world with Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance show. Subsequently she fronted her own TV show in Wales, Ydy Gwenno’n Gallu…? (Can Gwenno do it…?) and enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist, performing songs in English, Welsh and Cornish, scoring a top five hit in the dance charts with her single, Fire In The Sky.

The new recruit played her first show with the group on the 17th April 2005 at The Garage in London, supporting Quasi, and then the new look Pipettes jumped back onto The Go! Team’s tour for four dates in Ireland and were subsequently signed by the headliner’s label Memphis Industries (also home to Blue States, The Russian Futurists and Field Music, amongst others), a pairing which first bore fruit with the Dirty Mind single in November 2005 and more recently brought the debut album We Are The Pipettes to the world.

The album, produced by Andy Dragazis of Blue States and Gareth Parton (who has also worked with names such as The Go! Team, Placebo, The Cribs, Ladyfuzz, and The Beta Band) features fourteen perfect pop songs averaging about 2 minutes and 15 seconds in length (A Winter’s Sky is the only one that manages to break the 3 minute mark, and then only just). There’s no fluff, each song has been honed so that it does exactly what it needs to and then it’s on to the next one. The one thing they do have is hooks; any of the songs could be released as a single and it doesn’t take many listens before you’ll find every one of them rattling around your head.

In September 2006 the girls embarked on a headline tour of the UK and Europe, including a sold out show at Koko in Camden, and they will end their most successful year to date with a Christmas party back in Camden again at the newly reopened Roundhouse.

Discography

  • The Pipettes Christmas single (Ltd CD single - December 2004)
    200 copies pressed and given out at gigs
  • It Hurts To See You Dance So Well (demo) (Featured on Queens Of Noize: Best Of 2005 compilation, January 2005)
  • I Like A Boy In Uniform (School Uniform) (Ltd 7” single - Unpopular Records, May 2005)
    500 copies pressed
  • ABC (Ltd 7” single - Transgressive Records, 13th June 2005)
    500 copies pressed
  • Feminist Complaints (demo) (Featured on the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang compilation, ltd Monster Bobby tour release, August 2005)
  • Judy (Ltd 7” single - Total Gaylord Records, August 2005)
    1000 copies pressed, available only by mail order from Boston (USA), sleeve folds out into a polka dot skirt, B-side KFC features DJ Scotch Egg and members of The Go! Team
  • Dirty Mind (Single - Memphis Industries, 14th November 2005)
    Also marked The Pipettes’ first music video, reached 63 in the UK charts
  • It Hurts To See You Dance So Well (Featured on Rough Trade Counter Culture Compilation 2005 - V2 Records, January 2006)
  • Dirty Mind (edit) (Featured on Memphis Family Album compilation - Memphis Industries, January 2006)
  • Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me (Single - Memphis Industries, 27th March 2006)
    The Pipettes’ first UK Top 40 single (35)
  • Meet The Pipettes EP (Europe only EP - Memphis Industries, May 2006)
  • Pull Shapes (Single - Memphis Industries, 3rd July 2006)
    Reached No. 26 in the UK charts
  • We Are The Pipettes (Album - Memphis Industries, 17th July 2006)
    Reached No. 41 UK album charts
  • Judy (Single - Memphis Industries, 25th September 2006)
    Just missed the Top 40 this time, peaking at 46 (though it did reach No. 1 in the Indie Chart)

Links / Sources

Notes

* Pipette is the only surname any of the girls will give. Julia, Bobby and Gwenno’s surnames are known from projects outside The Pipettes, Becki’s appeared in the 7th Dec 2006 issue of CMU Daily (source unknown). Rose’s real name remains illusive.

** They are usually referred to as “The Cassettes” but, according to and interview with Becki for John Kennedy’s XFM X-Posure show broadcast on the 5th July 2005, they are actually called The Cassette.

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